From kurdeng at aps.nl  Wed Oct  4 20:09:50 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 04 Oct 1995 20:09:50
Subject: AI: Turkey bulletin
References: <bac1c849.020695212409Rnf0.79b6@newsdesk.aps.nl>
Message-ID: <bac1c849.100495192736Rnf0.79b6@newsdesk.a>

T21888; Wed, 04 Oct 1995 19:39:20 -0800

------------ Forwarded from : Ray Mitchell <rmitchellai at gn.apc.org> ------------

+------------------------------------------------------+
+     AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL URGENT ACTION BULLETIN     +
+     Electronic distribution authorised               +
+     This bulletin expires: 15 October 1995.          +
+------------------------------------------------------+

EXTERNAL                                            AI Index: EUR 44/103/95

                                                          29 September 1995

Further information on EXTRA 106/95 (EUR 44/93/95, 14 September 1995) and
follow-up (EUR 44/94/95, 15 September) - Fear of "disappearance" / Torture

TURKEY      Zafer Kirbiyik, student, aged 24
            Firdevs Kirbiyik (f), his sister, board member of Health
            Workers' Union (Tum Saglik Sen)


On 23 September, Firdevs Kirbiyik, who had been detained in Mersin on 15
September as she was searching for her "disappeared" brother, was
transferred to the Anti-Terror Branch of the police in Ankara. The
prosecutor in Ankara has given the police permission to hold her for
further interrogation until 5 October.

Her brother Zafer Kirbiyik was formally arrested on 25 September. He was
then committed to Mersin E-type Closed Prison to serve his 12-year prison
sentence. It appears that a further prosecution for membership of an
illegal organization may be brought against him in Konya State Security
Court.

His father was able to see him briefly in Mersin prison. Zafer Kirbiyik
told him that he and his sister were tortured in police custody in Mersin,
but gave no details. It is feared that Firdevs Kirbiyik is being subjected
to further torture at the Anti-Terror Branch of Ankara Police Headquarters.

+-----------------------------------------------------------+




----------------------------- End forwarded message --------------------------

From kurdeng at aps.nl  Wed Oct  4 20:10:39 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 04 Oct 1995 20:10:39
Subject: AI: Turkey bulletin
References: <bac1c849.020695212409Rnf0.79b6@newsdesk.aps.nl>
Message-ID: <bac1c849.100495192758Rnf0.79b6@newsdesk.a>

------------ Forwarded from : Ray Mitchell <rmitchellai at gn.apc.org> ------------

EXTERNAL                                            AI Index: EUR 44/104/95

EXTRA 116/95            Fear of Torture                   29 September 1995

TURKEY            Ismet Celikaslan (f), Mersin Provincial Board member of
                  HADEP (People's Democracy Party)


Amnesty International fears that Ismet Celikaslan, who has been held
incommunicado since being detained in Mersin on 27 September 1995, may be
tortured.

During the week of 18 September, Ismet Celikaslan had appeared on the
Kurdish owned and operated satellite TV channel "Med TV" which broadcasts
into Turkey from outside the country. She had presented the case of her
daughter Leman Celikaslan who alleged that she was repeatedly raped in July
during 13 days in police custody in Ankara.

Following her TV appearance, police came several times to Ismet
Celikaslan's home in Mersin.  She reportedly found a listening device
behind her refrigerator and received a threatening letter.  On 27
September, three plainclothes police officers arrived at her house, and
told her that there was a document concerning her at the Police
Headquarters and that they needed to talk to her about it. Initially she
resisted, but when the police threatened to take her along by force, she
went with them.  Her lawyer telephoned the Police Headquarters one hour
later and was told that Ismet Celikaslan was being held, but that the
lawyer could not see her as she was being held under the Anti-Terror Law.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Leman Celikaslan (24) was detained on 21 July and held at Ankara Police
Headquarters for 13 days. She alleged that during this time she was not
only tortured, but also repeatedly raped by several officers. According to
her own account she was taken by police officers from the Anti-Terror
Branch of Ankara Police Headquarters to a woodland, stripped naked, tied up
against a tree and sexually assaulted. She was then taken to Ankara Police
Headquarters where during interrogation she was raped by three police
officers. As a result of the rape Leman Celikaslan was bleeding severely
for days.

When she was to be medically examined prior to being committed to prison,
she did not want to undress and so the doctor certified that there were no
signs of ill-treatment. One week later, on 9 August, she filed a complaint
of rape with the prosecutor and asked to be sent to hospital. When she was
referred to the Forensic Medicine Institute the following day, she asked
for a female doctor. As there was none, she refused to be examined. When
the doctor asked whether she had been raped or sexually assaulted, she
replied that she had been. He then referred her to hospital.

On 17 August she was taken by gendarmerie soldiers from prison to hospital
where she was examined. The doctor maintained that due to the amount of
time that had elapsed, he was not able to state whether rape had taken
place. Leman Celikaslan stated that one of the officers whom she had
recognized while being suspended during interrogation, was present at the
hospital while she was there.

On 18 August a prosecutor took a detailed statement from Leman Celikaslan
concerning her allegation of rape and advised her to give up her complaint
as she was not going to win such a case. There were prison gendarmes
present in the room while she gave testimony, but no lawyer on her behalf.

During the preliminary investigation of her complaint, the chief prosecutor
made a public statement saying that Leman Celikaslan had not been raped and
that he considered opening a prosecution against her because of her
allegation. An investigation has since been opened against Naciye Erkol,
President of the Ankara Branch of the Human Rights Association (HRA), for
"insulting the police" in a press statement which the HRA had issued on the
case.

+-----------------------------------------------------------+




----------------------------- End forwarded message --------------------------

From kurdeng at aps.nl  Thu Oct 12 06:33:25 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 12 Oct 1995 06:33:25
Subject: AI: Turkey bulletin
References: <bac1c849.020695212409Rnf0.79b6@newsdesk.aps.nl>
Message-ID: <bac1c849.101295023256Rnf0.79b6@newsdesk.a>

------------ Forwarded from : Ray Mitchell <rmitchellai at gn.apc.org> ------------

+------------------------------------------------------+
+     AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL URGENT ACTION BULLETIN     +
+     Electronic distribution authorised               +
+     This bulletin expires: 21 November 1995.         +
+------------------------------------------------------+

EXTERNAL                                   AI Index: EUR 44/106/95

UA 233/95       "Disappearance"                    10 October 1995

TURKEY          Salih TEKIN
                Hatip YILDIRIM
                Islam BAL
                Hakki BOZKUS
                Hikmet OGUZ
                Kemal YAKLAV, aged 23
                Seyhmuz EROGLU, aged 62


Amnesty International has received reports that the six men named above
have "disappeared" after they were detained in the provinces of Diyarbakir
and Mardin between 22 September and 6 October 1995.

Seyhmuz Eroglu, 62, was detained at his home in Batman at midnight on 22
September by Special Team members who took him to Midyat Gendermerie
Station.  His son, Abdurrahim Eroglu, claims he spoke to someone who had
also been detained at Midyat Gendarmerie on the same date, who, after his
release, reported seeing Seyhmuz Eroglu at the station. Addurrahim Eroglu
applied to the Midyat Prosecutor and was told that his father had been
released.  However, the family has not heard from Seyhmuz Eroglu since his
detention.

At about midnight on 25 September, 23-year-old Kemal Yaklav was detained at
his home in Mazidag in Mardin province by members of the security forces.
Since then his family has received no information as to his whereabouts.

On 27 September, Islam Bal was taken from his home in Diyarbakir after the
police occupied his house for eight days. Inquiries as to his whereabouts
have gone unanswered.

On 2 October, Hikmet Oguz was taken into detention from his work-place in
Baglar, Diyarbakir, by members of the security forces. The same day Hakki
Bozkus was detained after an identity check at the Nargileciler caf=E9 in
Diyarbakir.

Salih Tekin was taken from his home in Diyarbakir on 6 October by members
of the security forces. Hatip Yildirim, who was visiting Salih Tekin at the
time, was also detained. Neither man's detention has been acknowledged.
Salih Tekin, a former journalist for a daily newspaper Ozgur Gundem (Free
Agenda - now closed down), has been detained on three previous occasions
and reportedly submitted to torture and death threats (see background
information below).

The police deny holding any of the above detainees. Amnesty International
fears that they may be being held on suspicion of contravening the
Anti-Terror Law or that they are suspected supporters of the PKK (Turkish
Workers' Party).

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Salih Tekin alleges that during his first detention in February 1993, he
was stripped naked and hosed with cold water at sub-zero temperatures.
Throughout this procedure he was truncheoned on the back, buttocks and
ankles until he passed out. He was told his detention was connected with
having written critical reports about the security forces and the "village
protectors" in the region of Derik. The Gendarme Commander threatened to
put "two bullet-holes in [his] head" if he came back to the Derik area
again. Salih Tekin was acquitted of all
charges of "separatist propaganda" and membership of an illegal
organization brought against him. His personal complaint to the European
Commission of Human Rights about his alleged torture was declared
admissible on 20 February 1995.

People suspected of offences under the Anti-Terror Law can be held in
police custody without access to family or legal counsel for up to 30 days
in the 10 provinces under State of Emergency, which include Bitlis and Van
provinces, and for 15 days in the rest of Turkey. When not being
interrogated, detainees are held in cramped, airless and insanitary
conditions. With no access to the outside world they are at the mercy of
their interrogators. Torture
methods include being stripped naked and blindfolded, hosing with
pressurized ice-cold water, hanging by the arms or wrists bound behind the
victim's back, electric shocks, beating the soles of the feet, death
threats and sexual assault.

Procedures laid down in the Turkish Criminal Procedure Code for the prompt
and proper registration of detainees, and for notification of their
families, are almost universally ignored. Lack of prompt registration and
notification is not only extremely distressing for the families of
detainees, but also creates the conditions in which "disappearances" and
torture can occur.

After cases of "disappearance" in police custody began to provoke concern
among the general public, the General Director of Police Mehmet Agar
announced that units would be set up, from 1 August 1995, to track detained
persons. Unfortunately, these units - called "Detention Monitoring Offices"
- are at the moment only operating in certain parts of the country. In
Diyarbakir or Mersin, for example, no Detention Monitoring Office has yet
been established. In Ankara, however, a Monitoring Office has been set up
with a public telephone number and
staff.

Any person suspected of supporting the PKK or any other illegal armed
organization is at serious risk of torture, "disappearance" or
extrajudicial execution. In 1994, there were more than 55 confirmed
"disappearances", and more than 400 people were killed in unclarified
circumstances. At least 20 cases of "disappearance" in police custody have
been reported in 1995 so far.

+-----------------------------------------------------------+
+ Supporters of Amnesty International around the world are  +
+ writing urgent appeals in response to the concerns        +
+ described above. If you would like to join with them in   +
+ this action or have any queries about the Urgent Action   +
+ network or Amnesty International in general, please       +
+ contact one of the following:                             +
+                                                           +
+      Ray Mitchell, rmitchellai at gn.apc.org (UK)            +
+      Scott Harrison, sharrison at igc.apc.org (USA)          +
+      Guido Gabriel, ggabriel at amnesty.cl.sub.de (Germany)  +
+      Marilyn McKim, aito at web.apc.org (Canada)             +
+      Michel Ehrlich, mehrlich at aibf.be (Belgium)           +
+-----------------------------------------------------------+




----------------------------- End forwarded message --------------------------

From kurdeng at aps.nl  Thu Oct 19 20:01:45 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 19 Oct 1995 20:01:45
Subject: AI: Turkey bulletin
References: <bac1c849.020695212409Rnf0.79b6@newsdesk.aps.nl>
Message-ID: <bac1c849.101995183838Rnf0.79b6@newsdesk.a>

------------ Forwarded from : Ray Mitchell <rmitchellai at gn.apc.org> ------------

+------------------------------------------------------+
+     AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL URGENT ACTION BULLETIN     +
+     Electronic distribution authorised               +
+     This bulletin expires: 16 November 1995.         +
+------------------------------------------------------+

EXTERNAL                                            AI Index: EUR 44/112/95

EXTRA 120/95            Fear of torture                     16 October 1995

TURKEY            Burhan Mutlu, a Kurd aged 34, father of two
                  plus two others, names not yet known


Burhan Mutlu and two other men have been held in incommunicado detention in
Istanbul since 13 October 1995. It is feared that they are being
interrogated under torture, presumably at the Anti-Terror Branch of
Istanbul Police Headquarters.

According to eye witnesses, a large number of plainclothes police officers
from the Anti-Terror Branch arrived at the "Girne" caf=E9 in the =DCsk=FCdar
district of Istanbul at around 5pm on 13 October. They detained Burhan
Mutlu, a Kurd from Karako=E7an who has been living in Istanbul for six or
seven years, and two other men and took them away in a car. Reportedly,
Burhan Mutlu's wife, who has been making inquiries as to her husband's
whereabouts, was told informally at Istanbul Police Headquarters in Aksaray
that he was being held there. Burhan Mutlu is said to have had contacts
with HADEP (People's Democracy Party), a legal political party with a
predominantly Kurdish membership which works for the civil and political
rights of the Kurdish minority.  In recent years, more than 100 officials
and members of HADEP and its two predecessor parties DEP and HEP have been
killed in unclarified circumstances, including a member of parliament.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

People suspected of offences under the Anti-Terror Law can be held in
police custody without access to family, friends or legal counsel for up to
30 days in the 10 provinces under State of Emergency in the southeast and
for 15 days in the rest of Turkey. When not being interrogated, detainees
are held in cramped, airless and insanitary conditions. With no access to
the outside world they are at the mercy of their interrogators. Torture
methods include being stripped naked and blindfolded, hosing with
pressurized ice-cold water, hanging by the arms or wrists bound behind the
victim's back, electric shocks, beating the soles of the feet, death
threats and sexual assault.

Procedures laid down in the Turkish Criminal Procedure Code for the prompt
and proper registration of detainees, and for notification of their
families, are almost universally ignored. Lack of prompt registration and
notification is extremely distressing for the families of detainees, and
creates the conditions in which "disappearances" and torture can occur.

Any person suspected of supporting the PKK or any other illegal armed
organization is at serious risk of torture, "disappearance" or
extrajudicial execution. In 1994 there were more than 55 confirmed
"disappearances", and more than 400 people were killed in unclarified
circumstances. At least 20 cases of "disappearance" in police custody have
been reported in 1995 so far.

+-----------------------------------------------------------+
+ Supporters of Amnesty International around the world are  +
+ writing urgent appeals in response to the concerns        +
+ described above. If you would like to join with them in   +
+ this action or have any queries about the Urgent Action   +
+ network or Amnesty International in general, please       +
+ contact one of the following:                             +
+                                                           +
+      Ray Mitchell, rmitchellai at gn.apc.org (UK)            +
+      Scott Harrison, sharrison at igc.apc.org (USA)          +
+      Guido Gabriel, ggabriel at amnesty.cl.sub.de (Germany)  +
+      Marilyn McKim, aito at web.apc.org (Canada)             +
+      Michel Ehrlich, mehrlich at aibf.be (Belgium)           +
+-----------------------------------------------------------+







----------------------------- End forwarded message --------------------------

From kurdeng at aps.nl  Fri Oct 20 18:13:30 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 20 Oct 1995 18:13:30
Subject: AI: Turkey bulletin
References: <bac1c849.020695212409Rnf0.79b6@newsdesk.aps.nl>
Message-ID: <bac1c849.102095154538Rnf0.79b6@newsdesk.a>

------------ Forwarded from : Ray Mitchell <rmitchellai at gn.apc.org> ------------

+------------------------------------------------------+
+     AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL URGENT ACTION BULLETIN     +
+     Electronic distribution authorised               +
+     This bulletin expires: 6 December 1995.          +
+------------------------------------------------------+

EXTERNAL                                            AI Index: EUR 44/113/95

UA 240/95               "Disappearance"                     18 October 1995

TURKEY            Mehmet Zafer Demirkiran, a Kurd, aged 19


Mehmet Zafer Demirkiran has "disappeared" in police custody after being
detained in Diyarbakir on 12 September 1995.  Efforts by his family to
establish his whereabouts have so far been met by official denials that he
is being held.  Amnesty International fears for his safety.

M. Zafer Demirkiran, who has been living and working in Mersin for the past
two years, came to Diyarbakir on 30 August in response to the call for
military service.  He completed the necessary procedures at the Military
Service Bureau on 31 August, and had been staying with his family for a few
more days when he was detained on 12 September.

On that day, seven armed police officers in plain clothes arrived at the
family home in two unmarked cars, one a cream-coloured Toros Broadway, the
other a white Sahin (which had no rear licence plate, but had one on the
front, number 21 R 789).  They conducted a brief search of the house.  The
family attempted to telephone Diyarbakir Police Headquarters to verify that
their visitors were properly authorized police officers, but the police
prevented this by smashing the telephone. They then took M. Zafer
Demirkiran away in one of the cars.  In the days following his detention M.
Zafer Demirkiran was reportedly taken blindfolded to his family's previous
address in Diyarbakir.

His mother submitted a petition for information of her son's whereabouts to
the Emergency Region Governor's office, which was not accepted.  She
submitted petitions to the Criminal Investigation Branch and the Anti-
Terror Branch of Diyarbakir Police Headquarters and to the Public
Prosecutor - all of whom denied holding M. Zafer Demirkiran.  His family
also applied to the Gendarmerie Headquarters in Diyarbakir which denied
holding him.

Every day the family submit a written petition for information to the
prosecutor's office at Diyarbakir State Security Court where all political
detainees are supposed to be promptly registered.  Most days they wait
outside the State Security Court for news of their son, so far in vain.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

People suspected of offences under the Anti-Terror Law can be held in
police custody without access to family, friends or legal counsel for up to
30 days in the 10 provinces under State of Emergency, which include
Diyarbakir province, and for 15 days in the rest of Turkey. When not being
interrogated, detainees are held in cramped, airless and insanitary
conditions. With no access to the outside world they are at the mercy of
their interrogators. Torture methods include being stripped naked and
blindfolded, hosing with pressurized ice-cold water, hanging by the arms or
wrists bound behind the victim's back, electric shocks, beating the soles
of the feet, death threats and sexual assault.

Procedures laid down in the Turkish Criminal Procedure Code for the prompt
and proper registration of detainees, and for notification of their
families, are almost universally ignored. Lack of prompt registration and
notification is extremely distressing for the families of detainees, and
creates the conditions in which "disappearances" and torture can occur.

After cases of "disappearance" in police custody began to provoke concern
among the general public, the General Director of Police Mehmet Agar
announced that a unit would be set up, as from 1 August, to track detained
persons.  However, Detention Monitoring Offices are currently only
operating in part of the country. In Diyarbakir or Mersin, for example, no
Detention Monitoring Office has yet been established. In Ankara, however, a
Monitoring Office has been set up with a public telephone number and staff.

Any person suspected of supporting the PKK or any other illegal armed
organization is at serious risk of torture, "disappearance" or
extrajudicial execution. In 1994 there were more than 55 confirmed
"disappearances", and more than 400 people were killed in unclarified
circumstances. At least 20 cases of "disappearance" in police custody have
been reported so far in 1995.

+-----------------------------------------------------------+
+ Supporters of Amnesty International around the world are  +
+ writing urgent appeals in response to the concerns        +
+ described above. If you would like to join with them in   +
+ this action or have any queries about the Urgent Action   +
+ network or Amnesty International in general, please       +
+ contact one of the following:                             +
+                                                           +
+      Ray Mitchell, rmitchellai at gn.apc.org (UK)            +
+      Scott Harrison, sharrison at igc.apc.org (USA)          +
+      Guido Gabriel, ggabriel at amnesty.cl.sub.de (Germany)  +
+      Marilyn McKim, aito at web.apc.org (Canada)             +
+      Michel Ehrlich, mehrlich at aibf.be (Belgium)           +
+-----------------------------------------------------------+




----------------------------- End forwarded message --------------------------

From kurdeng at aps.nl  Thu Oct  5 11:25:38 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 05 Oct 1995 11:25:38
Subject: mainstream news
References: <bac1c849.gate.T93B5c1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.eg4gcD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>

l (V-MailServer 2.20)
           id VT22089; Wed, 04 Oct 1995 23:21:31 -0800


GREECE-PKK CONNECTION CONFIRMED

According to  Foreign  Ministry  advisor  Onur  Oymen,  is  firm
evidence  of  strong ties between the PKK terrorist organization
and Greece.  One of the points mentioned  over  the  weekend  by
Oymen  was  that  Greek  parliamentarian  Siguridis was recently
given an award by PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan.

Interestingly, other sources have also confirmed that there is a
connection  between  the  PKK  and  Greece.   The  "Defence  and
Diplomacy" magazine that is circulated in Greece referred to the
connection   in   its   September  issue.   Bringing  everything
together, Oymen added that many of the problems  in  the  Aegean
region  stemmed from outside sources.  Oymen again stressed that
Turkey still wanted "real dialogue" with Greece.  /Cumhuriyet/


EUROPE PUTTING ON THE PRESSURE

Turkey is coming under pressure from  the  European  Union  (EU)
from  all  sides.   Both the EU and EU parliament want Turkey to
make more changes  in  the  current  reforms,  and  to  be  more
"flexible" in some areas of change.

Diplomatic sources note the contacts between Ankara and the  EU,
especially  as  the days grow shorter in connection with a final
decision on Turkey's membership in the EU customs union.

Supporters of Turkey among the EU member  countries  have  again
said  that  they  will  do  all  they  can  to  promote Turkey's
membership.  /Milliyet/


TURKEY DOES NOT WANT RAPID EXPANSION OF NATO

Turkey said  on  Monday  that  it  was  not  against  a  planned
expansion of NATO that would include east European states in the
Western allience, but was concerned that this process should  be
carried our carefully and gradually.

"We are in favor of NATO's  expansion  in  principle,  but  this
should  be  done  very  carefully  and on a step-by-step basis,"
Foreign  Ministry  deputy  spokesman,  Nurettin   Nurkan,   told
reporters./All Papers/

UNITED STATES WARNS SYRIA OVER KURDISH MILITANTS

The United States has warned Syria on the issue of  its  support
for  the  Kurdistan  Workers'  Party  (PKK),  a  high ranking US
official said.

Robert Pelletrau, assistant Secretary of State in Charge of Near
East Affairs, said that the tension between Syria and Turkey was
the cause of potential instability in the region, the  Anatolian
news agency reported on Monday.  "There are some difficulties in
Turkey's relations with Syria.  We are drawing Syria's attention
to the PKK issue.  This situation is a source of concern for us.
It is also another reason for us to improve our  relations  with
Damascus.   Dialogue  will  help  us  to  to solve these sort of
problems," he concluded.


SEAWOLF-2/95 NAVAL EXERCISES START IN AEGEAN AND MARMARA

The Turkish Naval Forces launched their scheduled "Seawolf-2/95"
exercises on Monday.

Troops and ships taking part left their  respective  main  bases
and  ports  in  Mugla, Kocaeli, and Istanbul for the Marmara Sea
and Aegean, where the exercise is taking place in  international
waters and airspace.

The exercise will end on October 11 with the  return  of  troops
and ships to main bases and ports./All Papers/



---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From kurdeng at aps.nl  Thu Oct  5 11:25:58 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 05 Oct 1995 11:25:58
Subject: mainstream news
References: <bac1c849.gate.T93B5c1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.6F4gcD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>


Turkish strikers face first defeat, stay strong

     ISTANBUL, Turkey (Reuter) - Striking Turkish public sector
workers faced their first defeat Friday when textile workers
slated to join the fight for higher pay instead agreed to
binding arbitration, the Turk-Is labor confederation said.
     ``This is a matter of life and death and the textile workers
betrayed us,'' Yildirim Koc, adviser to the president of
Turk-Is, told Reuters.
     But Turk-Is said the defection of the 16,800 textile workers
-- a total of 260,000 people are now on strike -- would not
weaken resolve to stay off the job until the government boosts
its pay hike offer of an average 5.4 percent for the year when
inflation is slated to hit 70 percent.
     Turk-Is has been a strong opponent of binding arbitration
for the public sector workers, arguing the process is inherently
unfair because unions have a minority representation on the
arbitration board.
     ``Our only trouble has been with the textile workers, the
other strikes are doing well, especially disrupting the paper
and sugar industries and the loading docks,'' he said.
     Bulgaria's railway chairman said the strike had stopped
incoming trains for three days, and Turk-Is said maintenance
workers in various regions of Turkey were blocking tracks to
keep trains from running.
     The nationwide strike by some 260,000 workers -- the number
will rise to almost 400,000 by mid-October -- comes as Prime
Minister Tansu Ciller is unsuccessfully trying to form a new
coalition to replace the one that broke down last week.

Turkey's Ciller may seek social democrat alliance

     ANKARA, Turkey (Reuter) - Turkish Prime Minister Tansu
Ciller may return to her former social democrat partners to try
to form a new government after talks with the main opposition
party collapsed, party officials said Friday.
     ``She may well meet the CHP (Republican People's Party)
again -- a new DYP-CHP government is of course a possibility,''
Ahmet Kucukel, a deputy chairman of Ciller's True Path Party
(DYP), told Reuters.
     Ciller's shaky right-left coalition ended Sept. 20 when she
resigned after a rift over internal security with the social
democrats' newly elected leader, Deniz Baykal.
     ``That was then, this is now,'' Kucukel said. ``We cannot
rule out possibilities just for a tiff.''
     Ciller met parliament speaker Husamettin Cindoruk Friday
evening in a meeting billed as talks on the possibility of early
general polls, but she told reporters later that the meeting was
just an exchange of ideas.
     DYP sources say Ciller may talk with party leaders,
including the CHP, Saturday.
     The presence of the CHP -- its hand strenghened by the
failure of a right-leaning alliance - in a new coalition could
mean a negotiated settlement to Turkey's biggest strike of more
than 250,000 public workers, now nine days old.
     The strike suffered its first major setback when textile
workers slated to join the fight for higher pay instead agreed
to binding arbitration, the Turk-Is labor confederation said.
     President Suleyman Demirel asked Ciller to form a new
government last week, but talks for a long-awaited conservative
alliance with the opposition Motherland Party (ANAP) broke down
Wednesday in a bitter dispute between the party chiefs.

Leftist guerrillas shoot dead Turkish sentries

     ISTANBUL (Reuter) - Leftist urban guerrillas shot dead two
Turkish sentries at Istanbul's gendarmerie headquarters,
Anatolian news agency said Friday.
     Members of the extreme-left Revolutionary People's
Liberation Party - Front (DHKP-C) shot one of the sentries as he
guarded the entrance to the complex in Maslak district Thursday
night, it said.
     The other chased the attackers and was later found in the
street with a bullet wound in the neck. He died in hospital.
     Anatolian quoted a senior gendarme officer as saying the
DHKP-C had taken responsibility for the attack. He said it was
an apparent act of revenge for the deaths of at least three
leftists prisoners in a jail riot in Izmir last week.
     At least three police officers have been killed in Istanbul
and more than a dozen wounded this year in attacks blamed on
leftist urban guerrilla groups or Kurdish militants.
     DHKP-C is an offshoot of the now defunct Dev Sol
(Revolutionary Left) group which killed dozens of Turkish
military and civilian officials as well as Western businessmen
and military personnel serving in Turkey in the 1970s and '80s.
     Dev Sol has split into two rivals factions in recent years.
     Leftist protesters took 28 people hostage at the Istanbul
bar association Thursday but freed them unharmed a few hours
later following a standoff with Turkish police.

Kurdish writer gets two years for article

     ISTANBUL, Turkey (Reuter) - A Turkish court Thursday
sentenced a Kurdish writer to two years imprisonment for an
article analyzing the seperatist Kurdish rebel movement, the
writer's lawyer said.
     Recep Marasli, 39, was found guilty of ``separatist
propaganda'' under article 8 of the anti-terror law, which
Turkey's European allies want lifted as a condition for
establishing closer economic ties.
     ``We argued the charge was contrary to European conventions
on human rights, but the court obviously didn't listen to us,''
lawyer Riza Dinc told Reuters.
     Marasli, who in mid 1970s founded the first publishing house
to deal seriously with Kurdish history, faces another 27 cases
for articles or speeches he has made about the Kurdish guerrilla
war for autonomy or independence in Turkey.
     All the cases but one are under article 8, which human
rights monitors say is used by Turkey to silence criticism of
military operation against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
     Dinc said they would appeal the charge, but Marasli has
already been sentenced to four years imprisonment in other
cases.
     Marasli, who has been in and out of prison since 1971,
suffers from brain and nervous disorders and his supporters say
he cannot get proper treatment from the Istanbul prison.


---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From kurdeng at aps.nl  Fri Oct 13 22:35:19 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 13 Oct 1995 22:35:19
Subject: mainstream news
References: <bac1c849.gate.T93B5c1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.sVsXcD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>


By Suna Erdem

ANKARA, Oct 11 (Reuter) - Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller told a top
economic body on Wednesday there was not enough money to meet the demands of
335,000 public sector workers who have been on strike for three weeks.

Ciller called a meeting of the Economic and Social Council to discuss the
strike which two key parties want resolved before they give her minority
government support in a scheduled vote of confidence on Sunday. "We have a
responsibility towards everyone," Ciller was quoted on Anatolian news agency as
saying as she left the meeting. "The resources we have do not belong to the
state, they belong to everyone...They must be fairly distributed."

Ciller said public sector workers earned up to three times the monthly wage of
civil servants. A high pay rise for the workers would mean pledging money that
did not exist and could entail higher taxes, she said.

State Minister Necmettin Cevheri pledged the collective bargaining process for
the workers would continue, but would be resolved "with all sectors and
balances in mind," Anatolian said.

"Ciller seems determined not to give us a higher pay rise offer, so the chances
of a resolution by Sunday look slim," Yildirim Koc, a senior official at the
labour confederation Turk-Is, told Reuters.

The strike by public sector workers, which began on September 20 over an
initial government pay rise offer of 5.4 percent for the year, has idled ports,
sugar mills, paper mills, slowed railways and threatens the production of basic
goods, including wheat and sugar production.

The strike, Turkey's biggest for decades, is losing Turkey over $10 million a
day of exports, trade officials say.

Turk-Is boycotted Wednesday's meeting of the Economic and Social Council, an
advisory body made up of leading economic officials, private sector
representatives and trade unionists. Turk-Is leader Bayram Meral told Anatolian
the labour unrest could only end with better cooperation from Ciller, and vowed
to do everything possible to stop her winning the confidence vote.

Ciller formed a minority government on Thursday with the support of a
nationalist far-right party and a left-wing nationalist party. It replaces
Ciller's right-left coalition, which collapsed on September 20 -- the day the
strike began. The confederation is lobbying MPs to vote against Ciller in the
tight vote of confidence this weekend in anticipation of failed negotiations,
and has called a rally in the capital on Sunday for workers and their families.

But Koc did not totally rule out an agreement: "Ciller does not appear to be
opening the door to a solution, on the contrary, she is increasing the
tension...But the unexpected could still happen. We are open to offers, but
better offers."

He said the government had offered workers an 11.6 percent pay increase for the
next six months, and 8.5 percent for the following six-month tranche. Turk-Is
was "ready to discuss" two six-monthly rises of around 24 percent and 19
percent, he said.

Inflation is expected to be around 70 percent for 1995.

Koc said he expected Turkish civil servants, who plan a one-day work stoppage
next week, to announce their solidarity with the workers on Thursday.

Anatolian quoted civil servants' union spokesman Alper Ozturk as saying they
would "take to the streets to paralyse Turkey on October 17" for the right to
strike and bargain collectively.

(2)

ANKARA, Oct 11 (Reuter) - Turkish civil servants are to hold a one-day work
stoppage next week, adding to the labour unrest threatening Prime Minister
Tansu Ciller's new minority government, Anatolian news agency said on
Wednesday.

"We will use our power in the service sector and take to the streets to
paralyse Turkey on October 17," it quoted civil servants' union spokesman
Alper Ozturk as saying.

A three-week-old strike by 335,000 public sector workers has forced Ciller to
call a meeting for later on Wednesday afternoon of a top economic council, a
spokesman for the prime minister said.

Anatolian said the Confederation of Civil Servants' Unions distributed
leaflets in central Ankara in support of the walkout next Tuesday. They urged
the government to give civil servants the right to strike and bargain
collectively, it said.

Turkish civil servants, unlike other workers in the public sector, are
forbidden from striking but often stage "work stoppages" to press their
demands.

Public workers union confederation Turk-Is is lobbying MPs to oppose Ciller in
a tight vote of confidence in her new government on Sunday. "We are going to
try to speak to every single MP," senior Turk-Is official Yildirim Koc told
Reuters.

He said about 350,000 workers and their families will hold a rally in the
capital on Sunday if the strike is not resolved. Turk-Is leader Bayram Meral
was to boycott the meeting later on Wednesday of the Economic and Social
Council, called by Ciller to discuss the strike, Koc said.

The advisory council is made up of leading economic officials, private sector
representatives and trade unionists. "Most of its members are close to the
government. We don't expect much from the meeting," he said.


(4) Turkey eyes share in Eurocopter's Tiger project

ANKARA, Oct 11 (Reuter) - Turkey has asked Eurocopter to be included in a
consortium that will produce Tiger assault helicopters and their spare parts, a
defence official said on Wednesday.

"We want to enter the consortium and produce some spare parts for Tigers at a
plant in Turkey," said the official, who declined to be named. "We propose to
have a 25 percent share in the joint deal and that will be in return for 30
helicopters that we are pursuing to buy from Eurocopter," he said.

The consortium to produce Tiger helicopters includes France, Germany and
Britain, he said. Turkey, trying to modernise its army under a $10 billion
project launched in 1987, has been in talks with Eurocopter since June to buy a
second batch of 30 Cougar general-purpose helicopters, he said. "The price in
the second batch will be almost at the level of the first one," he said.

In 1993 Turkey bought 20 Cougar helicopters worth $253 million from Eurocopter,
a joint venture between France's state-owned Aerospatiale and Germany's
Daimler-Benz Aerospace.

The official said Eurocopter would have delivered nine Cougars, which can carry
28 people, by January and deliveries for the first batch would be completed by
the end of 1996. "The other 30 under the new deal may be delivered from 1997,
if the purchase agreement is reached," he added.

(5)

FRANKFURT, Germany, Oct 11 (Reuter) - Renowned Turkish author Yasar Kemal said
on Wednesday he had not been able to write since he was charged under the
country's controversial anti-terror law.

Turkey's most famous writer faces up to three years in jail after being accused
of "provoking hatred" with an article he wrote in the German magazine Der
Spiegel about Turkey's military campaign against separatist Kurds.

Kemal, speaking to reporters at the world's biggest book fair in Frankfurt,
said: "I have not written in 10 months. Because of all the letters, faxes and
business with the lawyers, I have had no time. For a young man, it would not be
grave but for a 73-year-old, that is an unpleasant situation."

He said he had written the first volume of a three-volume work before his
writing ground to a halt.

"I said to the judge that if I must sit in prison for a year or two or three,
then I can start to write again," he told reporters at the fair which has
attracted 9,000 publishers from 97 countries.

Last month, a Turkish court agreed to try him on a charge of "provoking hatred"
instead of a controversial charge of "separatist propaganda." The original
charge was filed under a law the European Union wants changing as a condition
for closer economic ties with Turkey.

Defending his stance, Kemal told reporters: "I have always trusted in the usual
conventions and principles of human rights. These are founded on the belief
that every community has the right to determine its future for itself."

(6)

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Oct 11 (Reuter) - Kurdish guerrillas have killed seven
people including four pro-government guards in attacks on economic targets in
eastern Turkey, government officials said on Wednesday.

Government troops killed six Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels in a separate
overnight clash in the southeastern province of Bingol, the emergency rule
governor's office in Diyarbakir said.

PKK guerrilla rebels firing rockets and assault rifles killed a village guard
and two watchmen at an iron ore mine in the eastern province of Malatya on
Tuesday night, the Malatya provincial governor's office said in a statement.
The rebels then killed three other village guards and a night watchman at a
nearby state-owned telecommunications station, said the statement faxed to news
organisations.

The PKK have often targeted state-paid village guards, members of a
65,000-strong mainly Kurdish militia, in their 11-year-old separatist campaign.

Malatya is outside the 10-province state of emergency region in southeast Turkey
and not a traditional area of PKK activity. More than 18,000 people have been
killed in the rebels' campaign for independence or autonomy in southeast
Turkey.


---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From kurdeng at aps.nl  Mon Oct 16 18:15:40 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 16 Oct 1995 18:15:40
Subject: mainstream news
References: <bac1c849.gate.T93B5c1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.a143cD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>


Turkey's Ciller loses confidence vote
     ANKARA, Turkey (Reuter) - Turkish Prime Minister Tansu
Ciller on Sunday lost a parliamentary vote of confidence,
bringing an end to her 10-day old minority government. The vote
was shown live on television.
     According to preliminary figures, MPs voted 230 to 190 to
reject the vote of confidence in the conservative prime
minister's minority cabinet, formed Oct. 5.
     The vote paves the way for possible snap elections. However,
President Suleyman Demirel could direct one of Ciller's many
rivals to try to form a new government.
     Thousands of workers took to the streets of Ankara earlier
Sunday to demand a 'No' vote, after Ciller rejected their latest
wage demands.

Turk workers, police out in force before key vote

     ANKARA, Oct 15 (Reuter) - Turkish labour flexed its muscles
in central Ankara on Sunday, hours before a confidence vote in
conservative Prime Minister Tansu Ciller's fledgling minority
government.
     An advance party of about 8,000 workers gathered at Kizilay
Square, chanting anti-government slogans and waving the
star-and-crescent Turkish flag. Thousands more workers and their
families were expected to join them later.
     ``God willing, this will be the prime minister's last day,''
Bayram Meral, leader of the Turk-Is labour confederation, told
reporters.
     Turkish police were out in force at the rally, called by
Turk-Is to pressure parliament to reject a vote of confidence
and torpedo the government.
     ``Independent Turkey, Down with the IMF,'' shouted the
workers, denouncing what labour says is the International
Monetary Fund's hand in keeping wages down.
     Armoured personnel carriers, topped with water cannons, and
dozens of riot police stood by the square and police helicopters
hovered overhead. Police sharpshooters were positioned on
surrounding buildings.
     Police said they had mobilised 4,000 officers for the rally,
designed to pressure the government into a last-minute wage
settlement before the vote.
     Soldiers said all leave was cancelled for at least one army
unit near the capital.
     ``We want to stop Ciller from getting the vote of
confidence,'' said Ali Celik, a road labourer from the western
city of Izmir. ``There is no turning back now.''
     The local administration has said it would permit the big
rally but police officials charged the gathering was illegal and
hinted they may take measures to prevent it.
     Anatolian news agency said police had blocked charter buses
with workers leaving Izmir and the southern city of Adana for
Ankara on Saturday night.
     The rally follows a final round of political manoeuvring by
labour and political leaders ahead of a confidence vote that
looks too close to call.
     Ciller must win a simple majority of votes cast by up to 428
parliament deputies. Failure could trigger early elections, or
force President Suleyman Demirel to hand over the task of
forming a government to one of Ciller's many rivals.
     Turk-Is, representing about 350,000 striking workers, is
lobbying hard for a ``No'' vote. One influential politician has
said his party's support for Ciller was contingent upon a wage
deal before the vote.

Turkish labour flexes muscles ahead of key vote

     ANKARA, Oct 15 (Reuter) - Turkish workers gathered in
central Ankara for a mass rally on Sunday, chanting anti-
government slogans just hours before a confidence vote in
conservative Prime Minister Tansu Ciller's fledgling minority
government.
     An advance party of 2,000 workers gathered inside Kizilay
Square, chanting slogans and waving the star-and-crescent
Turkish flag. Tens of thousands of workers and their families
were expected to join them later.
     ``Independent Turkey, Down with the IMF,'' shouted the
workers, denouncing what labour says is the International
Monetary Fund's hand in keeping wages down.
     ``Don't let Ciller get away with it,'' they chanted.
     Turkish police were out in force ahead of the rally, called
by labour federation Turk-Is to pressure parliament to reject a
vote of confidence and torpedo the government.
     ``We want to stop Ciller from getting the vote of
confidence,'' said Ali Celik, a road labourer from the western
city of Izmir. ``There is no turning back now.''
     Armoured personnel carriers, topped with water cannons, and
dozens of riot police stood by the square. All entrances were
under tight police control.
     Police said earlier they had mobilised 4,000 officers for
the rally, designed to pressure the government into a last-
minute wage settlement before the vote.
     Soldiers said all leave was cancelled for at least one army
unit near the capital.
     ``Ankara's Most Difficult Day,'' read a banner headline in
the Islamist daily Zaman.
     The local adminstration has said it would permit the rally
but police officials charged the gathering was illegal and that
they might take measures to prevent it.
     Anatolian news agency said police had blocked charter buses
with workers leaving Izmir and the southern city of Adana for
Ankara on Saturday night.
     The rally, set to begin around noon (1000 GMT), follows a
final round of political manoeuvring by labour and political
leaders ahead of a confidence vote that looks too close to call.
     Ciller must win a simple majority of votes cast by up to 428
parliament deputies. Failure could trigger early elections, or
force President Suleyman Demirel to hand the task of forming a
government to one of Ciller's many rivals.
     Turk-Is, representing about 350,000 striking workers, is
lobbying hard for a 'No' vote. One influential politician has
said his party's support for Ciller was contingent upon a wage
deal before the vote.
     Anatolian said earlier that labour leaders were standing by
demands for a 70 trillion lira ($1.4 billion) payment from state
coffers for around 650,000 public workers.
     About 350,000 workers have joined the strike, which began on
September 20 over a government offer of 5.4 percent for 1995.
     Ports, sugar mills and paper mills stand idle, railways have
been disrupted and wheat and sugar production are threatened.

---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From kurdeng at aps.nl  Mon Oct 16 18:17:19 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 16 Oct 1995 18:17:19
Subject: mainstream news
References: <bac1c849.gate.T93B5c1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.k143cD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>


(1) Turkey PM Gets No-Confidence

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- Prime Minister Tansu Ciller's center-right government
lost a confidence vote in parliament Sunday, forcing Turkey's first woman
leader to step down.

Lawmakers voted 230-191 against Ciller's government, which has been under
attack for resisting early elections and taking a hard stand against striking
civil servants.

Ciller, a U.S.-trained economist who took office in 1993, had argued that an
early election would harm her economic austerity program and damage prospects
for closer economic ties with the European Union.

Her governing coalition collapsed in September in a dispute over the
belt-tightening measures. The prime minister and her center-right True Path
party then formed a new government by themselves, a move that required a vote
of confidence from the 450-member parliament.

The fall of the government will prolong Turkey's political crisis and may give
more conservative parties a chance at gaining an upper hand, possibly slowing
democratic reforms needed to forge stronger ties with the EU.

In a speech to parliament after the vote, Ciller said her party paid the price
for not giving into demands by strikers for hefty pay increases. "We did not
put our interests before the interests of the country ... Our head remains
high, high enough to touch the sky," she said.

It is now up to President Suleyman Demirel to designate someone to try to form
a new government.

The next general elections are scheduled for fall 1996, but early elections are
possible. Ciller told reporters after a party meeting following the vote that
she would offer parliament early elections on Dec. 24.

Although True Path is the largest party in parliament with 177 seats, it will
be difficult for Ciller to impose her date on the legislature. The EU is
demanding democratic reforms and a lifting of limits on freedom of expression
as a condition for a tighter relationship.

Turkey faces Western criticism for suppressing Kurdish ethnic rights and using
tactics such as forced evacuation of Kurdish villages to fight separatist
guerrillas.

A new government could include the pro-Islamic Welfare Party, which is against
stronger European ties. But no radical changes are immediately expected to
Turkey's Western-oriented policies or its role in the NATO military alliance.

A wave of strikes involving some 350,000 state workers have gripped the country
for the past month. Despite annual inflation of 91 percent, Ciller has refused
to grant pay increases of more than 16.7 percent.

A labor group organized a mass rally in Ankara on Sunday. Several people were
injured when workers clashed with police, who initially tried to prevent
several thousand workers from reaching downtown Ankara. Workers hurled stones
at police, who attacked the workers with clubs.

(2)

By Jonathan Lyons

ANKARA, Turkey (Reuter) - Turkey's Prime Minister Tansu Ciller Sunday called
for snap elections after her 10-day-old government, rocked by political
infighting and labor unrest, lost a decisive vote of confidence.

"Democracy and the country now need a very early general election," Ciller told
parliament minutes after the results were announced. She made no mention of any
date for the elections, originally set for next October.

Official figures showed MPs voted 230 to 191, with six absent, against Ciller's
new government, formed Oct. 5. After weeks of threats by rebel MPs, 13 of 177
deputies from her True Path Party (DYP) deserted her in the end.

President Suleyman Demirel can now ask any other MP to form a new government.
Whoever gets the task is expected to back Ciller's call for early elections.
Ciller, Turkey's first woman prime minister, had steadfastly refused widespread
calls for early elections, even from within her own DYP, after an earlier
coalition with the social democrats collapsed last month under its own weight.

Her supporters, including many in the business community, fear electioneering
would undermine the IMF-sponsored austerity program, imposed amid financial
crisis in early 1994, and hinder reforms needed to seal a customs union with
Europe.

The dramatic roll-call vote, punctuated by cat-calls and near-fistcuffs among
rival deputies, came against a backdrop of labor unrest in the streets and
personal vendetta in the corridors of power.

With Ciller scrounging for every backer, one putative ally announced an hour
before the vote he would withold his party's 10 seats unless the government
immediately settled a month-long strike by public sector workers. The deadline,
laid down by the Democratic Left Party (DSP), doomed the prime minister,
already reeling from high-profile defections in her own ranks and a solid wall
of opposition from most other parties.

Hours before the 3 p.m. vote, thousands of striking workers led by labor
federation Turk-Is rallied in Ankara's central Kizilay Square to demand a "No"
vote. About 15,000 workers chanted anti-government slogans and waving the
star-and-crescent Turkish flag. "We had no role in this. It was solely the
parliament's decision," Anatolian news agency quoted labor leader Bayram Meral,
leader of the Turk-Is labor confederation, as saying after Ciller lost the
vote. Meral had said before the vote: "God willing, this will be the prime
minister's last day." The federation represents about 350,000 striking workers.

One man was detained by police for attempting to attack the union leader as he
left parliament after watching the vote, Anatolian news agency said.

"Independent Turkey, Down with the IMF," shouted the workers, denouncing what
labor says is the International Monetary Fund's hand in keeping wages down.

