Ozgur Ulke Press Release

[kurd-l at burn.UCSD.EDU]

Reply-To: kurd-l at burn.UCSD.EDU
From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Ozgur Ulke Press Release

Press Release

     Dozens of our employees have been arrested, we have been
bombed, and our offices are raided several times each night. Now,
the State Security Court has enforced a closure of the Ozgur Ulke
newspaper, claiming that it is a continuation of the previously
closed down newspaper Ozgur Gundem.
     Over the past nine months, nearly every issue of our paper
has been examined and put on trial in front of the State Security
Court of the Turkish Republic in order to stop the publication of
our paper. To stop the paper from reaching its readers, they are
forced to try all channels, both legal and illegal ones, even
without any evidence.
     On orders from the National Security Council of Turkey and
prime minister Tansu Ciller to "eliminate" the democratic media
by means of censorship and force, our headquarters in Ankara were
bombed.
     After a meeting of the National Security Council on January
5, 1995, our newspaper was confiscated. After a recent meeting of
the Istanbul Security Directories Fiscal Board, documents from
our headquarters were seized and staff members were harassed.
     In Turkey, there is a saying: The law functions very slowly.
But when it comes to closing down our paper, the same law works
very quickly indeed. On February 2, 1995, after issue 280/1-
280/3, our paper met the same fate as Ozgur Gundem and was closed
down by a court order.
     All these incidents clearly show how the Turkish government
has committed itself to silencing the voice of the people. The
government has used all possible means against our employees,
even going so far as to abduct, murder, torture, and imprison
them. The offices of Ozgur Ulke have been bombed. After trying in
every way to crush freedom of expression, the authorities are now
changing their tactics, claiming: "There is no need for this, we
can resolve these matters using legal means." This is an
admission of their crime against freedom of expression in Turkey.
     Under these conditions, it is almost impossible now to
publish a newspaper in Turkey. By closing down Ozgur Gundem and
Ozgur Ulke, there is no longer any basis for freedom of
expression or democracy. This is another blemish on the state's
record.
     The dirty war in Kurdistan being waged by the Turkish
government has given rise to poverty, torture, irregularities,
unemployment, refugees, and misery. Our land cannot take this
anymore. There are people of the international public who are
concerned about this issue, such as human rights organizations,
and who are aware of this tragedy. For the sake of representing
the voice of our people, at the risk of bullets, torture,
imprisonment, killings, and bombings, we have committed ourselves
to carrying out our activities. We are honoured by this. Ozgur
Ulke is not just a newspaper, it is the voice of the people's
suffering. The people have risen their voice through Ozgur Ulke
and this voice will never be silenced. We will soon find
different channels to communicate our people's voice throughout
the world. No one should have any doubts about that.

A. Baki Karadeniz
Ozgur Ulke Newspaper, Director of General Publication