Kani Yilmaz lashes out at British j

[kurdeng at aps.nl]

From: tabe at newsdesk.aps.nl
Subject: Kani Yilmaz lashes out at British jailers
Reply-To: kurdeng at aps.nl

on, 22 May 1995 21:08:32 -0800

Imprisoned Kurd lashes out at British jailers

ISTANBUL, May 20 (Reuter) - A spokesman for the rebel Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK) accused Britain on Saturday of imprisoning him to gain favour with
Turkey, where PKK guerrillas are battling for control of the country's
southeast.

"The decision of the Home Office... supports the powers in Turkey who are
determined to turn our country into a living hell on earth," Kani Yilmaz
wrote in a letter released by the Brussels-based Kurdistan Committee.

"The treatment that I have been subjected to can only be construed as a move
against the Kurdish people's struggle for liberty," wrote Yilmaz, who was
detained last October on his way to meet British parliamentarians and charged
with illegal entry.

Yilmaz, who faces extradition to Germany, also dismissed Bonn's move as an
attempt to placate Turkey and said there was no evidence linking him to the
alleged actions of conspiracy to commit arson.

The PKK's 11-year battle in Turkey has killed more than 16,000 people.
Analysts say the group's staying power is rooted in Turkey's refusal to grant
its Kurdish minority greater cultural and political rights.

Turkish law blocks Kurdish-language education and television and radio
broadcasts. Discussion of Kurdish history or nationalism often run afoul of
laws against "separatist propaganda."

Yilmaz, who has refugee status in Germany, had entered Britain four times
previously. Deportation proceedings were halted when Germany requested his
extradition. Although the PKK is banned in Germany, it is not banned in
Britain.