Armored personnel carriers, topped with water cannons, and dozens of riot
police stood by the square and police helicopters hovered overhead. Police
sharpshooters were positioned on surrounding buildings. Police said they had
mobilized 4,000 officers for the rally, designed to pressure the government
into a last-minute wage settlement before the vote. "We want to stop Ciller
from getting the vote of confidence," said Ali Celik, a road labourer from the
western city of Izmir. "There is no turning back now."

(3)

ANKARA, Oct 15 (Reuter) - Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller on Sunday urged
early general elections for December after she lost a vote of confidence in her
minority government. "We find it appropriate to bring elections onto Turkey's
agenda on December 24 as the earliest possible date," Ciller told reporters
following a meeting of her True Path Party (DYP).

Ciller said her party would present a bill to parliament on early elections as
soon as possible. She lost the vote of confidence 230 to 191 after 13 of her
own deputies deserted her and a left-wing party, undecided until the last
minute, opposed her.

Ciller had resisted frequent calls in recent months from the opposition and
some of her own MPs to call snap polls. President Suleyman Demirel can now
nominate any MP to form a new government. Whoever gets the task is likely to
favour early elections.

By Ferit Demir

TUNCELI, Turkey, Oct 13 (Reuter) - An elusive Kurdish rebel chief is
mounting a campaign of diversionary hits in eastern Turkey to relieve his
guerrilla mountain stronghold from army pressure, security officials said
on Friday.

Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) regional commander Semdin Sakik has toured
several provinces in recent weeks to encourage rebel attacks that will
allow the core of his forces in rugged Tunceli province to stock up for the
harsh winter, they said.

"They are carrying out hit-and-run actions in surrounding provinces," a
security official in Tunceli told Reuters. He said Sakik was trying to draw
some of the 50,000 Turkish troops in Tunceli out to the nearby provinces of
Erzurum, Erzincan, Sivas and Malatya.

About 30 guerrillas killed a member of the security forces and the head of
a college in a well-planned attack on a roadside service station in a
remote area of Sivas on Thursday, local officials said.

"It must have been the PKK, no one else would do this," a spokesman for Sivas
governor's office told Reuters. The rebels cut the building's telephone lines
before striking. Sakik is also believed to have inspired the killings on
Tuesday night of seven people in Malatya, 70 km from the scene of the Sivas
attack.

PKK fighters firing rockets and assault rifles killed four village guards and
three watchmen at an iron ore mine and a nearby state-owned telecommunications
station in Malatya.

Sivas and Malatya have only small Kurdish populations and are outside the
10-province state of emergency region where the PKK is usually active.

More than 18,000 people have been killed in the PKK's 11-year-old campaign for
Kurdish autonomy or independence in southeast Turkey.

Sakik, also known as "Fingerless Zeki" after losing a thumb while firing a
rocket in northern Iraq, has been commanding rebel forces in a large area of
eastern Turkey from bases in Tunceli for more than a year. He has often led
assaults on military and civilian targets but did not take part in this week's
attacks, security sources said. He is said to be back in Tunceli organising the
storing of food and supplies after leaving small bands of rebels in the
surrounding provinces.

The state-controlled Anatolian news agency said security forces killed one of
a group of up to 20 guerrrillas in Sivas earlier in the week. A large military
drive failed to capture Sakik and force the PKK from Tunceli last winter but
the army says the guerrillas are suffering from a severe lack of supplies.

Security forces have killed at least four PKK fighters in the province in the
last 24 hours, security officials said. Two Turkish planes bombed suspected PKK
positions in the almost inaccessible Kutuderesi ravine in Tunceli on Thursday.

(6)

ANKARA, Oct 13 (Reuter) - A Turkish security court investigating a business
tycoon for comments he made on the Kurdish issue has decided not to press
charges, Anatolian news agency said on Friday.

"No reason was found under the Turkish penal code and the anti-terror law
to bring charges," the agency quoted a prosecutor at the Diyarbakir state
security court as saying.

Prosecutors had been looking into a speech by magnate Sakip Sabanci to a
meeting of businessmen in the city, the biggest in the mainly Kurdish
southeast.

Turkey's tough restrictions on freedom of speech have drawn fire from
Western critics who say they are used to suppress debate on the volatile
question of Turkey's Kurdish minority.

Sabanci, who is not Kurdish, had described the Kurdish issue as an ethnic
problem, going against the government line that an 11-year-old Kurdish
guerrilla campaign was only a matter of "terrorism." A rags-to-riches
tycoon, Sabanci owns Turkey's second-biggest conglomerate, Sabanci
Holdings, which has interests in hotels, car production, banking and
textiles.


---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From kurdeng at aps.nl  Fri Oct 20 22:38:21 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 20 Oct 1995 22:38:21
Subject: mainstream news
References: <bac1c849.gate.T93B5c1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.LDkaDD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>

 Fri, 20 Oct 1995 21:46:30 -0800


By Suna Erdem

ANKARA, Turkey (Reuter) - About 100,000 striking Turkish public employees
returned to work on orders from Prime Minister Tansu Ciller Wednesday as her
conservative party held talks on patching up her right-left coalition.

"Our workers returned to work today. Union leaders will hold a meeting
tomorrow to evaluate the situation," Yildirim Koc, a senior official at labor
confederation Turk-Is, told Reuters.

Ciller Tuesday ordered around a third of the 335,000 workers on strike back
to work, saying they were "disrupting health and national security." Turkish
governments are empowered to suspend public sector strikes for 60 days at a
time.

A senior official of Ciller's True Path Party (DYP) met his opposite number in
the Republican People's Party (CHP) for brief talks on reviving their
government partnership, CHP sources said. They gave no more details.

Istanbul stock market was buoyed by news that Ciller had seemingly put an end
to a month of political crisis. Shares closed Wednesday at 49,117.65, 3.28
percent up from Tuesday.

The two parties have few qualms about coming together again despite their
four-year coalition collapsing in acrimony last month.

Ciller's back-to-work decree covers workers in ports, railways, state sugar
plants and those in the oil, metal, forestry and paper sectors. Public workers
in other sectors, such as non-sugar agriculture, were not covered by the
decree.


---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From kurdeng at aps.nl  Wed Oct 25 17:17:12 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 25 Oct 1995 17:17:12
Subject: mainstream news
References: <bac1c849.gate.T93B5c1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.8kHJDD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>


By Hidir Goktas

ANKARA, Turkey (Reuter) - Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller's government
Monday proposed easing a freedom of expression law that could clinch a trade
deal with Europe just ahead of early elections it plans for December.

The government put forward a bill to parliament to soften the anti-terrorism
law's tough article 8, often used against peaceful advocates of Kurdish rights.

European Parliament members have urged changing or scrapping the law in
exchange for them ratifying a customs union pact between Turkey and the EU. A
vote on the lucrative deal is due by the end of the year.

Ciller's True Path Party (DYP) and the social democrats sent a joint bill to
parliament suggesting general elections on Dec. 24, ahead of polls scheduled
for next October, Anatolian news agency said.

The anti-terrorism bill, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters, proposes
that the penalty for "separatist propaganda" be decreased to a maximum of
three years from the current five. It also leaves the door open for jail terms
to be suspended or converted into a fine and for sentences to be applied
retroactively. It was unclear whether the proposed changes would be enough to
satisfy the rights-conscious European Parliament.

The catch-all article has been used to imprison scores of writers and
journalists for their comments on the country's Kurdish problem.

Its definition of separatist propaganda includes perceived support for Kurdish
cultural and political rights and criticism of the fight against Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas. The article 8 bill might be debated within a
week, parliamentary sources said, but there was no immediate indication of
whether it would be approved.

The election date proposal is to go before parliament's constitution committee
Tuesday, Anatolian said.

Ciller's right-wing minority government, which lost a vote of confidence eight
days ago, is still in power on a caretaker basis. She has agreed with the
social democrats to revive their right-left coalition which collapsed last
month after a row about domestic security and human rights.

"The (coalition) preparations are going well. Hopefully we'll shake hands at
the end of it," social democrat leader Deniz Baykal told the ATV television
station. The two parties have virtually agreed to the terms of a new alliance
to take the country to early general elections.

(3) Iraqi Kurds Claim PKK Defeated

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) -- A major Iraqi Kurdish guerrilla faction claimed Monday
it has routed rival Turkish Kurds in heavy mountain fighting in northern Iraq
that killed nearly 750 people in two months.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party said in a statement that its forces were
continuing to assault areas held by the Kurdish Workers' Party, or PKK.

The PKK is a Turkish separatist faction which has been using the Kurdish
self-rule enclave in northern Iraq as a springboard for attacks in southeastern
Turkey.

The Turkish Kurds launched an offensive against the Iraqi Kurds on Aug. 25,
seeking to undermine a U.S.-brokered cease-fire in a 17-month-old conflict
between the Kurdish Democratic Party and its main rival in northern Iraq, the
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.

The truce had jeopardized the Turkish Kurds' ability to exploit the chaos in
northern Iraq to intensify their own raids into Turkey.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party claimed Monday that over the last six weeks its
fighters have killed more than 550 PKK guerrillas, wounded hundreds more and
taken 90 prisoner. It said 105 of its fighters and 90 civilians were killed.

It said it has driven the PKK out of Dahok province, which borders Turkey, and
on Sunday launched a major offensive with 2,500 men in the Sidakan-Khakork
region to the east where the borders of Iraq, Iran and Turkey converge.

By Monday, the communique said, six PKK mountain bases had been overrun along
with food and arms dumps. "PKK resistance has collapsed after they sustained
heavy casualties," it said.

There was no independent confirmation of the claims. But if they are correct,
it would indicate a serious defeat for the Turkish Kurds. The United States,
seeking to reconcile the feuding Iraqi Kurds to maintain pressure on Saddam
Hussein's regime in Baghdad, mediated a cease-fire between the two Iraqi
Kurdish groups in August. That truce has held, despite efforts by Turkish
Kurds to wreck it.

(4)

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Oct 23 (Reuter) - Turkish troops killed six rebels of the
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in overnight clashes in the southeast, security
officials said on Monday.

The emergency rule governor's office in Diyarbakir said in a statement that
soldiers had killed three PKK rebels in Sirnak province and one each in the
provinces of Bingol, Tunceli and Diyarbakir in separate clashes.

It gave no military casualties.

More than 18,000 people have been killed in the PKK's 11-year fight for
autonomy or independence in southeast Turkey.

(5)

ANKARA, Oct 23 (Reuter) - A Turkish security court will ask a leading professor
to explain an academic report he wrote urging better treatment of Turkey's
Kurds, the court's chief prosecutor said on Monday.

Nusret Demiral, chief prosecutor of Ankara state security court, told Anatolian
news agency that the court would seek a statement from Dogu Ergil about a
report he produced in August on the southeast, scene of an 11-year Kurdish
insurgency that has taken more than 18,000 lives.

The report, commissioned by an influential Turkish business grouping, included
a rare poll of more than 1,200 Kurds, most of whom said they would choose
autonomy or being part of a federation if they could change Turkey's political
structure.

The court has been examining the report with an eye to prosecution under
Turkey's laws on freedom of expression, which have been criticised by the West.

Demiral said Ergil would be called to give a statement this week or next. Then
the court would decide whether to investigate and charge him for transgressing
anti-terror laws, he said.

Many conservative politicians, journalists and security officials condemned the
report's findings on its release. Most Turkish establishment figures refuse to
see the Kurdish problem as anything but one of internal security. But the
opposition and many of the media have suggested the report was influenced by
Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller in a bid to pave the way for democratic
reforms. Her office has denied this.

The report said support for the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas would
weaken if Ankara heeded Kurds' social and economic grievances and tolerated
pro-Kurdish sentiments.


---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From kurdeng at aps.nl  Fri Oct 27 17:08:48 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 27 Oct 1995 17:08:48
Subject: mainstream news
References: <bac1c849.gate.T93B5c1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.oF8mDD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>


ANKARA, Oct 25 (Reuter) - A key Turkish commission recommended on Wednesday
that parliament speedily pass an amendment to a law restricting freedom of
expression that could seal a trade pact with Europe ahead of polls planned
for December.

The recommendation by the justice commission of members from parliament's
four largest parties paves the way to a parliament decision on changing
article 8 of Turkey's tough anti-terror law, often used against peaceful
advocates of Kurdish rights.

The justice commission has the right to approve or block the discussion of
bills in parliament. Wednesday's decision means parliament will debate the
bill, put forward by Prime Minister Tansu Ciller's government, by early
next week.

Ciller is keen to have a long-sought customs union deal with Europe sealed
just before planned general polls in December, but she will have to work
hard to persuade staunch conservatives -- some in her own party -- to
approve the bill.

The bill proposes that the penalty for "separatist propaganda" be decreased
to a maximum of three years from the current five. It also leaves the door
open for jail terms to be suspended or converted into a fine and for
sentences to be applied retroactively.

"Our commission has agreed to recommend that parliament speedily debate
article 8," commission head Ali Yalcin Ogutcan told reporters after the
body voted by a large majority to pass the bill on to parliament.

Parliament sources said the commission is in essence recommending that the
article be changed. A commission member told Reuters: "A small change in
the phrasing will allow judges to convict a considerably smaller number of
people." But it is unclear whether the proposed changes would be enough to
satisfy the rights-conscious European Parliament.

European Parliament members have urged changing or scrapping the law in
exchange for them ratifying a customs union pact between Turkey and the EU.
A vote is due by the end of the year.

Ciller's True Path Party (DYP) and the social democrats want general polls
on December 24, ahead of polls due next October.

Conservative deputies say changing the law will encourage the 11-year
separatist insurgency by Kurdish guerrillas in southeast Turkey which has
claimed more than 18,000 lives.

Ciller's right-wing minority government, which lost a vote of confidence 10
days ago, is still in power on a caretaker basis. She has virtually agreed
with the social democrats on the terms of reviving their right-left
coalition which collapsed last month in a row about domestic security and
human rights.

(2)

ANKARA, Oct 25 (Reuter) - Turkish labour unions are hopeful that a
five-week-old public workers' pay strike that has rocked the political
arena will be solved soon, a labour confederation spokesman said on
Wednesday.

"Everything is going well. With a bit of nudging, this is going to be
finalised," Yildirim Koc, a senior official from the labour confederation
Turk-Is, told Reuters.

"We held talks yesterday, and we are expecting a call from the labour
minister about resuming those talks later today," Koc said. "Things could
be solved in today's meetings."

The labour strike by up to 335,000 public workers began on September 20
over an initial government pay rise offer of 5.4 percent for 1995. Annual
inflation is expected to hit 70 percent.

The strike was influential in Prime Minister Tansu Ciller's 10-day minority
government being toppled in a vote of confidence on October 15. After
losing the confidence vote, Ciller has come full circle to revive her
right-left coalition, which collapsed the day the strike began when she
resigned in a rift with the leader of her social democrat partners.

The government has since raised its pay rise offer, but Koc declined to
give the latest figures. The Anatolian news agency said the government and
Turk-Is disagreed mainly over percentage rises for the second year.

At its height, the strike idled ports, railways and sugar production, and
cost Turkey $10 million a day in exports alone. Around 200,000 workers are
still on strike after the government ordered workers in some key sectors
back to work.


ANKARA, Oct 25 (Reuter) - The European Human Rights Commission has agreed
to hear a case by a pro-Kurdish Istanbul daily that complained Turkish
authorities harassed it and forced it to shut down, the paper's lawyer said
on Wednesday.

"The commission has accepted the case by Ozgur Gundem newspaper against
Turkey ..which has acted in a biased manner against the paper to block its
freedom of expression and right to information," attorney Osman Ergin told
Reuters.

Ankara denounced the decision to hear the case, calling it a misuse of
European human rights laws.

Members of the European Parliament, expected to vote in December on customs
union with Turkey, want Ankara to amend or scrap elements of a special
anti-terror law, used to jail scores of people for writings and speeches on
the Kurdish issue.

Prime Minister Tansu Ciller's government on Monday put forward a bill to
parliament to soften the anti-terrorism law's tough article 8. But Turkish
officials said the Ozgur Gundem case was about combating "terrorism," not
about free speech or other human rights.

"The decision of the commission on a case closely tied with the support of
terrorism through the press will be...proof of just how principled and
objective a stance the monitoring bodies in Strasbourg take towards the
fight against terrorism," Foreign Ministry spokesman Nurettin Nurkan told a
news briefing.

Ozgur Gundem shut down almost two years after its May 1992 founding because
of closure orders issued by an Istanbul state security court for publishing
"separatist propaganda" and encouraging Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)
guerrillas.

Gundem's successor Ozgur Ulke and the latest pro-Kurdish daily Yeni
Politika shut down after a court deemed them to be essentially the same as
Ozgur Gundem.

A Reuters correspondent, Aliza Marcus, has been charged by an Istanbul
security court under Turkey's laws on the freedom of expression for an
article that appeared in Ozgur Ulke under her byline. She faces up to three
years in jail.

(5) Baghdad team meets Turks on north Iraq, UN embargo

ANKARA, Oct 25 (Reuter) - Iraqi deputy foreign minister Saad Abdel-Majid
al-Faisal met his Turkish opposite number Onur Oymen on Wednesday for talks
focusing on Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq and a U.N. embargo on Baghdad,
the foreign ministry said.

"They met today and the Iraqi delegation is due to meet the Foreign
Minister Coskun Kirca late today or Thursday," Foreign Ministry spokesman
Nurettin Nurkan told Reuters.

Nurkan said the Iraqi and Turkish delegations discussed bilateral issues,
focusing on northern Iraq and the United Nations embargo imposed on Iraq
for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. He gave no further details.

Both Ankara and Baghdad are concerned at instability in the three northern
provinces of Iraq, controlled by Iraqi Kurds under Western air protection
since the end of the Gulf War, as Kurdish militias fight to settle
longstanding feuds.

Iraq wants the mandate of the allied air force, which Turkey votes on every
six months, to be terminated. Nurkan said the matter was for parliament to
decide, and that Ankara could give the visiting delegation no promises.

The warring Iraqi Kurds have recently been drawn to the negotiating table
with U.S.-sponsored talks in Dublin, but one militia is now fighting the
Turkey-based Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which launches attacks on
Turkey from bases in the area.

More than 18,000 people have been killed in Turkey in the PKK's 11-year-old
fight for Kurdish independence or autonomy.

Nurkan said Turkey, which mounted a 35,000-man six-week military incursion
into the region in March, was still staging small-scale attacks against the
PKK there. "But there is no question of a wide-ranging operation inside
Iraq at the moment," he said.

Emergency Rule Governor Unal Erkan, based in Diyarbakir, told Reuters that
troops had staged an air attack on PKK targets in northern Iraq on Tuesday.
"We sometimes launch air operations against the terrorists, who escape from
the attacks of the KDP (Kurdistan Democratic Party) and settle near our
borders -- there was one bombing raid on Tuesday," he said.

The KDP, which shares power with a rival militia in northern Iraq, said on
Monday it had launched a big drive against the final PKK stronghold in the
rugged Khwakurk district near Iraq's border with Iran in an operation begun
on Sunday.

In Turkey, the emergency rule governor's office said troops had killed 18
PKK rebels in separate clashes in the provinces of Diyarbakir, Bitlis,
Tunceli and Batman.


---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From kurdeng at aps.nl  Sun Oct 29 01:44:27 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 29 Oct 1995 01:44:27
Subject: mainstream news
References: <bac1c849.gate.T93B5c1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.e9VPDD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>


Labor Agreement and Court Ruling Help Ciller and Turkey

      By Jonathan Lyons

    ANKARA, Oct 26 (Reuter) - Turkey edged towards closer ties with the
West and wrapped up a messy domestic labour dispute on Thursday in some
rare bright spots for beleaguered Prime Minister Tansu Ciller.

    Ciller's hopes for a Customs Union with Europe got a partial fillip
after a court freed two of six Kurdish MPs, jailed in a case that has
threatened to torpedo Ankara's 32-year dream of a customs deal with Europe.

    The prime minister also agreed to a $1.3 billion deal with public
sector workers, heralding an end to a strike that brought down her minority
government in a vote of confidence on October 15. She now heads a caretaker
administration.

    But it was not clear whether either development could ease pressure on
Turkey, criticised abroad for human rights abuses and battered at home by
runaway inflation and towering deficits.

    Turkey's appeals court ordered the immediate release of Ahmet Turk and
Sedat Yurtdas, serving 15 years and 71/2 years respectively, but upheld
sentences against four other MPs.

    In Brussels a leading member of the European Parliament said the
decision to confirm prison terms on the four Kurdish MPs did not bode well
for the Customs Union.

    ``Chances of a Customs Union have certainly not improved,'' said
Pauline Green, who leads the Socialist Group in the assembly.

    The Socialists are the biggest single group in the European Parliament
which has threatened to veto the Customs Union unless Ankara cleans up its
human rights act.

    The six Kurdish MPs were jailed in 1994, largely for speeches backing
broader Kurdish cultural and political rights. Two others were convicted
but freed for time served.

    Analysts saw some hopeful signs in Thursday's verdict, shored up by
Ciller's fresh appeal to water down Article 8 of the anti-terror law --
used to stifle debate of the Kurdish issue.

    ``We think it is very positive,'' a diplomat from Spain, now holding
the EU presidency, told Reuters.

    ``It is of utmost importance to combine the release of the MPs with
quick, non-cosmetic reform to Article 8. A combination of these two
elements will be decisive for the European Parliament in a way that each
done separately may not.''

    Ciller on Thursday welcomed parliamentary debate on changes to Article
8.

    ``These changes can help expand freedom of expression and end some of
the prosecutions that have been subject to debate at home and abroad,'' she
said in a statement. Two of the Kurdish MPs were convicted under Article 8.

    The proposed changes include lowering prison terms to a maximum of
three years from five years and allowing some sentences to be suspended or
converted into fines.

    The rewritten law would also require ``intent'' to violate Turkey's
territorial integrity, but human rights activists say it is unclear how
courts would define the term.

    Thursday's ruling on the Kurdish MPs did not please the chief
prosecutor at Ankara state security court, where the MPs were tried on
capital charges.

    ``They are traitors. They should have been executed,'' Nusret Demiral
told Anatolian news agency. ``(If) they continue to commit their crime, we
will take new steps against them.''


EU Socialist Upset With Court Ruling Against Kurdish MPs By Jeremy Lovell

    BRUSSELS, Oct 26 (Reuter) - A leading member of the European Parliament
warned on Thursday that the decision by Turkey's appeals Court to confirm
15-year prison terms on four Kurdish members of parliament did not bode
well for the planned Customs Union with the European Union.

    ``Chances of a Customs Union have certainly not improved,'' Pauline
Green, who leads the Socialist Group in the assembly, said in a statement.

    The Socialists are the biggest single group in the European Parliament
which has threatened to veto the Customs Union unless Ankara cleans up its
human rights act.

    The Parliament is due to vote on the pact, due to come into effect on
January 1, in early December.

    A rejection would automatically delay implementation of the accord
which was finally agreed in early March when Greece was persuaded to lift
its veto linked to the divided island of Cyprus.

    Implementation of the Customs Union would release around $1 billion in
aid and loans for Turkey and give both sides unfettered access to each
other's markets.

    The parliament is particularly anxious that article eight of Turkey's
anti-terror laws should be either erased or at worst considerably modified.

    The Turkish Appeals Court on Thursday ordered the release of two of the
six Kurdish members of parliament.

    But it confirmed the 15-year terms on thr four others including Leyla
Zana who has been nominated by the European Parliament's Socialist Group
for the annual Sakharov Prize for Freedon of Thought.

    ``We are bitterly disappointed in the confirmation of the jail
sentences,'' Green said.

    ``We welcome the release of some of the Kurdish deputies. But we are
deeply disappointed that the court has taken no cognisance of the trend in
Turkey against article eight of the anti-terror law.

    ``We will now study exactly what the judgment is and it will be a very
central part of our decision-making on the Customs Union,'' she said.

    Beleagured Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller, a keen advocate of the
Customs Union, on Thursday welcomed a proposal by a Turkish parliamentary
commission to hold a full debate on reform of article eight.

    ``Yesterday's action by the Justice Commission approving modification
to Article 8 of the Anti-Terrorism Law is of great importance to our
nation,'' Ciller said in a written statement released in Ankara.

    ``These changes can help expand freedom of expression and end some of
the prosecutions that have been subject to debate at home and abroad,'' she
said.



Three Month Extension Advocated For Operation Provide Comfort ANKARA, Oct
26 (Reuter) -
Turkey's National Security Council on Thursday advised the extension of the
mandate of an allied strike force stationed in Turkey to protect Iraqi
Kurds but shortened the term to three from six months.

    A statement issued after the monthly meeting of the council chaired by
President Suleyman Demirel said the task force, named Operation Provide
Comfort, should continue to be based in Turkey for three months from
January.


    The council, whose recommendations are adopted by the government as a
matter of routine, usually extends the mandate for six months. No reason
was given for the shorter extension.

    The decision coincides with a visit by Iraqi deputy foreign minister
Saad Abdel-Majid al-Faisal, who met Foreign Minister Coskun Kirca for talks
focusing on northern Iraq, the Iraq force and a U.N. embargo on Iraq
imposed for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

    Iraq wants the mandate of the allied air force to be terminated.
Foreign ministry officials have said the matter was for parliament to
decide, and that Ankara could give the visiting delegation no promises.

    The National Security Council also recommended that emergency rule be
extended in 10 southeastern provinces, where Kurdish guerrillas are
fighting an 11-year insurgency that has killed more than 18,000 people. It
agreed emergency rule should be extended for four months from November 19.

    Opposition in Turkey has grown against the allied air force, which has
protected autonomous Iraqi Kurds from Baghdad and patrols an exclusion zone
north of the 36th parallel.

    Critics say the autonomy given to the Iraqi Kurds, regularly consumed
in fratricidal conflict, increases the instability in the region and allows
the Turkish Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to build bases from which to
launch attacks on Turkey.

    Parliament will have the final say when it votes on both issues this
month or early next month.

    Provide Comfort consists of more than 100 U.S., French and British
planes based at Incirlik in southern Turkey.



European Parliament Delays Decision on Award for Imprisoned Kurd
      STRASBOURG, Oct 26 (Reuter) - The European Parliament put off until
November 9 Thursday's expected vote to award the 1995 Sakharov Prize for
freedom of thought to the first Kurdish women to enter the Turkish
parliament.

    Leyla Zana, an active and vocal supporter of Kurdish and women's rights,
was jailed for 15 years by the Turkish government in 1994. Her case will be
examined by the European Court of Human Rights at the end of 1995.

    News this morning that the court of appeal in Ankara had confirmed her
heavy sentence helped her nominators -- the Socialist, Green and United Left
groups -- persuade the other political groups to back her.

    Only the Europe of Nations (EDN) group was unable to reach a consensus so
the vote had to be postponed.

    Green group leader Claudia Roth told Reuters there had been much debate
between the political groups about whether awarding Zana the prize would help
or hinder attempts to put pressure on Turkey to improve its human rights
record.

    The European Parliament is threatening not to ratify the EU's customs
union with Turkey in December unless Ankara shows greater respect for human
rights and democracy.

    EDN leader Jens-Peter Bonde told Reuters he personally believed awarding
Zana the prize would ``certainly have an influence in the right direction.''

    He said some French members of the EDN still preferred to back the EPP's
candidate, Russia's first human rights commissioner, Sergei Kovalev.

    ``Either the group will agree to back Zana or else there will be a split,
the group will abstain and Zana will win,'' Bonde predicted.

    Roth told Reuters she was ``very disappointed'' with the failure to reach
a decision, but added ``I hope we will get the vote on November 9.''

    Earlier in the day Roth had labelled the Turkish court's judgment ``an
outrage'' which would delay the ratification of the customs union.

    The 15,000-Ecu Sakarov prize was created by the EU assembly in 1985 to
reward outstanding work in the field of human rights, the development of
East-West relations or the protection of freedom to carry out investigations
or scientific research.

    It is named after the late Andrei Sakharov, the dissident Soviet
physicist and human rights campaigner who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1975.


---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From kurdeng at aps.nl  Sun Oct  1 18:16:12 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 01 Oct 1995 18:16:12
Subject: Turkish Press Review
References: <bac1c849.gate.c3VN5c1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.DT9acD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>

       id VT21302; Sun, 01 Oct 1995 16:46:41 -0800


               THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 28, 1995
                   ---------------------------

Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press
this morning


NURKAN: ZANA DOES NOT MERIT NOBEL

Leyla Zana, a former Democracy Party (DEP) deputy sentenced to
imprisonment for her alleged links with the outlawed Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK), does not merit the Nobel Prize, Foreign
Ministry Deputy Spokesman Nurettin Nurkan said. "I do not
think that Leyla Zana has any international effort or success
that would necessitate her candidacy for the Nobel Peace Prize"
Nurkan said. "Such candidacies are caused by political aims
of certian circles" Nurkan said, adding that Turkey was
expressing its views to the "relevant institutions".
/Milliyet/

ANKARA DISPLEASED WITH OSLO OVER KURDISH CONFERENCE

The Turkish Foreign Ministry declared yesterday that it had
expressed its displeasure to Norway over the three-day long
Conference on Human Rights in Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria
held in that country, mainly dealing with issues relating
to the problems of the Kurds, but said no measures against
Norway were in the offing. "We have expressed our views and
reservations about this conference to Oslo. We also informed
them, in due time, that we would not participate in that
conference" FM Deputy Spokesman Nurettin Nurkan said.
However, he added that Turkey envisaged no measures nor
sanctions against Norway, which is already on the "red-list"
that brands a country as an "unreliable partner" in terms of
defence industry cooperation and prevents exports and imports
to and from that country. "It is clear that such initiatives
(that aim to abuse the Kurdish problem on international
platforms) are bound to fail" Nurkan said, "In our view, the
meeting is one that would yield no results". /Milliyet/



PORTUGAL SUPPORTS TURKEY FOR CUSTOMS UNION

Portuguese President Mario Soares, who came to Turkey for
a private visit, met with President Suleyman Demirel and
Deputy Prime Minister Hikmet Cetin. Soares gave a full
support message to Turkey for the customs union. /Cumhuriyet/


---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From kurdeng at aps.nl  Sun Oct  1 18:17:56 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 01 Oct 1995 18:17:56
Subject: Turkish Press Review
References: <bac1c849.gate.c3VN5c1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.iT9acD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>

       id VT21314; Sun, 01 Oct 1995 16:46:52 -0800


               MONDAY SEPTEMBER 25, 1995
                   -------------------------

Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press
this morning

PPK SUPPORTERS WAYLAY BOYNER

Leader of the New Democracy Party, Cem Boyner, was given a rough
reception by PKK separatist supporters during the third day of
his visit to Germany.

Over the weekend, during a visit to Turkish workers living in
Kreuzberg, Boyner and his party were assaulted by a crowd of
fifteen slogan shouting individuals waving PKK flags. Amidst
all the pushing and shoving members of both groups were punched
and kicked. Police intervention soon cooled the confrontation
down, and after identity checks and in some cases summons, the
PKK rowdies were released. /Hurriyet/

PKK MASSACRES FIVE

Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorists massacred five people
on Saturday night when they stopped two cars on the
Sivas-Erzincan road and murdered the occupants.

One of those shot and killed by the PKK was 23 year old NCO
Murat Namdar. Others wounded in similar incidents managed to
make their way to local hospitals for treatment. /Hurriyet/

TURKISH PARLIAMENTARIANS AT THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE

The Parliamentarian Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE)
Autumn sessions will take place in Strasbourg on September
25-29. A Turkish delegation headed by True Path Party (DYP)
Deputy Sait Kemal Mimaroglu, will also attend the meeting. The
most important issue on the agenda will be the applications of
the Ukraine and Macedonia for full membership in the European
Union. Through the efforts of the Turkish delegation, the Bosnia
issue will also be included among the urgent topics for
discussion.

To protest a negative PACE decision against Turkey, suspending
Turkey's membership in the Council, the Turkish delegation
refused to attend the June meeting. The Committee of Ministers
of the Council of Europe, however, did not accept the proposal
of the Parliamentarian Assembly and Turkey has again sent
representatives to the current PACE Autumn meetings.
/Milliyet-Cumhuriyet/

---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From kurdeng at aps.nl  Fri Oct 13 22:36:32 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 13 Oct 1995 22:36:32
Subject: Turkish Press Review
References: <bac1c849.gate.c3VN5c1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.wVsXcD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>


PKK MILITANTS KILL SEVEN PEOPLE

The militants of the PKK terrorist organization  killed  seven
people  including  four  village  guards in attacks in eastern
Turkey,  government  officials  said  yesterday.    Government
troops killed 10 PKK militants in clashes in Bingol and Igdir,
the emergency rule governor's office in Diyarbakir said.   PKK
militants  firing  rockets and assault rifles killed a village
guard and two watchmen at an iron  ore  mine  in  the  eastern
province  of  Malatya on Tuesday night, the Malatya provincial
governor's office said in a statement.   The  statement  added
that  the militants then killed three other village guards and
a night watchman at a  nearby  state-owned  telecommunications
station.   Meanwhile,  the  Iraqi  Kurdistan  Democratic Party
(IKDP) led by Mesud Barzani disclosed that  86  PKK  militants
were  killed  in  clashes during a recent 36 hour period.  The
IKDP sources said:  "More than 400  PKK  militants  have  been
killed  and  500  injured  since  August.   Some  PKK  members
surrendered".  /Hurriyet-Cumhuriyet-Sabah/

NEW IRAQ DEAL IN OFFING

Following up on US initiatives, Ankara has announced that  new
agreements  on  preserving  the integrity of Iraqi territories
are in the offing.  Government officials said  yesterday  that
efforts to secure a peace between the warring Kurdish factions
in northern Iraq, were moving  towards  a  written  agreement.
One  of  the articles in the agreement could well call for the
protection  and  preservation   of   Iraqi   sovereignty   and
territorial integrity, said officials.  /Cumhuriyet/


CILLER:  "TERRORISM IS CRUSHED"

Prime Minister Tansu Ciller,  in  an  interview  she  gave  to
Leaders  magazine,  said:  "One of the great victories Turkish
society has achieved over  the  last  20  years  is  that  the
terrorist  challenge  has  been crushed.  Compare Istanbul and
Ankara today with 15, 16 or even five years ago, and you  will
see  that  terrorism  is  disappearing.   Even in southeastern
Turkey, where  we  face  an  especially  brutal  and  ruthless
movement,  the  terrorists  have  largely  lost their grip and
their power is waning steadily.  But, unfortunately, terrorism
is  one  of the realities of modern life".  Also commenting on
the advantages she enjoys as  a  female  prime  minister,  she
said:  "As a housewife and a mother myself, there are things I
understand  about  ordinary  people  and   their   needs   and
aspirations  that  I think male politicians are less aware of.
I reached this position on my own merits and  that's  the  way
things  are  now that I am prime minister.  There are probably
many people in Turkey, particularly women, who find  having  a
woman prime minister a refreshing change".


TWELVE PKK MILITANTS KILLED, ONE CAPTURED IN SOUTHEAST

Twelve male militants of the PKK terrorist  organization  were
killed  and  a  female  militant  was  captured injured during
military operations in  the  Southeast.   Officials  from  the
Diyarbakir-based  emergency  rule  region  said  that  six PKK
militants  were  killed  in  Diyarbakir's  Silvan   and   Lice
districts,  three  in Batman's Sason district, two in Sirnak's
Guclukonak district and one in  Mus  Haskoy  district,  and  a
Syrian  woman  militant  was captured injured in Sirnak's Idil
district.  A temporary village guard was killed in action  and
another  village guard was injured during clashes.  Meanwhile,
some PKK terrorists who raided  Van-Catak  district's  Sirmali
Village  yesterday  night,  massacred one mother and a 4 month
old-baby.  Three  people  including  one  village  guard  were
injured in the attack.  /Hurriyet/


---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From kurdeng at aps.nl  Sat Oct 14 18:12:13 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 14 Oct 1995 18:12:13
Subject: Turkish Press Review
References: <bac1c849.gate.c3VN5c1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.397ycD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>


                    TURKISH  PRESS  REVIEW
                       OCTOBER 13, 1995


Summary of the political and  economic  news  in  the  Turkish
press this morning

ANKARA POLICE THWART PKK BOMBING CAMPAIGN

Two members of the PKK terrorist organization -believed to  be
a  bomb  squad-  were  caught  by Ankara police anti-terrorism
teams.  Police officials said that they  have  been  following
the  bomb  squad  for four months and that they caught the two
members, Zana Mazak and Hasan Ozgenc,  in  possession  of  306
grams  of  the  RDX type of explosive in the militants' house.
Officials added that the two were preparing  to  carry  out  a
bombing  campaign  in Ankara.  It was stated that Mazak joined
the PKK in 1992 when he was a student  at  Diyarbakir's  Dicle
University  in the Southeast and he has so far participated in
eight clashes with security forces.  Mazak said  that  he  had
been  trained at the Lavrion camp in Greece.  Ozgenc said that
he had been active in the PKK in the Netherlands and  received
a political education in Amsterdam and Denhag.  /Sabah/


TURKEY SLAMS SYRIA OVER PKK ESCALATION

Concerned  with  escalating  terrorist  acitivities   in   its
southern border areas, Turkey has once again warned Syria, and
asked Syrian authorities to take the necessary  measures,  the
Foreign  Ministry  stated  yesterday.  The statement said that
the Syrian Ambassador to Ankara was summoned  to  the  Foreign
Ministry on Wednesday and the issues of terrorist infiltration
and border incidents were brought  to  the  attention  of  the
Damascus  government.   "The  PKK terror organization's Syria-
sourced activities are carefully monitored by  Turkish  public
opinion   and  our  government.   The  strong  evidence  which
indicates that the leaders of  the  terror  organization  find
shelter  in  Syria  and  the territories under its control was
several times  brought  to  the  attention  of  Damascus"  the
statement  noted.   It added that the incidents such as border
violations, also were brought to Syria's attention.  "But,  it
is  observed that there has been a certain escalation of these
incidents this year.  Despite our initiatives these  incidents
have  not  decreased"  the  statement declared.  Meanwhile, US
State Department Spokesman Nicholas Burns said that Syria  had
been  warned  over  the  PKK  issue  and  pointed out that the
Damascus government's support for the  PKK  was  unacceptable.
Burns noted that US Secretary of State Warren Christopher, who
met with Syrian Foreign Minister Faruk El Sara last  week  had
especially   taken   up   the   PKK   issue  at  the  meeting.
/Hurriyet-Sabah/

TURKISH-IRANIAN SECURITY MEETINGS END

The  12th  ordinary  meeting  of  the  Turkish-Iranian   Joint
Security  Committee  held between 7-12 October ended in Tehran
yesterday.  Turkey and Iran agreed to conduct joint operations
"against   terrorists"   along  the  border  between  the  two
countries.  Turkish officials, who  attended  border  security
talks  with  the  Iranian  side  in  Tehran, said that the two
countries had signed an accord to jointly fight  terrorism  in
coordinated operations along the border.  /Cumhuriyet/


PKK MILITANTS KILLED ON MOUNT ARARAT

Six militants of the PKK terrorist  organization  were  killed
during  military  operations on Mount Ararat in Igdir and Agri
provinces in eastern Turkey.   Three  bazookas,  six  rockets,
three   automatic  rifles  and  many  illegal  documents  were
confiscated.


NO POSTPONEMENT SAYS EU

Reports from Strasbourg yesterday suggest that European  Union
(EU) leaders see no reason to delay Turkey's membership in the
customs union because of current domestic issues.  In reply to
a  Greek  proposal  that Turkey's membership should be shelved
for the time being, Spanish term president  Carlos  Westendorp
sharply  replied  that  Turkey  was  a  politically  important
country for the EU.  He then added that there was no reason to
delay  the  procedure  for  admitting  Turkey into the customs
union.  /Cumhuriyet-Sabah/


---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From kurdeng at aps.nl  Sun Oct  1 18:18:48 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 01 Oct 1995 18:18:48
Subject: Turkish Press
References: <bac1c849.gate.3k7P0c1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.LT9acD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>

Server 2.20)
           id VT21320; Sun, 01 Oct 1995 16:46:57 -0800


     ANKARA, Sept 25 (Reuter) - These are the leading stories in
the Turkish press on Monday. Reuters has not verified these
stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

    MILLIYET

    - Liberal Turkish politician attacked by club-wielding
Turkish far-left militants in Berlin.

    CUMHURIYET

    - Wave of public sector strikes grows.

    YENI YUZYIL

    - Moderate words from separatist Kurdish PKK leader Abdullah
Ocalan: We want to exercise democratic rights within the borders
of the Turkish republic.


Thousands of Turks Strike
      ISTANBUL, Sept 25 (Reuter) - Thousands of Turkish public sector workers
began a strike on Monday which union officials said would cripple railway
stations and ports.

    Striking railway workers demonstrated at the main Haydarpasa train
station in Istanbul and the port area of the same name ground to a halt.

    About 46,000 workers are expected to join Monday's action. The work
stoppages are part of a wider public sector workers' strike, which started
last Wednesday and is expected to swell to 350,000 workers this week.

    Turk-Is, the largest labour confederation, is demanding that the salaries
of about 680,000 workers in industries ranging from sugar to mining at least
match inflation.

    Turkey's annual inflation is expected to be about 70 percent for 1995.

    The stoppages also plunged Turkey in a sugar shortage after workers at 25
state-run sugar processing plants started a strike during the sugar beet
harvest.


Iraqi Kurds In Turkey for Talks
      ANKARA, Sept 25 (Reuter) - Representatives of an Iraqi Kurdish group
arrived in Ankara on Monday to discuss peace talks held earlier this month,
the semi-official Anatolian news agency said.

    A delegation from Massoud Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP)
spoke with Turkish officials about the results of the U.S.-mediated talks
that took place in Dublin some 10 days ago, the agency said.

    Iraqi Kurdish sources told Anatolian there would be a third round of
Dublin talks, which began in August, but could not give a date yet. Iraqi
Kurdish and foreign ministry sources could not be immediately reached for
comment.

    About 3,000 people have been killed in fighting between the militias in
northern Iraq in the last year. The main sticking points have been the
distribution of revenues from a makeshift oil trade run by the KDP and the
status of the main city of Arbil, which is held by the rival Patriotic Union
of Kurdistan.

    Ankara, which says the Iraqi Kurds' infighting allows the Turkey-based
separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to operate from northern Iraq, is
closely following the Dublin talks.


---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From KOMMAG at ASCO.comlink.apc.org  Mon Oct  2 02:22:00 1995
From: KOMMAG at ASCO.comlink.apc.org (KOMMAG at ASCO.comlink.apc.org)
Date: 02 Oct 1995 02:22:00
Subject: Demo-Aufruf:bundesweite Kurdistan-D
References: <5uiF1zSYx.B@kommagp.asco.nev.sub>
Message-ID: <5v5JyJvYx.B@kommagp.asco.nev.sub>

ahoi Netzgemeinde!

K>Wir bitten dringend um Spenden und Solidaritaetsunterzeichnungen fuer die
K>geplante bundesweite Demo zu Kurdistan.
K>(Kontonummer werde ich naechste Woche posten!)
K>
K>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
K>Infostelle Kurdistan e.V.
K>Maxstr. 50
K>53111 Bonn
K>Tel./Fax: 0228-656127

- hier das Spendenkonto fuer die Demo -

Laut Pleumsbeschluss auf dem letzten Vorbereitungstreffen in Ffm muessen/ 
sollten alle unterstuetzenden Gruppen mind. 30 mack zahlen...

Stichwort: "Demonstration 18.11.1995"
Kto.-Nr.:  3869506
BLZ:       370 100 50
Postbank Koeln
Konto-Inh.: K.Leukefeld

--------> naechste Vorbereitungstreffen am 22.Oktober 1995 in Koeln ab 13 Uhr
          der genaue Ort ist bei der Infostelle Kurdistan ab ca. dem           
          10.Oktober zu erfragen: Tel./FAX: 0228-656127



--
pgp-key als EB

                >> Willkommen im GLOBALEN dOrFFrIedhOf!

## CrossPoint v3.1 R ##

From kurdeng at aps.nl  Sun Oct  1 18:15:07 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 01 Oct 1995 18:15:07
Subject: 250,000 Stay Out On Strike
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.BT9acD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>

d VT21296; Sun, 01 Oct 1995 16:46:36 -0800



250,000 Stay Out On Strike
      ISTANBUL, Sept 26 (Reuter) - A strike by more than 250,000 Turkish
public sector workers was poised to enter its second week on Tuesday and
union leaders threatened to keep up the pressure until the government met the
pay demands.

    ``We now have the largest trade union strike in Turkey's history and we
expect political parties and the government to take note,'' Yildirim Koc,
adviser to the president of the Turk-Is labour confederation, told Reuters.

    The strike comes as Prime Minister Tansu Ciller struggles to put together
a new coalition following the collapse of the government last week. She has
offered the junior partner post to the conservative Motherland Party.

    Workers in leather and textile factories were scheduled to join the
nationwide strike over the next two days, with the total number of strikers
expected to hit almost 400,000 by mid-October, the Turk-Is labour
confederation said.

    Turk-Is called the strike on September 20 to protest the government's pay
rise offer of an average 5.4 percent for the year. The average pre-tax
salaray for a public sector worker is 18.5 million TL ($381).

    The government has said it cannot afford to offer the workers more
because of an austerity programme put into effect last year to bring down
spiralling inflation, cut the budget deficit and speed-up privatisation.

    Union officials say the wide effects of the strike may not be felt for a
few weeks, when the idling of maintenance workers for the railways or
highways starts to effect repairs and construction.

    The exporters' board warned the shutdown on Monday of the country's main
ports by the dockworkers' strike could threaten one-fifth of the estimated
$1.5 billion goods exported monthly while fears of a sugar shortage are high
because of the closure of 25 processing plants.

    Union leaders say they will not call the workers back to the shop floors
until Ankara makes an offer that would at least cover inflation. Inflation is
expected to be about 70 percent in 1995.


---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From kurdeng at aps.nl  Sun Oct  1 18:17:11 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 01 Oct 1995 18:17:11
Subject: Turkish Daily News
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.gT9acD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>


There will be no radical change in Turkish foreign policy, Inonu says

Turkish Daily News
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ANKARA- Foreign Minister Erdal Inonu, referring to the government crisis,
disclosed Tuesday that there would be no radical change in Turkish foreign
policy, the Anatolia news agency reported.

