Kurdish News #17 - June 1995

[kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu]

Reply-To: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu
From: kcc at magi.com (Kurdistan Committee of Canada)
Subject: Kurdish News #17 - June 1995

Kurdish News
A Monthly Publication Of The Kurdistan Committee Of Canada
Number 17 - June 1995

Index:

1) Interview With PKK Leader Abdullah Ocalan
2) Free Kani Yilmaz!
3) Statement To The Public
4) We Will Prevail
5) The International Solidarity Movement Will Not Be Intimidated
6) Turkish Writer Goes On Trial
7) Turkey's War Of Words - By Yashar Kemal
8) MED-TV: Kurdish Television From Britain
9) Yeni Politika News Briefs
10) PKK Leader Ready For Peace


1) Interview With PKK Leader Abdullah Ocalan

In light of the contradictory reports about the aims and policies
of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Washington based writer and
former diplomat David Korn recently submitted a list of questions
to PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan. The following are Mr. Ocalan's
preliminary remarks and his responses, translated from Turkish,
along with Korn's questions.

Ocalan: The international press and media have been manufacturing
unfair and grossly distorted views about our party. The USA plays
a significant role in promoting these negative views. The chief
of the CIA has referred to our party as a foremost international
terrorist organization. Such a portrayal of the PKK obviously
does not rely on facts but on deliberate distortions. The PKK has
no other role but to promote the demands of the Kurds for their
own national identity and national rights, as they today face
genocide. How can our resistance against this genocide be
mistaken for terrorism? The chief of the CIA should understand
that we are the victims of terrorism. The Republic of Turkey is a
well known perpetrator of genocide and of the destruction of
cultures.

Korn: The international media continue for the most part to
describe the PKK as a separatist organization that seeks
independence from Turkey and the establishment of a
Marxist-Leninist state. Could you comment on this? Specifically,
is independence in fact the goal of the PKK, and is it correct to
say that Marxism-Leninism is the PKK's political doctrine? 

Ocalan: It is a gross blunder to persistently regard our party as
a strictly separatist organization that aims to establish an
independent state. It is also groundless to compare the PKK to
classic Communist parties. The political and ideological
perspective of our party are not the same as those of classic
Communist parties. Were that the case, we would have disappeared
long ago.
     It is correct to say that our party from the beginning
advocated socialism, but it has been built on scientific
socialism. We are seeking to develop a socialist model specific
to our nation. I believe that Marxist socialism and the parties
that embraced it have failed to evaluate Kurdish realities, and
thus they provided Turkey with opportunities to deny the
existence of the Kurdish people. The PKK and the Kurds have
suffered a lot from Marxist socialism and communism. We have a
political manifesto that is humanistic in essence and that
challenges inequality and injustice, not only among nations but
also among cultures, religions, and genders. Our socialism is not
the kind within which the rights of individuals disappear in
favor of state authority. We are dedicated to a philosophy that
is based on democracy and pluralism, not on the power of the
state. We favor a synthesis of capitalism and socialism, an
economic structure in which individuals will freely develop to
their fullest potential. We are against all ideologies that
defend absolute authority for the state at the expense of
individual freedom.
     As for the question of separatism, we do not insist on a
separate state, on the contrary, we defend a form of government
that respects our people's distinct cultural, social, political,
and economic rights. These rights can be realized under one state
just as they would be under two states. It is inappropriate in
today's political reality to conceive of forms of government as
either unitary or separatist. We live in an age within which
distinct political and social groups come together to form
federal states. Belgium is a federal state composed of two
distinct national groups. Spain is also an example, and I should
also mention the Russian Federation.
     Considering these realities, it is unrealistic for the PKK
to insist on a separate state, but it is also impossible for the
PKK to yield to a unitary state structure that is governed by the
dictates of exclusiveness, authoritarianism, and of one nation
under one state. Evidently under the influence of socialism of
Stalin and the fascism of Mussolini and Hitler, Mustafa Kemal
developed the Turkish style unitary state. You certainly know
that the Turkish state is not democratic. There is no cultural
freedom for non-Turkish groups. Turkish democracy is a sham, and
it is in reality under the control of the military junta. The
Turkish government not only disregards the human rights of the
Kurdish people but it also oppresses its own Turkish people. The
PKK struggles for democracy against such an anti-democratic
government. To refer to our struggle as separatist is to ignore
reality. The Kemalist regime has reached a point where either it
will survive by reforming itself or it will destroy itself by
becoming trapped in the narrow structure of a unitary state.
     We have often stated that we are ready to participate in any
political process that the Turkish government will undertake to
make democratic reforms. We hereby explicitly state that we do
not insist on a separate state of our own. Should the Turkish
side be open for dialogue, we can reach solutions based on the
equality and liberty of both peoples within the existing borders.
It is nonsense to see our demands as separatist in intention. We
want a Spanish or American style of federalism.

Korn: In recent years the PKK appears to have won the sympathy of
a great many Turkish Kurds, and in some cases their active
support. To what do you attribute this?

