The Retreating Turkish Army Is Mini

[kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu]

Reply-To: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu
From: Kurdistan Committee of Canada <kcc at magi.com>
Subject: The Retreating Turkish Army Is Mining The Kurdish Landscape

Press Release
April 30, 1995

The Retreating Turkish Army Is Mining The Kurdish Landscape

     The long-anticipated Turkish retreat from South Kurdistan is
finally in the works, but with a twist. The twist is that the
Turkish army has turned the Kurdish landscape into a mine-field.
Eye-witnesses note with alarm the recent spate of mine explosions
which have had their toll on unsuspecting Kurdish civilians. This
is a policy that was put into effect a few years ago by troops
belonging to Saddam Hussein, with deadly repercussions. Today, the
Turkish army wants to do the same: leave the area, but not before
setting deadly traps for the Kurds.
     Inside Turkish Kurdistan, wanton attacks on Kurdish activists
continued unabated. Yesterday, the body of Huseyin Koku was found
beheaded in Poturge, Malatya. Mr. Koku was the chair of the
People's Democracy Party (HADEP) in Elbistan, Maras. He had been
missing since October 20, 1994.
     According to information reaching our office, there were also
new arrests yesterday, again on the most flimsy charges. Sahabettin
Ozarsanler, Hikmet Fidan, Sehmus Cagro, and Ferhan Turk, all high-
ranking HADEP officials, were taken into custody.
     Another "mystery" death was discovered yesterday near the city
of Diyarbakir. The dead body of Ferhan Eser, a civil servant in the
city of Lice, was found in a bag in a mutilated form. He too had
been abducted, on April 13, 1995. He too was found dead miles away
from his place of residence.
     A communique issued by the Office of the Turkish Chief of
Staff declared the Serhad region a security zone and barred people
from entering the area. It said that people could only enter the
designated zone with permits which are issued by Turkey's 9th Army.

Kurdistan Committee
Brussels, Belgium