Inonu, who came to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly
meeting, during his bilateral contacts with his western counterparts, stressed
that Turkey would not change its stance over the issue of the customs union
with the European Union (EU).

Inonu had separate meetings with Portuguese Foreign Minister Jose Durrao
Barroso and Danish Foreign Minister Niels Helveg Petersen.

He told his counterparts that the postponement of the customs union would
negatively effect Turkish public opinion. It is known that the issue of the
former Democracy Party (DEP) deputies came onto the agenda during the
Inonu-Petersen meeting. Inonu pointed out that the European Parliament's stance
against the issue was wrong and that it was impossible to interfere in the
judicial process.

He also asked his Danish counterpart for measures to be taken against the
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) activities in Denmark.

Barroso expressed Portugal's support for Turkey's customs union with EU during
the meeting.

It is expected that Inonu will have separate meetings with the foreign
ministers of France, Malaysia, Albania, Bulgaria, Belgium, Luxembourg and
Sweden on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, diplomatic sources told Anatolia that Turkey wants to complete the
customs union process on Jan. 1 1996. "Turkey does not want any consensus for a
postponement to be reached among the political parties, press or in public
opinion. Inonu clearly gave this message to his counterparts during the
meetings," sources disclosed.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vorgau pleased about Turkish-German friendship

Turkish Daily News
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ISTANBUL- German Ambassador Dr. Hans-Joachim Vorgau expressed his pleasure over
the relationship between Turkey and Germany at a reception and buffet dinner
held at the German Consulate General Monday evening.

"Turkish-German friendship is on a good road," said Vorgau. "During the first
months I was here the stone which had been placed in the path, that is, the
stopping of the cooperation over weapons, made my duty very difficult. However,
ever since Wednesday this stone has been dug up out of its place, and the road
in front is open." (On Wednesday of last week Germany decided to resume
military aid to Turkey, suspended in March.)

The ambassador reminded the guests of Germany's active role in supporting
Turkey's entry into the customs union with the European Union (EU).

The country is also following this up with encouraging Turkey as the decision
day in December approaches. He also stressed Germany's commitment to keeping
the way clear for Turkey's full membership in the EU. He referred as well to
the cooperation over security in the region, in keeping with Turkey's
importance in the area and the steps which Germany has taken to support
Turkey's contributions towards peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Turning to the cultural field, Vorgau emphasized that he intended to continue
supporting the traditional Turkish-German symbiosis in the academic area and
the promotion of German language teaching.

The ambassador indicated that he had been in contact with all the universities
in Turkey in addition to those in Istanbul and Ankara. He expressed the hope
that before this year is over, he or his colleagues who were involved with this
would visit each one of the universities. Moreover he was very happy at the
agricultural symposium which was held this month at Ankara University, which he
pointed to as a beautiful example of the continuation of an unbroken, modern
and great tradition.


---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From kurdeng at aps.nl  Sun Oct  1 18:19:31 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 01 Oct 1995 18:19:31
Subject: Ankara displeased with Oslo over Ku
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.oT9acD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>

Subject: Ankara displeased with Oslo over Kurdish conference

 Sun, 01 Oct 1995 16:47:02 -0800


Ankara displeased with Oslo over Kurdish conference

However no measures against Norway expected

Turkish Daily News
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ANKARA - The Turkish Foreign Ministry declared on Wednesday that it had
expressed its displeasure to Norway over the three-day long Conference on Human
Rights in Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria held in that country, mainly dealing
with issues relating to the problems of the Kurds, but said no measures against
Norway were in the offing.

"We have expressed our views and reservations about this conference to Oslo. We
also informed them, in due time, that we would not participate in that
conference," Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman Nurettin Nurkan said.

However, he added that Turkey envisaged no measures nor sanctions against
Norway, which is already on the "red-list" that brands a country as an
"unreliable partner" in terms of defense industry cooperation and prevents
exports and imports to and from that country.

"It is clear that such initiatives (that aim to abuse the Kurdish problem on
international platforms) are bound to fail," Nurkan said. "In our view, the
meeting is one that would yield no results."

The conference, arranged by Oslo university and sponsored by the Foreign Office
of Norway, ended earlier this week with a set of suggestions on how to conduct
political reforms in Turkey and an appeal to start an internal peace process.

Many of the participants condemned PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) terrorism.

---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Mon Oct  2 09:04:53 1995
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 02 Oct 1995 09:04:53
Subject: Leading Turkish writer faces differ
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199510020216.WAA12899@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Leading Turkish writer faces different charge

Leading Turkish writer faces different charge

    ISTANBUL, Sept 27 (Reuter) - A Turkish court agreed on
Wednesday to try renowned author Yasar Kemal on a charge of
``provoking hatred'' instead of a controversial security article
charge of ``separatist propaganda.''
    The original propaganda charge, widely used against those
who criticise Turkey's military campaign against separatist
Kurds, was filed under a law the European Union wants changed as
a condition for closer economic ties with Turkey.
    ``It is not in the indictment, but we are thinking of
charging him under article 312,'' the prosecutor told the court
during the third hearing.
    The judges accepted the decision and Kemal's lawyers said
the original charge would remain in the indictment but not be
addressed by either side. No reason was given for the change.
    The prosecutor's move means Kemal faces up to three years
imprisonment instead of five years if found guilty of
``provoking hatred and enmity by displaying racism or
regionalism'' in his article in the German Der Spiegel magazine.
    Kemal, charged earlier this year for ``separatist
propaganda,'' had criticised Turkey's war against Kurdish
insurgents as a ``dirty and dirtying war.''
    Turkey's European allies have called for Ankara to lift
Article 8, under which scores of writers, lawyers and others are
in prison for expressing their views on Turkey's Kurdish
minority and the guerrilla war in southeast Turkey.
    The European parliament has threatened to veto a lucrative
customs deal with Turkey unless Prime Minister Tansu Ciller
sticks to promises to change the law.
    Lawyers say Article 312, which is not slated for change, has
increasingly been used against writers by state security court
prosecutors in the place of the ``separatist propaganda''
charge.
    Kemal's lawyers told reporters after the hearing they would
argue that the penal code article -- like the original charge --
is contrary to both Turkey's constitution and human rights
protocols ratified by parliament.
    Kemal, Turkey's perennial Nobel candidate, later said he
just wanted the case to be over because the process has made it
impossible for him to concentrate on his writing.
    ``At least if I am in prison I will be able to write,''
joked Kemal, whose novels often deal with peasant life in
central Anatolian Turkey.
    The court set the fourth hearing for December 1.

Reuter N:Copyright 1995, Reuters News Service


From kurdeng at aps.nl  Mon Oct  2 18:13:04 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 02 Oct 1995 18:13:04
Subject: Leading Turkish writer faces differ
References: <bac1c849.199510020216.WAA12899@locust.cic>
Message-ID: <bac1c849.100295125344Rnf0.79b6@newsdesk.a>

Subject: Re: Leading Turkish writer faces different charge

     id VT21694; Mon, 02 Oct 1995 15:46:58 -0800

------------------------ Forwarded from : ats at etext.org ------------------------

Leading Turkish writer faces different charge

    ISTANBUL, Sept 27 (Reuter) - A Turkish court agreed on
Wednesday to try renowned author Yasar Kemal on a charge of
``provoking hatred'' instead of a controversial security article
charge of ``separatist propaganda.''
    The original propaganda charge, widely used against those
who criticise Turkey's military campaign against separatist
Kurds, was filed under a law the European Union wants changed as
a condition for closer economic ties with Turkey.
    ``It is not in the indictment, but we are thinking of
charging him under article 312,'' the prosecutor told the court
during the third hearing.
    The judges accepted the decision and Kemal's lawyers said
the original charge would remain in the indictment but not be
addressed by either side. No reason was given for the change.
    The prosecutor's move means Kemal faces up to three years
imprisonment instead of five years if found guilty of
``provoking hatred and enmity by displaying racism or
regionalism'' in his article in the German Der Spiegel magazine.
    Kemal, charged earlier this year for ``separatist
propaganda,'' had criticised Turkey's war against Kurdish
insurgents as a ``dirty and dirtying war.''
    Turkey's European allies have called for Ankara to lift
Article 8, under which scores of writers, lawyers and others are
in prison for expressing their views on Turkey's Kurdish
minority and the guerrilla war in southeast Turkey.
    The European parliament has threatened to veto a lucrative
customs deal with Turkey unless Prime Minister Tansu Ciller
sticks to promises to change the law.
    Lawyers say Article 312, which is not slated for change, has
increasingly been used against writers by state security court
prosecutors in the place of the ``separatist propaganda''
charge.
    Kemal's lawyers told reporters after the hearing they would
argue that the penal code article -- like the original charge --
is contrary to both Turkey's constitution and human rights
protocols ratified by parliament.
    Kemal, Turkey's perennial Nobel candidate, later said he
just wanted the case to be over because the process has made it
impossible for him to concentrate on his writing.
    ``At least if I am in prison I will be able to write,''
joked Kemal, whose novels often deal with peasant life in
central Anatolian Turkey.
    The court set the fourth hearing for December 1.

Reuter N:Copyright 1995, Reuters News Service


----------------------------- End forwarded message --------------------------

From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Mon Oct  2 09:04:57 1995
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 02 Oct 1995 09:04:57
Subject: Kurdish writer gets two years for a
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199510020216.WAA12922@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Kurdish writer gets two years for article

Kurdish writer gets two years for article

    ISTANBUL, Sept 28 (Reuter) - A Turkish court on Thursday
sentenced a Kurdish writer to two years imprisonment for an
article analysing the seperatist Kurdish rebel movement, the
writer's lawyer said.
    Recep Marasli, 39, was found guilty of ``separatist
propaganda'' under article 8 of the anti-terror law, which
Turkey's European allies want lifted as a condition for
establishing closer economic ties.
    ``We argued the charge was contrary to European conventions
on human rights, but the court obviously didn't listen to us,''
lawyer Riza Dinc told Reuters.
    Marasli, who in mid 1970s founded the first publishing house
to deal seriously with Kurdish history, faces another 27 cases
for articles or speeches he has made about the Kurdish guerrilla
war for autonomy or independence in Turkey.
    All the cases but one are under article 8, which human
rights monitors say is used by Turkey to silence criticism of
military operation against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
    Dinc said they would appeal the charge, but Marasli has
already been sentenced to four years imprisonment in other
cases.
    Marasli, who has been in and out of prison since 1971,
suffers from brain and nervous disorders and his supporters say
he cannot get proper treatment from the Istanbul prison.

Reuter N:Copyright 1995, Reuters News Service


From kurdeng at aps.nl  Mon Oct  2 18:12:07 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 02 Oct 1995 18:12:07
Subject: Kurdish writer gets two years for a
References: <bac1c849.199510020216.WAA12922@locust.cic>
Message-ID: <bac1c849.100295125335Rnf0.79b6@newsdesk.a>

Subject: Re: Kurdish writer gets two years for article

n, 02 Oct 1995 15:46:52 -0800

------------------------ Forwarded from : ats at etext.org ------------------------

Kurdish writer gets two years for article

    ISTANBUL, Sept 28 (Reuter) - A Turkish court on Thursday
sentenced a Kurdish writer to two years imprisonment for an
article analysing the seperatist Kurdish rebel movement, the
writer's lawyer said.
    Recep Marasli, 39, was found guilty of ``separatist
propaganda'' under article 8 of the anti-terror law, which
Turkey's European allies want lifted as a condition for
establishing closer economic ties.
    ``We argued the charge was contrary to European conventions
on human rights, but the court obviously didn't listen to us,''
lawyer Riza Dinc told Reuters.
    Marasli, who in mid 1970s founded the first publishing house
to deal seriously with Kurdish history, faces another 27 cases
for articles or speeches he has made about the Kurdish guerrilla
war for autonomy or independence in Turkey.
    All the cases but one are under article 8, which human
rights monitors say is used by Turkey to silence criticism of
military operation against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
    Dinc said they would appeal the charge, but Marasli has
already been sentenced to four years imprisonment in other
cases.
    Marasli, who has been in and out of prison since 1971,
suffers from brain and nervous disorders and his supporters say
he cannot get proper treatment from the Istanbul prison.

Reuter N:Copyright 1995, Reuters News Service


----------------------------- End forwarded message --------------------------

From kurdeng at aps.nl  Tue Oct  3 15:05:50 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 03 Oct 1995 15:05:50
Subject: Reuter on political crisis in Turke
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.omHDcD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>

Subject: Reuter on political crisis in Turkey


By Firat Kayakiran

ANKARA, Sept 30 (Reuter) - Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller, foiled in her
efforts to form a conservative coalition, said on Saturday she would keep
searching for a government and would decide soon on a replacement for her
collapsed coalition.

"We are going to keep going with this business," she told reporters. "We will
not leave this country without a government -- you will see in the coming
days."

A spokesman from Ciller's True Path Party (DYP) said earlier Ciller was likely
to make an annoucement on a new government following a meeting of her party
executive. But Ciller did not mention early elections, and reporters' questions
to other party officials were unanswered.

Instead, she vowed to press on with her key aims of customs union with the
European Union, privatisation and a trans-Turkey Caspian oil pipeline. She also
pledged to keep up Turkey's fight against an 11-year Kurdish separatist
insurgency in the southeast, which has claimed more than 18,000 lives. "We will
never give up on customs union and we will never give up on terror," Ciller
said.

A top DYP official said earlier Ciller was considering putting forward general
polls after her failure to form a government to replace her right-left
coalition that folded 10 days ago when Ciller resigned over a dispute with the
new chief of her social-democrat parners. "If the barriers before Turkey's
progress will be removed with the DYP going for elections, then we are ready
for elections," Yasar Dedelek, a DYP deputy chairman, was quoted by the
semi-official Anatolian news agency as saying. He said elections may not be
ready from a technical point of view for the December date demanded by the
opposition, but could be held in the spring.

Ciller has been loath to hold polls ahead of schedule in October 1996, but
after the failure of a long-awaited alliance with the fellow conservative main
opposition party on Wednesday, her options have been narrowed.

Officials from Ciller's DYP and her former social democrat partners said on
Friday that the two parties may re-join in a new coalition, but Ciller has not
approached the social democrats for talks so far. Ciller wants to delay
elections as much as possible so she can push ahead with her own policy agenda.
She has been seeking the support of a patchwork of small parties from both ends
of the political spectrum for a minority government, but this option is also
fraught with difficulties and some politicians have publicly withdrawn their
support.

Any new government will have to deal with Turkey's biggest strike of more than
250,000 public workers, which is well into its second week, as well as a mass
of legislation for customs union and difficult democracy reforms.

The strike suffered a first major setback on Friday when textile workers slated
to join the fight over pay instead agreed to binding arbitration, the Turk-Is
labour confederation said. But Turk-Is said the rest of the strikers would stay
off the job until the government boosts a pay rise offer of an average 5.4
percent for 1995 when inflation is biled to be 70 percent.

President Suleyman Demirel asked Ciller to form a new government last week, but
talks for a long-awaited conservative alliance with the opposition Motherland
Party (ANAP) broke down on Wednesday in a bitter dispute between the party
chiefs.

(3)

ISTANBUL, Sept 29 (Reuter) - Striking Turkish public sector workers faced their
first defeat on Friday when textile workers slated to join the fight for higher
pay instead agreed to binding arbitration, the Turk-Is labour confederation
said.

"This is a matter of life and death and the textile workers betrayed us,"
Yildirim Koc, adviser to the president of Turk-Is, told Reuters. But Turk-Is
said the defection of the 16,800 textile workers -- a total of 260,000 people
are now on strike -- would not weaken resolve to stay off the job until the
government boosts its pay hike offer of an average 5.4 percent for the year
when inflation is slated to hit 70 percent.

Turk-Is has been a strong opponent of binding arbitration for the public sector
workers, arguing the process is inherently unfair because unions have a
minority representation on the arbitration board.

"Our only trouble has been with the textile workers, the other strikes are
doing well, especially disrupting the paper and sugar industries and the
loading docks," he said.

Bulgaria's railway chairman said the strike had stopped incoming trains for
three days, and Turk-Is said maintenance workers in various regions of Turkey
were blocking tracks to keep trains from running.

The nationwide strike by some 260,000 workers - the number will rise to almost
400,000 by mid-October - comes as Prime Minister Tansu Ciller is unsuccessfully
trying to form a new coalition to replace the one that broke down last week.

The strike will be one of the more pressing issues facing any new government,
and Turk-Is is already flexing its muscles, warning would-be partners not to
concede on the pay rise issue. The trade unions called the strike September 20
to force Ankara, which is trying to stick to an International Monetary
Fund-backed austerity programme, to match pay rises to Turkey's spiralling
inflation.

(4)

SOFIA, Sept 29 (Reuter) - A strike by Turkish railway workers has blocked
trains from entering the country from Bulgaria for three days, Bulgaria's
railways chairman said on Friday. Rail traffic is queued up at the border
because of the strike, Turkey's biggest, over pay demands.

"For three days passenger and freight trains have not been allowed to enter
Turkey except for a single train loaded with livestock," railways' chairman
Anguel Dimitrov told Reuters. "This morning we have 56 freight trains blocked
at the border," he added.

Dimitrov declined to give any figures of losses by the Bulgarian railways
before the strike ended. He said Turkish authorities would be charged with the
losses under the international rules.

An official at the Kapitan Andreevo checkpoint on the Turkish border, the only
crossing between the two countries, said there were no jams in road traffic.
"It's quiet here, we are having routine traffic," she said by telephone.

However, passengers are forced to seek free seats in buses heading to Turkey
from Kapitan Andreevo, a tourist said.

ISTANBUL, Sept 29 (Reuter) - Leftist urban guerrillas shot dead two Turkish
sentries at Istanbul's gendarmerie headquarters, Anatolian news agency said on
Friday.

Members of the extreme-left Revolutionary People's Liberation Party - Front
(DHKP-C) shot one of the sentries as he guarded the entrance to the complex in
Maslak district on Thursday night, it said.

The other chased the attackers and was later found in the street with a bullet
wound in the neck. He died in hospital.

Anatolian quoted a senior gendarme officer as saying the DHKP-C had taken
responsibility for the attack. He said it was an apparent act of revenge for
the deaths of at least three leftists prisoners in a jail riot in Izmir last
week.

At least three police officers have been killed in Istanbul and more than a
dozen wounded this year in attacks blamed on leftist urban guerrilla groups or
Kurdish militants.

DHKP-C is an offshoot of the now defunct Dev Sol (Revolutionary Left) group
which killed dozens of Turkish military and civilian officials as well as
Western businessmen and military personnel serving in Turkey in the 1970s and
'80s. Dev Sol has split into two rivals factions in recent years.

Leftist protesters took 28 people hostage at the Istanbul bar association on
Thursday but freed them unharmed a few hours later following a standoff with
Turkish police.


---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From kurdeng at aps.nl  Wed Oct  4 20:02:48 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 04 Oct 1995 20:02:48
Subject: Kurdish Anti-Fascist News From
Message-ID: <bac1c849.100495191158Rnf0.79b6@newsdesk.a>

Subject: Re: Kurdish Anti-Fascist News From Germany

------------------------ Forwarded from : ats at etext.org ------------------------

Kurdish Anti-Fascist News From Germany

----
7,000 Protest Murder Of Seyfettin Kalan In Neumunster

	On September 9, 7,000 people protested in Neumunster against the 
murder of Kurdish activist Seyfettin Kalan by Turkish fascists six days 
earlier. Seyfettin was killed on September 3 by members of the "Grey 
Wolves"; two other Kurds were wounded.
	The very fact that funeral processions are the only allowable 
form of political expression for the Kurdish exile community shows the 
reality of the situation which Kurds in Germany have faced since 
Kanther's bans went into effect. The murder of Seyfettin Kalan is the 
climax of an increasing wave of provocations and attacks on Kurdish 
establishments by Turkish fascists, the "Grey Wolves" (MHP), or by other 
pro-government forces, sometimes with the direct support of the Turkish 
consulate. The persecution of Kurdish associations by the German 
authorities only gives heart to these forces to increase their 
provocations and attacks. For example, Turkish fascists had already 
attacked Kurds in Neumunster on the Saturday before this murder. And a 
few days before, police had to protect a Kurdish establishment in 
Rendsburg from an attack by Grey Wolves.
	Even after the murder in Neumunster, the German authorities 
refused to pursue those responsible, namely the structures of the Grey 
Wolves in Germany, rather they continued to persecute the Kurds.  The CDU 
in Schleswig-Holstein [the state where Neumunster is] and CDU member of 
parliament Olderog criticized the "restraint" which police seem to show 
by not preventing banned symbols from being displayed (meaning Kurdish 
ERNK flags). Even the head of the police union, Lutz, complained to SPD 
state interior minister Wienholtz that he knew the funeral procession was 
being "directed" by the banned PKK and he advised Wienholtz to do 
something about this.
	We can only conclude from this that the German authorities, in 
confrontations between Turkish fascists and Kurds, don't persecute the 
fascist murderers but rather the Kurdish victims!

(Translated from Kurdistan Rundbrief 19/95)

----
Seyfettin Kalan Is Immortal!

	On Sunday, September 3, 1995, Kurdish activist Seyfettin Kalan 
was murdered in Neumunster. This attack marks a new high point in the 
terror against Kurds in Germany at the hands of the fascist Turkish "Grey 
Wolves". In the past few days, there have been repeated confrontations in 
several German cities. On Saturday in Neumunster, Kurds were chased 
through the streets and beaten. In Ulm, Bielefeld, and Muhlheim, arson 
attacks have been carried out against Kurdish establishments.
	On Sunday evening, about 15 Turkish youths assembled near the 
'Kochloffel' restaurant in Neumunster. They immediately attacked two 
Kurds standing outside, at which point one of the Turks pointed at 
Seyfettin Kalan and called out his name before firing at him several 
times. Of the four other Kurds who came out of the restaurant to help, 
two were shot and wounded. According to eye witnesses, at least three of 
the attacking fascists were armed with pistols.
	The "Grey Wolves" [known as 'Bozkurt' in Turkish - ATS] are 
members of the Turkish MHP (National Movement Party), which has as its 
goal the destruction of all "enemies of Turkey", meaning the Kurds. They 
are supported in this by the Turkish secret police, as well as by 
Turkey's embassies and consulates. By means of front organizations such 
as sports clubs, mosques, and associations, Turkish youths are trained 
and armed. Their conduct is similar to that of Turkish contra-guerrillas 
back home, who are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people. The 
General Staff in Turkey has stated on several occasions that he plans to 
declare war on "separatist Kurds" in Europe as well. (...)
	The anti-Kurdish stance of the German government has become clear 
once again through the conduct of the police following the murder of 
Seyfettin Kalan. The "investigations" thus far have been based solely on 
the statements of Turkish fascists. Interior minister Kanther has stated 
that "the fight against the PKK is also the responsibility of Turkish 
citizens", which amounts to legitimation and encouragement for the 
supporters of the "Grey Wolves".
	In order to express our sadness at the death of Seyfettin Kalan, 
and to protest against the anti-Kurdish sentiments in Germany, we will 
hold a funeral procession in Neumunster on Saturday, September 9, 1995, 
which will begin at the Friedrich-Ebert Hospital where the wounded Kurds 
are being treated.
	We call on the democratic public to take part in this march and 
to demonstrate with us as we call for a political solution in Kurdistan.

(translated from a leaflet prepared by the demonstration's preparatory 
committee)

----


----------------------------- End forwarded message --------------------------

From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Thu Oct  5 09:24:16 1995
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 05 Oct 1995 09:24:16
Subject: Kurdish Anti-Fascist News From Germ
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199510030126.VAA18056@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Kurdish Anti-Fascist News From Germany

Kurdish Anti-Fascist News From Germany

----
7,000 Protest Murder Of Seyfettin Kalan In Neumunster

	On September 9, 7,000 people protested in Neumunster against the 
murder of Kurdish activist Seyfettin Kalan by Turkish fascists six days 
earlier. Seyfettin was killed on September 3 by members of the "Grey 
Wolves"; two other Kurds were wounded.
	The very fact that funeral processions are the only allowable 
form of political expression for the Kurdish exile community shows the 
reality of the situation which Kurds in Germany have faced since 
Kanther's bans went into effect. The murder of Seyfettin Kalan is the 
climax of an increasing wave of provocations and attacks on Kurdish 
establishments by Turkish fascists, the "Grey Wolves" (MHP), or by other 
pro-government forces, sometimes with the direct support of the Turkish 
consulate. The persecution of Kurdish associations by the German 
authorities only gives heart to these forces to increase their 
provocations and attacks. For example, Turkish fascists had already 
attacked Kurds in Neumunster on the Saturday before this murder. And a 
few days before, police had to protect a Kurdish establishment in 
Rendsburg from an attack by Grey Wolves.
	Even after the murder in Neumunster, the German authorities 
refused to pursue those responsible, namely the structures of the Grey 
Wolves in Germany, rather they continued to persecute the Kurds.  The CDU 
in Schleswig-Holstein [the state where Neumunster is] and CDU member of 
parliament Olderog criticized the "restraint" which police seem to show 
by not preventing banned symbols from being displayed (meaning Kurdish 
ERNK flags). Even the head of the police union, Lutz, complained to SPD 
state interior minister Wienholtz that he knew the funeral procession was 
being "directed" by the banned PKK and he advised Wienholtz to do 
something about this.
	We can only conclude from this that the German authorities, in 
confrontations between Turkish fascists and Kurds, don't persecute the 
fascist murderers but rather the Kurdish victims!

(Translated from Kurdistan Rundbrief 19/95)

----
Seyfettin Kalan Is Immortal!

	On Sunday, September 3, 1995, Kurdish activist Seyfettin Kalan 
was murdered in Neumunster. This attack marks a new high point in the 
terror against Kurds in Germany at the hands of the fascist Turkish "Grey 
Wolves". In the past few days, there have been repeated confrontations in 
several German cities. On Saturday in Neumunster, Kurds were chased 
through the streets and beaten. In Ulm, Bielefeld, and Muhlheim, arson 
attacks have been carried out against Kurdish establishments.
	On Sunday evening, about 15 Turkish youths assembled near the 
'Kochloffel' restaurant in Neumunster. They immediately attacked two 
Kurds standing outside, at which point one of the Turks pointed at 
Seyfettin Kalan and called out his name before firing at him several 
times. Of the four other Kurds who came out of the restaurant to help, 
two were shot and wounded. According to eye witnesses, at least three of 
the attacking fascists were armed with pistols.
	The "Grey Wolves" [known as 'Bozkurt' in Turkish - ATS] are 
members of the Turkish MHP (National Movement Party), which has as its 
goal the destruction of all "enemies of Turkey", meaning the Kurds. They 
are supported in this by the Turkish secret police, as well as by 
Turkey's embassies and consulates. By means of front organizations such 
as sports clubs, mosques, and associations, Turkish youths are trained 
and armed. Their conduct is similar to that of Turkish contra-guerrillas 
back home, who are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people. The 
General Staff in Turkey has stated on several occasions that he plans to 
declare war on "separatist Kurds" in Europe as well. (...)
	The anti-Kurdish stance of the German government has become clear 
once again through the conduct of the police following the murder of 
Seyfettin Kalan. The "investigations" thus far have been based solely on 
the statements of Turkish fascists. Interior minister Kanther has stated 
that "the fight against the PKK is also the responsibility of Turkish 
citizens", which amounts to legitimation and encouragement for the 
supporters of the "Grey Wolves".
	In order to express our sadness at the death of Seyfettin Kalan, 
and to protest against the anti-Kurdish sentiments in Germany, we will 
hold a funeral procession in Neumunster on Saturday, September 9, 1995, 
which will begin at the Friedrich-Ebert Hospital where the wounded Kurds 
are being treated.
	We call on the democratic public to take part in this march and 
to demonstrate with us as we call for a political solution in Kurdistan.

(translated from a leaflet prepared by the demonstration's preparatory 
committee)

----


From kurdeng at aps.nl  Thu Oct  5 11:25:50 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 05 Oct 1995 11:25:50
Subject: Iraqi Kurds Hold Peace Talks in Ira
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.Bg4gcD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>

Subject: Iraqi Kurds Hold Peace Talks in Iran


      TEHRAN, Oct 3 (Reuter) - The leaders of two rival Iraqi Kurdish groups
are holding talks in Tehran to solve their disputes, an Iranian official was
quoted on Tuesday as saying.

    The Kurdish leaders were in Iran to ``bridge the existing gap between
them on control of northern Iraq. They both want peace and stability,'' Ali
Khorram, advisor to the Iranian foreign minister, was quoted by Iran News
daily as saying.

    Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) leader Massoud Barzani and Patriotic Union
of Kurdistan (PUK) head Jalal Talabani started their talks on Saturday,
Khorram said.

    ``The current negotiations have been arranged (by Iran) on the request of
the two rival faction leaders,'' Khorram added.

    The two groups failed to reach agreement in U.S.-brokered talks in
Ireland last month on the demilitarisation of the city of Arbil, held by the
PUK, and the collection of border oil levies, controlled by the KDP.

    Iran was critical of U.S. mediation in the conflict, saying regional
conflicts should be solved without outside interference.

    The factions, with a history of rivalry going back to the 1960s, agreed
to a ceasefire and exchange of prisoners at a first round of talks in Ireland
in August.

    About 3,000 people have died in intermittent fighting between the armed
groups since last summer.

    The militias have shared the control of northern Iraq, since shortly
after the 1991 Gulf War, when United States, British and French planes based
in Turkey started patrolling the area and keeping Baghdad's troops at bay.

Mass Strikes Hurt Turkey

     ANKARA, Turkey (Reuter) - Turkey's biggest strike for
decades has begun to cut deep into the country's trade and
production of basic goods, causing losses of over $10 million a
day of exports, officials said Tuesday.
     ``Initial figures show that Turkey is losing about $300 to
$350 million a month on its exports because of strikes,'' said
Okan Oguz, head of the influential Turkish Exporters Council.
     ``The threat is doomed to grow bigger soon if the government
and strikers do not reconcile,'' he told Reuters.
     The strike, which now involves some 330,000 public sector
workers, started in the agricultural and mining industries on
Sept. 20, the day Prime Minister Tansu Ciller's coalition
government collapsed due to a row between the two partners.
     Later, thousands more workers in the railway, petroleum,
iron and steel, leather, paper, printing, ports and roads
sectors and village services sectors joined in.
     There has been talk of the government invoking laws allowing
it to suspend strikes which threaten strategic interests. But
Turkey's politicians are deeply embroiled in their own
governmental crisis and no decisive action has been taken either
to crack down on the unions or to look for a compromise.
     Turk-Is, Turkey's biggest labor confederation, called the
strike to force Ankara, which is trying to stick to an austerity
program, to match pay rises to Turkey's hyperinflation,
predicted to be about 70 percent at the end of this year.
     The labor confederation demands pay raises of an average 38
percent for the first six months, then 25 percent for the next
half-year.
     Turk-Is head Bayram Meral said the government's offer of 5.4
percent over a year ``has broken any (possibility of) dialogue
with the government.'' He said Monday strikes would not end and
the total number of striking workers would reach 350,000 by
mid-October.
     The labor ministry said it would cost $2.3 billion to meet
the strikers' demands at a time when Turkey is battling to cut
is budget deficits.

---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From kurdeng at aps.nl  Thu Oct  5 11:26:00 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 05 Oct 1995 11:26:00
Subject: The strike in Turkey continues
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.2F4gcD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>

d, 04 Oct 1995 23:21:09 -0800


ANKARA, Oct 2 (Reuter) - About 73,500 workers from Turkey's state village
affairs department begun a strike on Monday, joining in the ranks of 260,000
other striking public workers, officials said.

"We will not be making sacrifices any more," Bayram Meral, head the largest
labour confederation Turk-Is, told a cheering crowd of the workers at the
department's head office in Ankara. "Let them not stop the workers (from
strikes)," he said, referring to demands from Prime Minister Tansu Ciller's
caretaker government that strikes be suspended until a new cabinet was formed.

The nationwide strike, now joined by over 330,000 public workers, comes as
Ciller is trying to form a government to replace the one that broke down on
September 20.

Meral said strikes would continue and the total number of striking workers
would reach some 350,000 by mid-October if the government did not raise its
annual pay rise offer of an average 5.4 percent while inflation is targeted
70 percent. Thousands of public workers from the industries of sugar, mining,
petroleum, iron and steel, leather, paper, printing, ports, railways and
roads have been striking since September 20.

The strike will be one of the more pressing issues facing any new government,
and Turk-Is is already flexing its muscles, warning would-be partners not to
concede on the pay rise issue.

The trade unions called the strike September 20 to force Ankara, which is
trying to stick to an International Monetary Fund-backed austerity programme,
to match pay rises to Turkey's spiralling inflation.

---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From kurdeng at aps.nl  Thu Oct  5 11:26:05 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 05 Oct 1995 11:26:05
Subject: The San Francisco Chronicle Sunday,
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.0F4gcD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>

Subject: The San Francisco Chronicle Sunday, September 24, 1995



                       TURKEY'S KURDISH CONUNDRUM
  TURKS AND KURDS HAVE LIVED IN PEACE FOR 900 YEARS, BUT 11 YEARS OF FIGHTING
 BETWEEN TURKISH SOLDIERS AND MILITANT KURDS MAKE SOME PEOPLE WONDER HOW LONG
                              THAT CAN LAST


Nicole Watts, Chronicle Foreign Service



Ankara

High on a dusty hill nudging the wall of the old Ankara castle is a
small shop piled from floor to ceiling with colorful patterned carpets
collected from such exotic locales as Azerbaijan, Dagestan,
Turkmenistan and the ancient Turkish cities of Van and Kayseri.

The Angora Bazar, as the shop is known, is run by two friendly men
with a firm grasp of the art of bargaining and a clear passion for
their trade. One of them, Muammer Uslu, is Turkish. The other, Ahmet
Burtur, is Kurdish.

Between customers, over cigarettes and tea, the pair's conversation
often turns to Turkey's ``Kurdish Problem,'' as the state's quest to
suppress Kurdish nationalism is commonly called.

The business partners emphasize that their different ethnic
backgrounds have never created personal problems between them.

``We're no different from each other,'' said Burtur, a tall man of 35
with dark eyes and a traditional bushy mustache.

Uslu, 47, nodded in agreement. ``Turks and Kurds intermarry. They have
the same traditions. We've been in this land together for 900 years.''


But how Turks and Kurds will manage to live even the next decade in
peace together is a problem Turkish society is finding increasingly
troublesome. The country's struggle to cope with rising Kurdish and
Turkish nationalism is proving a crucial test for its democracy,
straining as-yet mostly peaceful relations between ethnic groups and
raising gloomy comparisons with nearby Yugoslavia.

Longtime state dogma denying that the Kurds constituted a separate
ethnic group -- supported by a combination of outright repression and
education that downplayed ethnic differences -- has crumbled in the
face of 11 years of fighting between Turkish soldiers and the
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), an outlawed militant group demanding
some form of Kurdish independence.

The conflict has cost the lives of about 20,000 guerrillas, soldiers
and civilians, according to government figures, and has hardened many
Turks against any acknowledgment of Kurdish rights.

About a quarter of Turkey's 60 million people are of Kurdish origin,
but Kurdish-language education and broadcasting are banned, and
promoters of Kurdish culture and folklore still risk being prosecuted
as separatist traitors.

There is no consensus even among Kurds themselves on what their legal
status should be within the Turkish state.

Many, like Burtur, view the PKK as nothing but a group of terrorists
and think English-language schools would be more useful than classes
taught in Kurdish.

An increasingly vocal segment of Kurdish society, however, insists
that Kurds need specially guaranteed minority rights. Their cause has
been championed by politicians like Mahmut Alinak, a 43- year-old
Kurdish member of parliament jailed last year for his outspoken
Kurdish sympathies.

``The Kurdish people want security,'' said Alinak. ``They don't want
to be treated as potential criminals. They want to be able to express
their identity, and their cultural rights should be defined by
legislation.''

Open discussion of things ``Kurdish'' is, in fact, tolerated in ways
unimaginable a decade ago, when the word ``Kurd'' was taboo and use of
the Kurdish language publicly banned. Today, Kurdish- language
cassettes boast their own legal section in mainstream music stores,
bookshops prominently display Kurdish grammars and political tracts,
and the ``Kurdish Problem'' is popular fodder for late- night TV talk
shows.

``Let's imagine there's an independent Kurdish state,'' said Uslu, who
talks to hundreds of people around the country in his search for
handmade carpets. ``What will happen to those 3 million Kurds living
in Istanbul? Will they be told to move?''

``I won't go,'' Burtur interrupted passionately, striding across the
small shop. ``I'm a Kurd, and I won't go.''

This vigorous new social debate, however, takes place in the shadow of
legal and constitutional restrictions that give the government
sweeping power to imprison those it considers a threat to much- touted
national unity.

Thousands of journalists, professors and political activists like
Alinak have been jailed for writing and talking about the Kurdish
issue.

Last month, Safyettin Tepe, a 27-year-old reporter for the pro-
Kurdish newspaper Yeni Politika, died in police custody. The police
claimed he hung himself, but his family says he was tortured. Tepe was
the cousin of Ferhat Tepe, another journalist who Kurdish activists
say was killed after being detained by police in the same town,
Bitlis, in 1993.

In the rugged Tunceli region, government ``special teams'' prowl
through mountain villages searching for PKK supporters and are often
less than discriminating about whom they attack, according to numerous
reports. There and in 12 other southeastern provinces, the military
rules with a nearly free hand, courtesy of an Emergency Rule Law
recently extended by Parliament.

All of this has created havoc with Turkey's relations with the West,
threatening to scuttle plans for a valued customs union with Europe
and jeopardizing foreign aid from the United States.

Turkey is a democracy in the sense that its leaders are legitimately
elected, but three military coups since 1960 and a long tradition of
an authoritarian state have allowed generals and justice-system
appointees to wield considerable influence, especially on sensitive
issues like the Kurds.

``There isn't any constitutional system based on human rights,'' said
Akin Birdal, chairman of the Ankara-based Human Rights Association.
``Such a situation cannot be called democratic.''

Many conservative politicians, especially those in Prime Minister
Tansu Ciller's True Path Party, equate granting Kurds more ethnic
freedoms with caving in to the PKK's demands.

Earlier this year, hard-liners turned back an effort to change Article
8 of the anti-terror law, which allows the state to prosecute writers
and political activists for ``propaganda crimes'' in the
military-dominated state security courts.

Amending the article would be ``tantamount to giving people the right
to march with PKK flags,'' thundered one conservative member of
Parliament.

Turkey's rulers are still haunted by the memory of the disintegration
of the Ottoman Empire, which first lost much of its once- vast
territory to a succession of nationalist movements and then barely
escaped further carving up by victorious foreign powers after World
War I. Turkish nationalism was a concept more or less invented in 1923
by Kemal Ataturk to bind the new country, and its myriad minorities,
together.

Today, many Turks continue to regard Kurds as ``first-class citizens''
who do not need special rights.

``In the eyes of non-Kurds, Kurds have never been considered a
different ethnic group,'' said Professor Metin Heper, chairman of the
political science department at Bilkent University in Ankara. His
views reflect the attitude of many conservatives in government.

``This wasn't part of a `policy of assimilation,' as some people say;
it was genuinely believed,'' Heper continued.

``In the Ottoman Empire, the difference was between Muslims and
non-Muslims. That was all that mattered. If you ask a Turk today if
his friends are Turkish or Kurdish, he won't know -- people just
haven't thought that way.

``Therefore, the government has been very reluctant to start drawing
these distinctions.''

Turkish officials insist that Kurds have open access to any position
of political power.

Hikmet Cetin, deputy prime minister until a few weeks ago, is Kurdish
although he has never drawn attention to the fact. Former President
Turgut Ozal was reputed to be half-Kurdish. About 100 deputies in the
450-member parliament are Kurdish.

But many Kurds -- and Turks -- challenge the government's assertion,
noting that Kurdish equality has only come with the price of total
cultural assimilation.

``People thought, looking at Hikmet Cetin and people like that, that
Kurds could rise to the nth level politically,'' said Cem Boyner, 39,
the charismatic leader of the New Democracy Movement.

``That's not the truth. There is not one person who could rise to an
important position while claiming . . . that he was a Kurd.''

Boyner is no radical. A rich businessman, he heads a movement that
offers a mainstream alternative to Turkey's long-entrenched political
parties -- but is particularly critical of the government's reluctance
to grant full Kurdish rights.

Ironically, while the PKK has successfully forced the Kurdish issue
onto the national agenda, it has also provided ample fuel for
arguments against granting more political freedom.

Said Boyner: ``If the PKK were not in the picture . . . there wouldn't
be so much awareness of Kurdishness. But the PKK is using violence,
and that's a big block against granting Kurdish rights.

``I can say thanks to the PKK, but it's been a very expensive
lesson.''

While the PKK's main target is soldiers, it also murders
schoolteachers, bombs tourist resorts and shoots the families of
suspected government sympathizers.

The loosely Marxist group, which the government claims has about 3,500
armed members operating on Turkish soil and another 4,000 in
neighboring Iraq and Syria, has capitalized on the grinding poverty
and an oppressive system of quasi-feudal land ownership in the arid,
predominantly Kurdish southeast to elicit support.

Local villagers have found themselves forced to take sides in a war
between young Kurdish guerrillas and the heavy-handed Turkish
military, a conflict that offers little room for moderates.

A recently released study on the southeast commissioned by the
respected Turkish Chamber of Commerce reported that 35 percent of the
approximately 1,200 Kurds interviewed by researchers claimed they had
relatives with links to the PKK. About 42 percent favored some kind of
autonomy for the area, and 46 percent approved of the PKK's current
policies and tactics.

The state's refusal to grant full Kurdish rights and its emphasis on a
purely military solution to the Kurdish problem aid the PKK's cause by
radicalizing the population, critics say.

``The government's policies are increasing support for the PKK,'' said
Birdal. ``The rights of the Kurdish people have been denied, and the
government's politics of assimilation and oppression . . . make
polarization worse.''

So long as young Turkish conscripts come home in coffins and Kurds
head to western Turkey to compete for scarce economic resources, the
potential for inter- communal conflict builds, said prominent
historian Murat Belge. He cited several unreported incidents involving
armed clashes between different ethnic groups.

``The danger is rising that this will turn into a conflict between the
Turkish and Kurdish people,'' Belge said. ``There's a lot of hidden
tension.''

This summer the National Assembly, pressured both at home and abroad,
finally amended the country's military-era constitution in an effort
to make it more democratic and ease political tension. Professors and
unions may now associate with political parties, and the age
requirement for voting was dropped from 21 to 18.

Ciller spoke of a ``historical turning point for Turkey,'' but there
were complaints that the changes were too little, too late -- and did
not take any steps toward acknowledgment of Turkey's multiethnic
society.

``The amendments were ridiculous, they were so insignificant,''
complained Uslu, who wants to see an entirely new constitution.

Birdal agreed. ``The crisis that exists in Turkey today doesn't derive
from the age limit of voters. This constitution should include the
rights of all of Turkey's political, ethnic, cultural and religious
identities.''



---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Thu Oct  5 15:00:11 1995
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 05 Oct 1995 15:00:11
Subject: News From 'Kurdistan Rundbrief 19/9
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199510051328.JAA29935@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: News From 'Kurdistan Rundbrief 19/95'

News Translated From 'Kurdistan Rundbrief 19/95'

----
More ARGK Attacks In South Kurdistan

	The attacks by the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK) 
against the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Iraqi Kurdistan between 
the Turkish border and the 36th parallel continue to expand.
	According to reports from the ARGK, all eastern stations in the 
city of Sersting in Iraqi Kurdistan have been captured by the ARGK. 
Guerrillas forced their way into the city and destroyed the party 
headquarters of the KDP. Six houses were destroyed in the fighting. 9 KDP 
peshmergas and 1 ARGK guerrilla were killed, and 4 other guerrillas were 
wounded. The guerrillas also captured a large amount of ammunition from 
the peshmergas.

Hizava Under ARGK Control

	ARGK guerrillas attacked a military station and a control center 
of the KDP in the village of Hizava yesterday. The village of Hizava lies 
between the cities of Derkar and Batuva in Iraqi Kurdistan. According to 
reports, peshmergas fled to the city center after the fighting. During 
fighting in the city center with the peshmergas, guerrillas took control 
of the village and set a KDP military station on fire and destroyed it. 
According to their own reports, the guerrillas also captured 8 
peshmergas, including one who was wounded, and they confiscated all their 
weapons.

ARGK Road Block Near Zaxo

	ARGK guerrillas set up a road block on the road between Zaxo and 
the city of Batufa. The guerrillas detained several persons, including 
those with KDP passports.

Bamerli Under ARGK Control

	Guerrillas from the ARGK increased their attacks on KDP stations 
in the city of Bamerli yesterday, after they overran the KDP's hilltop 
defenses outside the city. Fighting then broke out between peshmergas and 
guerrillas. During the battle, which lasted all day, the KDP called in 
reinforcements from the city of Amediye. ARGK guerrillas then destroyed a 
KDP military vehicle. According to recent reports, the KDP reinforcements 
have retreated and the city has been taken over by the ARGK. One KDP 
military station and several control stations were destroyed. Reports 
also indicate that guerrillas protected a United Nations (UN) building 
during the fighting in the city. According to reports from our 
correspondents, the local population, which initially supported the KDP 
in their attacks against the ARGK, are no longer participating in the 
fighting. The guerrillas who took control of the city have begun 
organizing propaganda sessions for the local population.
	During a separate attack by ARGK guerrillas on a hilltop KDP 
position in the city of Miroz in Iraqi Kurdistan, 4 peshmergas were 
killed and 1 guerrilla wounded.

Mesut Barzani At Sela Bize

	According to reports from our correspondents, Mesut Barzani, the 
leader of the KDP, recently went to the city of Sela Bize in Iraqi 
Kurdistan. Barzani has begun threatening the local population, reports 
indicate. Many people from the city have been arrested.