Ocalan: It is due to the fact that the PKK has emerged as an
answer, although very limited, to the historical expectations of
our people. The support of the Kurdish people is largely based on
their keen observation of the collective and individual
sacrifices for democracy and national identity that our members
have made under the most difficult circumstances. The Kurdish
people have been deceived many times in the past by
pseudo-leaders. But when they are convinced of the sacrifices of
the freedom fighters, they mobilize for them. That is what has
happened. With its twenty years of experience with strategies and
tactics compatible with social and political realities, the PKK
movement has gone beyond the earlier sectarian Kurdish revolts
that were limited to traditional alliances of tribes and
religious sects and which were suppressed within a few months.
Here lies the real reason for the Kurdish people's support for
the PKK. The Kurdish people as a whole avoided supporting
regional and traditional Kurdish rebellions in the past because
they knew that these types of rebellions usually resulted in
conditions worse than the status quo. However, because they have
witnessed our ability to survive for so long without defeat, they
have given their support with incredible enthusiasm. No doubt the
people's support is essentially reinforced by the PKK's
organizational and propaganda skills, as well as by its military
successes and its ability to take appropriate tactical steps
consistent with the circumstances and to launch comprehensive
peace initiatives. 

Korn: What response have you received from the Turkish government
to your calls for negotiation?

Ocalan: Unfortunately, our opponents pretend not to hear our
calls. It seems as if we were talking to a wall. I think that
there is no other regime in the world which is so inflexible. The
Turkish state has never recognized the existence of other peoples
or distinct ethnic groups within its territory. It waged wars on
those ethnic groups who demanded the same rights as the Turks
themselves and, as in the case of the Armenian extermination,
served the Turkish goal of maintaining a unitary state. Now the
Turkish regime seems to be deaf to any proposals made by us for
civilized and democratic solutions to the conflict between us.
Indeed, the Turkish government is more resolved than ever to
solve the Kurdish question by bloodshed. The Turkish government
has no tolerance for the Kurdish question. It has brutally
repressed all Kurdish uprisings in the past. Turkish President
Demirel has boasted of crushing the twenty-ninth uprising. During
his visit to Chile, Demirel vehemently denied the existence of a
Kurdish question in Turkey.
     The Turkish authorities continue to ignore any just solution
to this conflict due to the mixed signals and encouragements they
receive from NATO countries. All our reform proposals have been
turned down by the Turkish government. It rejects formal or
informal dialogue even with non-armed Kurdish political
organizations.

Korn: Even supposing that the Turkish government were to agree to
a federal status for the Kurdish minority, how could such an
arrangement be made effective given the fact that very large
numbers of Kurds now live in Istanbul, Izmir, Ankara, and other
large cities outside of the southeast? 

Ocalan: It is true that almost half of the Kurdish population has
moved to the metropolitan areas. However, the Kurds still
constitute a majority of the population in Kurdistan proper. The
presence of such a large Kurdish population in the metropolitan
areas is because of the economic inequalities and political
repression that our people face. The infrastructure of these
cities is far from accommodating such a large migration. A
solution such as federalism could reverse this trend of outward
migration from Kurdistan. Moreover, the problem of the Kurds who
stay outside of Kurdistan can be addressed in a democratic
framework.
     A federal system is necessary for historical, political, and
cultural reasons. It is erroneous to suggest that a federal
system is not suitable due to the demographic distribution of the
Kurds in Turkey. Of course, there are other alternatives, such as
autonomy. However, all the possible avenues can only be explored
through dialogue and democratic processes. We believe that
constitutional reform which will accommodate federalism is the
only reasonable way to overcome the present crisis.

Korn: Turkish spokesmen claim that last year's Turkish army
offensive dealt a serious blow to PKK military capabilities
inside Turkey. Could you comment on this claim?

Ocalan: Our military strength has been evident in our success
during the Turkish military campaign in South Kurdistan this
year. Moreover, the Turkish army is still conducting military
operations in Dersim and even in the northernmost corner of
Kurdistan. Why is there a need for such large scale operations if
our military strength was indeed broken? In fact, these are not
limited operations but acts of war; operations that depend on the
support of F-16s, helicopters, tanks, and heavy artillery are
correctly defined as wars. We have faced a middle scale war for
years in both South and North Kurdistan. As a result of our past
experience and tactical gains, our military strength has improved
a great deal.
     From now on we will be able to conduct better guerrilla
warfare in addition to our political initiatives. For the first
time, we are in a position to spread our guerrilla campaign all
over Kurdistan. In a guerrilla movement, what counts is not the
quantity but the quality of units and their levels of training
and experience. We already see a substantial improvement in these
areas. The latest Turkish operations have proven to be a total
disaster for them. While our casualties number around 30, the
Turkish army has lost over 900 soldiers. Even though we are
unable to obtain a militarily advantaged position, we are far
from defeat. We can maintain this situation for many more years.

Korn: The governments of Turkey and the United States both
consider the PKK a terrorist organization. If, in your view, this
is not a correct assessment, what steps would you propose to take
to correct it?

