HIrgUr MUstemleke; Sanki Fiyasko Ha

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From: newsdesk at newsdesk.aps.nl (Newsdesk Amsterdam)
Subject: Re: HIrgUr MUstemleke; Sanki Fiyasko Haberler, 8/2/95, 08:00 TSI
Reply-To: root at newsdesk.aps.nl

------ Forwarded from : Haldun Haznedar <haldun at avalanche.micro.ti.com> --------

(2) Turkey Cited For Rights Abuse

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- Human rights violations in Turkey are raging out of
control as "new and disturbing" abuses are waged against Kurdish separatists,
an international watchdog group said Wednesday.

Amnesty International urged foreign governments to tighten controls on arms
and military equipment sent to Turkey. The 27-page report, entitled "A Policy
of Denial," came a week after the U.S. State Department issued its annual
report with similar allegations, including the forced evacuations and
destruction of villages in the Kurdish-dominated southeast.

Turkey denies any systematic or widespread abuses against Kurdish rebels, who
have waged an 11-year fight for autonomy. Amnesty cited a rise in the number
of people taken into custody and never seen again. More than 50 disappearances
were reported last year, it reported. "In several cases, people ... were last
seen being taken away in helicopters by the security forces," the London-based
group reported. "The Turkish government has chosen to ignore, rather than
investigate and halt, this new and disturbing pattern of human rights abuse,"
the report said.

Amnesty urged governments that supply Turkey with weapons and security
equipment "to ensure such supplies are not used to commit human rights
violations." It said shipments should be halted without such government
guarantees. The report listed France, Germany, Russia, Britain and the United
States among the countries which provide Turkey with military equipment. The
U.S. Congress froze 10 percent of Turkey's dlrs 365 million in U.S. military
aid pending a human rights review in March.

Amnesty also said torture continued to be reported on a daily basis from many
parts of Turkey. Amnesty said torture methods were used in order to extract
confessions and names; to intimidate detainees into becoming police informants
and as punishment for assumed support of illegal organizations. At least 29
people died in the first 10 months of 1994 as a result of torture under
custody, the report said.

It further claimed the Turkish government have persecuted Turkish human rights
defenders and curtailed the freedom of opposition press to conceal the scale
of rights violations. A pro-Kurdish newspaper in Istanbul shut down last week
after a court ruling supported a government crackdown, which included
confiscation of every copy.

(3) Amnesty blasts Turkey's human rights record

LONDON, Feb 8 (Reuter) - Turkey is guilty of daily human rights abuses,
including torture and "disappearances," and countries that sell military
equipment to Ankara should ensure it is not misused, Amnesty International said
on Wednesday.

"Turkish security forces are committing human rights violations every day and
will continue to do so until the Turkish government ends its policy of blank
denial," the human rights group said in a report.

It said Turkey was trying to conceal the alleged violations by prosecuting
activists and curtailing the freedom of the opposition press and political
organisations. There were more than 50 reported "disappearances" logged in
1994, said the group. "The Turkish government's policy of denial has led to
the increase in torture, "disappearances" and extra-judicial killings
perpetrated with impunity by security forces throughout the country," Amnesty
said in its report.

The step-up in violations by the security forces in southeastern Turkey has
also been matched by an escalation from the Kurdish Workers' Party, known as
the PKK, said the group. Amnesty said the PKK had carried out summary
executions and killed civilians during attacks on Kurdish communities believed
to support the government.

But political prisoners and Kurdish villagers are not the only ones to suffer,
according to Amnesty. It cited the case of a 13-year-old boy wrongly accused of
stealing a wallet who was allegedly blindfolded, beaten and subjected to
electric shocks.

Amnesty urged the international community to ensure that transfers of military
equipment do not exacerbate the rights violations. The group said it had
received reports that armoured vehicles, helicopters and other aircraft have
been used in security force operations in southeast Turkey.

France, Germany, Russia, Britain and the United States are among the countries
that supply such equipment to Turkey. "We are urging governments which
authorise the supply of military and security equipment to Turkey to ensure
such supplies are not used to commit human rights violations."

(4) Turkey to benefit from EU customs union - analysts

By Aliza Marcus

ISTANBUL, Feb 7 (Reuter) - Pending customs union with the European Union, back
on track after months of doubt, will fortify Turkey's sagging economy and could
accelerate needed social reform, economic analysts said on Tuesday.

"In the long-run this will help the Turkish economy by making everyone more
competitive and in the short-run this will be very good for certain sectors,"
said a London-based fund manager with holdings in Turkey.

The deal, which will lift trade barriers between Turkey and the Union, is
expected to be approved next month, EU ministers said in Brussels on Monday.

The plan was put in doubt last December when Greece vetoed the deal, but
Athens was apparently pacified with a promise talks would start after 1996 on
allowing Cyprus -- one third of which is occupied by Turkish troops -- into the
union.

The EU is Turkey's biggest trading partner, accounting for roughly 45 percent
of imports and exports, and Turkish industry hopes the new deal will give it
better access to the 350 million people in the union.

"The union will also be a benefit for EU companies, which will have high growth
potential in the low-satuarated Turkish market," said Emre Gonen, secretary
general of the Economic Development Fund in Istanbul. "We also can expect a
deepened integration with the European Union companies through more joint
ventures and more franchises," said Gonen, whose group is studying the
potential effects of the union.

Analysts said the customs union would give a sure boost to those Turkish
industries reliant on domestic raw materials and low-cost labour. The textiles,
glass and ceramics industries -- already strong exporters -- are expected to do
even better with the fall of barriers. "We are a strong industry and we are
already competitive, so we have always been the strongest supporters of the
customs union," said Emine Acilan, an official with the Union of Textile
Exporters.

But consumer durables and cars may be hit hard by the lifting of tariffs, which
have protected such sectors from competition. "You won't see a total collapse
of these companies, but it's going to make it a lot cheaper (than it is now) to
buy a BMW or a German refrigerator," said the London-based analyst.

The union, which if approved would take effect at the start of 1996, could also
speed overhaul of Turkey's troubled economy by forcing companies to trim waste
and encouraging investment to boost competitiveness, analysts said.

Local companies, no longer protected by high tariffs, will have to streamline
in order to compete. Exporters, freed from quotas, will be able to expand as
much as the market can bear.

As important as the economic gains, analysts said, the expected customs union
should give a needed boost to Turkey's social transformation. A stronger
economy will help stabilise the government, which could give it the courage to
take potentially risky steps to better Turkey's poor human rights record.

They also said the closer ties with the Europena Union might make Turkey more
receptive to criticism and convince it to change its behavior on issues such as
treatment of its Kurdish citizens.

"We have a lot of problems, from human rights to civil rights, and this should
certainly act as a catalyst for social change," said one Turkish analyst.


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