(DEM News Agency, September 10, 1995)

----
7,000 Protest The Murder Of Seyfettin Kalan In Neumunster

	On September 9, 7,000 people protested in Neumunster against the 
murder of Kurdish activist Seyfettin Kalan by Turkish fascists six days 
earlier. Seyfettin was killed on September 3 by members of the "Grey 
Wolves"; two other Kurds were wounded.
	The very fact that funeral processions are the only allowable 
form of political expression for the Kurdish exile community shows the 
reality of the situation which Kurds in Germany have faced since 
Kanther's bans went into effect. The murder of Seyfettin Kalan is the 
climax of an increasing wave of provocations and attacks on Kurdish 
establishments by Turkish fascists, the "Grey Wolves" (MHP), or by other 
pro-government forces, sometimes with the direct support of the Turkish 
consulate. The persecution of Kurdish associations by the German 
authorities only gives heart to these forces to increase their 
provocations and attacks. For example, Turkish fascists had already 
attacked Kurds in Neumunster on the Saturday before this murder. And a 
few days before, police had to protect a Kurdish establishment in 
Rendsburg from an attack by Grey Wolves.
	Even after the murder in Neumunster, the German authorities 
refused to pursue those responsible, namely the structures of the Grey 
Wolves in Germany, rather they continued to persecute the Kurds.  The CDU 
in Schleswig-Holstein [the state where Neumunster is] and CDU member of 
parliament Olderog criticized the "restraint" which police seem to show 
by not preventing banned symbols from being displayed (meaning Kurdish 
ERNK flags). Even the head of the police union, Lutz, complained to SPD 
state interior minister Wienholtz that he knew the funeral procession was 
being "directed" by the banned PKK and he advised Wienholtz to do 
something about this.
	We can only conclude from this that the German authorities, in 
confrontations between Turkish fascists and Kurds, don't persecute the 
fascist murderers but rather the Kurdish victims!

----
Seyfettin Kalan Is Immortal!

	On Sunday, September 3, 1995, Kurdish activist Seyfettin Kalan 
was murdered in Neumunster. This attack marks a new high point in the 
terror against Kurds in Germany at the hands of the fascist Turkish "Grey 
Wolves". In the past few days, there have been repeated confrontations in 
several German cities. On Saturday in Neumunster, Kurds were chased 
through the streets and beaten. In Ulm, Bielefeld, and Muhlheim, arson 
attacks have been carried out against Kurdish establishments.
	On Sunday evening, about 15 Turkish youths assembled near the 
'Kochloffel' restaurant in Neumunster. They immediately attacked two 
Kurds standing outside, at which point one of the Turks pointed at 
Seyfettin Kalan and called out his name before firing at him several 
times. Of the four other Kurds who came out of the restaurant to help, 
two were shot and wounded. According to eye witnesses, at least three of 
the attacking fascists were armed with pistols.
	The "Grey Wolves" [known as 'Bozkurt' in Turkish - ATS] are 
members of the Turkish MHP (National Movement Party), which has as its 
goal the destruction of all "enemies of Turkey", meaning the Kurds. They 
are supported in this by the Turkish secret police, as well as by 
Turkey's embassies and consulates. By means of front organizations such 
as sports clubs, mosques, and associations, Turkish youths are trained 
and armed. Their conduct is similar to that of Turkish contra-guerrillas 
back home, who are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people. The 
General Staff in Turkey has stated on several occasions that he plans to 
declare war on "separatist Kurds" in Europe as well. (...)
	The anti-Kurdish stance of the German government has become clear 
once again through the conduct of the police following the murder of 
Seyfettin Kalan. The "investigations" thus far have been based solely on 
the statements of Turkish fascists. Interior minister Kanther has stated 
that "the fight against the PKK is also the responsibility of Turkish 
citizens", which amounts to legitimation and encouragement for the 
supporters of the "Grey Wolves".
	In order to express our sadness at the death of Seyfettin Kalan, 
and to protest against the anti-Kurdish sentiments in Germany, we will 
hold a funeral procession in Neumunster on Saturday, September 9, 1995, 
which will begin at the Friedrich-Ebert Hospital where the wounded Kurds 
are being treated.
	We call on the democratic public to take part in this march and 
to demonstrate with us as we call for a political solution in Kurdistan.

(from a leaflet by the demonstration preparatory committee)

----
The Turkish Embassy And The Grey Wolves

	(...) Fellemez Basboga, a member of the Kurdistan Parliament in 
Exile, discussed in his speech [during the funeral procession] the role 
of Turkish diplomatic missions in Germany in the organizing efforts of 
the MHP. The newly appointed ambassador in Bonn, Volkan Vural, was a 
long-time member of the Turkish National Security Council (MGK), a 
military/secret police organization which has de facto over the parliament.
	His stationing in Germany "coincides with the decisions of the 
council to expand the activities of death squads and the secret police in 
combatting the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) abroad". In addition to 
this, the MHP, besides having members in the death squads and the 
"special forces" of the Turkish army, also operates several front 
organizations. It recruits its members via Turkish sports clubs and mosques.
	It is important to understand, said Basboga, that "banning or 
increasing the controls over such organizations" would do much more for 
the cause of domestic security in Germany than "the sweeping 
criminalization of Kurdish politics".
	Anyone who doubts the willingness of the Kurdish people to seek a 
political solution should turn their attention to the Parliament in 
Exile, which is prepared for negotiations at any time.
	A Turkish spokesperson for the demonstration, Ibrahim K., told 
the DEM News Agency about the activities of the National Movement Party 
(MHP) in Germany during the 1970s and 80s.
	Alparslan Turkes, the leader of the far-right party, not only 
maintained close contacts with the German right-wing extremist German 
Nationalist Party (NPD), rather he was also "best friend" of then-leader 
of the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), Franz-Joseph Strauss. Close 
ties with the CSU were maintained through Turkish industrialist Murat 
Bayrak. Not only have several MHP members and members of associated 
groups been apprehended at Dusseldorf Airport with large quantities of 
drugs, but even Ali Agca, the MHP member who tried to assassinate the 
Pope, was transported to Italy via Germany.
	Violent actions by the so-called Grey Wolves have generally been 
aimed at Turkish and Kurdish opposition groups. There have been several 
attacks, including one murder, against foreign trade unionists in Germany.

(DEM News Agency, September 9, 1995)

----
The German Authorities And The MHP

On July 24, questions were raised in the German parliament by Ulla 
Jelpke, MP from the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), concerning the 
activities of the Turkish fascist National Movement Party (MHP), 
otherwise known as the Grey Wolves, in Germany. Interior minister Manfred 
Kanther gave his responses on behalf of the German government.
-
Do the Grey Wolves deal in narcotics?

	Yes, the government has proof of involvement by leading members 
of the Grey Wolves federation ADUTDF in drugs and weapons trafficking. In 
addition to this, groups of Turkish citizens across Europe under the name 
"Grey Wolves" have imported 100kg of heroin from Turkey. But we don't 
know any more than this.

Extortion?

	Yes, there have been investigations regarding this. But we don't 
know anything more.

The attempted assassination of the Pope?

	Yes, the Italian authorities have uncovered the involvement of 
ADUTDF functionaries in this, people with ties to weapons and drugs 
smuggling.
-

The government gave truly rude responses to some questions. When asked 
about Grey Wolves activities, the government said they knew nothing of 
support from authorities on the Foreigner Council in Essen for a large 
event organized by the MHP there. [On November 26, 1994, more than 10,000 
MHP supporters rallied in a sports complex in Sindelfingen. - ATS] But 
Kanther stated that "the federal government does know that the Kurdistan 
Workers Party (PKK) attempts to use the Foreigner Councils for its own 
ends". And when asked why police do not intervene against the display of 
fascist MHP symbols, Kanther replied: "It is not a crime to display the 
symbols of banned organizations in Germany." When asked about the 
significance of the Grey Wolves, Kanther replied that the "ADUTDF does 
not pose a significant security threat at this time".

----
ARGK Balance Of The Conflict With The KDP;
74 KDP Positions Captured By The ARGK

	The People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK), the military 
wing of the PKK, has issued a balance from the first 15 days of actions 
by the 1st Storm Brigade of the ARGK against positions of the Kurdistan 
Democratic Party (KDP) in Iraqi Kurdistan. During this time period, a 
total of 182 guerrilla attacks were carried out and 35 military posts and 
39 hilltop positions of the KDP were captured by ARGK guerrillas. A large 
section of Iraqi Kurdistan is now under PKK control.
	According to the ARGK, 291 people have been killed, including 270 
KDP peshmergas and 21 PKK guerrillas. At least an equal number have been 
wounded in the fighting. The ARGK have also arrested 93 collaborators and 
agents, including 3 of high rank and 1 member of the secret police.
	The ARGK has also indicated that the KDP are extending their 
attacks against Kurdish refugees. Local witnesses have also reported KDP 
attacks on some of the 16,000 refugees from Turkish Kurdistan who are 
living in camps near Etrus. During one such attack, the KDP allegedly 
fired mortar rounds at the camp. There have also been scuffles with the 
camp's self-defence units.
	In its press release, the ARGK criticized the silence of the 
United Nations with respect to KDP attacks on civilians.

(DEM News Agency, September 10, 1995)

----
Demonstration Against Bomb Attack On The Head Of The Federative System In 
South Kurdistan

	Today in Erbil (Iraqi Kurdistan), 8,000 people demonstrated 
against a bomb attack on Kosret Resul, head of the Federated System in 
south Kurdistan.
	During the "Rally Against Terrorism", members of the Patriotic 
Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and other Kurdish organizations took part.
	The rally, which took place outside the governor's building, 
ended with a demonstration through the city center. Kosret Resul stated 
in his speech to the rally that the attack was an act of "terrorism". But 
he said he would not succumb to terrorism. Members of other Kurdish 
organizations also expressed sentiments of protest against the attack.
	During the September 7 bombing, 3 PUK peshmergas and 1 child were 
killed. Experts have stated that as much as 50kg of explosives were used 
in the attack.
	The PUK has blamed the Turkish government and the KDP for the attack.

(DEM News Agency, September 9, 1995)

----
Turkish Army Units Cause Forest Fires

	Units of the Turkish army bombarding the city of Mutki in Turkish 
Kurdistan have set off a series of forest fires. 1 ARGK guerrilla has 
died in the fires.

(DEM News Agency, September 9, 1995)

----
Protest Against Food Blockade

	Residents of the villages around the city of Yayladere in Bingol 
province in Turkish Kurdistan marched through the city center. This was 
to protest the Turkish authorities' blockade which has prevented 
foodstuffs from reaching the residents for a long time now.

(DEM News Agency, September 10, 1995)

----
Authorities Refuse To Bury Dead Guerrillas

	The families of 13 deceased guerrillas belonging to the Workers 
and Peasants Liberation Army of Turkey (TIKKO) held a press conference in 
the offices of the Human Rights Association (IHD) in Istanbul to complain 
that the Turkish authorities have refused to bury the bodies of their 
children, which are still lying exposed in a field.
	The bodies have since become unidentifiable, but the parents 
claim to have recognized their children. The 13 TIKKO guerrillas were 
killed on August 11 in Dersim province (Tunceli in Turkish) during a 
battle with Turkish security forces.
(DEM News Agency, September 12, 1995)

----
Helicopter Shot Down; Oil Pipeline Sabotaged

	Guerrillas belonging to the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan 
(ARGK) carried out an attack near the city of Akra in Iraqi Kurdistan. 
The party headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) was fired 
on with rockets. 3 peshmergas died in the rocket attack, and 1 more died 
in the fighting afterwards. It is not yet known how many guerrilla 
casualties there were.
	Guerrillas controlling the main road to Duhok fired on and 
destroyed a KDP military vehicle. In the ensuing battle between KDP 
peshmergas and the guerrillas, 5 peshmergas were killed.
	A military helicopter which sought to land on a former palace 
belonging to Iraqi president Saddam Hussein near Duhok was damaged by 
ARGK fire. The helicopter, which was believed to be carrying Turkish and 
KDP officers, was then forced to make an emergency landing.

(DEM News Agency, September 13, 1995)

----
Village In Van Forcibly Evacuated

	Military forces have forcibly evacuated the village of Kers 
(Koklu in Turkish) near Gevas in the province of Van. The military had 
previously threatened to evacuate the villagers if they refused to become 
state-paid village guards. The evacuation orders were given to the 100 or 
so families in the village following a guerrilla rocket attack which 
destroyed 2 army panzers.

(DEM News Agency, September 13, 1995)

+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++==
Arm The Spirit
P.O. Box 6326, Stn. A
Toronto, Ontario
M5W 1P7 Canada

E-mail: ats at etext.org
WWW: http://burn.ucsd.edu/~ats
FTP: ftp.etext.org --> /pub/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit
+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== 



From kurdeng at aps.nl  Thu Oct  5 22:38:37 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 05 Oct 1995 22:38:37
Subject: News From 'Kurdistan Rundbrief 19/9
References: <bac1c849.199510051328.JAA29935@locust.cic>
Message-ID: <bac1c849.100595192857Rnf0.79b6@newsdesk.a>

Subject: Re: News From 'Kurdistan Rundbrief 19/95'

------------------------ Forwarded from : ats at etext.org ------------------------

News Translated From 'Kurdistan Rundbrief 19/95'

----
More ARGK Attacks In South Kurdistan

	The attacks by the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK) 
against the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Iraqi Kurdistan between 
the Turkish border and the 36th parallel continue to expand.
	According to reports from the ARGK, all eastern stations in the 
city of Sersting in Iraqi Kurdistan have been captured by the ARGK. 
Guerrillas forced their way into the city and destroyed the party 
headquarters of the KDP. Six houses were destroyed in the fighting. 9 KDP 
peshmergas and 1 ARGK guerrilla were killed, and 4 other guerrillas were 
wounded. The guerrillas also captured a large amount of ammunition from 
the peshmergas.

Hizava Under ARGK Control

	ARGK guerrillas attacked a military station and a control center 
of the KDP in the village of Hizava yesterday. The village of Hizava lies 
between the cities of Derkar and Batuva in Iraqi Kurdistan. According to 
reports, peshmergas fled to the city center after the fighting. During 
fighting in the city center with the peshmergas, guerrillas took control 
of the village and set a KDP military station on fire and destroyed it. 
According to their own reports, the guerrillas also captured 8 
peshmergas, including one who was wounded, and they confiscated all their 
weapons.

ARGK Road Block Near Zaxo

	ARGK guerrillas set up a road block on the road between Zaxo and 
the city of Batufa. The guerrillas detained several persons, including 
those with KDP passports.

Bamerli Under ARGK Control

	Guerrillas from the ARGK increased their attacks on KDP stations 
in the city of Bamerli yesterday, after they overran the KDP's hilltop 
defenses outside the city. Fighting then broke out between peshmergas and 
guerrillas. During the battle, which lasted all day, the KDP called in 
reinforcements from the city of Amediye. ARGK guerrillas then destroyed a 
KDP military vehicle. According to recent reports, the KDP reinforcements 
have retreated and the city has been taken over by the ARGK. One KDP 
military station and several control stations were destroyed. Reports 
also indicate that guerrillas protected a United Nations (UN) building 
during the fighting in the city. According to reports from our 
correspondents, the local population, which initially supported the KDP 
in their attacks against the ARGK, are no longer participating in the 
fighting. The guerrillas who took control of the city have begun 
organizing propaganda sessions for the local population.
	During a separate attack by ARGK guerrillas on a hilltop KDP 
position in the city of Miroz in Iraqi Kurdistan, 4 peshmergas were 
killed and 1 guerrilla wounded.

Mesut Barzani At Sela Bize

	According to reports from our correspondents, Mesut Barzani, the 
leader of the KDP, recently went to the city of Sela Bize in Iraqi 
Kurdistan. Barzani has begun threatening the local population, reports 
indicate. Many people from the city have been arrested.

(DEM News Agency, September 10, 1995)

----
7,000 Protest The Murder Of Seyfettin Kalan In Neumunster

	On September 9, 7,000 people protested in Neumunster against the 
murder of Kurdish activist Seyfettin Kalan by Turkish fascists six days 
earlier. Seyfettin was killed on September 3 by members of the "Grey 
Wolves"; two other Kurds were wounded.
	The very fact that funeral processions are the only allowable 
form of political expression for the Kurdish exile community shows the 
reality of the situation which Kurds in Germany have faced since 
Kanther's bans went into effect. The murder of Seyfettin Kalan is the 
climax of an increasing wave of provocations and attacks on Kurdish 
establishments by Turkish fascists, the "Grey Wolves" (MHP), or by other 
pro-government forces, sometimes with the direct support of the Turkish 
consulate. The persecution of Kurdish associations by the German 
authorities only gives heart to these forces to increase their 
provocations and attacks. For example, Turkish fascists had already 
attacked Kurds in Neumunster on the Saturday before this murder. And a 
few days before, police had to protect a Kurdish establishment in 
Rendsburg from an attack by Grey Wolves.
	Even after the murder in Neumunster, the German authorities 
refused to pursue those responsible, namely the structures of the Grey 
Wolves in Germany, rather they continued to persecute the Kurds.  The CDU 
in Schleswig-Holstein [the state where Neumunster is] and CDU member of 
parliament Olderog criticized the "restraint" which police seem to show 
by not preventing banned symbols from being displayed (meaning Kurdish 
ERNK flags). Even the head of the police union, Lutz, complained to SPD 
state interior minister Wienholtz that he knew the funeral procession was 
being "directed" by the banned PKK and he advised Wienholtz to do 
something about this.
	We can only conclude from this that the German authorities, in 
confrontations between Turkish fascists and Kurds, don't persecute the 
fascist murderers but rather the Kurdish victims!

----
Seyfettin Kalan Is Immortal!

	On Sunday, September 3, 1995, Kurdish activist Seyfettin Kalan 
was murdered in Neumunster. This attack marks a new high point in the 
terror against Kurds in Germany at the hands of the fascist Turkish "Grey 
Wolves". In the past few days, there have been repeated confrontations in 
several German cities. On Saturday in Neumunster, Kurds were chased 
through the streets and beaten. In Ulm, Bielefeld, and Muhlheim, arson 
attacks have been carried out against Kurdish establishments.
	On Sunday evening, about 15 Turkish youths assembled near the 
'Kochloffel' restaurant in Neumunster. They immediately attacked two 
Kurds standing outside, at which point one of the Turks pointed at 
Seyfettin Kalan and called out his name before firing at him several 
times. Of the four other Kurds who came out of the restaurant to help, 
two were shot and wounded. According to eye witnesses, at least three of 
the attacking fascists were armed with pistols.
	The "Grey Wolves" [known as 'Bozkurt' in Turkish - ATS] are 
members of the Turkish MHP (National Movement Party), which has as its 
goal the destruction of all "enemies of Turkey", meaning the Kurds. They 
are supported in this by the Turkish secret police, as well as by 
Turkey's embassies and consulates. By means of front organizations such 
as sports clubs, mosques, and associations, Turkish youths are trained 
and armed. Their conduct is similar to that of Turkish contra-guerrillas 
back home, who are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people. The 
General Staff in Turkey has stated on several occasions that he plans to 
declare war on "separatist Kurds" in Europe as well. (...)
	The anti-Kurdish stance of the German government has become clear 
once again through the conduct of the police following the murder of 
Seyfettin Kalan. The "investigations" thus far have been based solely on 
the statements of Turkish fascists. Interior minister Kanther has stated 
that "the fight against the PKK is also the responsibility of Turkish 
citizens", which amounts to legitimation and encouragement for the 
supporters of the "Grey Wolves".
	In order to express our sadness at the death of Seyfettin Kalan, 
and to protest against the anti-Kurdish sentiments in Germany, we will 
hold a funeral procession in Neumunster on Saturday, September 9, 1995, 
which will begin at the Friedrich-Ebert Hospital where the wounded Kurds 
are being treated.
	We call on the democratic public to take part in this march and 
to demonstrate with us as we call for a political solution in Kurdistan.

(from a leaflet by the demonstration preparatory committee)

----
The Turkish Embassy And The Grey Wolves

	(...) Fellemez Basboga, a member of the Kurdistan Parliament in 
Exile, discussed in his speech [during the funeral procession] the role 
of Turkish diplomatic missions in Germany in the organizing efforts of 
the MHP. The newly appointed ambassador in Bonn, Volkan Vural, was a 
long-time member of the Turkish National Security Council (MGK), a 
military/secret police organization which has de facto over the parliament.
	His stationing in Germany "coincides with the decisions of the 
council to expand the activities of death squads and the secret police in 
combatting the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) abroad". In addition to 
this, the MHP, besides having members in the death squads and the 
"special forces" of the Turkish army, also operates several front 
organizations. It recruits its members via Turkish sports clubs and mosques.
	It is important to understand, said Basboga, that "banning or 
increasing the controls over such organizations" would do much more for 
the cause of domestic security in Germany than "the sweeping 
criminalization of Kurdish politics".
	Anyone who doubts the willingness of the Kurdish people to seek a 
political solution should turn their attention to the Parliament in 
Exile, which is prepared for negotiations at any time.
	A Turkish spokesperson for the demonstration, Ibrahim K., told 
the DEM News Agency about the activities of the National Movement Party 
(MHP) in Germany during the 1970s and 80s.
	Alparslan Turkes, the leader of the far-right party, not only 
maintained close contacts with the German right-wing extremist German 
Nationalist Party (NPD), rather he was also "best friend" of then-leader 
of the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), Franz-Joseph Strauss. Close 
ties with the CSU were maintained through Turkish industrialist Murat 
Bayrak. Not only have several MHP members and members of associated 
groups been apprehended at Dusseldorf Airport with large quantities of 
drugs, but even Ali Agca, the MHP member who tried to assassinate the 
Pope, was transported to Italy via Germany.
	Violent actions by the so-called Grey Wolves have generally been 
aimed at Turkish and Kurdish opposition groups. There have been several 
attacks, including one murder, against foreign trade unionists in Germany.

(DEM News Agency, September 9, 1995)

----
The German Authorities And The MHP

On July 24, questions were raised in the German parliament by Ulla 
Jelpke, MP from the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), concerning the 
activities of the Turkish fascist National Movement Party (MHP), 
otherwise known as the Grey Wolves, in Germany. Interior minister Manfred 
Kanther gave his responses on behalf of the German government.
-
Do the Grey Wolves deal in narcotics?

	Yes, the government has proof of involvement by leading members 
of the Grey Wolves federation ADUTDF in drugs and weapons trafficking. In 
addition to this, groups of Turkish citizens across Europe under the name 
"Grey Wolves" have imported 100kg of heroin from Turkey. But we don't 
know any more than this.

Extortion?

	Yes, there have been investigations regarding this. But we don't 
know anything more.

The attempted assassination of the Pope?

	Yes, the Italian authorities have uncovered the involvement of 
ADUTDF functionaries in this, people with ties to weapons and drugs 
smuggling.
-

The government gave truly rude responses to some questions. When asked 
about Grey Wolves activities, the government said they knew nothing of 
support from authorities on the Foreigner Council in Essen for a large 
event organized by the MHP there. [On November 26, 1994, more than 10,000 
MHP supporters rallied in a sports complex in Sindelfingen. - ATS] But 
Kanther stated that "the federal government does know that the Kurdistan 
Workers Party (PKK) attempts to use the Foreigner Councils for its own 
ends". And when asked why police do not intervene against the display of 
fascist MHP symbols, Kanther replied: "It is not a crime to display the 
symbols of banned organizations in Germany." When asked about the 
significance of the Grey Wolves, Kanther replied that the "ADUTDF does 
not pose a significant security threat at this time".

----
ARGK Balance Of The Conflict With The KDP;
74 KDP Positions Captured By The ARGK

	The People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK), the military 
wing of the PKK, has issued a balance from the first 15 days of actions 
by the 1st Storm Brigade of the ARGK against positions of the Kurdistan 
Democratic Party (KDP) in Iraqi Kurdistan. During this time period, a 
total of 182 guerrilla attacks were carried out and 35 military posts and 
39 hilltop positions of the KDP were captured by ARGK guerrillas. A large 
section of Iraqi Kurdistan is now under PKK control.
	According to the ARGK, 291 people have been killed, including 270 
KDP peshmergas and 21 PKK guerrillas. At least an equal number have been 
wounded in the fighting. The ARGK have also arrested 93 collaborators and 
agents, including 3 of high rank and 1 member of the secret police.
	The ARGK has also indicated that the KDP are extending their 
attacks against Kurdish refugees. Local witnesses have also reported KDP 
attacks on some of the 16,000 refugees from Turkish Kurdistan who are 
living in camps near Etrus. During one such attack, the KDP allegedly 
fired mortar rounds at the camp. There have also been scuffles with the 
camp's self-defence units.
	In its press release, the ARGK criticized the silence of the 
United Nations with respect to KDP attacks on civilians.

(DEM News Agency, September 10, 1995)

----
Demonstration Against Bomb Attack On The Head Of The Federative System In 
South Kurdistan

	Today in Erbil (Iraqi Kurdistan), 8,000 people demonstrated 
against a bomb attack on Kosret Resul, head of the Federated System in 
south Kurdistan.
	During the "Rally Against Terrorism", members of the Patriotic 
Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and other Kurdish organizations took part.
	The rally, which took place outside the governor's building, 
ended with a demonstration through the city center. Kosret Resul stated 
in his speech to the rally that the attack was an act of "terrorism". But 
he said he would not succumb to terrorism. Members of other Kurdish 
organizations also expressed sentiments of protest against the attack.
	During the September 7 bombing, 3 PUK peshmergas and 1 child were 
killed. Experts have stated that as much as 50kg of explosives were used 
in the attack.
	The PUK has blamed the Turkish government and the KDP for the attack.

(DEM News Agency, September 9, 1995)

----
Turkish Army Units Cause Forest Fires

	Units of the Turkish army bombarding the city of Mutki in Turkish 
Kurdistan have set off a series of forest fires. 1 ARGK guerrilla has 
died in the fires.

(DEM News Agency, September 9, 1995)

----
Protest Against Food Blockade

	Residents of the villages around the city of Yayladere in Bingol 
province in Turkish Kurdistan marched through the city center. This was 
to protest the Turkish authorities' blockade which has prevented 
foodstuffs from reaching the residents for a long time now.

(DEM News Agency, September 10, 1995)

----
Authorities Refuse To Bury Dead Guerrillas

	The families of 13 deceased guerrillas belonging to the Workers 
and Peasants Liberation Army of Turkey (TIKKO) held a press conference in 
the offices of the Human Rights Association (IHD) in Istanbul to complain 
that the Turkish authorities have refused to bury the bodies of their 
children, which are still lying exposed in a field.
	The bodies have since become unidentifiable, but the parents 
claim to have recognized their children. The 13 TIKKO guerrillas were 
killed on August 11 in Dersim province (Tunceli in Turkish) during a 
battle with Turkish security forces.
(DEM News Agency, September 12, 1995)

----
Helicopter Shot Down; Oil Pipeline Sabotaged

	Guerrillas belonging to the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan 
(ARGK) carried out an attack near the city of Akra in Iraqi Kurdistan. 
The party headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) was fired 
on with rockets. 3 peshmergas died in the rocket attack, and 1 more died 
in the fighting afterwards. It is not yet known how many guerrilla 
casualties there were.
	Guerrillas controlling the main road to Duhok fired on and 
destroyed a KDP military vehicle. In the ensuing battle between KDP 
peshmergas and the guerrillas, 5 peshmergas were killed.
	A military helicopter which sought to land on a former palace 
belonging to Iraqi president Saddam Hussein near Duhok was damaged by 
ARGK fire. The helicopter, which was believed to be carrying Turkish and 
KDP officers, was then forced to make an emergency landing.

(DEM News Agency, September 13, 1995)

----
Village In Van Forcibly Evacuated

	Military forces have forcibly evacuated the village of Kers 
(Koklu in Turkish) near Gevas in the province of Van. The military had 
previously threatened to evacuate the villagers if they refused to become 
state-paid village guards. The evacuation orders were given to the 100 or 
so families in the village following a guerrilla rocket attack which 
destroyed 2 army panzers.

(DEM News Agency, September 13, 1995)

+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++==
Arm The Spirit
P.O. Box 6326, Stn. A
Toronto, Ontario
M5W 1P7 Canada

E-mail: ats at etext.org
WWW: http://burn.ucsd.edu/~ats
FTP: ftp.etext.org --> /pub/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit
+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== 



----------------------------- End forwarded message --------------------------

From kurdeng at aps.nl  Tue Oct 10 16:28:24 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 10 Oct 1995 16:28:24
Subject: Grey Wolf Is Power Pivot For Ciller
Message-ID: <bac1c849.101095114831Rnf0.79b6@newsdesk.a>

Strikers Challenge New Ciller Government
      (Adds workers' threat, market reaction)

    By Alistair Bell

    ANKARA, Oct 6 (Reuter) - Turkish labour unions threatened on Friday to
strangle Prime Minister Tansu Ciller's infant minority government if pay
demands by 330,000 striking public sector workers were not met.

    The Turk-Is main union confederation said it had begun to urge
parliamentarians to withhold support from the government at a tight vote of
confidence on October 15.

    ``The prime minister is on the edge of a knife, and she can win or lose
with one or two votes,'' Yildirim Koc, a senior Turk-Is official, told
Reuters.

    Ciller plans to rule in minority backed by far-right Nationalist Action
Party (MHP) head Alparslan Turkes and leftist nationalist Bulent Ecevit's
Democratic Left Party (DSP).

    Veteran leaders Turkes and Ecevit are reluctant to approve democratic
reforms sought by the West but they have urged Ciller to try harder to
resolve the three-week-old strike.

    The parliamentary strength of the three leaders combined is still six
votes short of a simple majority in parliament. Ciller hopes to make up the
difference by garnering support from other even smaller, parties and
independents.

    ``The government will be a government of accomplishment,'' Anatolian news
agency quoted her as saying after she gained presidential approval for her
cabinet list on Thursday night.

    She pledged to sort out the strike, bring a lucrative Caspian oil
pipeline across Turkish soil and take Turkey into a proposed trade pact with
the European Union.

    Turk-Is leader Bayram Meral said the workers would not back down from pay
rise demands of 38 percent for the first six months and 25 percent for the
second half against Ciller's raised offer of 13.23 percent and 11 percent
respectively.

    ``You cannot turn us back from our way. You cannot stop our strikes,''
Meral told a union meeting in Istanbul.

    Despite the setback for Ciller, stockbrokers said sentiment on the
Istanbul exchange was bolstered by her pledges for a speedy customs union.
Istanbul stocks ended 2.83 percent higher at 46,702.35 in Friday's morning
session.

    Roy Gevrek, money markets manager at the private Iktisat Bank, said the
government would be ``only a makeshift one'' to ensure the implementation of
the customs union deal due in January if the European Parliment approves it.

    The European Parliament wants Turkey to lift the anti-terror law's
article 8, which outlaws ``separatist propaganda,'' in exchange for ratifying
the trade pact.

    Ecevit, who as prime minister ordered the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in
1974, has spoken out against the customs deal.

    Turkes, the mentor of armed ``Grey Wolf'' militants active in the 1970s,
is a hardliner against Kurdish separatist rebels.

    ``If Ciller's vision is really to get the customs union then she has
chosen the strangest partners,'' Hurriyet newspaper columnist Sedat Ergin
said.

    ``(Turkes) has told Ciller not to touch article 8,'' Ergin said. ``Even
cosmetic changes would be seen by his constituents as a concession to the
(rebel Kurdistan Workers Party) PKK.''

    Ciller visited Ecevit and Turkes before the government's first cabinet
meeting on Friday afternoon to thank them for their support in forming the
government.

    The new cabinet is made up solely of members of Ciller's conservative
True Path Party (DYP).

    New Foreign Minister Coskun Kirca, who replaces social democrat Erdal
Inonu, is a leading rightwinger who opposed parts of a constitutional
amendments package to liberalise the 1980 military-era consitution.

    Ciller pushed the amendments through parliament in July with the help of
social democrat former government partners.

Grey Wolf Is Power Pivot For Ciller
      By Suna Erdem

    ANKARA, Oct 6 (Reuter) - Turkish nationalist leader Alparslan Turkes is
enjoying the limelight again after more than a decade in the political
wilderness, as he becomes a key player in Prime Minister Tansu Ciller's new
minority government.

    Support from retired colonel Turkes, whose followers were involved in
street fighting in the 1970s that claimed 5,000 lives and led to a 1980 coup,
is vital for Ciller's minority rule after she ended her left-right coalition
last month.

    ``We uphold the unity and togetherness of the state as number one
priority. We side with the government in the fight on anarchy and terror,''
said Ercument Konukman, Istanbul deputy for the Nationalist Action Party
(MHP) and chief adviser to Turkes.

    ``This is among the main reasons why we are making a comeback,'' Konukman
told Reuters.

    The MHP supports the government's purely military approach to an 11-year
insurgency by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in southeast Turkey. It
strongly opposes any concessions to Kurdish separatists.

    Kurdish civilians blame the party's backers in the security forces for
heavyhanded tactics in the fight against the PKK.

    Turkes, 78, has a cultish following in the MHP, whose growing presence in
state offices, police and intelligence circles troubled Ciller's former
social democrat partners.

    He is unlikely to support changing a tough anti-terror law used to jail
people for writings and speeches on the Kurdish issue. The European
Parliament wants the article eased in exchange for approving Ankara's customs
union with Europe.

    But Turkes' actions are not always consistent with the nationalist hard
line. His party voted, according to Ciller's wishes, in favour of softening
Turkey's 1982 military-era constitution before the parliament's summer
recess.

    And he has urged Ciller to find a just solution to a big public workers'
pay strike.

    Turkes, born in Nicosia in 1917, moved to Istanbul at 15 and joined a
military academy there. He was politically active against communism in the
1930s and 1940s, preaching his dream of uniting the world's Turkic people.

    A leading light in a 1960 military coup, Turkes and a small group of
colleagues were then sent on overseas duty for his extreme right-wing
authoritarian views. His group did not want to hand over authority to
civilians immediately after the coup.

    On return to his country in 1963, he retired from his military commission
and entered politics full-time.

    He became revered by his party as ``Basbug'' (chieftain) -- an ancient
Turkish title.

    In the 1970s, Turkes served as deputy prime minister in a coalition with
Islamists and the main conservative party led by now President Suleyman
Demirel.

    The unofficial militant arm of the MHP -- known as the ``Grey Wolves''
after a legendary she-wolf that led captive Central Asian Turks to freedom --
was at that time involved in daily street killings and gunbattles with
equally fervent leftists.

    Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turkish gunman who shot and wounded Pope John Paul
II in 1981, was a former Grey Wolf.

    To this day, Turkes' followers greet him at party meetings with a hand
gesture that represents a wolf's head and MHP offices are ordained with
pictures of a howling wolf.

    Turkes, Islamist leader Necmettin Erbakan, Demirel and another former
prime minister, Bulent Ecevit, were detained after a bloodless 1980 coup.

    Their parties were dissolved and they were banned from politics for 10
years.

    Ecevit, a former foe of Turkes, holds the other key to Ciller's minority
government with his 10 deputies -- heralding a balancing act she will
struggle to keep alive.

    Turkes was convicted in 1987 for trying to topple the state and inciting
factional violence, but was freed for time served.

    He returned to parliament in the last general polls in October 1991, when
Turks voted narrowly to allow the pre-1980 leaders back into political life.


---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)



From kurdeng at aps.nl  Tue Oct 10 16:39:08 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 10 Oct 1995 16:39:08
Subject: Turkish troops cross into Iraq to h
Message-ID: <bac1c849.101095115006Rnf0.79b6@newsdesk.a>

Subject: Turkish troops cross into Iraq to hit Kurd rebels


Iraq denounces Turkish cross-border incursion
     BAGHDAD, Iraq (Reuter) - Iraq officially protested to Turkey
Sunday for violating its northern border with a fresh incursion
in pursuit of Kurdish secessionist rebels.
     A Foreign Ministry spokesman said Turkish troops, backed by
helicopters, penetrated 2.5 miles into northern Iraq Friday in a
drive against guerrillas of Turkey's separatist Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK), causing heavy damage and casualties to
Iraqi Kurds.
     ``The government of Iraq refuses categorically Turkish
pretexts to justify its military operations inside Iraqi
territory and regards them as a violation of its sovereignty,
the principles of international law, the U.N. charter and
principles of good neighborliness,'' said a Foreign Ministry
statement carried by the Iraqi News Agency (INA).
     Iraq demanded an immediate withdrawal of the Turkish forces.
INA said the Foreign Ministry summoned the Turkish charge
d'affaires in Baghdad and delivered a strong protest.
     A Turkish official said Saturday Turkish troops had gone
more than two miles into Iraq to strike at Kurdish guerrillas
fighting the Ankara government.
     Turkey twice this year poured troops into northern Iraq to
pound PKK rebels who use the area as a staging ground for
attacks in their 11-year battle for autonomy or independence in
Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast.
     However, Iraqi Kurdistan is an autonomous area under Western
protection to prevent attacks by the Iraqi government of
President Saddam Hussein.
     ``Iraq has often explained to Turkey that direct cooperation
and constructive dialog with the central government in Iraq are
the only guarantors with which to face the abnormal status quo
in northern Iraq,'' the spokesman added.
     In addition to tensions because of Turkey's participation in
the U.S.-led Gulf war that drove Iraq from Kuwait in 1991,
Baghdad-Ankara relations have often soured over border issues
and contacts with Kurdish rebels from both countries.

Turkish troops cross into Iraq to hit Kurd rebels

     DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuter) - Turkish troops have crossed
into northern Iraq to strike at separatist Kurdish guerrillas
fighting the Ankara government, a Turkish official said.
     ``We went in and hit them,'' Unal Erkan, governor for
Turkey's 10 southeastern provinces under emergency rule, told
Reuters on Saturday.
     Erkan said Turkish soldiers crossed into northern Iraq
Friday and advanced 2.0-2.5 miles. It was unclear how many were
sent in.
     ``When the work is finished they will return,'' he said.
     Turkey twice this year poured troops into northern Iraq to
pound Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels who use the area as a
staging ground for attacks in their 11-year battle for autonomy
or independence in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast.
     A major cross-border operation in March was criticized by
some of Turkey's Western allies, but small groups of soldiers
are reported at times to engage in forays across the border.
     The regional governor's office Sunday issued a statement
saying that 32 PKK guerrillas were killed in the past 24 hours.
     Local journalists said the Turkish soldiers had probably
crossed into northern Iraq from the mountainious border with the
Turkish province of Hakkari, scene of the latest clashes with
the PKK.
     Northern Iraq has been outside Baghdad's control since
shortly after the end of the 1991 Gulf War over Kuwait. It is
protected by a Western allied air force based in the southern
Turkey.
     The PKK has also been fighting Iraqi Kurdish rebel movements
in northern Iraq which are pressed by Ankara to drive out PKK
fighters from areas under their control.
     Iraqi Kurdish sources in southeastern Turkey said clashes
between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and PKK, which
started in August, were continuing.


---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)



From kurdeng at aps.nl  Tue Oct 10 16:39:57 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 10 Oct 1995 16:39:57
Subject: Dutch minister to visit Turkey to b
Message-ID: <bac1c849.101095115110Rnf0.79b6@newsdesk.a>

Subject: Dutch minister to visit Turkey to boost cooperation againsK

r 2.20)
           id VT22476; Tue, 10 Oct 1995 12:07:45 -0800

  _________________________________________________________________

 Dutch minister to visit Turkey to boost cooperation against PKK

Business: The Netherlands wants to join Turkey's major military
modernization projects like manufacture of frigates,

acquisition of naval patrol aircraft

Turkish Daily News
  _________________________________________________________________



ANKARA- Dutch Interior Minister Hans Dijkstal is due to arrive in
Ankara on Sunday for a visit aimed at cementing cooperation with
Turkey against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, fighting
for an independent Kurdish state in Turkey's Southeast, sources said
on Friday.

Relations between the two NATO allies deteriorated in April when a
self-styled "Kurdish parliament-in-exile" held its opening meeting in
The Hague despite Turkey's calls urging the Dutch government to cancel
the session. Dutch authorities said at the time they could not
intervene unless circles related to the exiles' parliament violated
the country's laws.

Turkey retaliated by recalling its ambassador from The Hague and
excluding the Netherlands from Ankara's future military equipment
purchases.

Unwilling to hurt its traditionally good ties and business connections
with Turkey, the Netherlands later stepped down and signalled that it
would no longer tolerate subversive acts by PKK-related organizations
on its territory.

A visit by Dutch Foreign Minister Hans van Mierlo to Ankara last month
became a concrete step in mending ties between the two countries,
diplomatic sources said.

They said that during Dijkstal's visit talks between delegations,
which would include intelligence officials from both sides, would
concentrate on close cooperation against terrorism, including common
measures against the PKK. Dijkstal will be the official guest of
Interior Minister Nahit Mentese.

Business sources say that the Dutch defense industry, which is
increasingly interested in taking part in Turkey's military
modernization projects, played an important role in persuading the
Netherlands to take steps toward normalizing ties with Ankara.

Dutch military exports to Turkey have so far been negligible compared
to sales of some other Western countries, but The Hague now hopes to
garner Turkish defense modernization deals in at least two fields.

A major Dutch naval industry company is due to enter competition with
several other Western firms to co-produce in Turkey six frigates for
the Turkish Navy in a deal worth $2.5 billion, business sources told
the TDN.

Also the Dutch-German aircraft manufacturers Fokker plans to sell nine
naval patrol aircraft to Turkey at around $300 million.

---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)



From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Wed Oct 11 04:00:49 1995
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 11 Oct 1995 04:00:49
Subject: Turkish Soldiers Surround the Etrus
Message-ID: <bac1c849.QQzkvy02376.199510101440@alterdi>

From: mail06672 at pop.net (AKIN)
Subject: Turkish Soldiers Surround the Etrus Refugee Camp

Press Release #2
October 10, 1995

Etrus Camp in Iraqi-Kurdistan is Surrounded by Turkish Soldiers; UN Fails
to Aid Against Food Embargo

        For the past year, Turkish soldiers and their Kurdish
collaborators, the forces of Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), have
harassed Kurdish refugees who had fled from state oppression in Turkey.
Numbering some 16,000 people, these Kurds have had their livestock
confiscated, their food intake reduced, and some of these people have been
apprehended.  Especially in the last month, the KDP have attacked the
refugees, resulting in the deaths of 6 people and the wounding of 9 others.
        According to eyewitnesses, the situation is now getting worse. In
the last two weeks, Turkish secret service forces and their local
collaborators, the KDP, have surrounded the camp, cutting it off from the
outside world. Because of a food embargo against the camp, the refugees
have been left to starve.
        The refugees living in Etrus camp had fled from Turkish state
terror, but the Turkish government refuses to leave them in peace. As the
local harassment continues, Turkey is also making moves at the
international level. During a recent visit to New York, Erdal Inonu,
Turkey's foreign minister, complained to the United Nations that this camp
ought to be closed and its residents repatriated to Turkey.
        The Etrus refugee camp stands a testimony to the Turkish
government's policy of genocide against the Kurds. Aware of this fact, the
Turkish authorities want to put an end to this embarrassment. They,
together with their local KDP collaborators, have claimed that the camp is
full of guns and acts as a safe area for PKK guerrillas. These are baseless
accusations.
        The United Nations is supposed to protect the people in Etrus camp
and provide humanitarian assistance. But according to information reaching
our office, the UN is allowing these Turkish/KDP atrocities to take place
with impunity.
        We view this policy as undermining the impartiality of the United
Nations, making a travesty of basic human rights. We strongly urge the UN
to intervene and rectify the situation.
        In addition, we urge the Red Cross, NGOs, and human rights
organizations to send representatives to the camp and observe the situation
first hand. We also urge the democratic public to form a delegation of its
own to assess the matter.


----
American Kurdish Information Network (AKIN)
2309 Calvert Street, NW
Suite #3
Washington, DC 20008-2603

Tel: (202) 483-6444
Fax: (202) 483-6476
Email: mail06672 at pop.net




From kurdeng at aps.nl  Thu Oct 12 02:36:55 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 12 Oct 1995 02:36:55
Subject: Turkish Soldiers Surround the Etrus
References: <bac1c849.QQzkvy02376.199510101440@alterdi>
Message-ID: <bac1c849.101195140737Rnf0.79b6@newsdesk.a>

Subject: Re: Turkish Soldiers Surround the Etrus Refugee Camp


           id VT22671; Thu, 12 Oct 1995 01:24:43 -0800

---------------------- Forwarded from : mail06672 at pop.net ----------------------

Press Release #2
October 10, 1995

Etrus Camp in Iraqi-Kurdistan is Surrounded by Turkish Soldiers; UN Fails
to Aid Against Food Embargo

        For the past year, Turkish soldiers and their Kurdish
collaborators, the forces of Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), have
harassed Kurdish refugees who had fled from state oppression in Turkey.
Numbering some 16,000 people, these Kurds have had their livestock
confiscated, their food intake reduced, and some of these people have been
apprehended.  Especially in the last month, the KDP have attacked the
refugees, resulting in the deaths of 6 people and the wounding of 9 others.
        According to eyewitnesses, the situation is now getting worse. In
the last two weeks, Turkish secret service forces and their local
collaborators, the KDP, have surrounded the camp, cutting it off from the
outside world. Because of a food embargo against the camp, the refugees
have been left to starve.
        The refugees living in Etrus camp had fled from Turkish state
terror, but the Turkish government refuses to leave them in peace. As the
local harassment continues, Turkey is also making moves at the
international level. During a recent visit to New York, Erdal Inonu,
Turkey's foreign minister, complained to the United Nations that this camp
ought to be closed and its residents repatriated to Turkey.
        The Etrus refugee camp stands a testimony to the Turkish
government's policy of genocide against the Kurds. Aware of this fact, the
Turkish authorities want to put an end to this embarrassment. They,
together with their local KDP collaborators, have claimed that the camp is
full of guns and acts as a safe area for PKK guerrillas. These are baseless
accusations.
        The United Nations is supposed to protect the people in Etrus camp
and provide humanitarian assistance. But according to information reaching
our office, the UN is allowing these Turkish/KDP atrocities to take place
with impunity.
        We view this policy as undermining the impartiality of the United
Nations, making a travesty of basic human rights. We strongly urge the UN
to intervene and rectify the situation.
        In addition, we urge the Red Cross, NGOs, and human rights
organizations to send representatives to the camp and observe the situation
first hand. We also urge the democratic public to form a delegation of its
own to assess the matter.


----
American Kurdish Information Network (AKIN)
2309 Calvert Street, NW
Suite #3
Washington, DC 20008-2603

Tel: (202) 483-6444
Fax: (202) 483-6476
Email: mail06672 at pop.net




----------------------------- End forwarded message --------------------------

From kurdeng at aps.nl  Fri Oct 13 18:19:48 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 13 Oct 1995 18:19:48
Subject: TURKISH DAILY NEWS / 10 OCTOBER 199
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.aiwVcD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>

Subject: TURKISH DAILY NEWS / 10 OCTOBER 1995



 KDP : Iraq Atrush camp under control



Turkish Daily News
  _________________________________________________________________



ANKARA- The Atrush camp in northern Iraq, which Turkey has
complained is used as a base for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK), is completely surrounded, Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP)
members have said.