Ocalan: In my answer to the first question, I have explained who
the real terrorists are and how they control entire Kurdish
populations with state terrorism. We have not deliberately shed
the blood of any innocent individual. However, we have no other
choice but to resist, whether by means of armed struggle or
diplomacy, the repression of our national identity and rights by
the Turkish state. Is this terrorism? If our democratic rights
are assured, we will cease armed resistance at once. But the fact
is that both the U.S. and Turkish governments do not seem to
recognize our democratic national rights. Turkish official
ideology still denies the existence of our people in Turkey and
manufactures scientific garbage to prove that the Kurds are of
Turkish origin, as demonstrated in the recent Turkish attempt to
prove that Newroz, our national festival, originated among
Turkish tribes in central Asia. Such denial of our existence is
the most barbaric form of terrorism. American history is full of
examples of anti-colonial resistance against Great Britain. Were
your founding fathers terrorists? Unlike your founding fathers
who sought freedom from the British crown, our political demands
are not solely based on the idea of full separation. On the
contrary, we want real democratic national identity and culture
and to develop our political and economic institutions. We
struggle in Kurdistan not only for the rights of our people but
also for the rights of ethnic Armenians, Assyrians, and Suryani-
Chaldeans who also face a reign of terror. Yes, we have a problem
of terrorism in our country, but it is Turkish state terrorism.

Korn: Turkey and others allege that the PKK finances itself
through trade in illegal narcotics. Could you comment on this
allegation?

Ocalan: The Turkish government fabricated this lie in order to
cover up its own genocidal crime against our people and to
justify military measures against the PKK. Such charges first
surfaced right after the military coup of September 1980, which
also marked the escalation of military operations against the
civilian population of Kurdistan. These charges serve the desire
of the Turkish intelligence agency to cover up the sources that
finance the contra-guerrilla and death squad activities
Kurdistan. The same sources that accused us of assassinating Olaf
Palme now attempt to vilify the PKK by spreading baseless rumors
of our supposed involvement in the heroin trade. If Turkish
intelligence wants, they can close all the drug routes in one
day. However, the drug trade serves the Turkish government's aim
of preventing at least some Kurdish youth in Europe from joining
the national struggle. Likewise, they aim to control Kurdish
youth in Kurdistan by encouraging them to join religious
organizations like Hizb-i-relami Kurd, which is financed by the
Turkish government as an alternative to the PKK. We regard drug
trafficking as a serious crime and detrimental to our national
goals. 

Korn: To what extent is the PKK associated with, or does it give
aid to, extremist Palestinian groups that conduct terrorist
operations against Israel? 

Ocalan: We had some relations with them in 1980. However, after
the Palestine Liberation Organization opened a diplomatic bureau
in Ankara in 1982, its representatives gave a cold shoulder to
our interest in maintaining the friendship between our two
organizations. Since then we have been on our own. As for Israel,
we have no hostility towards Israel. Nevertheless we know that
the Israeli and Jewish lobbyists have a significant influence on
U.S. belligerence towards us. We don't understand Israel's
enthusiasm and support for the Turkish genocide of our people.

Korn: Is it now, or has it ever been, PKK policy to attack U.S.
installations, interests, or personnel in Turkey or elsewhere?

Ocalan: Certainly not. Even several Americans who were captured
during our operations in Kurdistan were treated with respect and
released without harm. Although we have no military or political
conflict with the United States, it constantly provokes us by
providing Turkey with intelligence, military, and political
support against us. Even supposing that the U.S. is against the
PKK because of its political position, there are many other
moderate Kurdish organizations that the U.S. entirely ignores in
favor of Turkish violations of all international treaties
regarding human rights. By its support for the Turkish government
in this conflict, the United States becomes party to the genocide
of the Kurdish people. It is not the forces of darkness, like
Turkey, but the forces of democracy and human rights that deserve
support. 

(Translated by AKIN from Serxwebun, April 1995.)

2) Free Kani Yilmaz!

     In October 1994, Kani Yilmaz, the European Representative of
the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), was arrested on the most
flimsy charges. It is difficult to comprehend the actions of the
British authorities in this matter. There are political reasons
behind the long duration of his detention. Great Britain isn't
even afraid to break its own laws to do this. The arrest of Kani
Yilmaz was a refined attack against the Kurdish movement. His
extradition to Germany is part of this scenario. The recent wave
of arrests against Kurdish politicians have also been carried out
for dubious reasons.
     Great Britain cannot hide behind its argument that Kani
Yilmaz is simply being deported to Germany. After his trial,
which begins on May 4, Kani Yilmaz must be set free. The
detention of Kani Yilmaz is a service to the destructive special
war being waged by the Turkish army. Instead of allowing the
conflict to become worse, steps must be taken to find a political
and democratic solution. The current negotiations between Great
Britain and Iran, at a time when Great Britain is acting as a
party for the Turkish occupation army and Turkish state
terrorism, are a contradiction.
     The continued detention of Kani Yilmaz, who is a man
honoured by our people, is trying the patience and sensibilities
of our people. The increasing tension which is caused by the
continued detention of Kani Yilmaz is not in Great Britain's
interest. We call on the British public to protest against these
politics and to show solidarity with the Kurdish people. 