KDP sources, quoted by the Anatolia news agency, said that the area
around the camp was under "complete control," but they would like to
conduct a search of the camp. The camp was established by the U.N.
High Commission for Refugees and is under its control. Ankara has
previously expressed its concern to the U.N., asking them to
"effectively control the camp or move it elsewhere" away from the
strategically important Gara region.
  _________________________________________________________________
 Turkey urges Amsterdam to curb PKK activity on Netherlands soil

Turkish Daily News
  _________________________________________________________________



ANKARA- Turkey has urged the Netherlands to extend its cooperation
in the prevention of terrorist activity and drug trafficking by the
outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and by Dev-Sol, an ultra-left
urban terrorist group.

Turkish Interior Minister Nahit Mentese, who met with his Dutch
counterpart, Hans F. Dijkstal, on Monday, said that Turkey wanted the
finalization of a Security Cooperation Agreement between the two
countries. The accord was presented to Amsterdam by Ankara in 1993.

"It is impossible for nations to fight alone against organized crimes
such as terrorism and against its financial source, drug trafficking,"
Mentese told Dijkstal. "The need for international cooperation against
such crimes is very clear."

Mentese cited the PKK, Dev-Sol and various ultra-rightist groups as
the centers of organized crime.

Turco-Dutch ties soured over the meeting of the so-called "Kurdish
Parliament-in-exile" in the Hague in April 1994. Ankara accused
Amsterdam of not preventing the meeting, while the Dutch said that,
under their constitution, the government had no means of doings so.
Relations have gradually improved since then, however, particularly
after the Dutch prevented the Kurdish Parliament-in-exile's intended
meeting in Rotterdam.

A month before the visit of Dijkstal, who also holds the post of
deputy prime minister, Dutch Foreign Minister Hans Van Mierlo arrived
in Turkey to seal improved relations. Dijkstal's visit is to further
measures in cooperation against organized crime as well as matters
related to the Turkish community in the Netherlands.

"Turkey is very important for us," Dijkstal was quoted by the Anatolia
news agency as saying. "We have appointed a liaison officer for
intelligence between our police forces. This appointment demonstrates
that we acknowledge our common problems." He added that he was also
responsible for the coordination of minority policies in the
Netherlands. "We are happy with the presence of Turks in Holland, but
this also brings a number of problems which need to be solved," the
Dutch minister was quoted as saying. "We want to work with the Turkish
government in overcoming these problems."
  _________________________________________________________________
 Ankara says operation into northern Iraq was 'limited'

Turkish Daily News
  _________________________________________________________________



ANKARA- Ankara said on Monday that the weekend cross-border
operation into northern Iraq was over.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Omer Akbel confirmed that an incursion into
northern Iraq had indeed taken place.

"The operation to prevent a group of terrorists from infiltrating into
Turkish territory to stage attacks against Turkish targets was very
limited in scope.

As far I know, it is now over," Akbel said.

Akbel denied that any civilians had been killed, wounded or suffered
material damage during the operation.

The spokesman's statement contradicted an earlier statement from
Baghdad which carried a condemnation of what it called a fresh
violation of its sovereignty.

"Turkish special forces, backed by planes, launched an incursion
Friday in the region of Kani Mani in northern Iraq, on the pretext of
pursuing Turkish Kurd armed separatists," an Iraqi Foreign Ministry
spokesman said.

The Iraqi spokesman, quoted by the official Iraqi news agency INA,
said the incursion caused damage and there were Iraqi Kurd victims.

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry had summoned the Turkish charge d'affaires
to voice the government's protest and demand a "total and immediate
withdrawal of Turkish forces," he added.

---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From kurdeng at aps.nl  Fri Oct 13 18:20:21 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 13 Oct 1995 18:20:21
Subject: Turkish press bullshit
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.eiwVcD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>

 Fri, 13 Oct 1995 14:27:52 -0800


TURKEY URGES AMSTERDAM TO CURB  PKK  ACTIVITY  ON  NETHERLANDS
SOIL

Turkey has urged the Netherlands to extend its cooperation  in
the  prevention  of terrorist activity and drug trafficking by
the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)  and  Dev-Sol,  an
ultra-  left urban terrorist group.  Turkish Interior Minister
Nahit Mentese,  who  met  with  his  Dutch  counterpart,  Hans
F.Dijkstaal,   yesterday,   said   that   Turkey   wanted  the
finalization of a Security Cooperation Agreement  between  the
two  countries.   The  accord  was  presented  to Amsterdam by
Ankara in 1993.  "It is impossible for nations to fight  alone
against  organized  crimes  such  as terrorism and against its
financial source, drug trafficking"  Mentese  told  Dijkstaal.
"The need for international cooperation against such crimes is
very clear" he said.   Mentese  cited  the  PKK,  Dev-Sol  and
various  ultra-rightist  groups  as  the  centres of organized
crime.  /Cumhuriyet/


ANKARA SAYS OPERATION INTO N.IRAQ WAS 'LIMITED'

Ankara said yesterday that the weekend cross-border  operation
into  northern Iraq was over.  Foreign Ministry Spokesman Omer
Akbel confirmed that  an  incursion  into  northern  Iraq  had
indeed  taken  place.   "The  operation  to prevent a group of
terrorists from infiltrating into Turkish territory  to  stage
attacks against Turkish targets was very limited in scope.  As
far as I know, it is now over" Akbel said.  Akbel denied  that
any  civilians  had  been killed, wounded or suffered material
damage during the operation.  /Hurriyet/

---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From kurdeng at aps.nl  Fri Oct 13 22:49:26 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 13 Oct 1995 22:49:26
Subject: DYP Defectors Cause Instability in
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.6VsXcD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>

Subject: DYP Defectors Cause Instability in Ciller Government


DYP Defectors Cause Instability in Ciller Government
        By Suna Erdem

    ANKARA, Oct 12 (Reuter) - Four members of parliament quit Turkish Prime
Minister Tansu Ciller's party on Thursday, dealing a blow to her minority
government ahead of a confidence vote.

    In separate developments Ciller was reported to have rejected a lower pay
demand proposed by leaders of 335,000 striking public sector workers, and a
key political figure warned he might not support her in Sunday's key vote.

    Parliament sources said four members of Ciller's True Path Party (DYP)
resigned to follow a colleague who defected last week into the ranks of the
independents.

    This leaves Ciller's conservative party with 177 MPs in the 428-seat
parliament. A separate group of anti-Ciller DYP deputies have also threatened
to oppose her on Sunday when she needs a simple majority of those voting to
survive.

    The Turkish lira dived against the dollar on the resignations while
Istanbul stocks shot down by 5.7 percent.

    Democratic Left Party (DSP) leader Bulent Ecevit, who has offered Ciller
support of his 10 deputies in the vote on the condition she first resolve the
public sector strike, gave her what he called a ``final'' warning.

    ``Until this problem is solved, direct or indirect support by the DSP is
impossible,'' Ecevit said in a statement.

    ``This is my final call to the government and to (labour confederation)
Turk-Is.''

    A nationalist party with 17 MPs has also pledged its support for Ciller
linked to resolution of the strike, while some independents may vote with
her.

    The Turk-Is union is lobbying MPs to oppose the government.

    ``If Ciller believes she can get a vote of confidence, then she won't
budge, but if she thinks the vote could be in the balance, then she will
approach us -- and the chances for her winning the vote do not look too
good,'' confederation official Yildirim Koc told Reuters.

    The strike by public sector workers, which began on September 20 over an
initial government pay rise offer of 5.4 percent for the year, has idled
ports, sugar mills, paper mills, slowed railways and threatens wheat and
sugar production.

    The strike, Turkey's biggest for decades, is losing the country over $10
million a day of exports, trade officials say.

    Anatolian news agency reported that Turk-Is had lowered its demands from
24 percent to a 20 percent rise for the 650,000 workers in the coming six
months plus 19 percent for the next six, bringing the cost of the rise to
69.8 trillion lira ($1.4 billion).

    But it quoted Turk-Is leader Bayram Meral as saying he had been told
Ciller had refused the offer, saying she could not afford to give more than a
total 50 trillion lira ($1 billion) -- which is slightly higher than her last
proposal. Turk-Is officials were not immediately available for comment.

    Inflation is expected at 70 percent for 1995.

    Ciller's crisis began when her right-left coalition fell apart last month
and is the worst she has faced since coming to office in June 1993 as
Turkey's first woman prime minister.

    Her government also suffered a deep economic crisis in early 1994, which
prompted an International Monetary Fund-backed austerity plan that the
workers blame for the current dispute.

    Diplomats and analysts say if a government is not in place and passing
laws soon -- particularly long-promised changes to Turkey's anti-terror law
-- it could jeopardise Turkey's planned customs union pact with the European
Union.

    Ecevit warned of ``unforseeable'' consequences for the country if Ciller
failed to solve the strike and win Sunday's vote. He did not elaborate.


Turkish Strike Still Not Settled
    By Suna Erdem     ANKARA, Oct 11 (Reuter) - Turkish Prime Minister Tansu
Ciller discussed a major public workers' strike with a top economic body on
Wednesday but left the meeting saying there was no money to meet strikers'
pay demands.

    Ciller called a meeting of the Economic and Social Council to discuss the
three-week strike by 335,000 public workers, which two key parties want
solved before they give her minority government support in a scheduled vote
of confidence on Sunday.

    "We have a responsibility towards everyone," Ciller was quoted on
Anatolian news agency as saying as she left the meeting. "The resources we
have do not belong to the state, they belong to everyone...They must be
fairly distributed."

    Ciller said public sector workers earned up to three times the monthly
wage of civil servants. A high pay rise for the workers would mean pledging
money that did not exist and could entail higher taxes, she said.

    "Ciller seems determined not to give us a higher pay rise offer, so the
chances of a resolution by Sunday look slim,"

Yildirim Koc, a senior official at the labour confederation Turk-Is, told
Reuters.

    Turk-Is boycotted Wednesday's meeting of the Economic and Social Council,
an advisory body made up of leading economic officials, private sector
representatives and trade unionists.

    Turk-Is leader Bayram Meral told Anatolian the labour unrest could only
end with better cooperation from Ciller, and vowed to do everything possible
to stop her winning the confidence vote.

    Ciller formed a minority government on Thursday with the support of a
nationalist far-right party and a left-wing nationalist party. It replaces
Ciller's right-left coalition, which collapsed on September 20 -- the day the
strike began.

    The confederation is already lobbying MPs to vote against Ciller in the
tight vote of confidence this weekend in anticipation of failed negotiations,
and has called a rally in the capital on Sunday for workers and their
families.

    But Koc did not totally rule out an agreement: "Ciller does not appear to
be opening the door to a solution, on the contrary, she is increasing the
tension...But the unexpected could still happen. We are open to offers, but
better offers."

    He said the government had offered workers an 11.6 percent pay increase
for the next six months, and 8.5 percent for the following six-month tranche.
Turk-Is was "ready to discuss" two six-monthly rises of around 24 percent and
19 percent, he said.

    Inflation is expected to be around 70 percent for 1995.

    Koc said he expected Turkish civil servants, who plan a one-day work
stoppage next week, to announce their solidarity with the workers on
Thursday.

    Anatolian quoted civil servants' union spokesman Alper Ozturk as saying
they would "take to the streets to paralyse Turkey on October 17" for the
right to strike and bargain collectively.

    Turkish civil servants, unlike other workers in the public sector, are
forbidden from striking but often stage so-called "work stoppages" to press
their demands.

    Turk-Is blame the strike unrest on Ciller's 1994 economic austerity
programme, brought in to quell a financial crisis and backed by the
International Monetary Fund.

    The confederation said up to 18,000 more workers were expected to join
the strike soon if no solution was reached.


Ciller Given Ultimatum on Strike Settlement
      By Suna Erdem

    ANKARA, Oct 12 (Reuter) - A key Turkish leader on Thursday gave a
``final'' warning to Prime Minister Tansu Ciller to solve a big public
workers' strike as four MPs quit her party, stepping up pressure on her
minority rule ahead of a confidence vote.

    ``Until this problem is solved, direct or indirect support (in the vote
of confidence) by the DSP (Democratic Left Party) is impossible,'' DSP leader
Bulent Ecevit said in a statement.

    ``This is my final call to the government and to Turk-Is.''

    The DSP is one of two key parties who want the strike by 335,000 public
workers resolved before they give Prime Minister Tansu Ciller's minority
government support in a tight vote of confidence on Sunday.

    The support of the DSP's 10 MPs could prove crucial. The vote is further
complicated with a group of anti-Ciller deputies within her own conservative
True Path Party (DYP) threatening to join the other main parties in opposing
the government.

    Parliament sources said four DYP MPs from the anti-Ciller camp resigned
from the party on Thursday to follow a colleague who quit last week into the
ranks of the independents.

    This leaves Ciller's conservative party with 177 MPs. The new DYP
minority government needs a simple majority of those voting out of
parliament's 428 deputies. A nationalist party with 17 MPs also pledged its
support linked to the strike.

    The labour confederation Turk-Is is lobbying MPs to oppose the
government. But a top Turk-Is official told Reuters earlier that a solution
to the strike looked stronger as the chances of Ciller winning the confidence
vote diminished.

    ``If Ciller believes she can get a vote of confidence, then she won't
budge, but if she thinks the vote could be in the balance, then she will
approach us -- and the chances for her winning the vote do not look too
good,'' said Yildirim Koc.

    Anatolian news agency said DYP deputy Sadik Avundukluoglu had met with
Turk-Is officials, saying Ciller had asked for his help. Avundukluoglu, who
said he did not bring another pay offer for the unions, told Anatolian he
would report back to her.

    Ecevit warned of ``unforseeable'' consequences for the country if Ciller
failed to solve the strike and win Sunday's vote.

    He said he had told Ciller from the start, after she ended her right-left
coalition by resigning on September 20, that she had to settle the workers'
pay dispute before she solved the problem of a new government.

    ``Instead, Ciller said she would follow the opposite approach. She said:
'first the government must be formed and get a vote of confidence, then the
collective bargaining will have its turn'. The result is for all to see,'' he
said.

    The strike by public sector workers, which began on September 20 over an
initial government pay rise offer of 5.4 percent for the year, has idled
ports, sugar mills, paper mills, slowed railways and threatens the production
of basic goods, including wheat and sugar production.

    The strike, Turkey's biggest for decades, is losing Turkey over $10
million a day of exports, trade officials say.

    Ciller said on Wednesday there was no money to meet the strikers'
demands. A high pay rise would mean pledging money that did not exist and
could entail higher taxes, she said.

    She fears rises tied to inflation will ruin her 1994 economic austerity
programme, backed by the International Monetary Fund, which she is already
struggling to fulfil.

    Koc said the government had raised its offer slightly late on Wednesday
to a 13 percent rise for the next six months, and 12 percent for the six
months after that. Turk-Is wants rises of 24 percent and 19 percent rises for
the two six-month tranches.

    Inflation is expected to be around 70 percent for 1995.


Press Group Condemns Turkish Trial of US Reporter
      NEW YORK, Oct. 12 (Reuter) - A U.S.-based press freedom group on
Thursday denounced a decision by a Turkish court to pursue criminal charges
against a Reuter correspondent.

    Earlier on Thursday, a Turkish security court rejected a call to drop the
case, which stemmed from a November 25, 1994, story. The story referred to
forcible evacuation of Kurdish villages as part of a military strategy
against separatist Kurdish guerrillas in southeast Turkey.

    Correspondent Aliza Marcus, a U.S. citizen whose byline was on the story,
faces up to three years in jail for ``provoking enmity and hatred by
displaying racism or regionalism.''

    ``Ms. Marcus is the first American casualty of the Turkish government's
deplorable campaign of censorship and intimidation against journalists
covering the Kurdish separatist movement,'' Walter Cronkite, honorary
chairman of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said in a statement.

    The group said Cronkite, the former CBS News television anchorman, met
with Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller in Ankara in late September to
protest the charges. The organisation said it would continue its protests.

    The Turkish court rejected the defence claims that the charge against
Marcus was invalid under a six-month statute of limitations. Formal charges
were filed this July.

    Marcus' trial in the Istanbul state security court was adjourned until
Nov. 9.


Turkey Warns Syria on PKK Cross Border Attacks
      ANKARA, Oct 12 (Reuter) - Ankara on Thursday warned neighbour Syria to
curb cross-border attacks into Turkey and activities on Syrian soil by the
rebel Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

    The foreign ministry said it had summoned Syria's ambassador to Ankara on
Wednesday to deliver a warning about increasing instances of border attacks
and infiltration into Turkey from Syria of PKK guerrillas.

    ``We asked, once again, for the necessary precautions to be taken
immediately,'' the ministry said in a statement.

    It said 10 PKK attacks ``of a serious nature'' had taken place on
Turkey's border with Syria since February and each time the attackers had
escaped to Syrian soil.

    Despite Turkey's contacts with Syrian authorities after each incident,
the attacks had continued unabated, it said.

    ``The damage that such incidents do to Turkish-Syrian relations, which
should rest on the principle of friendship and good neighbourliness, is
obvious,'' it said.

    The ministry said it had also given Damascus proof many times of the
presence of leading PKK members on Syrian soil.

    PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan is believed to be based in Syria or the
Syrian-controlled Bekaa Valley in Lebanon.

    The PKK has only recently begun to be active in Hatay province on the
border with Syria. Hatay, whose population is predominantly of Arab origin,
borders the Turkish industrial and agricultural Adana province, which has a
large and restive Kurdish immigrant population.

    More than 18,000 people have been killed in the rebels' campaign for
independence or autonomy in southeast Turkey.


Turkish Court Rejects Call to Drop Reuters Case
      ISTANBUL, Turkey (Reuter) - A Turkish security court  Thursday rejected
a call to drop a case on procedural grounds against a Reuters correspondent
charged under Turkey's laws on freedom of expression.

    The defense argued that the charge, relating to a Reuters story issued
last Nov. 25, was invalid under a six-month statute of limitations. Formal
charges were filed this July.

    Reuters correspondent Aliza Marcus, whose byline was on the story, faces
up to three years in jail for ``provoking enmity and hatred by displaying
racism or regionalism.''

    ``We have prepared our response to the charges which we have said are
without merit. We await our next opportunity to clear Marcus' name,'' said a
spokesman for Reuters in London.

    The story referred to forcible evacuation of Kurdish villages as part of
a military strategy against separatist Kurdish guerrillas in southeast
Turkey.

    Marcus, 33, is a U.S. citizen. Her trial in the Istanbul state security
court was adjourned until Nov. 9. Under Turkish procedure, no plea is
submitted.

    In a related case, a state prosecutor last week asked the court to drop
charges against a Turkish newspaper for publishing the Reuters story.


Ciller Pledges To Reform Anti-terror Law
      By Hidir Goktas

    ANKARA, Oct 10 (Reuter) - Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller on Tuesday
pledged that her precarious new minority government would change an
anti-terror law that has plagued the country's relations with Europe.

    ``There are...issues of priority for our government,'' Ciller told
parliament. ``(Among them) the removal of article 8 from being a barrier to
the freedom of thought and expression in a way that will not harm the
indivisible unity of the country.''

    Ciller was reading out the programme of her new government, which faces a
tight vote of confidence on Sunday.

    Article 8 of Turkey's tough anti-terror law, which bans ``separatist
propaganda'' in any form, has been used to jail scores of people for writings
and speeches linked to an 11-year Kurdish insurgency in the southeast.

    The European Parliament, which must ratify a planned customs union
between Turkey and the European Union, has demanded the removal of article 8
in exchange for its approval of the pact, due to go into force next year.

    Analysts say Ciller may try to change the article in line with a clause
in the German constitution and better define ``terror'' and ``separatism.''
The change might reduce or scrap jail sentences and impose instead temporary
bans on political and social activities, they say.

    But some analysts say Ciller may have trouble getting such changes
through, given the makeup of her right-wing cabinet that could prove tough to
manage and possible objections from a far-right party that is key to the
survival of her government.

    Ciller said her government would press on with democratic reforms,
initiated but not yet implemented with much success by the right-left
coalition she broke up with her resignation on September 20.

    ``This government will be the one to take historic steps towards greater
democracy,'' she said.

    But it would also continue working to end the Kurdish insurgency in the
southeast, which has killed more than 18,000 people since 1984, and would
boost investment in the impoverished region, she said.

    Turkey's purely military approach to the insurgency has angered its
Western allies, as has its apparent failure to make any democratic reforms of
note. But a reform of article 8 is likely to gain some lost ground.

    Ciller said her government would stick to the crucial goals of customs
union and press on with a 1994 economic austerity programme brought in to
curb a financial crisis.


---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From kurdeng at aps.nl  Fri Oct 13 22:50:29 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 13 Oct 1995 22:50:29
Subject: Ciller in problems, strike contiues
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.awsXcD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>


ANKARA, Turkey (Reuter) - Four members of parliament quit Turkish Prime
Minister Tansu Ciller's party Thursday, dealing a blow to her minority
government ahead of a confidence vote.

In separate developments Ciller was reported to have rejected a lower pay
demand proposed by leaders of 335,000 striking public sector workers, and a
key political figure warned he might not support her in Sunday's key vote.

Parliament sources said four members of Ciller's True Path Party (DYP) resigned
to follow a colleague who defected last week into the ranks of the
independents. This leaves Ciller's conservative party with 177 MPs in the
428-seat parliament. A separate group of anti-Ciller DYP deputies have also
threatened to oppose her Sunday when she needs a simple majority of those
voting to survive.

The Turkish lira dived against the dollar on the resignations while Istanbul
stocks slumped by 5.7 percent.

Democratic Left Party (DSP) leader Bulent Ecevit, who has offered Ciller
support of his 10 deputies in the vote on the condition she first resolve the
public sector strike, gave her what he called a "final" warning.

A nationalist party with 17 MPs has also pledged its support for Ciller
linked to resolution of the strike, while some independents may vote with her.

The strike by public sector workers, which began on Sept. 20 over an initial
government pay rise offer of 5.4 percent for the year, has idled ports, sugar
mills, paper mills, slowed railways and threatens wheat and sugar production.

(2)

By Suna Erdem

ANKARA, Oct 12 (Reuter) - A key Turkish leader on Thursday gave a "final"
warning to Prime Minister Tansu Ciller to solve a big public workers' strike as
four MPs quit her party, stepping up pressure on her minority rule ahead of a
confidence vote.

"Until this problem is solved, direct or indirect support (in the vote of
confidence) by the DSP (Democratic Left Party) is impossible," DSP leader
Bulent Ecevit said in a statement. "This is my final call to the government and
to Turk-Is."

The DSP is one of two key parties who want the strike by 335,000 public workers
resolved before they give Prime Minister Tansu Ciller's minority government
support in a tight vote of confidence on Sunday.

The support of the DSP's 10 MPs could prove crucial. The vote is further
complicated with a group of anti-Ciller deputies within her own conservative
True Path Party (DYP) threatening to join the other main parties in opposing
the government.

Parliament sources said four DYP MPs from the anti-Ciller camp resigned from
the party on Thursday to follow a colleague who quit last week into the ranks
of the independents.

This leaves Ciller's conservative party with 177 MPs. The new DYP minority
government needs a simple majority of those voting out of parliament's 428
deputies. A nationalist party with 17 MPs also pledged its support linked to
the strike.

The labour confederation Turk-Is is lobbying MPs to oppose the government. But
a top Turk-Is official told Reuters earlier that a solution to the strike
looked stronger as the chances of Ciller winning the confidence vote
diminished. "If Ciller believes she can get a vote of confidence, then she
won't budge, but if she thinks the vote could be in the balance, then she will
approach us -- and the chances for her winning the vote do not look too good,"
said Yildirim Koc.

Anatolian news agency said DYP deputy Sadik Avundukluoglu had met with Turk-Is
officials, saying Ciller had asked for his help. Avundukluoglu, who said he
did not bring another pay offer for the unions, told Anatolian he would report
back to her.

Ecevit warned of "unforseeable" consequences for the country if Ciller failed
to solve the strike and win Sunday's vote. He said he had told Ciller from the
start, after she ended her right-left coalition by resigning on September 20,
that she had to settle the workers' pay dispute before she solved the problem
of a new government. "Instead, Ciller said she would follow the opposite
approach. She said: 'first the government must be formed and get a vote of
confidence, then the collective bargaining will have its turn'. The result is
for all to see," he said.

The strike by public sector workers, which began on September 20 over an
initial government pay rise offer of 5.4 percent for the year, has idled ports,
sugar mills, paper mills, slowed railways and threatens the production of basic
goods, including wheat and sugar production.

The strike, Turkey's biggest for decades, is losing Turkey over $10 million a
day of exports, trade officials say.

Ciller said on Wednesday there was no money to meet the strikers' demands. A
high pay rise would mean pledging money that did not exist and could entail
higher taxes, she said. She fears rises tied to inflation will ruin her 1994
economic austerity programme, backed by the International Monetary Fund, which
she is already struggling to fulfil.

Koc said the government had raised its offer slightly late on Wednesday to a 13
percent rise for the next six months, and 12 percent for the six months after
that. Turk-Is wants rises of 24 percent and 19 percent rises for the two
six-month tranches. Inflation is expected to be around 70 percent for 1995.

(3)

ANKARA, Oct 12 (Reuter) - Ankara on Thursday warned neighbour Syria to curb
cross-border attacks into Turkey and activities on Syrian soil by the rebel
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

The foreign ministry said it had summoned Syria's ambassador to Ankara on
Wednesday to deliver a warning about increasing instances of border attacks
and infiltration into Turkey from Syria of PKK guerrillas. "We asked, once
again, for the necessary precautions to be taken immediately," the ministry
said in a statement.

It said 10 PKK attacks "of a serious nature" had taken place on Turkey's border
with Syria since February and each time the attackers had escaped to Syrian
soil. Despite Turkey's contacts with Syrian authorities after each incident,
the attacks had continued unabated, it said. "The damage that such incidents do
to Turkish-Syrian relations, which should rest on the principle of friendship
and good neighbourliness, is obvious," it said.

The ministry said it had also given Damascus proof many times of the presence
of leading PKK members on Syrian soil. PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan is believed
to be based in Syria or the Syrian-controlled Bekaa Valley in Lebanon.

The PKK has only recently begun to be active in Hatay province on the border
with Syria. Hatay, whose population is predominantly of Arab origin, borders
the Turkish industrial and agricultural Adana province, which has a large and
restive Kurdish immigrant population.


ISTANBUL, Turkey (Reuter) - A Turkish security court Thursday rejected a call
to drop a case on procedural grounds against a Reuters correspondent charged
under Turkey's laws on freedom of expression.

The defense argued that the charge, relating to a Reuters story issued last
Nov. 25, was invalid under a six-month statute of limitations. Formal charges
were filed this July.

Reuters correspondent Aliza Marcus, whose byline was on the story, faces up to
three years in jail for "provoking enmity and hatred by displaying racism or
regionalism."

"We have prepared our response to the charges which we have said are without
merit. We await our next opportunity to clear Marcus' name," said a spokesman
for Reuters in London.

The story referred to forcible evacuation of Kurdish villages as part of a
military strategy against separatist Kurdish guerrillas in southeast Turkey.

Marcus, 33, is a U.S. citizen. Her trial in the Istanbul state security court
was adjourned until Nov. 9. Under Turkish procedure, no plea is submitted.

In a related case, a state prosecutor last week asked the court to drop charges
against a Turkish newspaper for publishing the Reuters story.

(6)

NEW YORK, Oct. 12 (Reuter) - A U.S.-based press freedom group on Thursday
denounced a decision by a Turkish court to pursue criminal charges against a
Reuter correspondent.

Earlier on Thursday, a Turkish security court rejected a call to drop the case,
which stemmed from a November 25, 1994, story. The story referred to forcible
evacuation of Kurdish villages as part of a military strategy against
separatist Kurdish guerrillas in southeast Turkey.

Correspondent Aliza Marcus, a U.S. citizen whose byline was on the story, faces
up to three years in jail for "provoking enmity and hatred by displaying racism
or regionalism."

"Ms. Marcus is the first American casualty of the Turkish government's
deplorable campaign of censorship and intimidation against journalists covering
the Kurdish separatist movement," Walter Cronkite, honorary chairman of the
Committee to Protect Journalists, said in a statement.

The group said Cronkite, the former CBS News television anchorman, met with
Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller in Ankara in late September to protest the
charges. The organisation said it would continue its protests. The Turkish
court rejected the defence claims that the charge against Marcus was invalid
under a six-month statute of limitations. Formal charges were filed this July.

Marcus' trial in the Istanbul state security court was adjourned until Nov. 9.

---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From kurdeng at aps.nl  Tue Oct 17 18:13:20 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 17 Oct 1995 18:13:20
Subject: TURKISH DAILY NEWS / 16 OCTOBER 199
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.ZRL5cD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>

Subject: TURKISH DAILY NEWS / 16 OCTOBER 1995


Syria 'encouraged' not to support PKK. Undersecretary says N. Iraq is
not exclusively Kurdish, warns against humiliating

conditions for customs union

By Ugur Akinci

Turkish Daily News
  _________________________________________________________________



WASHINGTON- Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Onur Oymen,
wrapping up a visit to the United States, said relations between
Ankara and Washington needed a new direction for steady growth.

Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
to a group of Turkish and U.S. officials, think-tank specialists and
journalists, Oymen said, "We spent too much time in the past by
trouble shooting" and trying to avoid problems in Turkish-U.S.
relations. "We need to build-up the relations" in order "not to return
to square one," he said.

The undersecretary emphasized the importance of the expanded role that
could be played by Turkish-Americans. Referring to intensive Turkish
efforts in the past to avoid certain anti-Turkish amendments in the
U.S. Congress, Oymen recalled that it would be a mistake to approach
the Congress as though every legislator was anti-Turkish by default.
"Our aim is to have more direct contact with all U.S. congressmen.

We will invite more of them to Turkey. The more we explain our
realities, the more friends we'll have. All congressmen are either a
friend of Turkey or a potential friend of Turkey," he said. On Friday,
Oymen visited U.S Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Jean Lodal;
Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights John Shattuck;
Washington Post senior editor Stephen Rosenfeld; Deputy Assistant
Secretary of Commerce Jeff Houser; National Security Council Deputy
Director Sandy Berger. Oymen also had lunch with Assistant Secretary
Richard Holbrooke -- who is said to be a close friend of his from the
time when they both served as ambassadors of their respective
countries in Germany.

Concerning his talks with Shattuck on human rights, Oymen said, they
had a "frank discussion" which is the diplomatic way of saying that
the two sides criticized each other's approach to the problem.

Replying to TDN's question on the aid and comfort Syria is reportedly
giving to the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party), and the way the U.S.
effort to establish peace between Israel and Syria impinges on that
issue, Ambassador Oymen said nobody was asking the United States to
put "pressure" on Syria to quit helping the PKK.

Rather, Turkey was "encouraging" Syria not to support the terrorists,
he said.

Northern Iraq

On the question of northern Iraq, Oymen pointed out that the reason
why Turkey was referring to a "regional administration" instead of a
"Kurdish regional government" is because northern Iraq is not
exclusively a Kurdish region.

"There are 2.3 million Turkmens living in the region -- 800,000 to the
north of the 36th parallel. There are Arabs and Christians as well,"
he said.

Concerning Operation Provide Comfort, he said it was originally
established to protect the area from "external" threats but today
there were many "internal" threats like the tension between the
Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan
(PUK), and the attacks by Turkey's separatist PKK terrorists, he said.


The fact that the PKK is attacking Kurds in N. Iraq and killing women
and children as well shows that PKK attacks have nothing to do with
the alleged oppression Kurds supposedly suffer in Turkey, he said. "So
Provide Comfort is not the only issue in northern Iraq," he said.

Customs union

Touching upon another current topic, Oymen said there should be no
conditions upon Turkey's entry into the European customs union. "Such
conditions should not give the impression of unwillingly humiliating
Turks, who are a proud people like the Americans." We do what we do
for the benefit of the Turkish people, not to satisfy the West, he
said.

The Turkish Parliament cannot work while being targeted with
"ultimatums from outside." "Can the German, French or English
parliaments operate like that?" he asked.

Iran

Oymen also sent a message to Iran saying that although the two
countries had shared the same peaceful border for centuries and there
were no visa requirements between the two neighbors ("that's the
positive news"), nobody should try to export their regime to another's
country and should respect another's regime as it is. During the
shah's time, there were projects to build pipelines across the two
countries. But nothing happened. Why? "Ask Iran. Perhaps they have
better answers," he said.

CFE

Concerning Russia's intentions not to abide by the treaty to limit
Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE), Oymen said "we'll stick to our
NATO position." NATO recently made an offer to Russia to relax
sub-limits on troop deployments on the flanks, of which the Caucasus
is one. Such flexibility also raises the security risks Turkey is
faced with.

Alexander Vershbow of the National Security Council, in a recent
briefing, claimed that the possible increase in Russian deployment in
the Caucasus represented an "acceptable risk" for Turkey. Oymen
pointed out that everything has its cost and thus "our allies should
increase their compensation for such increased risks" due to the new
NATO gesture toward Russia.

Azeri pipeline

In a previous press briefing he held at the National Press Club, Oymen
answered a question on whether the agreement signed by AIOC on Azeri
early oil was a permanent one, "(Azeri President Haydar) Aliyev has
signed it. So it is definitive," he said.

He recalled that the Russian oil company Lukoil was also part of the
AIOC consortium. Hence Russia's alleged discomfort with the agreement
is not an issue at all.

106 villages

When the representative of an Armenian-American organization asked
about the fate of those who were evacuated from their villages in
Turkey, Oymen said "village evacuations were done for their own safety
(since) the PKK terrorists kill women and children as well."

But now there is a new security situation on the ground and the
inhabitants of 106 villagers are already back in their previous homes,
he said. "Another 106 are returning shortly. We are very satisfied"
with the process, Oymen said.
  _________________________________________________________________

---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Wed Oct 18 09:07:04 1995
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 18 Oct 1995 09:07:04
Subject: News From 'Kurdistan Rundbrief #20/
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199510180345.XAA01287@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: News From 'Kurdistan Rundbrief #20/95'

News Translated From 'Kurdistan Rundbrief #20/95'

----
Military Confrontations Between PKK And KDP Continue

	During the continuing confrontations between military units of 
the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party 
(KDP) in Iraqi-Kurdistan, fighting has taken place in the regions of 
Gare, Xanike, Sideka, and Mt. Ciyaye Sipi.
	On September 23, guerrilla units from the People's Liberation 
Army of Kurdistan (ARGK), the military wing of the PKK, captured a KDP 
military station in Kasre in the Xanike valley. During the fighting, 8 
KDP peshmergas were killed. It is not know how many guerrillas were killed.
	On Mt. Ciyaye Sipi, there was also fighting between PKK 
guerrillas and KDP peshmergas. A 700-man KDP unit was attacked by the 
ARGK as it made its way up Mt. Ciyaye Sipi. During the fighting, 5 KDP 
peshmergas were killed and many others were wounded. The guerrillas 
suffered no losses.
	ARGK units also carried out attacks against KDP forces stationed 
between Sideka and Sexzade. The guerrillas captured the area in a short 
period of time. Guerrillas reported no losses on their side, yet several 
dead and wounded among the peshmergas.
	During a clash between ARGK guerrillas and Turkish army units 
stationed near the city of Ertus, 12 soldiers and 2 guerrillas were 
killed. Another 6 guerrillas were wounded. The guerrillas confiscated a 
large arsenal of weapons during the attack.
	According to reports from the area, a planned advance by KDP 
forces in the Gare region was halted by attacks from the ARGK. The KDP 
units are now retreating.

(DEM News Agency - September 26, 1995)

----
Turkish-Kurdistan: Mysterious Explosion In Military Station

	A mine exploded for unknown reasons inside a military garrison in 
Findik, setting off explosions which blew up the station's arsenal. 
Reports indicate that 13 soldiers died. Some observers note that the 
incident may have resulted from internal conflicts within the garrison.

Refugees As "Human Shields"

	Recent reports from villagers in the Farasin regions have 
indicated a new wave of refugees fleeing from Van province. Reports 
indicated that the Turkish military are attempting to force the refugees 
into the city of Beytulsebap. Once there, refugees are to be placed in 
camps in order to serve the defensive needs of the military there.
	The residents of Farasin have suffered from heavy repression at 
the hands of the military, after the agha (feudal lord) of the village 
told the military that residents in the area were aiding the PKK by 
showing them escape routes into South Kurdistan.
One Dead Following Military Attack On Kurdish Village

	During an attack by Turkish soldiers on the village of Kele near 
the city of Lice in Diyarbakir province, 1 man was killed and his 
daughter was wounded.

(DEM News Agency - September 21-30, 1995)

----
Balance Of The Kurdistan Liberation Struggle In August 1995

	During 420 confrontations between our forces and the fascist 
Turkish army in the time period of August 1-31, 1995, for which the 
results are known to us, 531 soldiers were killed, including 1 troop 
commander, 2 lieutenants, 11 NCOs, 5 sergeants, as well as 156 village 
guards, including 3 village guard leaders; 67 soldiers and village guards 
were wounded. Also, 8 policemen were killed.
	During the same time period, we also took 42 persons as 
prisoners, including 1 Turkish soldier, 39 village guards, 1 sentry, and 
1 Turkish agent. Another 8 people and 8 Turkish civil servants were 
detained and questioned for being in territory under our control without 
our permission. One of these people has since been released.
	During the month of August, we destroyed the following: 10 
panzers, 69 military vehicles, 49 pieces of machinery, 1 TV station, 2 
factories, 6 buildings used as Turkish army quarters, 2 wood silos, 14 
power pylons, 2 water towers, and 5 tractors. We also shot down 1 
helicopter and destroyed 1 tank and 1 military transport vehicle.
	Furthermore, we sabotaged the Kerkuk-Yumurtalik oil pipeline and 
blew up 3 oil rigs.
	In the month of August, 92 ARGK fighters fell as martyrs and 29 
other comrades were wounded.

(Press Office of the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan - ARGK)

----
KDP Attacks Ertus Refugee Camp; 4 People Murdered

	The Ertus refugee camp in South Kurdistan, which is home to 
thousands of expelled villagers from North Kurdistan, was attacked by KDP 
peshmergas and Turkish army officers. The KDP claims that there are 
weapons hidden in the camp, which is overseen by the UN and under its 
"protection", and whose residents are very well organized, complete with 
their own elected officials. The UN official in charge of the camp 
granted permission for the KDP to search the camp and even handed over a 
list of names of all the camp's inhabitants. KDP members proceeded to 
arrest several people, some of whom were taken across the border back 
into Turkey by Turkish officers.
	When the camp's residents protested against the raid and the 
arrests, KDP members opened fire on the crowd in full view of UN 
officials. The UN officials, however, simply looked on and refused to 
intervene.
	One woman and three men were killed in the shooting. Later, camp 
residents took 7 UN workers hostage. The residents promised not to harm 
their UN captives, but said they would not release them until the camp's 
security was guaranteed.
	Abdallah Saieed, the UNHCR representative in Iraq, declared that 
no weapons or military equipment had been found in the camp, and that 
Turkey had often made such false accusations in the past. No previous UN 
inspections in the camp had turned up any weapons either.

(Ozgur Politika - September 16, 1995)

----
Returning Refugees Fired Upon By Turkish Soldiers; 2 Dead

	After Turkish prime minister Tansu Ciller gave assurances that 
all refugees would be allowed to return to their villages, parts of the 
population attempted to return to their homes in recent days.
	Residents of the villages of Sise (Yolacan in Turkish), Derxust 
(Dibek), Husneyik (Arikli), and Cinezur (Cagdas) near Lice, who were on 
their way home, were stopped by Turkish army units. The soldiers insulted 
them and asked: "Where are you going? Are you bringing food for the 
terrorists?" The villagers explained that they were returning to their 
homes, as the prime minister had said they could. To this, the soldiers 
replied: "So where in the prime minister? We are the kings here." They 
then fired upon the crowds of people. During this random shooting, two 
people, Kamil Mentese (20) and Mehmet Ikkaya (58), were killed and many 
others were wounded.
	One man who witnessed the shooting described it as follows: 
"During the incident, two of our friends were killed and many others were 
wounded. I myself only missed the soldiers' bullets by chance, and I 
still don't know what happened to some of my friends. I heard the 
soldiers talk on their radios about a fight. Later, the governor said 
that 'two terrorists were killed in a fight'."

(DEM News Agency - September 25, 1995)

----
Battle Between Soldiers In Siirt

	Fighting broke out between the soldiers of a mobile gendarme unit 
in the Siirt-Pervari region and Turkish and Kurdish soldiers in a 
military station in the village of Dogan Koyu. The fighting broke out 
after Turkish soldiers began shouting racist and nationalist slogans and 
began insulting Kurdish soldiers following a military operation. During 
the shooting which followed, 15 soldiers were killed.
	The governor of Siirt announced a news black-out and cut the 
village of Dogan Koyu off from the outside world. Residents have been 
threatened and told not to speak about the incident.

(Ozgur Politika - September 16, 1995)

----
Preparations For "Kurdistan Democratic Federal Front"

	As operations by the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK) 
against the KDP in South Kurdistan continue, high-ranking members of 
seven South Kurdistan organizations have met to discuss a PKK initiative 
to establish the "Kurdistan Democratic Federal Front". The seven 
organizations declared their solidarity with the PKK and stated that they 
would support the PKK in its operations against the KDP.
	The "Kurdistan Democratic Federal Front" will be comprised of the 
following organizations: Partiya Kesen Serbuxa, Hizbullah u Soresger, 
Yekitiya Nistimane Demokrata Kurdistan, Biziknave Rizgari Nistimani 
Kurdistan, Partiya Parezger, Partiya Koministiya Kurdistan, and the 
Partiya Zahmetkesan. The PUK has not yet decided if it will participate 
in the Front. It seems as thought the PUK are waiting to see the outcome 
of the PKK-KDP conflict before deciding whether or not to join.

(Ozgur Politika - September 20, 1995)

----
Kanther Wants To Ban All PKK Statements

	In issue #18 of Kurdistan Rundbrief, we reported on the German 
interior ministry's decision to seek criminal indictments against 
Kurdistan Rundbrief. In the meantime, the police in Cologne have followed 
up on these efforts by the federal interior ministry. It now seems as 
though the German government is seeking to make any public distribution 
of statements from the PKK or the ERNK illegal as "support for a banned 
organization". According to this logic: the PKK and ERNK are illegal; 
Kurdistan Rundbrief publishes statements from the PKK and the ERNK; 
therefore, Kurdistan Rundbrief must be made illegal. If the courts accept 
the interior ministry's logic, publishing statements from the PKK/ERNK 
will become a criminal offence. This would criminalize lots of people, 
not only Kurdistan Rundbrief and other leftist publications, but even 
Stern magazine and the TV program "ZAK", just for publishing statements 
from the Kanther's nemesis, the PKK and the ERNK. By denying access to 
authentic documents from the Kurdish side of this conflict, the public 
would no longer have a free and accurate picture of the situation. The 
editors of this paper, in any case, do not see how the federal interior 
ministry's attempts at censorship will make it past the courts.

----
>From The German Media:

Deserter Substantiates Allegations Against Turkey

	New evidence has arisen which suggests that German weapons are 
being used by Turkey in its fight against the Kurds: a Kurdish 
asylum-seeker in Bremen claims he was in a special unit of the Turkish 
army in 1991/92 and that he rode in a former East German panzer when 
deployed against Kurds. The federal government has denied that panzers 
supplied as part of a military agreement with Turkey were ever used 
against Kurds.
	Hans-Eberhard Schultz, lawyer for the 28-year-old Kurd, said on 
Thursday in an interview with the Frankfurter Rundschau that his client 
was a solider stationed in Mardin at the time. With an East German BTR-60 
panzer, he fired at the mountains when shots from alleged rebels were 
heard. He said BTR-60 panzers were also used during attacks on Kurdish 
villages. His client, the lawyer continued, said he was not confusing the 
East German panzer with a similar Russian model. In 1992, the man 
deserted from the army while on vacation so that he would no longer have 
to fire upon his own people.

(Frankfurter Rundschau - September 22, 1995)

Good For Blohm & Voss; Finances Approved For Turkey Frigates

	The federal budget office has approved a request for 150 million 
DM to finance the building of two frigates for Turkey, despite opposition 
from Greens and the SPD. The money had been frozen in March in response 
to Turkey's incursion into northern Iraq.
	The two warships will be built by a German consortium which 
includes the firm Thyssen Rheinstahl and the Hamburg wharf of Blohm & 
Voss. The total value of the contract is 800 million DM. Blohm & Voss 
have already started work on the two ships.
	One of the two Meko frigates will be built entirely in Germany, 
while parts for the second will be delivered to Turkey.
	The federal government had argued that funds for the project 
should be released since the grounds for freezing them were no longer 
relevant since the Turkish military had pulled out of the Kurdish regions 
of northern Iraq.
	Green MP Angelika Beer characterized the move as a slap in the 
face for all forces struggling for democracy and human rights in Turkey. 
SPD budget spokesman Eckhart Kuhlwein told the Abdenblatt that social 
democrats feel it is "unwise" for additional military assistance to be 
given to Turkey.

(Hamburger Abdenblatt - September 21, 1995)

Turkish Human Rights Activist Honored

	The German Judges' Union (DRB) sharply criticized mistreatment 
and torture in Turkish prisons as well as the suppression of freedom of 
expression in Turkey while handing out its 1995 Human Rights Award. Union 
chief Rainer Voss criticized the excessive use of charges of "separatism" 
and "separatist propaganda" by state security courts in Turkey. All those 
in Turkey who belong to an ethnic minority, he said, must anticipate 
punishment. This year's DRB Human Rights Award was given to Turkish 
lawyer Husnu Ondul, "also in the hope of providing him with some degree 
of protection".
	Ondul is a lawyer in Ankara and was one of the founders of the 
Human Rights Association (IHD) and the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, 
which operates centers for victims of torture. A total of seven political 
indictments have been filed against Ondul; during one visit to the 
Kurdish regions, his delegation was fired upon.
	(...) Voss cited figures from Human Rights Association for 1994: 
1,000 cases of torture; 298 people dead in police custody or police 
raids; in another 328 cases, the Human Rights Association documented 
"disappearances following arrests by the police".
	In his acceptance speech, Ondul mentioned his murdered 
colleagues: Metin Can, head of the Human Rights Association in Elazig, 
and Sevket Epozdemir, head of the Human Rights Association in Tatvan. He 
accepted the prize in the name of all those people in prison in Turkey 
because of their work on behalf of the Human Rights Association.

(Suddeutsche Zeitung - September 26, 1995)


+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++==
Arm The Spirit
P.O. Box 6326, Stn. A
Toronto, Ontario
M5W 1P7 Canada

E-mail: ats at etext.org
WWW: http://burn.ucsd.edu/~ats
FTP: ftp.etext.org --> /pub/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit
+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== 


From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Wed Oct 18 11:01:15 1995
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 18 Oct 1995 11:01:15
Subject: News From 'Kurdistan Rundbrief #20/
References: <bac1c849.199510180345.XAA01287@locust.cic>
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199510180345.XAA01287@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: News From 'Kurdistan Rundbrief #20/95'

News Translated From 'Kurdistan Rundbrief #20/95'

----
Military Confrontations Between PKK And KDP Continue

	During the continuing confrontations between military units of 
the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party 
(KDP) in Iraqi-Kurdistan, fighting has taken place in the regions of 
Gare, Xanike, Sideka, and Mt. Ciyaye Sipi.
	On September 23, guerrilla units from the People's Liberation 
Army of Kurdistan (ARGK), the military wing of the PKK, captured a KDP 
military station in Kasre in the Xanike valley. During the fighting, 8 
KDP peshmergas were killed. It is not know how many guerrillas were killed.
	On Mt. Ciyaye Sipi, there was also fighting between PKK 
guerrillas and KDP peshmergas. A 700-man KDP unit was attacked by the 
ARGK as it made its way up Mt. Ciyaye Sipi. During the fighting, 5 KDP 
peshmergas were killed and many others were wounded. The guerrillas 
suffered no losses.
	ARGK units also carried out attacks against KDP forces stationed 
between Sideka and Sexzade. The guerrillas captured the area in a short 
period of time. Guerrillas reported no losses on their side, yet several 
dead and wounded among the peshmergas.
	During a clash between ARGK guerrillas and Turkish army units 
stationed near the city of Ertus, 12 soldiers and 2 guerrillas were 
killed. Another 6 guerrillas were wounded. The guerrillas confiscated a 
large arsenal of weapons during the attack.
	According to reports from the area, a planned advance by KDP 
forces in the Gare region was halted by attacks from the ARGK. The KDP 
units are now retreating.

(DEM News Agency - September 26, 1995)

----
Turkish-Kurdistan: Mysterious Explosion In Military Station

	A mine exploded for unknown reasons inside a military garrison in 
Findik, setting off explosions which blew up the station's arsenal. 
Reports indicate that 13 soldiers died. Some observers note that the 
incident may have resulted from internal conflicts within the garrison.

Refugees As "Human Shields"

	Recent reports from villagers in the Farasin regions have 
indicated a new wave of refugees fleeing from Van province. Reports 
indicated that the Turkish military are attempting to force the refugees 
into the city of Beytulsebap. Once there, refugees are to be placed in 
camps in order to serve the defensive needs of the military there.
	The residents of Farasin have suffered from heavy repression at 
the hands of the military, after the agha (feudal lord) of the village 
told the military that residents in the area were aiding the PKK by 
showing them escape routes into South Kurdistan.
One Dead Following Military Attack On Kurdish Village

	During an attack by Turkish soldiers on the village of Kele near 
the city of Lice in Diyarbakir province, 1 man was killed and his 
daughter was wounded.

(DEM News Agency - September 21-30, 1995)

----
Balance Of The Kurdistan Liberation Struggle In August 1995

	During 420 confrontations between our forces and the fascist 
Turkish army in the time period of August 1-31, 1995, for which the 
results are known to us, 531 soldiers were killed, including 1 troop 
commander, 2 lieutenants, 11 NCOs, 5 sergeants, as well as 156 village 
guards, including 3 village guard leaders; 67 soldiers and village guards 
were wounded. Also, 8 policemen were killed.
	During the same time period, we also took 42 persons as 
prisoners, including 1 Turkish soldier, 39 village guards, 1 sentry, and 
1 Turkish agent. Another 8 people and 8 Turkish civil servants were 
detained and questioned for being in territory under our control without 
our permission. One of these people has since been released.
	During the month of August, we destroyed the following: 10 
panzers, 69 military vehicles, 49 pieces of machinery, 1 TV station, 2 
factories, 6 buildings used as Turkish army quarters, 2 wood silos, 14 
power pylons, 2 water towers, and 5 tractors. We also shot down 1 
helicopter and destroyed 1 tank and 1 military transport vehicle.
	Furthermore, we sabotaged the Kerkuk-Yumurtalik oil pipeline and 
blew up 3 oil rigs.
	In the month of August, 92 ARGK fighters fell as martyrs and 29 
other comrades were wounded.

(Press Office of the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan - ARGK)

----
KDP Attacks Ertus Refugee Camp; 4 People Murdered

	The Ertus refugee camp in South Kurdistan, which is home to 
thousands of expelled villagers from North Kurdistan, was attacked by KDP 
peshmergas and Turkish army officers. The KDP claims that there are 
weapons hidden in the camp, which is overseen by the UN and under its 
"protection", and whose residents are very well organized, complete with 
their own elected officials. The UN official in charge of the camp 
granted permission for the KDP to search the camp and even handed over a 
list of names of all the camp's inhabitants. KDP members proceeded to 
arrest several people, some of whom were taken across the border back 
into Turkey by Turkish officers.
	When the camp's residents protested against the raid and the 
arrests, KDP members opened fire on the crowd in full view of UN 
officials. The UN officials, however, simply looked on and refused to 
intervene.
	One woman and three men were killed in the shooting. Later, camp 
residents took 7 UN workers hostage. The residents promised not to harm 
their UN captives, but said they would not release them until the camp's 
security was guaranteed.
	Abdallah Saieed, the UNHCR representative in Iraq, declared that 
no weapons or military equipment had been found in the camp, and that 
Turkey had often made such false accusations in the past. No previous UN 
inspections in the camp had turned up any weapons either.

(Ozgur Politika - September 16, 1995)

----
Returning Refugees Fired Upon By Turkish Soldiers; 2 Dead

	After Turkish prime minister Tansu Ciller gave assurances that 
all refugees would be allowed to return to their villages, parts of the 
population attempted to return to their homes in recent days.
	Residents of the villages of Sise (Yolacan in Turkish), Derxust 
(Dibek), Husneyik (Arikli), and Cinezur (Cagdas) near Lice, who were on 
their way home, were stopped by Turkish army units. The soldiers insulted 
them and asked: "Where are you going? Are you bringing food for the 
terrorists?" The villagers explained that they were returning to their 
homes, as the prime minister had said they could. To this, the soldiers 
replied: "So where in the prime minister? We are the kings here." They 
then fired upon the crowds of people. During this random shooting, two 
people, Kamil Mentese (20) and Mehmet Ikkaya (58), were killed and many 
others were wounded.
	One man who witnessed the shooting described it as follows: 
"During the incident, two of our friends were killed and many others were 
wounded. I myself only missed the soldiers' bullets by chance, and I 
still don't know what happened to some of my friends. I heard the 
soldiers talk on their radios about a fight. Later, the governor said 
that 'two terrorists were killed in a fight'."

(DEM News Agency - September 25, 1995)

----
Battle Between Soldiers In Siirt

	Fighting broke out between the soldiers of a mobile gendarme unit 
in the Siirt-Pervari region and Turkish and Kurdish soldiers in a 
military station in the village of Dogan Koyu. The fighting broke out 
after Turkish soldiers began shouting racist and nationalist slogans and 
began insulting Kurdish soldiers following a military operation. During 
the shooting which followed, 15 soldiers were killed.
	The governor of Siirt announced a news black-out and cut the 
village of Dogan Koyu off from the outside world. Residents have been 
threatened and told not to speak about the incident.

(Ozgur Politika - September 16, 1995)

----
Preparations For "Kurdistan Democratic Federal Front"

	As operations by the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK) 
against the KDP in South Kurdistan continue, high-ranking members of 
seven South Kurdistan organizations have met to discuss a PKK initiative 
to establish the "Kurdistan Democratic Federal Front". The seven 
organizations declared their solidarity with the PKK and stated that they 
would support the PKK in its operations against the KDP.
	The "Kurdistan Democratic Federal Front" will be comprised of the 
following organizations: Partiya Kesen Serbuxa, Hizbullah u Soresger, 
Yekitiya Nistimane Demokrata Kurdistan, Biziknave Rizgari Nistimani 
Kurdistan, Partiya Parezger, Partiya Koministiya Kurdistan, and the 
Partiya Zahmetkesan. The PUK has not yet decided if it will participate 
in the Front. It seems as thought the PUK are waiting to see the outcome 
of the PKK-KDP conflict before deciding whether or not to join.

(Ozgur Politika - September 20, 1995)

----
Kanther Wants To Ban All PKK Statements

	In issue #18 of Kurdistan Rundbrief, we reported on the German 
interior ministry's decision to seek criminal indictments against 
Kurdistan Rundbrief. In the meantime, the police in Cologne have followed 
up on these efforts by the federal interior ministry. It now seems as 
though the German government is seeking to make any public distribution 
of statements from the PKK or the ERNK illegal as "support for a banned 
organization". According to this logic: the PKK and ERNK are illegal; 
Kurdistan Rundbrief publishes statements from the PKK and the ERNK; 
therefore, Kurdistan Rundbrief must be made illegal. If the courts accept 
the interior ministry's logic, publishing statements from the PKK/ERNK 
will become a criminal offence. This would criminalize lots of people, 
not only Kurdistan Rundbrief and other leftist publications, but even 
Stern magazine and the TV program "ZAK", just for publishing statements 
from the Kanther's nemesis, the PKK and the ERNK. By denying access to 
authentic documents from the Kurdish side of this conflict, the public 
would no longer have a free and accurate picture of the situation. The 
editors of this paper, in any case, do not see how the federal interior 
ministry's attempts at censorship will make it past the courts.

----
>From The German Media:

Deserter Substantiates Allegations Against Turkey

	New evidence has arisen which suggests that German weapons are 
being used by Turkey in its fight against the Kurds: a Kurdish 
asylum-seeker in Bremen claims he was in a special unit of the Turkish 
army in 1991/92 and that he rode in a former East German panzer when 
deployed against Kurds. The federal government has denied that panzers 
supplied as part of a military agreement with Turkey were ever used 
against Kurds.
	Hans-Eberhard Schultz, lawyer for the 28-year-old Kurd, said on 
Thursday in an interview with the Frankfurter Rundschau that his client 
was a solider stationed in Mardin at the time. With an East German BTR-60 
panzer, he fired at the mountains when shots from alleged rebels were 
heard. He said BTR-60 panzers were also used during attacks on Kurdish 
villages. His client, the lawyer continued, said he was not confusing the 
East German panzer with a similar Russian model. In 1992, the man 
deserted from the army while on vacation so that he would no longer have 
to fire upon his own people.

(Frankfurter Rundschau - September 22, 1995)

Good For Blohm & Voss; Finances Approved For Turkey Frigates

	The federal budget office has approved a request for 150 million 
DM to finance the building of two frigates for Turkey, despite opposition 
from Greens and the SPD. The money had been frozen in March in response 
to Turkey's incursion into northern Iraq.
	The two warships will be built by a German consortium which 
includes the firm Thyssen Rheinstahl and the Hamburg wharf of Blohm & 
Voss. The total value of the contract is 800 million DM. Blohm & Voss 
have already started work on the two ships.
	One of the two Meko frigates will be built entirely in Germany, 
while parts for the second will be delivered to Turkey.
	The federal government had argued that funds for the project 
should be released since the grounds for freezing them were no longer 
relevant since the Turkish military had pulled out of the Kurdish regions 
of northern Iraq.
	Green MP Angelika Beer characterized the move as a slap in the 
face for all forces struggling for democracy and human rights in Turkey. 
SPD budget spokesman Eckhart Kuhlwein told the Abdenblatt that social 
democrats feel it is "unwise" for additional military assistance to be 
given to Turkey.

(Hamburger Abdenblatt - September 21, 1995)

Turkish Human Rights Activist Honored

	The German Judges' Union (DRB) sharply criticized mistreatment 
and torture in Turkish prisons as well as the suppression of freedom of 
expression in Turkey while handing out its 1995 Human Rights Award. Union 
chief Rainer Voss criticized the excessive use of charges of "separatism" 
and "separatist propaganda" by state security courts in Turkey. All those 
in Turkey who belong to an ethnic minority, he said, must anticipate 
punishment. This year's DRB Human Rights Award was given to Turkish 
lawyer Husnu Ondul, "also in the hope of providing him with some degree 
of protection".
	Ondul is a lawyer in Ankara and was one of the founders of the 
Human Rights Association (IHD) and the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, 
which operates centers for victims of torture. A total of seven political 
indictments have been filed against Ondul; during one visit to the 
Kurdish regions, his delegation was fired upon.
	(...) Voss cited figures from Human Rights Association for 1994: 
1,000 cases of torture; 298 people dead in police custody or police 
raids; in another 328 cases, the Human Rights Association documented 
"disappearances following arrests by the police".
	In his acceptance speech, Ondul mentioned his murdered 
colleagues: Metin Can, head of the Human Rights Association in Elazig, 
and Sevket Epozdemir, head of the Human Rights Association in Tatvan. He 
accepted the prize in the name of all those people in prison in Turkey 
because of their work on behalf of the Human Rights Association.

(Suddeutsche Zeitung - September 26, 1995)


+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++==
Arm The Spirit
P.O. Box 6326, Stn. A
Toronto, Ontario
M5W 1P7 Canada

E-mail: ats at etext.org
WWW: http://burn.ucsd.edu/~ats
FTP: ftp.etext.org --> /pub/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit
+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== 


From kurdeng at aps.nl  Wed Oct 18 20:04:01 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 18 Oct 1995 20:04:01
Subject: News From 'Kurdistan Rundbrief #20/
References: <bac1c849.199510180345.XAA01287@locust.cic>
Message-ID: <bac1c849.101895152340Rnf0.79b6@newsdesk.a>

Subject: Re: News From 'Kurdistan Rundbrief #20/95'

------------------------ Forwarded from : ats at etext.org ------------------------

News Translated From 'Kurdistan Rundbrief #20/95'

----
Military Confrontations Between PKK And KDP Continue

	During the continuing confrontations between military units of 
the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party 
(KDP) in Iraqi-Kurdistan, fighting has taken place in the regions of 
Gare, Xanike, Sideka, and Mt. Ciyaye Sipi.
	On September 23, guerrilla units from the People's Liberation 
Army of Kurdistan (ARGK), the military wing of the PKK, captured a KDP 
military station in Kasre in the Xanike valley. During the fighting, 8 
KDP peshmergas were killed. It is not know how many guerrillas were killed.
	On Mt. Ciyaye Sipi, there was also fighting between PKK 
guerrillas and KDP peshmergas. A 700-man KDP unit was attacked by the 
ARGK as it made its way up Mt. Ciyaye Sipi. During the fighting, 5 KDP 
peshmergas were killed and many others were wounded. The guerrillas 
suffered no losses.
	ARGK units also carried out attacks against KDP forces stationed 
between Sideka and Sexzade. The guerrillas captured the area in a short 
period of time. Guerrillas reported no losses on their side, yet several 
dead and wounded among the peshmergas.
	During a clash between ARGK guerrillas and Turkish army units 
stationed near the city of Ertus, 12 soldiers and 2 guerrillas were 
killed. Another 6 guerrillas were wounded. The guerrillas confiscated a 
large arsenal of weapons during the attack.
	According to reports from the area, a planned advance by KDP 
forces in the Gare region was halted by attacks from the ARGK. The KDP 
units are now retreating.

(DEM News Agency - September 26, 1995)

----
Turkish-Kurdistan: Mysterious Explosion In Military Station

	A mine exploded for unknown reasons inside a military garrison in 
Findik, setting off explosions which blew up the station's arsenal. 
Reports indicate that 13 soldiers died. Some observers note that the 
incident may have resulted from internal conflicts within the garrison.

Refugees As "Human Shields"

	Recent reports from villagers in the Farasin regions have 
indicated a new wave of refugees fleeing from Van province. Reports 
indicated that the Turkish military are attempting to force the refugees 
into the city of Beytulsebap. Once there, refugees are to be placed in 
camps in order to serve the defensive needs of the military there.
	The residents of Farasin have suffered from heavy repression at 
the hands of the military, after the agha (feudal lord) of the village 
told the military that residents in the area were aiding the PKK by 
showing them escape routes into South Kurdistan.
One Dead Following Military Attack On Kurdish Village

	During an attack by Turkish soldiers on the village of Kele near 
the city of Lice in Diyarbakir province, 1 man was killed and his 
daughter was wounded.

(DEM News Agency - September 21-30, 1995)

----
Balance Of The Kurdistan Liberation Struggle In August 1995

	During 420 confrontations between our forces and the fascist 
Turkish army in the time period of August 1-31, 1995, for which the 
results are known to us, 531 soldiers were killed, including 1 troop 
commander, 2 lieutenants, 11 NCOs, 5 sergeants, as well as 156 village 
guards, including 3 village guard leaders; 67 soldiers and village guards 
were wounded. Also, 8 policemen were killed.
	During the same time period, we also took 42 persons as 
prisoners, including 1 Turkish soldier, 39 village guards, 1 sentry, and 
1 Turkish agent. Another 8 people and 8 Turkish civil servants were 
detained and questioned for being in territory under our control without 
our permission. One of these people has since been released.
	During the month of August, we destroyed the following: 10 
panzers, 69 military vehicles, 49 pieces of machinery, 1 TV station, 2 
factories, 6 buildings used as Turkish army quarters, 2 wood silos, 14 
power pylons, 2 water towers, and 5 tractors. We also shot down 1 
helicopter and destroyed 1 tank and 1 military transport vehicle.
	Furthermore, we sabotaged the Kerkuk-Yumurtalik oil pipeline and 
blew up 3 oil rigs.
	In the month of August, 92 ARGK fighters fell as martyrs and 29 
other comrades were wounded.

(Press Office of the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan - ARGK)

----
KDP Attacks Ertus Refugee Camp; 4 People Murdered

	The Ertus refugee camp in South Kurdistan, which is home to 
thousands of expelled villagers from North Kurdistan, was attacked by KDP 
peshmergas and Turkish army officers. The KDP claims that there are 
weapons hidden in the camp, which is overseen by the UN and under its 
"protection", and whose residents are very well organized, complete with 
their own elected officials. The UN official in charge of the camp 
granted permission for the KDP to search the camp and even handed over a 
list of names of all the camp's inhabitants. KDP members proceeded to 
arrest several people, some of whom were taken across the border back 
into Turkey by Turkish officers.
	When the camp's residents protested against the raid and the 
arrests, KDP members opened fire on the crowd in full view of UN 
officials. The UN officials, however, simply looked on and refused to 
intervene.
	One woman and three men were killed in the shooting. Later, camp 
residents took 7 UN workers hostage. The residents promised not to harm 
their UN captives, but said they would not release them until the camp's 
security was guaranteed.
	Abdallah Saieed, the UNHCR representative in Iraq, declared that 
no weapons or military equipment had been found in the camp, and that 
Turkey had often made such false accusations in the past. No previous UN 
inspections in the camp had turned up any weapons either.

(Ozgur Politika - September 16, 1995)

----
Returning Refugees Fired Upon By Turkish Soldiers; 2 Dead

	After Turkish prime minister Tansu Ciller gave assurances that 
all refugees would be allowed to return to their villages, parts of the 
population attempted to return to their homes in recent days.
	Residents of the villages of Sise (Yolacan in Turkish), Derxust 
(Dibek), Husneyik (Arikli), and Cinezur (Cagdas) near Lice, who were on 
their way home, were stopped by Turkish army units. The soldiers insulted 
them and asked: "Where are you going? Are you bringing food for the 
terrorists?" The villagers explained that they were returning to their 
homes, as the prime minister had said they could. To this, the soldiers 
replied: "So where in the prime minister? We are the kings here." They 
then fired upon the crowds of people. During this random shooting, two 
people, Kamil Mentese (20) and Mehmet Ikkaya (58), were killed and many 
others were wounded.
	One man who witnessed the shooting described it as follows: 
"During the incident, two of our friends were killed and many others were 
wounded. I myself only missed the soldiers' bullets by chance, and I 
still don't know what happened to some of my friends. I heard the 
soldiers talk on their radios about a fight. Later, the governor said 
that 'two terrorists were killed in a fight'."

(DEM News Agency - September 25, 1995)

----
Battle Between Soldiers In Siirt

	Fighting broke out between the soldiers of a mobile gendarme unit 
in the Siirt-Pervari region and Turkish and Kurdish soldiers in a 
military station in the village of Dogan Koyu. The fighting broke out 
after Turkish soldiers began shouting racist and nationalist slogans and 
began insulting Kurdish soldiers following a military operation. During 
the shooting which followed, 15 soldiers were killed.
	The governor of Siirt announced a news black-out and cut the 
village of Dogan Koyu off from the outside world. Residents have been 
threatened and told not to speak about the incident.

(Ozgur Politika - September 16, 1995)

----
Preparations For "Kurdistan Democratic Federal Front"

	As operations by the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK) 
against the KDP in South Kurdistan continue, high-ranking members of 
seven South Kurdistan organizations have met to discuss a PKK initiative 
to establish the "Kurdistan Democratic Federal Front". The seven 
organizations declared their solidarity with the PKK and stated that they 
would support the PKK in its operations against the KDP.
	The "Kurdistan Democratic Federal Front" will be comprised of the 
following organizations: Partiya Kesen Serbuxa, Hizbullah u Soresger, 
Yekitiya Nistimane Demokrata Kurdistan, Biziknave Rizgari Nistimani 
Kurdistan, Partiya Parezger, Partiya Koministiya Kurdistan, and the 
Partiya Zahmetkesan. The PUK has not yet decided if it will participate 
in the Front. It seems as thought the PUK are waiting to see the outcome 
of the PKK-KDP conflict before deciding whether or not to join.

(Ozgur Politika - September 20, 1995)

----
Kanther Wants To Ban All PKK Statements

	In issue #18 of Kurdistan Rundbrief, we reported on the German 
interior ministry's decision to seek criminal indictments against 
Kurdistan Rundbrief. In the meantime, the police in Cologne have followed 
up on these efforts by the federal interior ministry. It now seems as 
though the German government is seeking to make any public distribution 
of statements from the PKK or the ERNK illegal as "support for a banned 
organization". According to this logic: the PKK and ERNK are illegal; 
Kurdistan Rundbrief publishes statements from the PKK and the ERNK; 
therefore, Kurdistan Rundbrief must be made illegal. If the courts accept 
the interior ministry's logic, publishing statements from the PKK/ERNK 
will become a criminal offence. This would criminalize lots of people, 
not only Kurdistan Rundbrief and other leftist publications, but even 
Stern magazine and the TV program "ZAK", just for publishing statements 
from the Kanther's nemesis, the PKK and the ERNK. By denying access to 
authentic documents from the Kurdish side of this conflict, the public 
would no longer have a free and accurate picture of the situation. The 
editors of this paper, in any case, do not see how the federal interior 
ministry's attempts at censorship will make it past the courts.

----
>From The German Media:

Deserter Substantiates Allegations Against Turkey

	New evidence has arisen which suggests that German weapons are 
being used by Turkey in its fight against the Kurds: a Kurdish 
asylum-seeker in Bremen claims he was in a special unit of the Turkish 
army in 1991/92 and that he rode in a former East German panzer when 
deployed against Kurds. The federal government has denied that panzers 
supplied as part of a military agreement with Turkey were ever used 
against Kurds.
	Hans-Eberhard Schultz, lawyer for the 28-year-old Kurd, said on 
Thursday in an interview with the Frankfurter Rundschau that his client 
was a solider stationed in Mardin at the time. With an East German BTR-60 
panzer, he fired at the mountains when shots from alleged rebels were 
heard. He said BTR-60 panzers were also used during attacks on Kurdish 
villages. His client, the lawyer continued, said he was not confusing the 
East German panzer with a similar Russian model. In 1992, the man 
deserted from the army while on vacation so that he would no longer have 
to fire upon his own people.

(Frankfurter Rundschau - September 22, 1995)

Good For Blohm & Voss; Finances Approved For Turkey Frigates

	The federal budget office has approved a request for 150 million 
DM to finance the building of two frigates for Turkey, despite opposition 
from Greens and the SPD. The money had been frozen in March in response 
to Turkey's incursion into northern Iraq.
	The two warships will be built by a German consortium which 
includes the firm Thyssen Rheinstahl and the Hamburg wharf of Blohm & 
Voss. The total value of the contract is 800 million DM. Blohm & Voss 
have already started work on the two ships.
	One of the two Meko frigates will be built entirely in Germany, 
while parts for the second will be delivered to Turkey.
	The federal government had argued that funds for the project 
should be released since the grounds for freezing them were no longer 
relevant since the Turkish military had pulled out of the Kurdish regions 
of northern Iraq.
	Green MP Angelika Beer characterized the move as a slap in the 
face for all forces struggling for democracy and human rights in Turkey. 
SPD budget spokesman Eckhart Kuhlwein told the Abdenblatt that social 
democrats feel it is "unwise" for additional military assistance to be 
given to Turkey.

(Hamburger Abdenblatt - September 21, 1995)

Turkish Human Rights Activist Honored

	The German Judges' Union (DRB) sharply criticized mistreatment 
and torture in Turkish prisons as well as the suppression of freedom of 
expression in Turkey while handing out its 1995 Human Rights Award. Union 
chief Rainer Voss criticized the excessive use of charges of "separatism" 
and "separatist propaganda" by state security courts in Turkey. All those 
in Turkey who belong to an ethnic minority, he said, must anticipate 
punishment. This year's DRB Human Rights Award was given to Turkish 
lawyer Husnu Ondul, "also in the hope of providing him with some degree 
of protection".
	Ondul is a lawyer in Ankara and was one of the founders of the 
Human Rights Association (IHD) and the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, 
which operates centers for victims of torture. A total of seven political 
indictments have been filed against Ondul; during one visit to the 
Kurdish regions, his delegation was fired upon.
	(...) Voss cited figures from Human Rights Association for 1994: 
1,000 cases of torture; 298 people dead in police custody or police 
raids; in another 328 cases, the Human Rights Association documented 
"disappearances following arrests by the police".
	In his acceptance speech, Ondul mentioned his murdered 
colleagues: Metin Can, head of the Human Rights Association in Elazig, 
and Sevket Epozdemir, head of the Human Rights Association in Tatvan. He 
accepted the prize in the name of all those people in prison in Turkey 
because of their work on behalf of the Human Rights Association.

(Suddeutsche Zeitung - September 26, 1995)


+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++==
Arm The Spirit
P.O. Box 6326, Stn. A
Toronto, Ontario
M5W 1P7 Canada

E-mail: ats at etext.org
WWW: http://burn.ucsd.edu/~ats
FTP: ftp.etext.org --> /pub/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit
+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== 


----------------------------- End forwarded message --------------------------

From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Thu Oct 19 15:59:04 1995
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 19 Oct 1995 15:59:04
Subject: New E-mail address!
Message-ID: <bac1c849.QQzmdb08572.199510191353@alterdi>

From: akin at kurdish.org (AKIN)

We now have a new, much nicer looking E-mail address:

        akin at kurdish.org

Please make a note of it!



----
American Kurdish Information Network (AKIN)
2309 Calvert Street, NW
Suite #3
Washington, DC 20008-2603

Tel: (202) 483-6444
Fax: (202) 483-6476
Email: akin at kurdish.org




From kurdeng at aps.nl  Fri Oct 20 22:31:23 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 20 Oct 1995 22:31:23
Subject: TURKISH DAILY NEWS / 18 OCTOBER 199
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.HDkaDD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>

Subject: TURKISH DAILY NEWS / 18 OCTOBER 1995

s.nl (V-MailServer 2.20)
           id VT23622; Fri, 20 Oct 1995 21:46:20 -0800


  _________________________________________________________________

 Ciller Gets The Job, To Revive Coalition
  _________________________________________________________________


 Government suspends strikes


Turkish Daily News
  _________________________________________________________________



ANKARA- The Turkish government on Tuesday suspended the strikes by
port, railway and sugar refinery workers for 60 days.

The Cabinet also postponed the strikes at workplaces of the
state-owned Machinery and Chemical Industry (MKE) and paper mills
SEKA.

The decision by the government, which has a constitutional right to
postpone strikes, was taken because they were considered "damaging to
national security and general health." President Suleyman Demirel had
approved a decree by Prime Minister Tansu Ciller's Cabinet to order
the port, railway and sugar refinery workers back to work with
immediate effect. The move will affect at least 80,000 workers who
have been striking for a wages increase since late September. About
270,000 striking public workers in other sectors, such as nonsugar
agriculture, oil, mining and forestry, were not covered by the decree
however.

The labour unrest over wage levels that began Sept.20 contributed to
Ciller losing a vote of confidence in her10-day-old minority
government last Sunday.
  _________________________________________________________________


 Three PKK militants arrested in Germany

Turkish Daily News
  _________________________________________________________________



KARLSRUHE, Germany-Three Kurds, suspected of being leaders of the
banned separatist Kurdistan Workers' PartY (PKK), were arrestedin
swoops on PKK sympathizers, federal prosecutors said Monday.

Police detained about 200 supporters of the PKK, which is in armed
conflict with the Turkish military in its bid for an independent
Kurdistan, in two separate operations during the weekend at Poheim in
central Germany and Munich in the south.

Federal prosecutors, who have reponsibility for terrorism cases, said
arrest warrants had been issued against the three men, all Turks of
Kurdish origin and aged between 27 and 39, suspected of being PKK
leaders in the Nuremberg, Freiburg and Munich areas in south. Germany
between May 1994 and April 1995. According to the prosecutor's office
police raids had uncovered "a large amount of written material" which
is to be analyzed.

The prosecutor's office claims that since June 1993 the PKK has
established in Germany, in liaison with its central European
leadership, an organization responsible for a number of serious
offences.

These would include arson attacks from November 1993 onwards and, from
May 1994, "punitive actions up to and including the killing of
dissidents within the PKK's own ranks. According to domestic
intelligence reports, the PKK which was outlawed by the German
government after a wave of bombattacks against Turkish-owned property
in Germany in November 1993 has up to 8,000 members.

Germany's Kurdish community numbers about 500,000 out o a total of two
million Turkish nationals.
  _________________________________________________________________



---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From kurdeng at aps.nl  Fri Oct 20 22:32:47 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 20 Oct 1995 22:32:47
Subject: American military aid to Turkey
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.JDkaDD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>

20)
           id VT23628; Fri, 20 Oct 1995 21:46:25 -0800


Washington has approved $7.8 B in millitary sales to Turkey in the last
decade- and has provided grants or loans to cover most of it.  This year
unless dramatic events take place in the current House-Senate conference,
Turkey will get $380 M in American credits to finish production- in Turkey
- of F-16 fighter planes.

America has traditionally used such aid to maintain its friendship with a
strategically crucial ally.  But the aid is now being used to prolong a qar
that both destablizes Turkey and betrays American values.  The State
Department has acknowledge that Turkey is using the F-16's and other
American weapons to strafe Turkish villages in its war against a Kurdish
guerrilla group, killing thousnads of civilians and leaving millions
homeless.  Washington should end the sale of weapons used in the war and
condition further military aid and sales on Turkish respect for human
rights.

One-fiffth of Turks are Kurdish, a minorty so repressed that its members
are even forbidden to speak Kurdish in many public settings.  In 1984 the
Marxist Kurdish Worker's Party, or PKK, began a brutal civil war, killing
many civillian officials and Kurdish oppenenets.  The Turkish Goverment
responded with an even more brutal campain to bomb and burn Kurdish
villages.  It has prosecuted even peaceful Kurdish politicians, writers,
and human rights workers whose only crime was describing the human rights
violations.  An American reporter for Rueters, Aliza Marcus, may be
sentenced to three years in jail for her reporting from Kurdish areas.  The
PKK is weak, but the Goverment has little progress toward winning the war,
Polls show that Turks overwhelmingly fovor a political settlement.

Turkish human rights record has caused several European Countries to cut
off military relationships- although Germany just resumed aid- and has so
far denied Turkey coveted memebership in the European Union.  But the White
House has allowed Turkish troops to pursue the PKK into Kurdish areas of
Iraq that America protects against Saddam Hussein.  The Turkish incursions
have killed many civilian Kurds.

Since the Turks' war against PKK escalated in 1992, American military aid
to Turkey has escalated as well. Washington now provides 85 percent of
Turkey's arms imports and 90 percent of its military aid. Despite the
efforts of Senator Patrick Leahym Democrat of Vermant, and Represantative
John Edward Porterm ab Illinois Republicanm to curtail aidm Congress has
not yet managed to block or place conditions on substantial amounts of
Turkish military aid.

Turkey has escaped a cutback because of its strategic importance.  America
depends on military bases in Turkey, and wants Turkey to spread its
moderate brand of Islam to Central Asia abd its pro_Western views to
Balkans and Mideast.

The Turkish Goverment and the Clinton Administration argue that oany cuts
in arms transfers would weaken and radicalize Turkey,  But the war itself
poses a greater threat to Turkey's stability and prosperity.  Its Islamic
party, a relatively moderate onem gained support after a ban on Kurdish
parties left it as the only non-mainstream alternative.

Any further aid should carry human rights conditions that would  promote a
political solition to a war that has undermined Turkish democracy, boosted
the power if the millitary, drained the economy and diveded Turkey from its
Europena allies.  Placing such conditions on assistance also reduce
America's compilicity in Turkey 's repressive internal war.

--- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From kurdeng at aps.nl  Fri Oct 20 22:39:07 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 20 Oct 1995 22:39:07
Subject: Strikers Return to Work - For now
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.oDkaDD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>

23640; Fri, 20 Oct 1995 21:46:36 -0800


      ANKARA, Oct 18 (Reuter) - Striking public employees ordered back to
work by Prime Minister Tansu Ciller returned to the workplace on Wednesday,
but may walk out again if Turkey's right-left coalition-in-waiting cannot
solve a pay dispute.

    ``Our workers returned to work today. Union leaders will hold a meeting
tomorrow to evaluate the situation,'' Yildirim Koc, a senior official at
labour confederation Turk-Is, told Reuters.

    Koc said the prospect of the social democrats re-joining in coalition
with Ciller's conservative party gave workers hope for a just resolution to a
pay strike begun on September 20, the same day the governing coalition split
up.

    ``If things do not go well, the strike may restart,'' Koc said.

    Ciller on Tuesday ordered some 113,000 striking workers to return to work
immediately, saying the strike was ``disrupting health and national
security.''

    The decree covers workers in ports, railways, state sugar plants and
those in the oil, metal, forestry and paper sectors. About 240,000 striking
public workers in other sectors, such as non-sugar agriculture, were not
covered by the decree.

    Turkish governments are empowered to suspend strikes in key sectors for
60 days at a time.

    The strike, over an initial government pay offer of 5.4 percent for 1995
with inflation at 70 percent, helped Ciller lose a vote of confidence in her
10-day old minority government on Sunday and forced her back to talking with
her old partners.

    President Suleyman Demirel appointed Ciller premier again late on Tuesday
with the proviso that she realign with the social democrats and call
elections as soon as possible.


---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From kurdeng at aps.nl  Sun Oct 22 20:05:58 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 22 Oct 1995 20:05:58
Subject: TURKISH DAILY NEWS / 19 OCTOBER 199
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.FwceDD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>

Subject: TURKISH DAILY NEWS / 19 OCTOBER 1995



 Ankara cool toward King Hussein's idea for Iraq



Turkish officials question if this idea is acceptable to Iraq's
majority Shiites and to other countries and groups in the region

By Semih D. Idiz

Turkish Daily News
  _________________________________________________________________



ANKARA- A suggestion floated by Jordan's King Hussein concerning a
federative Iraq comprising separate Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish
components within a unified country has been received coolly in
official circles in Ankara.

Sharing King Hussein's view that great perils await the region if Iraq
is allowed to split up into entities totally independent of one
another, a senior Turkish official nevertheless questioned the
viability of a federative solution to the "problem of Iraq."

King Hussein made his suggestion in an interview appearing in the
Financial Times on Tuesday and warned that the disintegration of Iraq
in factional fighting could spell a "regional disaster."

He said such a disaster might be averted by transforming Iraq into a
federation of Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish communities. "A federated Iraq
might be the answer," he said in his interview, excerpts of which were
carried by Agence France Presse on Tuesday.

"I have the conviction that what we need in Iraq is for us to get
credible representatives of the three major components of Iraq's
people," Hussein said.

"Somewhere to sit down and work out a national reconciliation between
themselves and to remove this spectre of a bloodbath all Iraqis are
afraid of."

"Officially our view is that the territorial integrity and the unity
of Iraq is sacrosanct and that the constitutional shape this country
will eventually take will, in the final analysis, be decided by its
own people, and not dictated from the outside," the senior official
commenting to the Turkish Daily News on King Hussein's suggestion
said.

He added that King Hussein's suggestion floundered on a number of
objective factors, the most notable of which had to do with the
demographic distribution of Iraq in terms of ethnicity and religion.

In Iraq, Arabs make up 75-80 percent of a population of just over 19
million -- according to July 1993 estimates. The Kurds make up 15-20
percent while the rest are Turkoman, Assyrian and some marginal
minorities.

Of the 97 percent Muslims 60-65 percent are Shiite and 32-37 percent
Sunni.

The first problem to arise according to the official talking to the
TDN is embodied in the question why the Shiites should want to opt for
such a federative arrangement in the first place when they are
effectively the majority in the country. "Under normal circumstances
it is highly unlikely that the Shiite community would want to be
compartmentalized in a country where they are potentially the
principle force," he said. This official went on to point out that a
federative division of Iraq along the lines suggested by King Hussein
would in effect amount to a two way split with the Shiites on the one
side and "the rest" on the other.

"It is also questionable whether the other components foreseen by the
king's suggestion -- especially the Sunnis -- would settle for such an
arrangement" he added.

Analysts questioned on this point, however, suggested the Kurds of
northern Iraq would not, in fact, be averse to a federative
arrangement, given that historic precedence has done little to bolster
their confidence in the central authority in the country.

These analysts pointed out that Ankara's real concern over King
Hussein's suggestion has to do with the fact that this could pave the
way to a largely autonomous Kurdish entity in northern Iraq.

Such a prospect has been Ankara's perennial concern given the
potential political ramifications in terms of its own Kurdish problem
if an independent or semi-independent Kurdish entity emerges on
Turkey's doorsteps.

Despite the fact that they have never refrained from using the
"Kurdish card" against each other, as well as against Turkey, analysts
say it is also highly unlikely that Iran and Syria would be
comfortable with such a Kurdish entity emerging on their own
doorsteps.

Iran already has a restive Kurdish population while Syria has its own
minority Kurds who have been involved in "independence activities,"
albeit mostly in Turkey.

Analysts also indicate that according to Kurdish nationalists,
"greater Kurdistan" takes in parts of Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria, a
point which is certainly not overlooked by these countries today.

The largest Kurdish community, however, exists in Turkey followed by
Iraq and this is what is believed to be fueling Turkish concerns over
the prospects of an independent or autonomous Kurdish entity in the
region, according to analysts. There are also other factors apart from
the ones already named, according to Turkish officials, which make
King Hussein's suggestion difficult and not viable.

The most important of these is whether a country such as the United
States would be comfortable in the long run with the emergence of
another Shiite political entity in the region which is second in size
to Iran.

"The Shiites of Iraq are potentially just as radical as their
counterparts in Iran," according to a Turkish official who indicates
that "this fact alone is enough to send shivers up Western spines once
the true implications of this whole matter are thought out fully."

There is also Kuwait on Iraq's immediate border, and with its 30
percent of Shiites, that has to be taken into account in putting
forward such a suggestion, according to these officials.

The indicate that it is highly unlikely that Kuwait's ruling
establishment, which is predominantly Sunni, would be pleased with the
emergence of an independent or semi-independent Shiite political
entity in the region.

One official also questioned whether King Hussein could convince his
own people, 95 percent of who are orthodox Sunni Muslims, of the need
to pave the way for another Shiite state of sorts in the region.
  _________________________________________________________________

 Ambassador Kandemir rebukes NYT editorial

By Ugur Akinci

Turkish Daily News
  _________________________________________________________________



WASHINGTON- Nuzhet Kandemir, Turkish Ambassador to Washington, sent
a stiff letter to the New York Times Tuesday, rebuking the points made
in the NYT editorial entitled "America Arms Turkey's Repression" and
published on Oct. 17.

A commentator of Turkish American affairs said the editorial, rapping
Turkey's usage of U.S. arms against Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
terrorists, was timed to coincide with President Suleyman Demirel's
visit to the United States -- who was originally expected to be in
Washington on Oct. 17. The Washington leg of Demirel's visit is
scrapped altogether and his trip to New York City is postponed to Oct.
21, due to the recent Cabinet difficulties.

The editorial suggested that "any further [U.S.] aid [to Turkey]
should carry human rights conditions that would promote a political
solution to a war that has undermined Turkish democracy, boosted the
power of the military, drained the economy, and divided Turkey from
its European allies. Placing such conditions on assistance would also
reduce America's complicity in Turkey's repressive internal war."

Ambassador Kandemir, in his reply to the NYT, said there was no "war"
as such, and the $320 million in Foreign Military Financing given to
Turkey in financial year '96 "is not a handout, but rather a loan
issued at current market rates which Turkey will repay in full with
interest." Kandemir told the NYT that the PKK was not a
"romantic-sounding 'Kurdish guerrilla group' -- but rather [a] vicious
and ruthless Marxist-Leninist ... terror organization." He said the
Turkish fight was aimed against the PKK but never "our citizens of
Kurdish origin," as the NYT alleged.

He said allegations of "thousands of civilian casualties" were also
false. "In fact, Turkey was praised for its restraint in its most
recent military action.

Kandemir emphasized Turkey's participation in many regional peace
missions such as Operation Provide Comfort and Minsk group
negotiations in Nagorno-Karabakh. Concerning Provide Comfort, "The
United States could not go it alone in this endeavor as the editorial
implies," the Turkish ambassador said.

"It is quite sad that this particular editorial chooses to ignore this
accurate portrait of Turkey; and it is equally difficult to understand
how such a well-respected and distinguished newspaper could be used as
a forum to convey such misconstrued information," Kandemir continued.
"I continue to fully hope that the dictates of professionalism and
fairness will motivate The New York Times to speak the truth about
Turkey in the future," he concluded.
  _________________________________________________________________

 Baykal seeks support for Turkey's customs union deal

Turkish Daily News
  _________________________________________________________________

ANKARA- Deniz Baykal, leader of the Republican People's Party, (CHP)
which is expected to take part in the new Turkish government, on
Wednesday urged the socialist group in the European Parliament to back
Ankara's planned custom union with the EU.

"We are expecting to see the socialist group's backing for Turkey's
customs union deal and I hope we will get this support," Baykal told a
news conference in Brussels where he held talks with European Union
and European Parliament officials.

"We understand very well the importance the socialist group attaches
to improvements in Turkey's human rights situation, and we are a
social democrat party working hard for the same purpose," Baykal said,
according to the Anatolia news agency. Turkey and the EU signed a
protocol in March for Ankara's customs union to take effect in 1996.
But the European Parliament, the EU's legislative body, must first
ratify the deal in a scheduled December meeting. The European
Parliament has been urging Turkey to improve its human rights
situation, particularly insisting on the need to change an article in
an anti-terrorism law which limits freedom of expression. Pauline
Green, leader of the socialist group in the European Parliament,
addressing the news conference with Baykal, said the European
Parliament was aware that the customs union was of vital importance
for Turkey, but she declined to specify whether or not her group would
support the deal.

Catherine Lalumiere, leader of the radical group in the European
Parliament, said later after a meeting with Baykal that she hoped
efforts by Prime Minister Tansu Ciller to set up a new coalition
government with the CHP would be successful. "We want the European
Parliament to ratify the customs union, but first we must see concrete
signs and a will for (democratic) reforms ... Unless these reforms are
realized, the European Parliament will block the customs union,"
Lalumiere said. Claudia Roth, leader of the Greens' group in the
European Parliament, also meeting with Baykal, said she believed the
customs union would strengthen democracy in Turkey. Like the other
group leaders, Roth urged Turkey to take concrete steps toward more
democratization, adding, "once these are done, the customs union will
be a first and important step toward Turkey's full membership in the
EU."

---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From kurdeng at aps.nl  Sun Oct 22 20:06:59 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 22 Oct 1995 20:06:59
Subject: Turkey Plans to Revise Anti-Terrori
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.q7ceDD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>

Subject: Turkey Plans to Revise Anti-Terrorism Law


    By Suna Erdem

    ANKARA, Oct 20 (Reuter) - Turkish Prime Minister Ciller's prospective
coalition agreed on Friday to change a controversial anti-terror law, a move
that could lead to the European Union's approval of a customs pact with
Turkey.

    ``We have decided to amend article 8 of the anti-terrorism law according
to article 10 of the European Human Rights Convention,'' Coskun Kirca,
foreign minister of Ciller's outgoing minority government, told reporters.

    Article 10 of the European Human Rights Convention protects the right to
freedom of expression. Kirca, quoted by the semi-official Anatolian news
agency, gave no details of how the Turkish law would be changed to suit it.

    Kirca, speaking after a meeting of officials from Ciller's conservative
True Path Party (DYP) and Republican Peoples Party (CHP), said the two
parties aimed to make progress on human rights until elections were held ``as
early as possible.''

    He said the new coalition, set up to go to early elections, would pledge
to enhance the wages of civil servants and pensioners in 1995 with extra
perks, solve a month-old public workers' strike, and speed up corruption
inspections.

    General polls are scheduled for next October at the latest.

    The CHP, a centre-left party, has strongly supported wider
democratisation -- including changes to Article 8 of Turkey's anti-terror law
-- and left the last coalition with Ciller last month partly because of
disagreements over security issues.

    But analysts say the party looks better placed now to push its democratic
agenda as Ciller failed in her month-long search to find new partners in
other parties and this week asked the social democrats to return to a
coalition.

    Kirca said once the coalition is formed, parliament would primarily deal
with harmonisation laws for customs union with the European union, and amend
legislation according to changes made in July to Turkey's 1982 military-era
constitution.