Ali Garzan,
ERNK European Spokesperson,
May 4, 1995

3) Statement To The Public

     The people of the world are currently celebrating the 50th
anniversary of the ending of the Second World War in which
millions of people lost their lives, became disabled, and
suffered irreparable agony; this as the direct result of the
redivision and redistribution of the world under the fascist
imperialist system. Traces of this linger on to this day.
     Today people throughout the world join in commemorative
activities in order not to forget the disasters that war brings
and to ensure that these sorrows will never be relived.
     It should never be forgotten that an end to war on this
earth is inextricably tied to the end of colonialism, oppression,
and atrocities. Tragically, this is not yet the case; wars are
being waged in various parts of the world.
     It is the imperialist system that holds sole responsibility
for the division of Kurdistan and for failing to resolve the
problem of ongoing oppression. The problem of Kurdistan is
therefore the concern of all humanity. The fascist Turkish state
is waging genocide against the people of Kurdistan, as the
Ottoman Empire had done before it. Our people are living in great
pain. As the result of state policies of oppression,
assimilation, and forced repatriation, half of our people must
live abroad, tens of thousands of them have been slaughtered,
tortured, and arrested. More than 2,500 villages have been
destroyed and emptied. Our natural wealth has been looted, our
forests burnt down. Everything that represents our national
identity has been damaged and destroyed. And the Turkish state
can only continue this savage war with help from the outside
world.
     Our people show great resistance in this war against their
culture, their history, and their whole existence. Their struggle
is in self-defence, is legitimate, and represents a struggle for
all humankind. As we all come together today to commemorate the
50th anniversary of the end of World War II, we call on the whole
world not to remain silent in the face of the destruction of our
culture and heritage which is now taking place in Kurdistan, the
very birthplace of civilization; not to condone this war which
casts shame upon the whole of humanity.
     We call on the United Nations and all international
organizations, most particularly the United States of America and
all European countries, to seek a political solution that will
bring about an end to the war in Kurdistan. Once again we stress
the readiness of the peoples of Kurdistan for peace within the
framework of national democratic rights. It is within this
framework that we can hope to find democratic, political
resolutions for all nations under colonial oppression and, in so
doing, serve to bring about peace in this world.
     We wish for peace and an end to colonialism for all the
peoples of the world.

Kurdistan Parliament in Exile,
Executive Council,
May 7, 1995

4) We Will Prevail

     Turkey's largest military foray into South Kurdistan ended
with a failure. It was supposed to be the operation of 1995 with
the most promising results. Its aim was to finish off the
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), something Turkey had planned to do
in 1994, but without any hope of success. Neither the plan nor
the calculation had any results.
     It was not surprising that this occupation incursion would
result in a total fiasco. The military wing of the PKK, the
People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK), had advance notice
of the impending Turkish invasion and had prepared itself
accordingly. A significant resistance was displayed; the Turkish
army was routed.
     This result has given birth to new developments. Voices of
dissent and dismay have been expressed both in Turkey and abroad.
It has become rather clear that blind force is no panacea for the
problem at hand and that to insist on such a course will mean an
escalation of the crisis. Again, the most recent Turkish
bombardment of South Kurdistan proves this anew. Our forces are
well armed and well prepared to counter these attacks. Turkey
itself has come to this realization. But it still continues to
place large numbers of its soldiers in the border region and now
and then undertakes aerial attacks to engage our forces so as to
gain more time. The dead end that Turkey finds itself in offers
us favourable opportunities. The PKK, taking advantage of optimum
conditions, is intent on utilizing these military and political
advantages for the resolution of the conflict. One more thing has
become clear: The PKK is an unbeatable force in the region.
     This fact is now also dawning on the Western governments as
well. They too are realizing that the policy of blind force in
Turkey is harming their own interests. To that end, they are
urging Turkey to be open to the idea of a political solution to
this conflict.
     Turkey, by way of a response, has increased its level of
atrocities. To dampen the prospects of large-scale uprisings on
the part of the people, it has activated its dark forces, the
contra-guerrilla, to murder innocent civilians.
     Seeing that these policies of oppression and massacres are
not working, the Turkish Special War Department has begun to
establish so-called "strategic villages" in order to control
popular resistance. This policy is now in effect in the Botan
region where villagers are forced to sign statements stating that
they were forced to flee their homes because of PKK pressure.
These villagers are then collected in certain centres. The latest
news is that the villagers of Suke and Bure were forced to flee
their homes and settle in Ertus. The villagers of Libis and those
of Jiyanis on the other hand have been collected in Diyari
village. The same fate has also met the villages of Sifrezan,
Erbis, and Tahta, whose residents have been forced to seek refuge
in Bilican. Cukurca town in Hakkari province has also seen an
upsurge of new residents. It looks like Botan is setting the
precedent for this practice; other regions of Kurdistan will soon
follow.
     This can only be construed as a sign of defeat for the
Turkish government. There are plans to station large
contingencies of Turkish soldiers in these so-called "strategic
villages".
     This development also connotes a new phase in the war
between the forces of the Turkish government and those of the
PKK. The Turkish army, losing ground to our guerrilla forces, is
avenging its losses on the people. Atrocities and massacres have
become the order of the day. These tactics will not bring a
solution to the question at hand. On the contrary, they will
unite our people and help them to organize better.
     Turkey needs to stop these acts of barbarity. To do
otherwise is to hasten its downfall. If its policy of force has
not brought a solution by now then it is not going to help today
either. Such policies have an unavoidable answer and that is
defeat, nothing else.
     In an interview with the Reuters news agency on May 23,
1995, the Chairperson of the PKK, Mr. Abdullah Ocalan, again
indicated his willingness to end this war. He said: "If the
Turkish state stops its operations of annihilating [the Kurds] in
favour of a political solution, we are ready for a cease-fire and
peace."
     Our party makes this call for political solution because it
feels strong both in the military and the political field. If the
Turkish government is not afraid of political solutions then it
ought to respond. We feel the need to state one obvious truism
about ourselves: No power, above all the Turkish state, ought to
make plans to have the PKK subscribe to their brand of
"solution". The PKK is the strongest it has ever been. With a
policy of total mobilization, it has the power to resist the
designs of its adversaries. It is waging a war in the mountains,
on the plains, in rural area and urban centres, and even in the
prisons. Its guerrilla forces keep attacking the Turkish army on
a continual basis.
     These operations that have the annihilation of the Kurds as
their aim and these plans to have the Kurds be collected in
strategic hamlets are destined to fail because we have the
strength to foil them and prevail. Having said this, we want the
public to know, again, that we are ready for a political solution
to this conflict.