    Scores of people have been jailed under article 8 of Turkey's anti-terror
law for writings and speeches mainly related to Ankara's treatment of an
11-year Kurdish insurgency in the southeast, in which more than 18,000 people
have died.

    The European Parliament wants the article scrapped or amended in exchange
for approving the customs union deal between Ankara and the European Union by
the end of the year.

    CHP leader Deniz Baykal is in Brussels talking to senior Euro-MPs about
the deal. He is due to return late on Friday and should meet Ciller on
Saturday.

    After months of fruitless demands for wide democratic changes, European
diplomats and Turkish commentators say the European parliament will make do
just with changes to article 8.

    ``The general impression is that if only a comma is changed in article 8,
customs union will be approved,'' wrote columnist Taha Akyol in Milliyet
daily. ``So without further ado... parliament must 'change the comma' in the
next two months.''

    The new coalition will also be mindful that customs union approval is
likely to affect the voters in early general elections, now planned for
December or the early new year.

    Public workers, whose strike helped sink a minority government Ciller
tried to put together this month, say the right-left alliance could solve the
pay dispute.

    About a third of the 335,000 striking workers returned to work on
Ciller's orders this week. The rest remain on strike.


Turkish Government Urges Ratification of Customs Union
      BRUSSELS, Oct 20 (Reuter) - Turkish officials in Brussels said on
Friday a senior member of Prime Minister Tansu Ciller's prospective new
coalition government had persuaded MEPs to approve the EU-Turkey customs
union in December.

    Deniz Baykal, the head of the centre-left CHP, told the leaders of the
European Parliament's political groups on Thursday that the coalition, set up
to go to elections in January, was as committed to reform as the previous
Ciller government, one official told Reuters.

    He said Baykal had ``found the right words to convince'' the reticent
European Socialist Party that the coalition had every intention of carrying
out the constitutional reforms and human rights improvements which MEPs are
demanding as a condition for approving the customs union.

    But Tony Robinson, the spokesman of the Socialist Party, which had
invited Baykal to Brussels, told Reuters it was wrong to think the party
would ``jump in with a decision at this stage.''

    He said Baykal had received a genuinely warm reception from the
parliament but Turkey could not expect there to be a clear cut decision in
December.

    ``There will be a debate in December but a customs union is one step
short of EU membership and we will take that vote very seriously,'' he said.

    If necessary, the planned start of the customs union could be put back.
He added, ``This won't be the first time the EU has stopped the clock at one
minute to midnight.''

    The Turkish official said Baykal had explained that there was
unfortunately little chance of the desired reforms taking effect before
January because of the punishing domestic election timetable.

    He urged them to go ahead and approve the customs union on schedule in
December so that it can come into effect on January 1, 1996.

    Robinson said the Socialists' view would depend to a great extent on what
happened in Turkey in the very near future.

    The newly formed coalition expects to seek a vote of confidence from the
parliament in Ankara by November 5.

    Turkish officials in Brussels said the new Turkish government's priority
task would be to pass a new electoral law and get its budget proposals
through parliament.

    This would make it well-nigh impossible to carry out the reforms demanded
by the European Parliament before the crucial date of November 23, when
Euro-MPs from the foreign affairs committee are due to decide whether or not
to recommend the customs union to the full assembly.

    Among other things, MEPs want Ankara to change a controversial
anti-terror law to include protection of the right to freedom of expression.


---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Mon Oct 23 12:25:38 1995
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 23 Oct 1995 12:25:38
Subject: Kurdistan Human Rights Bulletin #21
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199510231053.GAA21904@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>

Kurdistan Human Rights Bulletin #21

Turkish Strike Starts To Bite

     A two-week strike by Turkish public sector employees is
beginning to hit exports, basic industries and some private
companies hard but Prime Minister Tansu Ciller is refusing to
meet union leaders' demands for large pay increases. Analysts and
business leaders said Turkey's worst strikes since 1980 were
costing the country $500m(#163#322m) a month in lost exports and
production and threatened attempts to control inflation and
restore economic stability. Ports have been closed and large
state-owned industrial and transport companies have come to a
halt. 
     The government is offering a 5.4 per cent increase for state
employees, even though inflation is running at 80 per cent a
year. The 330,000 strikers are demanding wage increases of 38 per
cent for the first half of this year and 25 per cent for the
second half. However, economists fear that giving in would swell
the government's budget deficit by roughly a third to about $6bn.
Labour unrest is interfering with Ciller's attempt to form a new
government after her coalition collapsed in September. (Financial
Times, October 4, 1995)

Talabani Is Coming To Ankara

     PUK leader Talabani, who last visited Ankara in 1992, is
expected to come to Ankara after 25 September for talks with
Mesud Barzani(KDP). Last week Talabani was taken by a Turkish
helicopter from northern Iraq to Nusaybin in Turkey. It is
believed that Talabani met with MIT( Turkish intelligence)
officials and that he may be delivering a message to PKK leader
Abdullah Ocalan. In 1992 Talabani tried to initiate negotiations
for a ceasefire between the PKK and Ankara. It has been suggested
that Talabani may be planning to try and act as a mediator now.
(Hurriyet - September 11, 1995)

86 Teachers Under Arrest In Mersin

     On September 10, teachers from EGITIM-SEN (the teacher's
trade union) including the Mersin Branch leader Ali Riza Onen,
assembled outside the Mersin Governor's office. They said that
many of the teachers have been exiled to other places. To protest
against this development, they started a petition and wanted to
have a press conference. Police warned them to disperse. Despite
this, the teacher's group did not disperse and wanted to march.
86 people were arrested from the teacher's group and the police
announced that they will be charged because they had demonstrated
without permission. (Hurriyet - September 10, 1995)

Armed Forces In Battle To Modernize

     The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) are in the middle of a
comprehensive restructuring and modernization programme.
Implementing the TAF's ambitious plans, however, is complicated
by several factors.
     These include an annual inflation rate that is always in
double figures; the loss of most of the aid which Turkey received
from the USA and its other NATO allies during the Cold War, the
impact of Western public criticism of Turkey's human rights
record on the aid programes that remain and the need to maintain
forces at a high level of readiness in response to tension on
three of Turkey's borders.
     For much of the Cold War the USA, Germany, the Netherlands,
Canada and Belgium contributed to Turkey's modernization
programmes by transferring surplus, often earlier generation
equipment, to Turkey. A last massive wave of support has broken
over Turkey as CFE treaty-limited equipment (TLE) has been
'cascaded' by NATO allies. Turkey has received M60A1/A3 main
battle tanks, M113 armoured personnel carriers and M110 203mm
self-propelled howitzers from the USA; RF-4E Phantoms, Leopard
1A3MBTs, APCs and M11Os from Germany; and F-5 fighters from the
Netherlands.
     Turkey's 1995 defence budget totals $3.433 billion, which
represents 10.8 percent of government spending, showing a slight
increase from last year's allocation of 10.3 percent. About $1.7
billion of this is allocated for procurement. Defence analysts
suggest that $4 billion must be spent on acquisition programmes
alone if the TAF's modernization objectives are to be met.
(Jane's Defence Weekly - September 16, 1995)

Aycin Campaign Grows

     Turkish civil aviation union Hava-Is has distributed 20,000
posters in major towns around Turkey demanding the release of the
union president Atilay Aycin and the repeal of Article 8 of the
Anti Terrorism Act under which many political prisoners have been
detained. The union collected 30,000 signatures in three days
supporting their campaign. (ITF News - August/September 1995)

Turkey Urged To Speed Up Reforms

     Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind yesterday urged Turkey to
speed up its reforms giving greater political and civil rights to
the Kurds. At the same time, he promised that Britain would lobby
the European Parliament for ratification of Ankara's customs
union with the European Union. (The Times - September 7, 1995)

Ministers In Talks Over Iraq

     Foreign ministers of Syria, Iran and Turkey are due to meet
in Tehran, the Iranian capital, tomorrow for talks on the
situation in Iraq following the defections last month of members
of Saddam Hussein's family. Officials have expressed concern over
the threat to Iraq's territorial integrity. All three countries
have sizable Kurdish minorities adjacent to Iraq's own 3m Kurdish
population in the north. And Iran has a strong affiliation with
Iraq's Shia living in the south. Each country, however, also
hosts members of Iraq's disparate opposition. (Financial Times -
September 7, 1995)

Protests Against Closure Of Yeni Politika

     Turkish and Kurdish intellectuals condemned the court
closure of the country's biggest pro-Kurdish newspaper and some
called for defiance of Turkey's strict limits on freedom of
expression.
     "Despite being considered illegal there are things that must
be done and I encourage everyone to keep pushing the issue of
freedom of expression," Turkish musician Sanar Yurdatapan told a
news conference called by the newspaper, Yeni Politika, to
announce its demise. Yurdatapan leads a campaign in which 1,080
people - among them leading writers, actors and journalists -
have demanded the prosecutor charge them for publishing a book of
articles banned by the court.
     The trial against 99 of the signatories, charged with
violating article eight of the anti-terror law, starts next week.
Yurdatapan said the closure of Yeni Politika signalled the need
for further action. "It's no use just to collect signatures and
give speeches. But if the state has to put all of us in prison,
then it becomes an impossible situation for them," he said. Yeni
Politika's publishing life ended after five months, when a court
on Wednesday ruled the paper was a continuation of two banned
pro-Kurdish newspapers. The closure follows years of difficulties
faced by Kurdish publications, which started up in strength after
the government in 1991 lifted a formal eight-year ban on the use
of Kurdish. (Reuter - August 17, 1995)

Bar Association Chairman Killed By Fundamentalists

     The chairman of the Gumushane Bar Association, Ali Gunday,
was assassinated on 25 July by an Islamic fundamentalist, Izzet
Kirac, following the expulsion of two veil-wearing female lawyers
from the Bar.
     Onder Sav, chairman of the Turkish Bar Association (TBB),
said that reactionary forces were trying to send Turkey back to
the Middle Ages and those who encourage the murder of people in
the name of religion are also responsible for the murder.
(Info-Turk - #221)

Villagers Suffering As Turks Try To Starve Kurdish Rebels

     "'Scorched earth' tactics aimed at Kurdish rebels are
hitting the wrong people and could rebound on Ankara". Last week,
Algan Hacaloglu, the Turkish minister in charge of human rights
was comparing Tunceli to Bosnia: "The hunger, the suffering of
the people ... it's the same," he said.
     His remarks followed a tour of Tunceli to investigate
allegations that the Turkish security forces had imposed what
outraged locals described as a "food embargo" on their province.
"They burnt our villages, killed our animals and now they want us
to starve," said Hasan Solmaz, a farmer from Pinarlar village, 20
miles west of Tunceli. Mr Solmaz had just discovered that like
any other villager who came to buy food here, he too had to fill
out a form at an army checkpoint at the town entrance listing
every item he bought, where he was taking it to, and the names of
all his family members, before being allowed to return home. The
government has justified the measures by saying they are aimed at
preventing food from reaching the PKK. The outspoken local CHP
boss, Bekir Gundogar believes otherwise. "It is us the state is
finishing off, not the PKK," he said. (The Times - August 29,
1995)

EU Warns Ankara Over Kurdish Rights

     Turkey was told over the weekend that, unless it made
constitutional concessions to the Kurdish minority, the European
Parliament might veto a treaty binding Ankara closer to the West.
But European Union foreign ministers who met in Spain reaffirmed
their determination to push for ratification of the new EUcustoms
union with Turkey.
     At an informal meeting in Santander, Britain supported the
Spanish presidency in urging EU governments to lobby hard for a
treaty with the Western Alliance. Foreign Secretary Malcolm
Rifkind said Britain would urge Strasbourg to pass the treaty,
facing opposition because of Turkey's human rights record. Mr.
Rifkind and other foreign ministers fear that if Turkey is
rebuffed over the customs union, the backlash may be so strong
that Turkey's entire post-Ataturk political orientation to the
West may be undermined. However, the tough Turkish laws designed
to suppress the Kurds have soured relations with many European
human rights activists and have been strongly criticised by the
European Parliament, which will give the final vote later this
year on whether to veto the customs union. (The Times - September
12, 1995)

Two Persons Arrested In Diyarbakir

     Police attacked a house and arrested Lezgin (21) and
Gulbahar (19) brother and sister of a journalist who had worked
on the old newspaper Ozgur Ulke in Diyarbakir. The police did not
gave any justification for their arrest. The police had also
arrested another person called Erhan Bakan in the same part of
Diyarbakir on 28 August. At the time of his arrest they said that
they didn't know anybody with this name. After 8 days they
admitted that he was in police custody in Diyarbakir. Abdullah
Alici and Bakan's wife went to the Human Rights organisation to
apply for these people because they were concerned for their
lives. (Ozgur Politika - September 7, 1995)

Turkish Coalition Collapses

     Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller offered her resignation
yesterday after talks designed to prop up her four-year-old
coalition government suddenly collapsed. She will now be asked to
form a new administration, although the possibility of her
forging a new alliance to last her final year in office is
remote. Ciller's surprise announcement came after her first
meeting with Deniz Baykal, the new leader of her junior coalition
partner. He left the meeting announcing that despite "the
pleasant chat", the Government was finished and elections were
inevitable. Mr Baykal's apparent determination to break up the
coalition was prompted by the risky calculation that his
Republican People's Party can revive its poor standing by
distancing itself from Ciller's right-of-centre policies. Some of
the traditional leftwing support has drifted to the pro-Islamic
Welfare Party, which promises a "just order". Ciller is likely to
soldier on until the spring with a minority government. (The
Times - September 21, 1995)
     Amnesty International, in a report to be published today,
accuses Turkey of failing to enact simple and practical reforms
to improve human rights. The reforms include the abolition of
article eight of the notorious anti-terror law. (The Guardian -
September 21, 1995)
     "There is no telling what will happen, a period of great
instability lies ahead." said Tayla Erten, a leading columnist
for the financial daily, Dunya. Businessmen expressed fears of a
fresh economic crisis as shares on the Istanbul stock exchange
continued to slide along with the Turkish lira, despite the
intervention of the Central Bank. (Daily Telegraph - September
22, 1995)
     Tansu Ciller faced added pressure for early elections with
the resignation of the speaker of parliament. Husamettin
Cindoruk, a member of Mrs Ciller's centre-right True Path Party
but a long-time adversary, said that elections should be held
every four years, rather than five as under the present
constitution. General elections are now scheduled for next
autumn. Mrs Ciller's coalition collapsed on 20 September and her
party has been unable to find a new coalition partner. (The Times
- October 2, 1995)

129a Trial Against Kurds In Frankfurt

     On September 25, 1995, a trial against 3 Kurdish defendants
will open at the State Supreme Court in Frankfurt, Germany with
the aim of proving that one part of the Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK) is a "terrorist organization". By using crown witnesses,
the state prosecutor hopes to prove that the accused, in their
roles as party functionaries or as the heads of a Kurdish
association in Frankfurt, were responsible for criminal acts and
thus constituted a "terrorist organization". According to the
Working Group Against The Kurd Trial (Arbeitskreis gegen den
Kurdenprozess): "What is really being put on trial is the right
of the Kurdish people to engage in political and public
activity." The Working Group has issued a leaflet calling on
people to visit this trial and to protest against it. (Kurdistan
Rundbrief #18)

HADEP Is Raided Twice In One Week

     Peoples Democratic Party (HADEP) Diyarbakir city
administator M. Can Ekin's house and business premises were
raided by police. A HADEP spokesperson said the reason for this
is "Mr Ekin's active role in supporting close relatives of
prisoners of war. Meanwhile peace posters were prepared by HADEP.
When they were being posted up by HADEP members and directors,
'anti-terror' police destroyed the posters. The raid which was
planned by the anti-terror police destroyed Mr. Ekin's house and
business premises, and property. His wife and workers were abused
and assaulted. HADEP workers organized a meeting to discuss the
raid. They said they believe that the reason for the raid was Mr.
Erkins active role in helping the relatives close of the war and
prisoners on hunger strike. (Ozgur Politika - September 8, 1995)

HADEP's Flyposter Team Arrested

     HADEP directors Hanifi Akboga, Hanifi Baran, HADEP members
Cemil Krem and the taxi driver who carried the posters, were
attacked by 'anti-terror' police and arrested when they were
fly-posting in Diyarbakir. Although HADEP had received official
permission to fly-post, the police tore the posters down and
threatened to kill them if they did not stop putting up posters.
(Ozgur Politika - September 8, 1995)

Son Disappeared - Mother Attempts To Burn Herself

     In Diyarbakir's Kulk county on 24 August Osman Bulutekin's
house was raided by police and he was arrested. There is no news
from him now. His mother Mrs. Bulutekin atempted to burn herself
in order that her son be found. Mrs. Bullutekin, who was released
3 days ago from Diyarbakir closed prison, has requently received
threatening phone calls. From the day of the arrest of her son
she has been trying to get them to accept responsibility for his
arrest, but she has not been successful. Mrs. Bullutekin went to
Kulp police station and in the garden of the station poured
diesel over herself to burn herself, but was stopped by security
guards. Mrs. Bullutekin stated that the four people who took her
son away had introduced themselves as policemen and before they
left the house they cut the telephone wire. "If my son Osman is
not found, I will burn myself. I want the government to know
this." (Ozgur Politika - September 15, 1995)

KDP Meet Turkish Military Plan For Joint Cross-Border Operation

     According to Milpa correspondent Seymus Cakan, high ranking
officials of the KDP and Turkish foreign Ministry officials met
on 30 August in the town of Silopi in Sirnak province to discuss
a new cross-border operation. The information received revealed
that the KDP officials gave details of the PKK's numerical
strength in northern Iraq, the areas in which it is situated and
the areas which it controls. The opinion of the KDP was obtained
as to whether a need exists for a new cross-border operation. A
guarantee was given at the end of the meeting that in the event
of the KDP requesting it, a comprehensive cross-border operation
against the PKK would be undertaken. Milha Adana correspondent
Murat Dogukanli claims that 10 trucks carrying containers with
"USA" inscribed on them entered nothern Iraq at Habur. The word
"explosives" on each container attracted attention and officials
avoided giving information concerning the contents of the
containers, weighing approximately 22 tons each, from where they
had come and their destination. On the front page next to the
photo of the trucks it states that the trucks were part of a
"Provide Comfort" convoy that had set out from Incirlik. The
caption states that the trucks had Turkish number plates and were
accompanied by American officers. (Milliyet - September 1, 1995)

8 Dead And 63 Political Prisoners Injured In Buca Prison

     Prison guards helped by Turkish gendarmes attacked left-wing
political prisoners in Buca prison on 28 September 1995. Ahmet
Turan Demir a representative of the Human Rights Organization
said "after the attack fifteen ambulances were required to take
the dead and wounded." The prisoners, protesting against
continuous torture and the refusal of the authorities to allow
family and legal visits had refused to take part in prison roll
calls. The attack took place in the cells of the prisoners and
all of Buca's political prisoners were attacked. This is denied
by the authorities. Families and friends of the prisoners who
were waiting outside the prison were also attacked. Mr Dinir, who
accompanied lawyers to Buca prison afther the incident, reported
that the prison guards were continuing to attack the prisoners,
throwing tear gas into their cells. He also reported that while
he was there he heard gun shots. Ten of the authority's attackers
were wounded. (Ozgur Politika - September 23, 1995)

Explosion Hits Pro-Kurdish Office In Turkey

     An explosion rocked a building housing the pro-Kurdish
People's Democracy Party (HADEP) in Turkey's port city of Izmir
on Wednesday, shattering windows but causing no injuries, local
HADEP officials said.
     Turkish police said the early morning explosion in the
three-storey building was caused by a leaky gas canister, but
HADEP officials said a bomb had been placed outside the door. The
explosion at the Gaziemir district building comes three days
after a bomb placed at a nearby cafe frequented by off-duty
Turkish soldiers killed five people and wounded 24. HADEP
officials said the explosion at their building might have been in
retaliation for the bombing, which Turkish newspapers blamed on
separatist Kurdish guerrillas fighting for independence in
southeast Turkey. Numerous HADEP officials throughout Turkey are
on trial for alleged membership in the Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK), but HADEP officials dismiss the charges as a smear
campaign aimed at weakening Kurdish demands for broader cultural
and political rights. (Extract from Reuters News Service, 1995)

PKK Seeks Dialogue With Germany

     The leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has
signalled a change in his political approach with respect to
Germany. "We don't wish to disrupt the security and order of
Germany, or to concern ourselves with Germany's foreign affairs,"
PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan told West German Radio (WDR) during an
interview in his headquarters. Ocalan told the station that the
PKK was willing to call off all of its attacks inside Germany.
"Germany, instead of banning the PKK, should talk with the PKK in
order to find a peaceful solution to the problems within Germany
and Turkey," Ocalan said. The PKK leader denied claims that his
party is funded with extorted money. He said that all financial
contributions to the organization were given voluntarily.
(Frankfurter Rundschau - August 19, 1995)

Husnu Ondul Wins Human Rights Award

     Turkish lawyer Husnu Ondul has been awarded this year's
human rights award from German Lawyer's Union (DRB). The DRB
honored the 41-year-old for his many years of work in the service
of human rights in his homeland. He will be awarded the prize
along with 5,000 DM in money on September 25 in Mainz. Ondul, who
was nominated by the human rights organization Amnesty
International, has worked as an independent lawyer in Ankara
since 1980. The focal point of his work has been political
trials. He has also worked for the Human Rights Association and
the Human Rights Foundation, both of which regularly publish
reports on human rights violations and victims of torture.
Because of his work, Ondul has been indicted seven times, and in
one case he is still facing a possible 5 years in prison.
(Frankfurter Rundschau - September 25, 1995)

European MP Opens Office In Istanbul

     Claudia Roth, leader of the Green fraction in the European
Parliament, has become the first European MP to open an office in
Turkey. The office, which will open in Istanbul on September 2,
will provide more information about the political situation in
the country, Roth told Bonn on Thursday. As vice president of the
European Parliament's 'European Union/Turkey Committee', she
plans on spending lots of time in Istanbul. "The focal point of
my work will be the improvement of human rights, more democracy,
and the long-awaited resolution of the Kurdish question," the MP
said. Roth still maintains that Turkey can have a role as a
Muslim country within the European Union. But in order for this
to happen, Roth said, the country must show respect for human
rights, become more democratic, and release the Kurdish MPs who
are now in prison. (Frankfurter Rundschau - September 25, 1995)

American Reuter Correspondent in Turkish Security Court

     Reuters said on Tuesday that one of its correspondents in
Turkey would appear in a security court in Istanbul on October 12
to answer a charge over a story about the Turkish military
campaign against Kurdish rebels. The world news and information
organization said in a statement that Aliza Marcus, 33, an
American, had been accused of "provoking enmity and hatred by
displaying racism or regionalism."
     The charge, which carries a maximum jail sentence of three
years, related to a story last Nov. 25 quoting villagers and
human rights activists in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir as
saying forcible evacuation and even torching of Kurdish villages
was a central part of the military's prolonged battle against
Kurdish separatists. The case was filed against Marcus July 13.
The government had previously begun a prosecution against the
pro-Kurdish daily newspaper Ozgur Ulke for carrying a version of
the Reuters story. The next hearing in the Ozgur Ulke case is
scheduled for Oct. 5. Marcus, who speaks Turkish, was assigned to
Istanbul from New York in April 1994. (Condensed from Reuters
News Service, 1995)
     Reuters correspondent Aliza Marcus has been arraigned in the
State Security Court due to an article that was published in
Ozgur Ulke newspaper last year. She is accused of "Stirring up
racial hatred" and faces a maximum sentence of 3 years
imprisonment. According to the Herald Tribune Marcus's article
appeared in the 27 November 1994 edition of Ozgur Ulke and
mentioned the forced evacuation and even burning of Kurdish
villages. The case is to be heard on 12 October in Istanbul State
Security Court.
     The chief of staff Ahmet Corekci said: "We are under
political authority. Obedience is essential for us. However the
consequences of article 8 affect us. At the moment we want it to
remain as it is. Change is not appropriate." (Hurriyet -
September 24, 1995)

Turkish Paper Investigated Over Rebel Kurd Quotes

     An Istanbul court has begun an investigation of a Turkish
newspaper for publishing quotes by a Kurdish rebel leader, its
editor said on Tuesday. The story included quotations from a
letter to a Kurdish meeting in Oslo by Ocalan, leader of the
guerrilla Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which is fighting for
autonomy or independence in southeastern Turkey. Berkan said he
faced trial under Article 8 of Turkey's anti-terror law over a
case opened early this year concerning publication in his
newspaper of a speech by Kemal Burkay, head of a non-violent
Kurdish separatist group based in Europe.
     The first hearing at the state security court, which deals
with serious crimes, is due on December 11, he said.
     Turkey's European allies have demanded the scrapping of
Article 8, under which scores of people have been jailed for
writings and speeches on the Kurdish conflict, in exchange for
customs union between Ankara and the European Union. (Extract
from Reuters News Service, 1995)

Turkish Sugar Mills Strike May Mean More Imports

     The strike at state-owned sugar refineries in Turkey has
coincided with a low level of stocks and may necessitate further
sugar imports. Even if it ends, Turkey will be continuing to
import sugar over the coming 12 months due to low beet
production.
     "I am not joking. Turkey has only four days worth of sugar
left," Mr Hasan Akyoll, Minister of Industry and Trade, said on
the weekend. (Financial Times - September 26, 1995)

Leyla Zana's Letter To Norwegian Prime Minister, Gro Harlem
Hrandtland

Dear Prime Minister,
     I am writing to you as you were the first women Prime
Minister in Europe. The situation of the Kurdish people in Turkey
is worsening. The conditions for Kurdish people are appalling.
This tragic situation is hidden from the outside world, nobody
knows about it and nobody sees it. You are to me as a mother. My
heart is bleeding for all the young people both Kurds and Turks
who's lives are wasted in this war. I believe it is possible for
Kurdish and Turkish people to live together in peace and
friendship. Your support is particularly appreciated, because
your country upholds democratic rights for all people. I appeal
to you to raise your voice for our people together with other
Scandinavian countries. I ask you to send representatives from
your country to visit Kurdistan and report on the situation
there. My people want only a peaceful and democratic life. I
believe that you will support our struggle. I hope and believe
there will be a peaceful solution for our children. Please accept
my regards. (Ozgur Politika - October 1, 1995)

The Turkish Embassy And The Grey Wolves

     Fellemez Basboga, a member of the Kurdistan Parliament in
Exile, discussed in his speech (given at a funeral procession)
the role of Turkish diplomatic missions in Germany in the
organizing efforts of the MHP. The newly-appointed ambassador in
Bonn, Volkan Vural, was a long time member of the Turkish
National Security Council (MGK), a military/secret police
organization which has de facto control over the parliament.
     His stationing in Germany "coincides" with the decisions of
the council to expand the activities of death squads and the
secret police in combatting the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)
abroad". In addition to this, the MHP, besides having members in
the death squads and the "special forces" of the Turkish army,
also operates several front organizations. It recruits its
members via Turkish sports clubs and mosques.
     It is important to understand, said Basboga, that "banning
or increasing the controls over such organizations" would do much
more for the cause of domestic security in Germany than "the
sweeping criminalization of Kurdish politics".
     Anyone who doubts the willingness of the Kurdish people to
seek a political solution should turn their attention to the
Parliament in Exile, which is prepared for negotiations at any
time.
     A Turkish spokesperson for the demonstration, Ibrahim K.,
told the DEM News Agency about the activities of the National
Movement Party (MHP) in Germany during the 1970s and 80s.
     Alparslan Turkes, the leader of the far right party, not
only maintained close contacts with the German right wing
extremist German Nationalist Party (NPD), rather he was also
"best freind" of then leader of the Bavarian Christian Social
Union (CSU), Franz Joseph Strauss. Close ties with the CSU were
maintained through Turkish industrialist Murat Bayrak. Not only
have several MHP members and members of associated groups been
apprehended at Dusseldorf Airport with large quantities of drugs,
but even Ali Agca, the MHP member who tried to assassinate the
Pope, was transported to Italy via Germany. Violent actions by
the so-called Grey Wolves have generally been aimed at Turkish
and Kurdish opposition groups. There have been several attacks,
including one murder, against foreign trade unionists in Germany.
(DEM News Agency - September 9, 1995)

ARGK Balance Of The Conflict With The KDP: 74 KDP Positions
Captured By The ARGK

     The Peoples Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK), the
military wing of the PKK, has issued a balance from the first 15
days of actions by the 1st Storm Brigade of the ARGK against
positions of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Iraqi
Kurdistan. During this time period, a total of 182 guerilla
attacks were carried out and 35 military posts and 39 hilltop
positions of the KDP were captured by ARGK guerrillas. A large
section of Iraqi Kurdistan is now under PKK control.
     According to the ARGK, 291 people have been killed,
including 270 KDP peshmergas and 21 PKK guerillas.
     At least an equal number have been wounded in the fighting.
The ARGK have also arrested 93 collaborators and agents,
including 3 of high rank and 1 member of the secret police.
     The ARGK has also indicated that the KDP are extending their
attacks against Kurdish refugees. Local witnesses have also
reported KDP attacks on some of the 16,000 refugees from Turkish
Kurdistan who are living in camps near Etrus. During one such
attack, the KDP allegedly fired mortar rounds at the camp. There
have also been scuffles with the camps self defence units. In its
press release, the ARGK criticized the silence of the United
Nations with respect to KDP attacks on civilians. (DEM News
Agency - September 10, 1995)

More ARGK Attacks In South Kurdistan

     According to reports from the ARGK, all eastern stations in
the city of Sersting in Iraqi Kurdistan have been captured by the
ARGK. Guerrillas forced their way into the city and destroyed the
party headquarters of the KDP.

Hizava Under ARGK Control

     ARGK guerillas attacked a military station and a control
centre of the KDP in the village of Hizava yesterday.

ARGK Road Block Near Zaxo

     ARGK guerrillas set up a road block on the road between Zaxo
and the city of Batufa. The guerrillas detained several persons,
including those with KDP passports.

Bamerli Under ARGK Control

     Guerillas from the ARGK increased their attacks on KDP
stations in the city of Bamerli yesterday, after they overran the
KDPs hilltop defences outside the city. (DEM News Agency -
September 10, 1995)

7,000 Protest The Murder Of Seyfettin Kalan In Neumunster

     On September 9, 7,000 people protested in Neumunster against
the murder of Kurdish activist Seyfettin Kalan by Turkish
fascists six days earlier. Seyfettin was killed on September 3 by
members of the "Grey Wolves", two other Kurds were wounded.
     The very fact that funeral processions are the only
allowable form of political expression for the Kurdish exile
community shows the reality of the situation which Kurds in
Germany have faced since Kanther's bans went into effect. The
murder of Seyfettin Kalan is the climax of an increasing wave of
provocations and attacks on Kurdish establishments by Turkish
fascists, the "Grey Wolves" (MHP), or by other pro-government
forces, sometimes with the direct support of the Turkish
consulate. (Extract from the demonstration preparatory
committee.)

Village In Van Forcibly Evacuated

     Military forces have forcibly evacuated the village of Kers
(Koklu in Turkish) near Gevas in the province of Van. The
military had previously threatened to evacuate the villagers if
they refused to become state paid village guards. The evacuation
orders were given to the 100 families in the village following a
guerrilla rocket attack which destroyed 2 army panzers. (DEM News
Agency - September 13, 1995)

Statement From Sinn Fein Councillor Mary Nelis

     Sinn Fein Councillor Mary Nelis has called again for
'immediate action to be taken by the international community
against the Turkish government'. The councillor was speaking as
increasing evidence comes to light of the systematic rape of
Kurdish women prisoners and combatants in Turkey. According to
evidence presented by the French Terre des Femmes group, women in
Turkish prisons are subjected to humilliation, torture and rape.
Amnesty International, in a recent report, stated that all women
are sexually assaulted when they are tortured. The torture of
women, which entails sexually-motivated violence against the
female gender, means that the imprisonment of women in Turkey
represents a gender specific form of human rights violations. War
crimes such as rape are an issue for us all. We must not remain
silent while these crimes are committed on a daily basis. I would
urge all those who support human rights and particularly women's
rights to contact the Turkish Embassy in Dublin to call for an
end to its brutal campaign against against the Kurds." (Press
Release - September 18, 1995)

Journalists Released

     Necmiye and Emin Arslanoglu 2 journalists from Ozgur Halk
and Ozgur Ulke who have been held in Diyarbakir prison for the
last 5 months were released on the 3rd of October. Emin
Arslanoglu was detained while with two western journalists Gunnar
Hybertson and Heidi Lankish researching for a programme. His
sister Necmiye was taken into custody 10 days later. Mevlut
Bozkur was also taken into custody, and was also released. (Ozgur
Politika - October 6, 1995)
     "Necmiye and Emin sat between two soldiers. Emin had lost
weight and his face was white with dark rings around his eyes
When he saw me a little light came into his eyes. Necmiye smiled
broadly and waved.
     They were taken outside and left in a car for 6 hours while
first the court was adjourned and then legal arguments were
given. The lawyer told the court I was a witness and the judge
asked me in which language did I wish to address the court.
"Kurdish" I replied. There was a stunned silent pause "Kurdish
cannot be spoken in this court," I was warned sternly. When the
judge announced that they were free to go, the Kurds in the court
spontaneously shouted "Kazaniyoruz" (we are winning). The whole
family have been threatened. "This soldier says he will kill me"
Necmiye shouted to me, pointing at the soldier guarding her. She
was smiling. Later when they were released, both Necmiye and Emin
asked me to thank all who had sent letters of protest and
campaigned for them in Britain. We need to watch them, they are
now in terrible danger.
     "Without the campaign they would not now be free. This is
unprecedented." (Heidi Lankish, delegate to trial of Necmiye and
Emin Arslanoglu, November 5, 1994)

Turkish PM Wins Backing

     Tansu Ciller, Turkey's caretaker Prime Minister, said last
night she had won presidential approval for a minortity
government. It is expected to get support from two small parties
- from the far right and centre left. "The president has approved
the government," Mrs Ciller said after a 45 minute meeting with
President Suleyman Demirel. His approval of her cabinet list -
composed of deputies from her conservative True Path Party (DYP)
comes three weeks after her right-left coalition collapsed. Her
new govenment is expected to draw support from the far-right
Nationalist Action party (MHP). Ciller has signed a seven-point
protocol with its leader, Mr Alparslan Turkes. She will also rely
on support from former Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit's Democratic
Social party (DSP), as well as some independent MPs.
Ciller agreed to Turkes's demand to negotiate an end to a three
week strike by public sector workers. They are demanding pay
rises which the government ways will breach its strict spending
controls. Turkes also said he would refuse to support relaxation
of Turkeys draconian anti terrorism law. European Parliament
members have said they will reject a trade pact between Turkey
and the EU unless this law is reformed.
Financial Times, 6 October

August 1995 Delegation Reports From North-West Kurdistan Out Now!

     "We will continue resistance until we get results. No
persecution or suppression will wear us down." (Kurdish woman on
hunger strike) Journalist Marie Ryan, human rights campaigner
from Manchester, Hazel Greenwood and lawyer Sadiq Khan who visted
north-west Kurdistan to observe the trial of Necmiye and Emin
Arslanloglu on 3 October and other widespread human rights abuses
by the Turkish military, have published their reports, now
available from KSC and KIC. Ring for your copy now: 0171 250 1315
or 0171 586 5892.

Turkey, Unfulfilled Promise Of Reform

     Turkish citizens are still 'disappearing' and dying as a
result of torture in Turkish police stations, and prisoners of
conscience are still being jailed for expressing their non
violent opinions. Extrajudicial executions and political killings
continue.
     Despite government promises of a "renaissance of human
rights", not one of the long overdue legal safeguards recommended
by the UN Committee against Torture or the European Committee for
the Prevention of Torture has been put in place. Nor has the
Turkish Government fulfilled its undertaking to secure the
release of prisoers of conscience. (Amnesty International Report
- September 1995)

Important notice: In the run-up to the appeal against extradition
to Germany of Kani Yilmaz there will be weekly pickets outside
No. 10 Downing Street, we are expecting a little more interest
from the press this time and need as many people as possible to
attend these pickets. They cannot silence the truth, it will soon
be known, please attend these pickets they begin FRIDAY 20
OCTOBER 3-7PM. AND THEN EVERY FRIDAY AFTER THAT AT THE SAME TIME,
SEE YOU THERE!!!! (Bring your friends and family, and some
home-made placards, write what you feel.)

From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Mon Oct 23 12:25:50 1995
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 23 Oct 1995 12:25:50
Subject: Kurdistan Human Rights Bulletin #21
References: <bac1c849.199510231053.GAA21904@locust.cic>
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199510231057.GAA22002@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>

Kurdistan Human Rights Bulletin #21

Turkish Strike Starts To Bite

     A two-week strike by Turkish public sector employees is
beginning to hit exports, basic industries and some private
companies hard but Prime Minister Tansu Ciller is refusing to
meet union leaders' demands for large pay increases. Analysts and
business leaders said Turkey's worst strikes since 1980 were
costing the country $500m(#163#322m) a month in lost exports and
production and threatened attempts to control inflation and
restore economic stability. Ports have been closed and large
state-owned industrial and transport companies have come to a
halt. 
     The government is offering a 5.4 per cent increase for state
employees, even though inflation is running at 80 per cent a
year. The 330,000 strikers are demanding wage increases of 38 per
cent for the first half of this year and 25 per cent for the
second half. However, economists fear that giving in would swell
the government's budget deficit by roughly a third to about $6bn.
Labour unrest is interfering with Ciller's attempt to form a new
government after her coalition collapsed in September. (Financial
Times, October 4, 1995)

Talabani Is Coming To Ankara

     PUK leader Talabani, who last visited Ankara in 1992, is
expected to come to Ankara after 25 September for talks with
Mesud Barzani(KDP). Last week Talabani was taken by a Turkish
helicopter from northern Iraq to Nusaybin in Turkey. It is
believed that Talabani met with MIT( Turkish intelligence)
officials and that he may be delivering a message to PKK leader
Abdullah Ocalan. In 1992 Talabani tried to initiate negotiations
for a ceasefire between the PKK and Ankara. It has been suggested
that Talabani may be planning to try and act as a mediator now.
(Hurriyet - September 11, 1995)

86 Teachers Under Arrest In Mersin

     On September 10, teachers from EGITIM-SEN (the teacher's
trade union) including the Mersin Branch leader Ali Riza Onen,
assembled outside the Mersin Governor's office. They said that
many of the teachers have been exiled to other places. To protest
against this development, they started a petition and wanted to
have a press conference. Police warned them to disperse. Despite
this, the teacher's group did not disperse and wanted to march.
86 people were arrested from the teacher's group and the police
announced that they will be charged because they had demonstrated
without permission. (Hurriyet - September 10, 1995)

Armed Forces In Battle To Modernize

     The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) are in the middle of a
comprehensive restructuring and modernization programme.
Implementing the TAF's ambitious plans, however, is complicated
by several factors.
     These include an annual inflation rate that is always in
double figures; the loss of most of the aid which Turkey received
from the USA and its other NATO allies during the Cold War, the
impact of Western public criticism of Turkey's human rights
record on the aid programes that remain and the need to maintain
forces at a high level of readiness in response to tension on
three of Turkey's borders.
     For much of the Cold War the USA, Germany, the Netherlands,
Canada and Belgium contributed to Turkey's modernization
programmes by transferring surplus, often earlier generation
equipment, to Turkey. A last massive wave of support has broken
over Turkey as CFE treaty-limited equipment (TLE) has been
'cascaded' by NATO allies. Turkey has received M60A1/A3 main
battle tanks, M113 armoured personnel carriers and M110 203mm
self-propelled howitzers from the USA; RF-4E Phantoms, Leopard
1A3MBTs, APCs and M11Os from Germany; and F-5 fighters from the
Netherlands.
     Turkey's 1995 defence budget totals $3.433 billion, which
represents 10.8 percent of government spending, showing a slight
increase from last year's allocation of 10.3 percent. About $1.7
billion of this is allocated for procurement. Defence analysts
suggest that $4 billion must be spent on acquisition programmes
alone if the TAF's modernization objectives are to be met.
(Jane's Defence Weekly - September 16, 1995)

Aycin Campaign Grows

     Turkish civil aviation union Hava-Is has distributed 20,000
posters in major towns around Turkey demanding the release of the
union president Atilay Aycin and the repeal of Article 8 of the
Anti Terrorism Act under which many political prisoners have been
detained. The union collected 30,000 signatures in three days
supporting their campaign. (ITF News - August/September 1995)

Turkey Urged To Speed Up Reforms

     Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind yesterday urged Turkey to
speed up its reforms giving greater political and civil rights to
the Kurds. At the same time, he promised that Britain would lobby
the European Parliament for ratification of Ankara's customs
union with the European Union. (The Times - September 7, 1995)

Ministers In Talks Over Iraq

     Foreign ministers of Syria, Iran and Turkey are due to meet
in Tehran, the Iranian capital, tomorrow for talks on the
situation in Iraq following the defections last month of members
of Saddam Hussein's family. Officials have expressed concern over
the threat to Iraq's territorial integrity. All three countries
have sizable Kurdish minorities adjacent to Iraq's own 3m Kurdish
population in the north. And Iran has a strong affiliation with
Iraq's Shia living in the south. Each country, however, also
hosts members of Iraq's disparate opposition. (Financial Times -
September 7, 1995)

Protests Against Closure Of Yeni Politika

     Turkish and Kurdish intellectuals condemned the court
closure of the country's biggest pro-Kurdish newspaper and some
called for defiance of Turkey's strict limits on freedom of
expression.
     "Despite being considered illegal there are things that must
be done and I encourage everyone to keep pushing the issue of
freedom of expression," Turkish musician Sanar Yurdatapan told a
news conference called by the newspaper, Yeni Politika, to
announce its demise. Yurdatapan leads a campaign in which 1,080
people - among them leading writers, actors and journalists -
have demanded the prosecutor charge them for publishing a book of
articles banned by the court.
     The trial against 99 of the signatories, charged with
violating article eight of the anti-terror law, starts next week.
Yurdatapan said the closure of Yeni Politika signalled the need
for further action. "It's no use just to collect signatures and
give speeches. But if the state has to put all of us in prison,
then it becomes an impossible situation for them," he said. Yeni
Politika's publishing life ended after five months, when a court
on Wednesday ruled the paper was a continuation of two banned
pro-Kurdish newspapers. The closure follows years of difficulties
faced by Kurdish publications, which started up in strength after
the government in 1991 lifted a formal eight-year ban on the use
of Kurdish. (Reuter - August 17, 1995)

Bar Association Chairman Killed By Fundamentalists

     The chairman of the Gumushane Bar Association, Ali Gunday,
was assassinated on 25 July by an Islamic fundamentalist, Izzet
Kirac, following the expulsion of two veil-wearing female lawyers
from the Bar.
     Onder Sav, chairman of the Turkish Bar Association (TBB),
said that reactionary forces were trying to send Turkey back to
the Middle Ages and those who encourage the murder of people in
the name of religion are also responsible for the murder.
(Info-Turk - #221)

Villagers Suffering As Turks Try To Starve Kurdish Rebels

     "'Scorched earth' tactics aimed at Kurdish rebels are
hitting the wrong people and could rebound on Ankara". Last week,
Algan Hacaloglu, the Turkish minister in charge of human rights
was comparing Tunceli to Bosnia: "The hunger, the suffering of
the people ... it's the same," he said.
     His remarks followed a tour of Tunceli to investigate
allegations that the Turkish security forces had imposed what
outraged locals described as a "food embargo" on their province.
"They burnt our villages, killed our animals and now they want us
to starve," said Hasan Solmaz, a farmer from Pinarlar village, 20
miles west of Tunceli. Mr Solmaz had just discovered that like
any other villager who came to buy food here, he too had to fill
out a form at an army checkpoint at the town entrance listing
every item he bought, where he was taking it to, and the names of
all his family members, before being allowed to return home. The
government has justified the measures by saying they are aimed at
preventing food from reaching the PKK. The outspoken local CHP
boss, Bekir Gundogar believes otherwise. "It is us the state is
finishing off, not the PKK," he said. (The Times - August 29,
1995)

EU Warns Ankara Over Kurdish Rights

     Turkey was told over the weekend that, unless it made
constitutional concessions to the Kurdish minority, the European
Parliament might veto a treaty binding Ankara closer to the West.
But European Union foreign ministers who met in Spain reaffirmed
their determination to push for ratification of the new EUcustoms
union with Turkey.
     At an informal meeting in Santander, Britain supported the
Spanish presidency in urging EU governments to lobby hard for a
treaty with the Western Alliance. Foreign Secretary Malcolm
Rifkind said Britain would urge Strasbourg to pass the treaty,
facing opposition because of Turkey's human rights record. Mr.
Rifkind and other foreign ministers fear that if Turkey is
rebuffed over the customs union, the backlash may be so strong
that Turkey's entire post-Ataturk political orientation to the
West may be undermined. However, the tough Turkish laws designed
to suppress the Kurds have soured relations with many European
human rights activists and have been strongly criticised by the
European Parliament, which will give the final vote later this
year on whether to veto the customs union. (The Times - September
12, 1995)

Two Persons Arrested In Diyarbakir

     Police attacked a house and arrested Lezgin (21) and
Gulbahar (19) brother and sister of a journalist who had worked
on the old newspaper Ozgur Ulke in Diyarbakir. The police did not
gave any justification for their arrest. The police had also
arrested another person called Erhan Bakan in the same part of
Diyarbakir on 28 August. At the time of his arrest they said that
they didn't know anybody with this name. After 8 days they
admitted that he was in police custody in Diyarbakir. Abdullah
Alici and Bakan's wife went to the Human Rights organisation to
apply for these people because they were concerned for their
lives. (Ozgur Politika - September 7, 1995)