National Liberation Front of Kurdistan (ERNK),
European Representation,
May 25, 1995

5) The International Solidarity Movement Will Not Be Intimidated 

     The U.S. government has seized on the April 19 bombing of a
federal building in Oklahoma City as an occasion for promoting a
series of measures restricting political dissent. The measure
that most directly affects activists working on international
issues is the Omnibus Counterterrorism Act of 1995. This bill,
sponsored by Rep. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and drafted by the
Justice Department with help from the White House and the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI), was languishing in Congress until
the Oklahoma City tragedy suddenly gave it new life.
     One provision would allow the government to use secret
evidence and unnamed accusers to deport foreign residents
allegedly involved in terrorism; the accused would have no right
to defend themselves against the charges. Another provision would
forbid raising funds for any foreign organization the U.S.
President designates as terrorist, with a prison term of up to 10
years and a fine of up to $50,000; U.S. agencies would be free to
investigate -- that is, infiltrate -- U.S.-based groups that give
money to organizations branded terrorist.
     The Clinton administration claims that this law would be
used to protect U.S. citizens from the sort of shadowy right-wing
organizations, domestic and foreign, that are accused in the 1993
bombing of the World Trade Center and this year's Oklahoma City
atrocity. The reality is that the bill's principal victims would
be open, legal organizations on the left. The record speaks for
itself: Until recently, the U.S. government's terrorist
organization list included the African National Congress (ANC);
the most prominent known target of an FBI counter-terrorist probe
in the last 15 years was the Committee in Solidarity with the
People of El Salvador (CISPES); in 1993, Congressional liberals
and the Clinton White House tried repeatedly, although
unsuccessfully, to implicate the Sandinista National Liberation
Front (FSLN) in the World Trade Center bombing; each year Cuba is
put on the U.S. State Department's "terrorist nation" list.
     Throughout history, governments have turned to
"counter-terrorist" measures -- secret charges, anonymous
accusers, spies, informers, and agent provocateurs -- at times
when the ruling elite feared organized resistance to unpopular
policies. This new campaign coincides with a frantic push to cut
back services and benefits for the working majority domestically
and, on the international front, a renewed drive to subject
developing nations to "neo-liberal" programs of tight money,
privatization, and "free trade." Both the domestic and the
international policies have been disasters. Inside the U.S. the
austerity budgets have met with strong grassroots resistance,
especially from youth, women, and African-American and immigrant
communities. In its international form, the austerity drive faces
a resurgence of grassroots organizing in much of the world, an
indigenous rebellion in Mexico, new revelations of Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) atrocities in Haiti and Guatemala, and
a dramatic decline in the value of the U.S. dollar itself.
     This is the context in which the Clinton administration is
asking for broad new powers to spy and deport.
     The best defense for international solidarity organizations
is to continue our open, legal efforts to educate the public on
international issues, support legitimate resistance movements at
home and abroad, and carry out the real fight against terrorism
by demanding an end to the CIA and the School of the Americas. We
must make it clear that we will not be intimidated by the current
Red Scare atmosphere and that we will treat any dirty tricks
against us as an admission by the U.S. government that it is
unable -- despite its overwhelming advantage in financial and
media resources -- to defeat us through open, legal debate. Just
as in the Central America controversies of the 1980s, we will
make sure that any effort to repress our movements will only
strengthen our commitment and bring more adherents to our cause. 

Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 
May 15, 1995

Please call or write if you or your organization wish to endorse
this statement: 

Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 
339 Lafayette St
New York, New York
10012 USA

tel: 212-674-9499
fax: 212-674-9139
e-mail: nicadlw at blythe.org

6) Turkish Writer Goes On Trial

By Aliza Marcus

     Renowned Turkish author Yashar Kemal went on trial on Friday
charged under a controversial anti-terror law which the European
Union wants removed as a condition for closer ties with Turkey.
     Kemal, who wrote an article criticising the state's
treatment of Kurds, faces up to 5 years in prison if convicted
under Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law, generally used against
people who speak out against Turkey's policies towards its
Kurdish minority.
     Accompanied by Turkish luminaries from the arts, Kemal, 73,
defended his article in the German magazine Der Spiegel by
arguing that Turkey's fight against separatist Kurdish rebels in
the southeast was a "dirty and dirtying war".
     He said the real crime was the state's alleged burning of
forests to kill guerrillas from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers
Party (PKK), fighting since 1984 for autonomy or independence in
the country's largely Kurdish southeast.
     "Isn't it true that the forests were burnt? Do I not have
the right to blame the state for this act? Wasn't Turkey declared
among the countries ranking high in torture?" he told the court,
reading from a prepared statement.
     "Weren't thousands of villages burned down...? Didn't we
make our country ashamed to face humanity as a result of such
inhuman actions?" he said, as dozens of photographers jostled to
take a picture of the country's perennial Nobel Prize candidate
standing in the dock in an Istanbul courtroom. Article 8 bans
"propaganda...aimed at damaging the indivisible unity of the
state...regardless of method, intention, and ideas." Dozens of
intellectuals have been jailed under it and the European Union
has called for its removal.
     The European Parliament has said it will veto Turkey's
planned customs deal with the European Union unless Ankara
betters its human rights record before the parliament votes to
ratify the agreement late this year. Western diplomats say easing
restrictions on freedom of expression -- especially non-violent
Kurdish protest -- is crucial if Turkey wants to assuage critics
and strengthen its position in Europe.
     Kemal, author of the acclaimed 'Ince Memed' (Memed, My
Falcon), joked with observers while his lawyers unsuccessfully
argued Article 8 was contrary to Turkish law because the country
has signed international human rights conventions.
     "Since Turkey has never been a democratic country, Turkey
has been a huge prison for all of us. A prison that is smaller
does not make a difference for me," said Kemal, before the judges
set the next hearing for July 12. Prime Minister Tansu Ciller has
repeatedly said she intends to change the harsh anti-terror laws,
but some hardliners in her party refuse to consider lifting
Article 8. Others will support the move if the article's
provisions are essentially restated in the penal code.
     Human rights activists caution that while many people are
charged with Article 8, Turkey has numerous laws and
constitutional articles that could still be used to jail people
for expressing unpopular ideas. 

(Reuters 05.05.95)

7) Turkey's War Of Words
 
By Yashar Kemal

(Yashar Kemal, author of 36 books, is Turkey's
pre-eminent man of letters and a perennial candidate
for the Nobel Prize in Literature. He recently went
on trial in Istanbul on charges of violating Turkey's
anti-terrorism laws. The charges stem from an article
about the oppression of Turkish Kurds that he wrote
for the German magazine Der Spiegel. If convicted, he
faces up to five years in prison. This article was
published as an op-ed piece in the New York Times on
Saturday, May 6, 1995.)

     One of the greatest tragedies in Turkey's history is
happening now. Our Kurdish brothers are being slaughtered, and
apart from a couple of hesitant voices, no one is standing up and
demanding to know what the government is doing. No one is saying:
"You are riding towards doomsday, leaving the earth scorched in
your wake." What will come of all this?
     Fearing that Kurdish nationalist spirit threatens Turkish
sovereignty over its eastern regions, the government has resolved
to drain the pool to catch a few fish. The world is aware of it.
Only the people of Turkey have been kept in ignorance; newspapers
have apparently been forbidden to write about the drainage. Or
maybe there is no need for censorship? Maybe our press, with its
sense of patriotism and strong nationalist sentiment, chooses not
to write about it, assuming the world will neither hear nor see
what is happening.
     Our Kurdish brothers are at war to win their rights -- to
save their language and their culture. During the War of
Independence of 1919 to 1922, we fought shoulder to shoulder. We
established this state together. Should a man cut out the tongue
of his brother?
     Already over 1,700 people have been murdered. The houses of
nearly 2,000 villages have been burned. People and animals have
been burned inside them. The government has burned almost all the
forests of eastern Anatolia to find the guerrillas hiding out in
them. Not much that could be called forest is left. Turkey is
disappearing in flames along with its forests -- anonymous acts
of genocide -- and 2.5 million people have been exiled from their
homes, in desperate poverty, forced to take to the road.
     Last fall, the village elders of the eastern town of Ovacik
said that soldiers had burned their village; they were found dead
in the burned forests nearby a few days later. The Minister for
Human Rights, Azimet Koyluoglu, at first admitted that soldiers
were burning villages, but quickly went back on his word, blaming
the Kurdish separatists.
     The government has also put an embargo on food in the
eastern regions. One must get a certificate from the police
station in order to buy food (because some villagers have been
feeding the guerrillas). Intellectuals in the West have begun to
debate whether this is a new genocide; the possibility of a human
rights court for Turkey's politicians and of an economic boycott
against the country are being discussed. Turkey's leaders have
gotten so carried away that intellectual crimes have been
regarded as among the most serious; people have rotted away in
prisons, been killed and exiled for writing or speaking their
minds. Over 200 people are serving sentences for crimes of
thought; hundreds more are on trial. Among them are professors,
journalists, writers, and union leaders. As if a racist,
oppressive regime were not enough, there have been three military
coups in our 70 years as a nation. Each coup has made the Turkish
people a little more debased. They have rotted from the root --
their culture, their humanity, their language. There is no reason
at all for this inhuman, purposeless war.
     This world is a graveyard of wrecked languages and cultures.
How many societies whose names and reputations we have never even
heard of have come and gone in this world? As a cultural mosaic,
Anatolia has been a source of many modern societies. If Turkey's
leaders had not tried to prohibit and destroy other languages and
other cultures than those of the Turkish people Anatolia would
still be a fountainhead of civilization. Instead, we are a
country half-famished, its creative power draining away. 
     The sole reason for this war is that cancer of humanity,
racism. Otherwise, would it be possible for right-wing, racist
magazines and newspapers to declare that "the Turkish race is
superior to every other"? Another popular saying is: "Happy is he
who calls himself a Turk." When I first went to eastern Turkey in
1951, this slogan had been written on the mountainsides
everywhere in enormous letters visible from five miles away. Even
the slopes of Mount Ararat were so embellished. The entire
mountain had become happy to be Turkish. Each morning, they made
the children declare: "I am a Turk, I am honest, I am
hard-working."
     Throughout history, all cultures have fed one another, been
grafted onto one another, and, in the process, our world has been
enriched. The disappearance of a culture is the loss of a colour,
a different light. Anatolia has always been a mosaic of flowers,
filling the world with flowers and light. I want it to be the
same today.
     If the people of a country choose to live like human beings,
choose happiness and beauty, their way lies first through
universal human rights and unlimited freedom of thought. The
people of countries that have opposed this will enter the 21st
century without honour.

8) MED-TV: Kurdish Television From Britain

By Aliza Marcus

     It's showtime in Turkey and the latest television programme
to hit the crowded airwaves favours documentaries about village
life and children's game shows. But despite the ponderous -- some
would say boring -- nature of the broadcasts, British-based
MED-TV has its intensely loyal viewers, and all because the
language of choice is Kurdish. 
     "Every night from 7 pm to 10 pm you can find me right here,
in front of the television", said a Kurdish businessman,
chuckling as children draped in the red, yellow, and red colours
of Kurdish nationalism danced across the screen. "Imagine, for
the first time in history, we have our own television, which is
being broadcast to Kurds all over the world", he said. Turkish
officials are less than pleased about the British- licensed
MED-TV, which uses satellite technology to beam from London into
Turkey and evade Turkish laws forbidding broadcasts in Kurdish.
     Turkey, worried MED-TV is being used by the Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK) guerrilla group to promote demands for
Kurdish autonomy or independence in Turkey, has asked Britain's
licensing agency to monitor broadcasts. "I think this goes
against the European conventions on television and human rights,
because it stirs up racial hatred and is against the territorial
integrity of Turkey", said an official with Turkey's Radio and
Television High Commission.
     Whether it is linked to the PKK or not -- MED-TV officials
say a wide variety of groups and businessmen are financd in Diyarbakir.

May 12 -- Village guards acting as mercenary forces for the
Turkish army visited the villages of Meskina, Siltok, Kodore,
Robelme, Varga, Xemse, Kizil, Kizlere, Remok, and Sayhan. They
collected all satellite dishes from the villagers and warned them
not to watch the Kurdish television channel MED- TV...Hasan Ezer,
a 34-year-old Kurd, was murdered in the Huzur Evleri district of
Diyarbakir.

May 13 -- Villages in the vicinity of Diyarbakir now have a new
policy to follow: they all have to buy Turkish flags to hang on
their houses to prove their loyalty to visiting foreign
delegations.

May 14 -- Mehmet Alcan, another Kurdish youth, was taken into
custody in the Baglar district of Diyarbakir. His family is
fearing for his life since the Turkish authorities are denying
any knowledge of his whereabouts...A total of 146 people have
applied to the Turkish Human Rights Foundation in the first four
months of this year for help at its rehabilitation centres. The
total number for last year was 472.

May 15 -- The village of Sutluce (Tuluk in Kurdish) in Tunceli
(Dersim in Kurdish) was machine gunned on May 10. Many houses
received bullet holes, but there were no casualties. The Turkish
soldiers who visited the village afterwards declared that the
residents were guilty of aiding Kurdish guerrillas and that they
must vacate their homes immediately. For now, the villagers have
packed but remain in their homes...The villagers of Gendune,
Bekse, and Maristo in Sason district were asked to either become
village guards or else face the prospects of migration. They too
have packed but are still living in their villages...The villages
of Ekrek, Osgeh, Ardixe, Uzakli, and Bikhe are in quarantine
since May 9. They happen to be in a district called Alibogazi
which since March 19 has seen some of the heaviest bombardment of
the Turkish-Kurdish conflict...The Islamic ritual Kurban Bayrami
is a celebration in which grave sites are visited by loved ones.
This year, Turkish soldiers barred some of the new residents of
Kulp and Lice from practicing this tradition. These were people
who had left their villages because they had refused to become
village guards for the government.

May 16 -- A Kurdish patriot named Seyit Semso was killed by
members of the 'Hizbikontra' contra-guerrilla. The city residents
were so appalled by the murder that they took the law into their
own hands and lynched three of the perpetrators...Ercan Bingol,
an 8-year-old boy, died after stepping on a mine that was planted
by Turkish soldiers in Kumludere village...Another mine exploded
in Akdemir village in Tunceli, injuring children once again.
Sahin Erol (6), Pelvin Erol (10), Sevgi Erol (8), and Erkan Erol
(12) were all seriously hurt. Erkan Erol, who had received the
deadly blast, lost both of his legs while his siblings are in
better condition. Their mother, Sultan Erol, blamed the Turkish
soldiers for mining the area...Berivan Kultay, in a study of
executions in Turkey, notes that the Turkish claim that the death
penalty does not exist in the country is simply untrue. Referring
to the work of human rights advocates, she notes that, in the
last four years, 874 people have died in custody with another
2,000 reported missing.

May 17 -- Turkish commandos stationed in Gurpinar town in Van
province held a soccer match with the town's Gurpinar Youth last
Saturday. The commandos lost the game and then proceeded to fight
with local residents, calling them "dirty Kurds". 9 people were
injured.

May 18 -- Hasan Ocak, a 29-year-old Istanbul shopkeeper missing
since March 21, was found via pictures in the albums of the
Cerrahpasa Hospital. The authorities said that his body was
discovered in Beykoz on March 26 and later buried in a grave site
for unknown persons. An autopsy revealed that he had been
strangled with an iron wire.

May 19 -- Naci Parmaksiz, the governor of Adana, in a scene
reminiscent of what Prime Minister Tansu Ciller had done last
year at the Holiday Inn in Istanbul, spoke of a list of
businessmen who are supporting the PKK. He said, "You are
benefitting from the riches of this country; I am asking you to
think again." He did not give any names. After Ciller's threat,
several Kurdish businessmen were kidnapped and killed in
Istanbul.

May 20 -- Ahmet Bulut (10), Rahim Kumru (10), and Huseyin Yilmaz
(48) were killed in Gundik Mala Hato hamlet near Kermete village
in Mardin province. They died in an attack by Turkish soldiers
and village guards.

May 21 -- 15,000 people gathered for the reburial ceremony of
Hasan Ocak in Istanbul...Giyasettin Oruc, chairperson for the
People's Democracy Party (HADEP) for Beykoz district, is missing.
Eyewitnesses insist that they saw Mr. Oruc taken away by people
who they said were civilian police but the authorities are
denying the arrest.

(The above news items were all translated from the pro-Kurdish
daily newspaper Yeni Politika.)

10) PKK Leader Ready For Peace

     PKK Chair Abdullah Ocalan has made another call for peace.
In an interview with the Reuters news agency on May 23, 1995, he
made the following statement: "If the Turkish state stops its
operations against us and is willing to resolve this conflict
through political dialogue, we are ready to declare a cease-fire
and opt for peace." This is an unequivocally clear message. We
are the side seeking peace. It is a political solution that we
seek.
     On March 17, 1993, the Chair of our party, Mr. Abdullah
Ocalan, declared an unconditional cease-fire to pave the way for
a political solution to this question. Lest the other side did
not have enough time to respond in the affirmative, the deadline
for the cease-fire was extended. Again on March 12, 1994, an
offer for a peaceful resolution of this conflict was made at the
International Conference on North-West Kurdistan in Brussels,
Belgium. Another call for peace was made through a letter sent to
the members of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in
Europe (CSCE) on November 14, 1994.
     To our messages of peace, the Turkish state has responded
with military violence. This policy has brought no solutions,
rather it has only escalated the crisis. This was the upshot of
the Turkish military occupation of South Kurdistan. While the
world, in unison, has condemned this Turkish policy and
belligerency, the so-called message of support coming from
Washington is quite peculiar.
     As the Kurdish side, we believe and insist on a political
solution of this conflict and we assert that only this engagement
can bring peace and prosperity to both Kurds and Turks. To that
end, we keep repeating our calls for a peaceful resolution of
this conflict. Those who value peace should not support Turkey in
its policy of belligerency.
     It ought not to be forgotten that this blind faith in the
policy of violence is a denial of the principle of peoples rights
to self-determination. In this lies the source of instability and
the threat of perpetual war in the Middle East.
     The Turkish state is aiming at subduing us by way of
military force with the hope of exterminating the Kurdish people.
So long as these policies continue, we will use out right to
defend ourselves with no reservations.

ERNK European Representation,
May 27, 1995

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