Turkish Coalition Collapses

     Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller offered her resignation
yesterday after talks designed to prop up her four-year-old
coalition government suddenly collapsed. She will now be asked to
form a new administration, although the possibility of her
forging a new alliance to last her final year in office is
remote. Ciller's surprise announcement came after her first
meeting with Deniz Baykal, the new leader of her junior coalition
partner. He left the meeting announcing that despite "the
pleasant chat", the Government was finished and elections were
inevitable. Mr Baykal's apparent determination to break up the
coalition was prompted by the risky calculation that his
Republican People's Party can revive its poor standing by
distancing itself from Ciller's right-of-centre policies. Some of
the traditional leftwing support has drifted to the pro-Islamic
Welfare Party, which promises a "just order". Ciller is likely to
soldier on until the spring with a minority government. (The
Times - September 21, 1995)
     Amnesty International, in a report to be published today,
accuses Turkey of failing to enact simple and practical reforms
to improve human rights. The reforms include the abolition of
article eight of the notorious anti-terror law. (The Guardian -
September 21, 1995)
     "There is no telling what will happen, a period of great
instability lies ahead." said Tayla Erten, a leading columnist
for the financial daily, Dunya. Businessmen expressed fears of a
fresh economic crisis as shares on the Istanbul stock exchange
continued to slide along with the Turkish lira, despite the
intervention of the Central Bank. (Daily Telegraph - September
22, 1995)
     Tansu Ciller faced added pressure for early elections with
the resignation of the speaker of parliament. Husamettin
Cindoruk, a member of Mrs Ciller's centre-right True Path Party
but a long-time adversary, said that elections should be held
every four years, rather than five as under the present
constitution. General elections are now scheduled for next
autumn. Mrs Ciller's coalition collapsed on 20 September and her
party has been unable to find a new coalition partner. (The Times
- October 2, 1995)

129a Trial Against Kurds In Frankfurt

     On September 25, 1995, a trial against 3 Kurdish defendants
will open at the State Supreme Court in Frankfurt, Germany with
the aim of proving that one part of the Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK) is a "terrorist organization". By using crown witnesses,
the state prosecutor hopes to prove that the accused, in their
roles as party functionaries or as the heads of a Kurdish
association in Frankfurt, were responsible for criminal acts and
thus constituted a "terrorist organization". According to the
Working Group Against The Kurd Trial (Arbeitskreis gegen den
Kurdenprozess): "What is really being put on trial is the right
of the Kurdish people to engage in political and public
activity." The Working Group has issued a leaflet calling on
people to visit this trial and to protest against it. (Kurdistan
Rundbrief #18)

HADEP Is Raided Twice In One Week

     Peoples Democratic Party (HADEP) Diyarbakir city
administator M. Can Ekin's house and business premises were
raided by police. A HADEP spokesperson said the reason for this
is "Mr Ekin's active role in supporting close relatives of
prisoners of war. Meanwhile peace posters were prepared by HADEP.
When they were being posted up by HADEP members and directors,
'anti-terror' police destroyed the posters. The raid which was
planned by the anti-terror police destroyed Mr. Ekin's house and
business premises, and property. His wife and workers were abused
and assaulted. HADEP workers organized a meeting to discuss the
raid. They said they believe that the reason for the raid was Mr.
Erkins active role in helping the relatives close of the war and
prisoners on hunger strike. (Ozgur Politika - September 8, 1995)

HADEP's Flyposter Team Arrested

     HADEP directors Hanifi Akboga, Hanifi Baran, HADEP members
Cemil Krem and the taxi driver who carried the posters, were
attacked by 'anti-terror' police and arrested when they were
fly-posting in Diyarbakir. Although HADEP had received official
permission to fly-post, the police tore the posters down and
threatened to kill them if they did not stop putting up posters.
(Ozgur Politika - September 8, 1995)

Son Disappeared - Mother Attempts To Burn Herself

     In Diyarbakir's Kulk county on 24 August Osman Bulutekin's
house was raided by police and he was arrested. There is no news
from him now. His mother Mrs. Bulutekin atempted to burn herself
in order that her son be found. Mrs. Bullutekin, who was released
3 days ago from Diyarbakir closed prison, has requently received
threatening phone calls. From the day of the arrest of her son
she has been trying to get them to accept responsibility for his
arrest, but she has not been successful. Mrs. Bullutekin went to
Kulp police station and in the garden of the station poured
diesel over herself to burn herself, but was stopped by security
guards. Mrs. Bullutekin stated that the four people who took her
son away had introduced themselves as policemen and before they
left the house they cut the telephone wire. "If my son Osman is
not found, I will burn myself. I want the government to know
this." (Ozgur Politika - September 15, 1995)

KDP Meet Turkish Military Plan For Joint Cross-Border Operation

     According to Milpa correspondent Seymus Cakan, high ranking
officials of the KDP and Turkish foreign Ministry officials met
on 30 August in the town of Silopi in Sirnak province to discuss
a new cross-border operation. The information received revealed
that the KDP officials gave details of the PKK's numerical
strength in northern Iraq, the areas in which it is situated and
the areas which it controls. The opinion of the KDP was obtained
as to whether a need exists for a new cross-border operation. A
guarantee was given at the end of the meeting that in the event
of the KDP requesting it, a comprehensive cross-border operation
against the PKK would be undertaken. Milha Adana correspondent
Murat Dogukanli claims that 10 trucks carrying containers with
"USA" inscribed on them entered nothern Iraq at Habur. The word
"explosives" on each container attracted attention and officials
avoided giving information concerning the contents of the
containers, weighing approximately 22 tons each, from where they
had come and their destination. On the front page next to the
photo of the trucks it states that the trucks were part of a
"Provide Comfort" convoy that had set out from Incirlik. The
caption states that the trucks had Turkish number plates and were
accompanied by American officers. (Milliyet - September 1, 1995)

8 Dead And 63 Political Prisoners Injured In Buca Prison

     Prison guards helped by Turkish gendarmes attacked left-wing
political prisoners in Buca prison on 28 September 1995. Ahmet
Turan Demir a representative of the Human Rights Organization
said "after the attack fifteen ambulances were required to take
the dead and wounded." The prisoners, protesting against
continuous torture and the refusal of the authorities to allow
family and legal visits had refused to take part in prison roll
calls. The attack took place in the cells of the prisoners and
all of Buca's political prisoners were attacked. This is denied
by the authorities. Families and friends of the prisoners who
were waiting outside the prison were also attacked. Mr Dinir, who
accompanied lawyers to Buca prison afther the incident, reported
that the prison guards were continuing to attack the prisoners,
throwing tear gas into their cells. He also reported that while
he was there he heard gun shots. Ten of the authority's attackers
were wounded. (Ozgur Politika - September 23, 1995)

Explosion Hits Pro-Kurdish Office In Turkey

     An explosion rocked a building housing the pro-Kurdish
People's Democracy Party (HADEP) in Turkey's port city of Izmir
on Wednesday, shattering windows but causing no injuries, local
HADEP officials said.
     Turkish police said the early morning explosion in the
three-storey building was caused by a leaky gas canister, but
HADEP officials said a bomb had been placed outside the door. The
explosion at the Gaziemir district building comes three days
after a bomb placed at a nearby cafe frequented by off-duty
Turkish soldiers killed five people and wounded 24. HADEP
officials said the explosion at their building might have been in
retaliation for the bombing, which Turkish newspapers blamed on
separatist Kurdish guerrillas fighting for independence in
southeast Turkey. Numerous HADEP officials throughout Turkey are
on trial for alleged membership in the Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK), but HADEP officials dismiss the charges as a smear
campaign aimed at weakening Kurdish demands for broader cultural
and political rights. (Extract from Reuters News Service, 1995)

PKK Seeks Dialogue With Germany

     The leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has
signalled a change in his political approach with respect to
Germany. "We don't wish to disrupt the security and order of
Germany, or to concern ourselves with Germany's foreign affairs,"
PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan told West German Radio (WDR) during an
interview in his headquarters. Ocalan told the station that the
PKK was willing to call off all of its attacks inside Germany.
"Germany, instead of banning the PKK, should talk with the PKK in
order to find a peaceful solution to the problems within Germany
and Turkey," Ocalan said. The PKK leader denied claims that his
party is funded with extorted money. He said that all financial
contributions to the organization were given voluntarily.
(Frankfurter Rundschau - August 19, 1995)

Husnu Ondul Wins Human Rights Award

     Turkish lawyer Husnu Ondul has been awarded this year's
human rights award from German Lawyer's Union (DRB). The DRB
honored the 41-year-old for his many years of work in the service
of human rights in his homeland. He will be awarded the prize
along with 5,000 DM in money on September 25 in Mainz. Ondul, who
was nominated by the human rights organization Amnesty
International, has worked as an independent lawyer in Ankara
since 1980. The focal point of his work has been political
trials. He has also worked for the Human Rights Association and
the Human Rights Foundation, both of which regularly publish
reports on human rights violations and victims of torture.
Because of his work, Ondul has been indicted seven times, and in
one case he is still facing a possible 5 years in prison.
(Frankfurter Rundschau - September 25, 1995)

European MP Opens Office In Istanbul

     Claudia Roth, leader of the Green fraction in the European
Parliament, has become the first European MP to open an office in
Turkey. The office, which will open in Istanbul on September 2,
will provide more information about the political situation in
the country, Roth told Bonn on Thursday. As vice president of the
European Parliament's 'European Union/Turkey Committee', she
plans on spending lots of time in Istanbul. "The focal point of
my work will be the improvement of human rights, more democracy,
and the long-awaited resolution of the Kurdish question," the MP
said. Roth still maintains that Turkey can have a role as a
Muslim country within the European Union. But in order for this
to happen, Roth said, the country must show respect for human
rights, become more democratic, and release the Kurdish MPs who
are now in prison. (Frankfurter Rundschau - September 25, 1995)

American Reuter Correspondent in Turkish Security Court

     Reuters said on Tuesday that one of its correspondents in
Turkey would appear in a security court in Istanbul on October 12
to answer a charge over a story about the Turkish military
campaign against Kurdish rebels. The world news and information
organization said in a statement that Aliza Marcus, 33, an
American, had been accused of "provoking enmity and hatred by
displaying racism or regionalism."
     The charge, which carries a maximum jail sentence of three
years, related to a story last Nov. 25 quoting villagers and
human rights activists in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir as
saying forcible evacuation and even torching of Kurdish villages
was a central part of the military's prolonged battle against
Kurdish separatists. The case was filed against Marcus July 13.
The government had previously begun a prosecution against the
pro-Kurdish daily newspaper Ozgur Ulke for carrying a version of
the Reuters story. The next hearing in the Ozgur Ulke case is
scheduled for Oct. 5. Marcus, who speaks Turkish, was assigned to
Istanbul from New York in April 1994. (Condensed from Reuters
News Service, 1995)
     Reuters correspondent Aliza Marcus has been arraigned in the
State Security Court due to an article that was published in
Ozgur Ulke newspaper last year. She is accused of "Stirring up
racial hatred" and faces a maximum sentence of 3 years
imprisonment. According to the Herald Tribune Marcus's article
appeared in the 27 November 1994 edition of Ozgur Ulke and
mentioned the forced evacuation and even burning of Kurdish
villages. The case is to be heard on 12 October in Istanbul State
Security Court.
     The chief of staff Ahmet Corekci said: "We are under
political authority. Obedience is essential for us. However the
consequences of article 8 affect us. At the moment we want it to
remain as it is. Change is not appropriate." (Hurriyet -
September 24, 1995)

Turkish Paper Investigated Over Rebel Kurd Quotes

     An Istanbul court has begun an investigation of a Turkish
newspaper for publishing quotes by a Kurdish rebel leader, its
editor said on Tuesday. The story included quotations from a
letter to a Kurdish meeting in Oslo by Ocalan, leader of the
guerrilla Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which is fighting for
autonomy or independence in southeastern Turkey. Berkan said he
faced trial under Article 8 of Turkey's anti-terror law over a
case opened early this year concerning publication in his
newspaper of a speech by Kemal Burkay, head of a non-violent
Kurdish separatist group based in Europe.
     The first hearing at the state security court, which deals
with serious crimes, is due on December 11, he said.
     Turkey's European allies have demanded the scrapping of
Article 8, under which scores of people have been jailed for
writings and speeches on the Kurdish conflict, in exchange for
customs union between Ankara and the European Union. (Extract
from Reuters News Service, 1995)

Turkish Sugar Mills Strike May Mean More Imports

     The strike at state-owned sugar refineries in Turkey has
coincided with a low level of stocks and may necessitate further
sugar imports. Even if it ends, Turkey will be continuing to
import sugar over the coming 12 months due to low beet
production.
     "I am not joking. Turkey has only four days worth of sugar
left," Mr Hasan Akyoll, Minister of Industry and Trade, said on
the weekend. (Financial Times - September 26, 1995)

Leyla Zana's Letter To Norwegian Prime Minister, Gro Harlem
Hrandtland

Dear Prime Minister,
     I am writing to you as you were the first women Prime
Minister in Europe. The situation of the Kurdish people in Turkey
is worsening. The conditions for Kurdish people are appalling.
This tragic situation is hidden from the outside world, nobody
knows about it and nobody sees it. You are to me as a mother. My
heart is bleeding for all the young people both Kurds and Turks
who's lives are wasted in this war. I believe it is possible for
Kurdish and Turkish people to live together in peace and
friendship. Your support is particularly appreciated, because
your country upholds democratic rights for all people. I appeal
to you to raise your voice for our people together with other
Scandinavian countries. I ask you to send representatives from
your country to visit Kurdistan and report on the situation
there. My people want only a peaceful and democratic life. I
believe that you will support our struggle. I hope and believe
there will be a peaceful solution for our children. Please accept
my regards. (Ozgur Politika - October 1, 1995)

The Turkish Embassy And The Grey Wolves

     Fellemez Basboga, a member of the Kurdistan Parliament in
Exile, discussed in his speech (given at a funeral procession)
the role of Turkish diplomatic missions in Germany in the
organizing efforts of the MHP. The newly-appointed ambassador in
Bonn, Volkan Vural, was a long time member of the Turkish
National Security Council (MGK), a military/secret police
organization which has de facto control over the parliament.
     His stationing in Germany "coincides" with the decisions of
the council to expand the activities of death squads and the
secret police in combatting the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)
abroad". In addition to this, the MHP, besides having members in
the death squads and the "special forces" of the Turkish army,
also operates several front organizations. It recruits its
members via Turkish sports clubs and mosques.
     It is important to understand, said Basboga, that "banning
or increasing the controls over such organizations" would do much
more for the cause of domestic security in Germany than "the
sweeping criminalization of Kurdish politics".
     Anyone who doubts the willingness of the Kurdish people to
seek a political solution should turn their attention to the
Parliament in Exile, which is prepared for negotiations at any
time.
     A Turkish spokesperson for the demonstration, Ibrahim K.,
told the DEM News Agency about the activities of the National
Movement Party (MHP) in Germany during the 1970s and 80s.
     Alparslan Turkes, the leader of the far right party, not
only maintained close contacts with the German right wing
extremist German Nationalist Party (NPD), rather he was also
"best freind" of then leader of the Bavarian Christian Social
Union (CSU), Franz Joseph Strauss. Close ties with the CSU were
maintained through Turkish industrialist Murat Bayrak. Not only
have several MHP members and members of associated groups been
apprehended at Dusseldorf Airport with large quantities of drugs,
but even Ali Agca, the MHP member who tried to assassinate the
Pope, was transported to Italy via Germany. Violent actions by
the so-called Grey Wolves have generally been aimed at Turkish
and Kurdish opposition groups. There have been several attacks,
including one murder, against foreign trade unionists in Germany.
(DEM News Agency - September 9, 1995)

ARGK Balance Of The Conflict With The KDP: 74 KDP Positions
Captured By The ARGK

     The Peoples Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK), the
military wing of the PKK, has issued a balance from the first 15
days of actions by the 1st Storm Brigade of the ARGK against
positions of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Iraqi
Kurdistan. During this time period, a total of 182 guerilla
attacks were carried out and 35 military posts and 39 hilltop
positions of the KDP were captured by ARGK guerrillas. A large
section of Iraqi Kurdistan is now under PKK control.
     According to the ARGK, 291 people have been killed,
including 270 KDP peshmergas and 21 PKK guerillas.
     At least an equal number have been wounded in the fighting.
The ARGK have also arrested 93 collaborators and agents,
including 3 of high rank and 1 member of the secret police.
     The ARGK has also indicated that the KDP are extending their
attacks against Kurdish refugees. Local witnesses have also
reported KDP attacks on some of the 16,000 refugees from Turkish
Kurdistan who are living in camps near Etrus. During one such
attack, the KDP allegedly fired mortar rounds at the camp. There
have also been scuffles with the camps self defence units. In its
press release, the ARGK criticized the silence of the United
Nations with respect to KDP attacks on civilians. (DEM News
Agency - September 10, 1995)

More ARGK Attacks In South Kurdistan

     According to reports from the ARGK, all eastern stations in
the city of Sersting in Iraqi Kurdistan have been captured by the
ARGK. Guerrillas forced their way into the city and destroyed the
party headquarters of the KDP.

Hizava Under ARGK Control

     ARGK guerillas attacked a military station and a control
centre of the KDP in the village of Hizava yesterday.

ARGK Road Block Near Zaxo

     ARGK guerrillas set up a road block on the road between Zaxo
and the city of Batufa. The guerrillas detained several persons,
including those with KDP passports.

Bamerli Under ARGK Control

     Guerillas from the ARGK increased their attacks on KDP
stations in the city of Bamerli yesterday, after they overran the
KDPs hilltop defences outside the city. (DEM News Agency -
September 10, 1995)

7,000 Protest The Murder Of Seyfettin Kalan In Neumunster

     On September 9, 7,000 people protested in Neumunster against
the murder of Kurdish activist Seyfettin Kalan by Turkish
fascists six days earlier. Seyfettin was killed on September 3 by
members of the "Grey Wolves", two other Kurds were wounded.
     The very fact that funeral processions are the only
allowable form of political expression for the Kurdish exile
community shows the reality of the situation which Kurds in
Germany have faced since Kanther's bans went into effect. The
murder of Seyfettin Kalan is the climax of an increasing wave of
provocations and attacks on Kurdish establishments by Turkish
fascists, the "Grey Wolves" (MHP), or by other pro-government
forces, sometimes with the direct support of the Turkish
consulate. (Extract from the demonstration preparatory
committee.)

Village In Van Forcibly Evacuated

     Military forces have forcibly evacuated the village of Kers
(Koklu in Turkish) near Gevas in the province of Van. The
military had previously threatened to evacuate the villagers if
they refused to become state paid village guards. The evacuation
orders were given to the 100 families in the village following a
guerrilla rocket attack which destroyed 2 army panzers. (DEM News
Agency - September 13, 1995)

Statement From Sinn Fein Councillor Mary Nelis

     Sinn Fein Councillor Mary Nelis has called again for
'immediate action to be taken by the international community
against the Turkish government'. The councillor was speaking as
increasing evidence comes to light of the systematic rape of
Kurdish women prisoners and combatants in Turkey. According to
evidence presented by the French Terre des Femmes group, women in
Turkish prisons are subjected to humilliation, torture and rape.
Amnesty International, in a recent report, stated that all women
are sexually assaulted when they are tortured. The torture of
women, which entails sexually-motivated violence against the
female gender, means that the imprisonment of women in Turkey
represents a gender specific form of human rights violations. War
crimes such as rape are an issue for us all. We must not remain
silent while these crimes are committed on a daily basis. I would
urge all those who support human rights and particularly women's
rights to contact the Turkish Embassy in Dublin to call for an
end to its brutal campaign against against the Kurds." (Press
Release - September 18, 1995)

Journalists Released

     Necmiye and Emin Arslanoglu 2 journalists from Ozgur Halk
and Ozgur Ulke who have been held in Diyarbakir prison for the
last 5 months were released on the 3rd of October. Emin
Arslanoglu was detained while with two western journalists Gunnar
Hybertson and Heidi Lankish researching for a programme. His
sister Necmiye was taken into custody 10 days later. Mevlut
Bozkur was also taken into custody, and was also released. (Ozgur
Politika - October 6, 1995)
     "Necmiye and Emin sat between two soldiers. Emin had lost
weight and his face was white with dark rings around his eyes
When he saw me a little light came into his eyes. Necmiye smiled
broadly and waved.
     They were taken outside and left in a car for 6 hours while
first the court was adjourned and then legal arguments were
given. The lawyer told the court I was a witness and the judge
asked me in which language did I wish to address the court.
"Kurdish" I replied. There was a stunned silent pause "Kurdish
cannot be spoken in this court," I was warned sternly. When the
judge announced that they were free to go, the Kurds in the court
spontaneously shouted "Kazaniyoruz" (we are winning). The whole
family have been threatened. "This soldier says he will kill me"
Necmiye shouted to me, pointing at the soldier guarding her. She
was smiling. Later when they were released, both Necmiye and Emin
asked me to thank all who had sent letters of protest and
campaigned for them in Britain. We need to watch them, they are
now in terrible danger.
     "Without the campaign they would not now be free. This is
unprecedented." (Heidi Lankish, delegate to trial of Necmiye and
Emin Arslanoglu, November 5, 1994)

Turkish PM Wins Backing

     Tansu Ciller, Turkey's caretaker Prime Minister, said last
night she had won presidential approval for a minortity
government. It is expected to get support from two small parties
- from the far right and centre left. "The president has approved
the government," Mrs Ciller said after a 45 minute meeting with
President Suleyman Demirel. His approval of her cabinet list -
composed of deputies from her conservative True Path Party (DYP)
comes three weeks after her right-left coalition collapsed. Her
new govenment is expected to draw support from the far-right
Nationalist Action party (MHP). Ciller has signed a seven-point
protocol with its leader, Mr Alparslan Turkes. She will also rely
on support from former Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit's Democratic
Social party (DSP), as well as some independent MPs.
Ciller agreed to Turkes's demand to negotiate an end to a three
week strike by public sector workers. They are demanding pay
rises which the government ways will breach its strict spending
controls. Turkes also said he would refuse to support relaxation
of Turkeys draconian anti terrorism law. European Parliament
members have said they will reject a trade pact between Turkey
and the EU unless this law is reformed.
Financial Times, 6 October

August 1995 Delegation Reports From North-West Kurdistan Out Now!

     "We will continue resistance until we get results. No
persecution or suppression will wear us down." (Kurdish woman on
hunger strike) Journalist Marie Ryan, human rights campaigner
from Manchester, Hazel Greenwood and lawyer Sadiq Khan who visted
north-west Kurdistan to observe the trial of Necmiye and Emin
Arslanloglu on 3 October and other widespread human rights abuses
by the Turkish military, have published their reports, now
available from KSC and KIC. Ring for your copy now: 0171 250 1315
or 0171 586 5892.

Turkey, Unfulfilled Promise Of Reform

     Turkish citizens are still 'disappearing' and dying as a
result of torture in Turkish police stations, and prisoners of
conscience are still being jailed for expressing their non
violent opinions. Extrajudicial executions and political killings
continue.
     Despite government promises of a "renaissance of human
rights", not one of the long overdue legal safeguards recommended
by the UN Committee against Torture or the European Committee for
the Prevention of Torture has been put in place. Nor has the
Turkish Government fulfilled its undertaking to secure the
release of prisoers of conscience. (Amnesty International Report
- September 1995)

Important notice: In the run-up to the appeal against extradition
to Germany of Kani Yilmaz there will be weekly pickets outside
No. 10 Downing Street, we are expecting a little more interest
from the press this time and need as many people as possible to
attend these pickets. They cannot silence the truth, it will soon
be known, please attend these pickets they begin FRIDAY 20
OCTOBER 3-7PM. AND THEN EVERY FRIDAY AFTER THAT AT THE SAME TIME,
SEE YOU THERE!!!! (Bring your friends and family, and some
home-made placards, write what you feel.)

From kurdeng at aps.nl  Tue Oct 24 17:32:51 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 24 Oct 1995 17:32:51
Subject: Kurdistan Human Rights Bulletin #21
References: <bac1c849.199510231053.GAA21904@locust.cic>
Message-ID: <bac1c849.102395211452Rnf0.79b6@newsdesk.a>

Subject: Re: Kurdistan Human Rights Bulletin #21

------------------------ Forwarded from : ats at etext.org ------------------------

Kurdistan Human Rights Bulletin #21

Turkish Strike Starts To Bite

     A two-week strike by Turkish public sector employees is
beginning to hit exports, basic industries and some private
companies hard but Prime Minister Tansu Ciller is refusing to
meet union leaders' demands for large pay increases. Analysts and
business leaders said Turkey's worst strikes since 1980 were
costing the country $500m(#163#322m) a month in lost exports and
production and threatened attempts to control inflation and
restore economic stability. Ports have been closed and large
state-owned industrial and transport companies have come to a
halt. 
     The government is offering a 5.4 per cent increase for state
employees, even though inflation is running at 80 per cent a
year. The 330,000 strikers are demanding wage increases of 38 per
cent for the first half of this year and 25 per cent for the
second half. However, economists fear that giving in would swell
the government's budget deficit by roughly a third to about $6bn.
Labour unrest is interfering with Ciller's attempt to form a new
government after her coalition collapsed in September. (Financial
Times, October 4, 1995)

Talabani Is Coming To Ankara

     PUK leader Talabani, who last visited Ankara in 1992, is
expected to come to Ankara after 25 September for talks with
Mesud Barzani(KDP). Last week Talabani was taken by a Turkish
helicopter from northern Iraq to Nusaybin in Turkey. It is
believed that Talabani met with MIT( Turkish intelligence)
officials and that he may be delivering a message to PKK leader
Abdullah Ocalan. In 1992 Talabani tried to initiate negotiations
for a ceasefire between the PKK and Ankara. It has been suggested
that Talabani may be planning to try and act as a mediator now.
(Hurriyet - September 11, 1995)

86 Teachers Under Arrest In Mersin

     On September 10, teachers from EGITIM-SEN (the teacher's
trade union) including the Mersin Branch leader Ali Riza Onen,
assembled outside the Mersin Governor's office. They said that
many of the teachers have been exiled to other places. To protest
against this development, they started a petition and wanted to
have a press conference. Police warned them to disperse. Despite
this, the teacher's group did not disperse and wanted to march.
86 people were arrested from the teacher's group and the police
announced that they will be charged because they had demonstrated
without permission. (Hurriyet - September 10, 1995)

Armed Forces In Battle To Modernize

     The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) are in the middle of a
comprehensive restructuring and modernization programme.
Implementing the TAF's ambitious plans, however, is complicated
by several factors.
     These include an annual inflation rate that is always in
double figures; the loss of most of the aid which Turkey received
from the USA and its other NATO allies during the Cold War, the
impact of Western public criticism of Turkey's human rights
record on the aid programes that remain and the need to maintain
forces at a high level of readiness in response to tension on
three of Turkey's borders.
     For much of the Cold War the USA, Germany, the Netherlands,
Canada and Belgium contributed to Turkey's modernization
programmes by transferring surplus, often earlier generation
equipment, to Turkey. A last massive wave of support has broken
over Turkey as CFE treaty-limited equipment (TLE) has been
'cascaded' by NATO allies. Turkey has received M60A1/A3 main
battle tanks, M113 armoured personnel carriers and M110 203mm
self-propelled howitzers from the USA; RF-4E Phantoms, Leopard
1A3MBTs, APCs and M11Os from Germany; and F-5 fighters from the
Netherlands.
     Turkey's 1995 defence budget totals $3.433 billion, which
represents 10.8 percent of government spending, showing a slight
increase from last year's allocation of 10.3 percent. About $1.7
billion of this is allocated for procurement. Defence analysts
suggest that $4 billion must be spent on acquisition programmes
alone if the TAF's modernization objectives are to be met.
(Jane's Defence Weekly - September 16, 1995)

Aycin Campaign Grows

     Turkish civil aviation union Hava-Is has distributed 20,000
posters in major towns around Turkey demanding the release of the
union president Atilay Aycin and the repeal of Article 8 of the
Anti Terrorism Act under which many political prisoners have been
detained. The union collected 30,000 signatures in three days
supporting their campaign. (ITF News - August/September 1995)

Turkey Urged To Speed Up Reforms

     Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind yesterday urged Turkey to
speed up its reforms giving greater political and civil rights to
the Kurds. At the same time, he promised that Britain would lobby
the European Parliament for ratification of Ankara's customs
union with the European Union. (The Times - September 7, 1995)

Ministers In Talks Over Iraq

     Foreign ministers of Syria, Iran and Turkey are due to meet
in Tehran, the Iranian capital, tomorrow for talks on the
situation in Iraq following the defections last month of members
of Saddam Hussein's family. Officials have expressed concern over
the threat to Iraq's territorial integrity. All three countries
have sizable Kurdish minorities adjacent to Iraq's own 3m Kurdish
population in the north. And Iran has a strong affiliation with
Iraq's Shia living in the south. Each country, however, also
hosts members of Iraq's disparate opposition. (Financial Times -
September 7, 1995)

Protests Against Closure Of Yeni Politika

     Turkish and Kurdish intellectuals condemned the court
closure of the country's biggest pro-Kurdish newspaper and some
called for defiance of Turkey's strict limits on freedom of
expression.
     "Despite being considered illegal there are things that must
be done and I encourage everyone to keep pushing the issue of
freedom of expression," Turkish musician Sanar Yurdatapan told a
news conference called by the newspaper, Yeni Politika, to
announce its demise. Yurdatapan leads a campaign in which 1,080
people - among them leading writers, actors and journalists -
have demanded the prosecutor charge them for publishing a book of
articles banned by the court.
     The trial against 99 of the signatories, charged with
violating article eight of the anti-terror law, starts next week.
Yurdatapan said the closure of Yeni Politika signalled the need
for further action. "It's no use just to collect signatures and
give speeches. But if the state has to put all of us in prison,
then it becomes an impossible situation for them," he said. Yeni
Politika's publishing life ended after five months, when a court
on Wednesday ruled the paper was a continuation of two banned
pro-Kurdish newspapers. The closure follows years of difficulties
faced by Kurdish publications, which started up in strength after
the government in 1991 lifted a formal eight-year ban on the use
of Kurdish. (Reuter - August 17, 1995)

Bar Association Chairman Killed By Fundamentalists

     The chairman of the Gumushane Bar Association, Ali Gunday,
was assassinated on 25 July by an Islamic fundamentalist, Izzet
Kirac, following the expulsion of two veil-wearing female lawyers
from the Bar.
     Onder Sav, chairman of the Turkish Bar Association (TBB),
said that reactionary forces were trying to send Turkey back to
the Middle Ages and those who encourage the murder of people in
the name of religion are also responsible for the murder.
(Info-Turk - #221)

Villagers Suffering As Turks Try To Starve Kurdish Rebels

     "'Scorched earth' tactics aimed at Kurdish rebels are
hitting the wrong people and could rebound on Ankara". Last week,
Algan Hacaloglu, the Turkish minister in charge of human rights
was comparing Tunceli to Bosnia: "The hunger, the suffering of
the people ... it's the same," he said.
     His remarks followed a tour of Tunceli to investigate
allegations that the Turkish security forces had imposed what
outraged locals described as a "food embargo" on their province.
"They burnt our villages, killed our animals and now they want us
to starve," said Hasan Solmaz, a farmer from Pinarlar village, 20
miles west of Tunceli. Mr Solmaz had just discovered that like
any other villager who came to buy food here, he too had to fill
out a form at an army checkpoint at the town entrance listing
every item he bought, where he was taking it to, and the names of
all his family members, before being allowed to return home. The
government has justified the measures by saying they are aimed at
preventing food from reaching the PKK. The outspoken local CHP
boss, Bekir Gundogar believes otherwise. "It is us the state is
finishing off, not the PKK," he said. (The Times - August 29,
1995)

EU Warns Ankara Over Kurdish Rights

     Turkey was told over the weekend that, unless it made
constitutional concessions to the Kurdish minority, the European
Parliament might veto a treaty binding Ankara closer to the West.
But European Union foreign ministers who met in Spain reaffirmed
their determination to push for ratification of the new EUcustoms
union with Turkey.
     At an informal meeting in Santander, Britain supported the
Spanish presidency in urging EU governments to lobby hard for a
treaty with the Western Alliance. Foreign Secretary Malcolm
Rifkind said Britain would urge Strasbourg to pass the treaty,
facing opposition because of Turkey's human rights record. Mr.
Rifkind and other foreign ministers fear that if Turkey is
rebuffed over the customs union, the backlash may be so strong
that Turkey's entire post-Ataturk political orientation to the
West may be undermined. However, the tough Turkish laws designed
to suppress the Kurds have soured relations with many European
human rights activists and have been strongly criticised by the
European Parliament, which will give the final vote later this
year on whether to veto the customs union. (The Times - September
12, 1995)

Two Persons Arrested In Diyarbakir

     Police attacked a house and arrested Lezgin (21) and
Gulbahar (19) brother and sister of a journalist who had worked
on the old newspaper Ozgur Ulke in Diyarbakir. The police did not
gave any justification for their arrest. The police had also
arrested another person called Erhan Bakan in the same part of
Diyarbakir on 28 August. At the time of his arrest they said that
they didn't know anybody with this name. After 8 days they
admitted that he was in police custody in Diyarbakir. Abdullah
Alici and Bakan's wife went to the Human Rights organisation to
apply for these people because they were concerned for their
lives. (Ozgur Politika - September 7, 1995)

Turkish Coalition Collapses

     Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller offered her resignation
yesterday after talks designed to prop up her four-year-old
coalition government suddenly collapsed. She will now be asked to
form a new administration, although the possibility of her
forging a new alliance to last her final year in office is
remote. Ciller's surprise announcement came after her first
meeting with Deniz Baykal, the new leader of her junior coalition
partner. He left the meeting announcing that despite "the
pleasant chat", the Government was finished and elections were
inevitable. Mr Baykal's apparent determination to break up the
coalition was prompted by the risky calculation that his
Republican People's Party can revive its poor standing by
distancing itself from Ciller's right-of-centre policies. Some of
the traditional leftwing support has drifted to the pro-Islamic
Welfare Party, which promises a "just order". Ciller is likely to
soldier on until the spring with a minority government. (The
Times - September 21, 1995)
     Amnesty International, in a report to be published today,
accuses Turkey of failing to enact simple and practical reforms
to improve human rights. The reforms include the abolition of
article eight of the notorious anti-terror law. (The Guardian -
September 21, 1995)
     "There is no telling what will happen, a period of great
instability lies ahead." said Tayla Erten, a leading columnist
for the financial daily, Dunya. Businessmen expressed fears of a
fresh economic crisis as shares on the Istanbul stock exchange
continued to slide along with the Turkish lira, despite the
intervention of the Central Bank. (Daily Telegraph - September
22, 1995)
     Tansu Ciller faced added pressure for early elections with
the resignation of the speaker of parliament. Husamettin
Cindoruk, a member of Mrs Ciller's centre-right True Path Party
but a long-time adversary, said that elections should be held
every four years, rather than five as under the present
constitution. General elections are now scheduled for next
autumn. Mrs Ciller's coalition collapsed on 20 September and her
party has been unable to find a new coalition partner. (The Times
- October 2, 1995)

129a Trial Against Kurds In Frankfurt

     On September 25, 1995, a trial against 3 Kurdish defendants
will open at the State Supreme Court in Frankfurt, Germany with
the aim of proving that one part of the Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK) is a "terrorist organization". By using crown witnesses,
the state prosecutor hopes to prove that the accused, in their
roles as party functionaries or as the heads of a Kurdish
association in Frankfurt, were responsible for criminal acts and
thus constituted a "terrorist organization". According to the
Working Group Against The Kurd Trial (Arbeitskreis gegen den
Kurdenprozess): "What is really being put on trial is the right
of the Kurdish people to engage in political and public
activity." The Working Group has issued a leaflet calling on
people to visit this trial and to protest against it. (Kurdistan
Rundbrief #18)

HADEP Is Raided Twice In One Week

     Peoples Democratic Party (HADEP) Diyarbakir city
administator M. Can Ekin's house and business premises were
raided by police. A HADEP spokesperson said the reason for this
is "Mr Ekin's active role in supporting close relatives of
prisoners of war. Meanwhile peace posters were prepared by HADEP.
When they were being posted up by HADEP members and directors,
'anti-terror' police destroyed the posters. The raid which was
planned by the anti-terror police destroyed Mr. Ekin's house and
business premises, and property. His wife and workers were abused
and assaulted. HADEP workers organized a meeting to discuss the
raid. They said they believe that the reason for the raid was Mr.
Erkins active role in helping the relatives close of the war and
prisoners on hunger strike. (Ozgur Politika - September 8, 1995)

HADEP's Flyposter Team Arrested

     HADEP directors Hanifi Akboga, Hanifi Baran, HADEP members
Cemil Krem and the taxi driver who carried the posters, were
attacked by 'anti-terror' police and arrested when they were
fly-posting in Diyarbakir. Although HADEP had received official
permission to fly-post, the police tore the posters down and
threatened to kill them if they did not stop putting up posters.
(Ozgur Politika - September 8, 1995)

Son Disappeared - Mother Attempts To Burn Herself

     In Diyarbakir's Kulk county on 24 August Osman Bulutekin's
house was raided by police and he was arrested. There is no news
from him now. His mother Mrs. Bulutekin atempted to burn herself
in order that her son be found. Mrs. Bullutekin, who was released
3 days ago from Diyarbakir closed prison, has requently received
threatening phone calls. From the day of the arrest of her son
she has been trying to get them to accept responsibility for his
arrest, but she has not been successful. Mrs. Bullutekin went to
Kulp police station and in the garden of the station poured
diesel over herself to burn herself, but was stopped by security
guards. Mrs. Bullutekin stated that the four people who took her
son away had introduced themselves as policemen and before they
left the house they cut the telephone wire. "If my son Osman is
not found, I will burn myself. I want the government to know
this." (Ozgur Politika - September 15, 1995)

KDP Meet Turkish Military Plan For Joint Cross-Border Operation

     According to Milpa correspondent Seymus Cakan, high ranking
officials of the KDP and Turkish foreign Ministry officials met
on 30 August in the town of Silopi in Sirnak province to discuss
a new cross-border operation. The information received revealed
that the KDP officials gave details of the PKK's numerical
strength in northern Iraq, the areas in which it is situated and
the areas which it controls. The opinion of the KDP was obtained
as to whether a need exists for a new cross-border operation. A
guarantee was given at the end of the meeting that in the event
of the KDP requesting it, a comprehensive cross-border operation
against the PKK would be undertaken. Milha Adana correspondent
Murat Dogukanli claims that 10 trucks carrying containers with
"USA" inscribed on them entered nothern Iraq at Habur. The word
"explosives" on each container attracted attention and officials
avoided giving information concerning the contents of the
containers, weighing approximately 22 tons each, from where they
had come and their destination. On the front page next to the
photo of the trucks it states that the trucks were part of a
"Provide Comfort" convoy that had set out from Incirlik. The
caption states that the trucks had Turkish number plates and were
accompanied by American officers. (Milliyet - September 1, 1995)

8 Dead And 63 Political Prisoners Injured In Buca Prison

     Prison guards helped by Turkish gendarmes attacked left-wing
political prisoners in Buca prison on 28 September 1995. Ahmet
Turan Demir a representative of the Human Rights Organization
said "after the attack fifteen ambulances were required to take
the dead and wounded." The prisoners, protesting against
continuous torture and the refusal of the authorities to allow
family and legal visits had refused to take part in prison roll
calls. The attack took place in the cells of the prisoners and
all of Buca's political prisoners were attacked. This is denied
by the authorities. Families and friends of the prisoners who
were waiting outside the prison were also attacked. Mr Dinir, who
accompanied lawyers to Buca prison afther the incident, reported
that the prison guards were continuing to attack the prisoners,
throwing tear gas into their cells. He also reported that while
he was there he heard gun shots. Ten of the authority's attackers
were wounded. (Ozgur Politika - September 23, 1995)

Explosion Hits Pro-Kurdish Office In Turkey

     An explosion rocked a building housing the pro-Kurdish
People's Democracy Party (HADEP) in Turkey's port city of Izmir
on Wednesday, shattering windows but causing no injuries, local
HADEP officials said.
     Turkish police said the early morning explosion in the
three-storey building was caused by a leaky gas canister, but
HADEP officials said a bomb had been placed outside the door. The
explosion at the Gaziemir district building comes three days
after a bomb placed at a nearby cafe frequented by off-duty
Turkish soldiers killed five people and wounded 24. HADEP
officials said the explosion at their building might have been in
retaliation for the bombing, which Turkish newspapers blamed on
separatist Kurdish guerrillas fighting for independence in
southeast Turkey. Numerous HADEP officials throughout Turkey are
on trial for alleged membership in the Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK), but HADEP officials dismiss the charges as a smear
campaign aimed at weakening Kurdish demands for broader cultural
and political rights. (Extract from Reuters News Service, 1995)

PKK Seeks Dialogue With Germany

     The leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has
signalled a change in his political approach with respect to
Germany. "We don't wish to disrupt the security and order of
Germany, or to concern ourselves with Germany's foreign affairs,"
PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan told West German Radio (WDR) during an
interview in his headquarters. Ocalan told the station that the
PKK was willing to call off all of its attack

----------------------------- End forwarded message --------------------------

From kurdeng at aps.nl  Mon Oct 23 17:14:22 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 23 Oct 1995 17:14:22
Subject: more on change anti-terror law
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.RNoFDD9w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>


By Suna Erdem

ANKARA, Turkey (Reuter) - Turkish Prime Minister Ciller's prospective
coalition agreed Friday to change a controversial anti-terror law, a move
that could lead to the European Union's approval of a customs pact with
Turkey.

"We have decided to amend article 8 of the anti-terrorism law according to
article 10 of the European Human Rights Convention," Coskun Kirca, foreign
minister of Ciller's outgoing minority government, told reporters.

Article 10 of the European Human Rights Convention protects the right to
freedom of expression. Kirca, quoted by the semi-official Anatolian news
agency, gave no details of how the Turkish law would be changed to suit it.

Kirca, speaking after a meeting of officials from Ciller's conservative
True Path Party (DYP) and Republican Peoples Party (CHP), said the two
parties aimed to make progress on human rights until elections were held
"as early as possible." He said the new coalition, set up to go to early
elections, would pledge to enhance the wages of civil servants and
pensioners in 1995 with extra perks, solve a month-old public workers'
strike, and speed up corruption inspections.

General polls are scheduled for next October at the latest.

The CHP, a center-left party, has strongly supported wider democratisation
-- including changes to Article 8 of Turkey's anti-terror law -- and left
the last coalition with Ciller last month partly because of disagreements
over security issues.

But analysts say the party looks better placed now to push its democratic
agenda as Ciller failed in her month-long search to find new partners in
other parties and this week asked the social democrats to return to a
coalition.

Kirca said once the coalition is formed, parliament would primarily deal
with harmonisation laws for customs union with the European union, and
amend legislation according to changes made in July to Turkey's 1982
military-era constitution.

Scores of people have been jailed under article 8 of Turkey's anti-terror
law for writings and speeches mainly related to Ankara's treatment of an
11-year Kurdish insurgency in the southeast, in which more than 18,000
people have died.

(2)

ANKARA, Oct 20 (Reuter) - Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller's
conservative party and her coalition partners met on Friday to set the
terms of their agreement and discuss how to change a tough anti-terror law
condemned by the West.

"A commission from the DYP (True Path Party) and the CHP (Republican
People's Party) is meeting over the coalition protocol," Adnan Keskin, a
deputy chairman for the social democrat CHP, told Reuters. "During the
talks they will look at article 8," he said.

Article 8 of Turkey's anti-terror law has jailed scores for writings and
speeches mainly related to Ankara's dealings with an 11-year Kurdish
insurgency in the southeast.

The European Parliament wants the article scrapped or amended in exchange
for approving a cherished customs union deal between Ankara and the
European Union by the end of the year.

CHP leader Deniz Baykal is in Brussels lobbying senior Euro-MPs to support
Ankara's cause.

"Baykal will return to Ankara this evening and should meet Ciller tomorrow
about the coalition," Keskin said.

One month after the last alliance between the two parties fell apart and
Ciller looked elsewhere for coalition partners, Turkey's first woman leader
appears to be on the verge of striking a fresh agreement with the social
democrats.

Senior officials from the two parties agreed on Thursday to work for early
general elections under a modified electoral system, in which MPs will be
chosen on the basis of proportional representation within electoral
districts. The system will retain a 10 percent threshold parties must pass
on a national level before they can be represented in parliament.

Work is also ongoing to lower the voting age to 18 from 21, and give
expatriate Turks and prisoners the vote.

Ciller had resisted early polls, saying this would hurt key aims like the
customs union, but relented when her 10-day minority government lost a
Sunday confidence vote in parliament.

Ciller's DYP and two other parties this week submitted bills to parliament
for elections to be held on December 24. The date is due to be set early
next week, but some officials who oversee elections have expressed doubt
about the December date, citing a lack of time to amend the election laws.

They say January may be a more reasonable target. General elections are
scheduled for next October at the latest.

(3)

BRUSSELS, Oct 20 (Reuter) - Turkish officials in Brussels said on Friday a
senior member of Prime Minister Tansu Ciller's prospective new coalition
government had persuaded MEPs to approve the EU-Turkey customs union in
December.

Deniz Baykal, the head of the centre-left CHP, told the leaders of the
European Parliament's political groups on Thursday that the coalition, set
up to go to elections in January, was as committed to reform as the
previous Ciller government, one official told Reuters.

He said Baykal had "found the right words to convince" the reticent
European Socialist Party that the coalition had every intention of carrying
out the constitutional reforms and human rights improvements which MEPs are
demanding as a condition for approving the customs union.

But Tony Robinson, the spokesman of the Socialist Party, which had invited
Baykal to Brussels, told Reuters it was wrong to think the party would
"jump in with a decision at this stage." He said Baykal had received a
genuinely warm reception from the parliament but Turkey could not expect
there to be a clear cut decision in December.

"There will be a debate in December but a customs union is one step short
of EU membership and we will take that vote very seriously," he said. If
necessary, the planned start of the customs union could be put back. He
added, "This won't be the first time the EU has stopped the clock at one
minute to midnight."

The Turkish official said Baykal had explained that there was unfortunately
little chance of the desired reforms taking effect before January because
of the punishing domestic election timetable.

He urged them to go ahead and approve the customs union on schedule in
December so that it can come into effect on January 1, 1996.

Robinson said the Socialists' view would depend to a great extent on what
happened in Turkey in the very near future. The newly formed coalition
expects to seek a vote of confidence from the parliament in Ankara by
November 5.

Turkish officials in Brussels said the new Turkish government's priority
task would be to pass a new electoral law and get its budget proposals
through parliament.

This would make it well-nigh impossible to carry out the reforms demanded
by the European Parliament before the crucial date of November 23, when
Euro-MPs from the foreign affairs committee are due to decide whether or
not to recommend the customs union to the full assembly.

Among other things, MEPs want Ankara to change a controversial anti-terror
law to include protection of the right to freedom of expression.


---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From kurdeng at aps.nl  Tue Oct 24 17:37:15 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 24 Oct 1995 17:37:15
Subject: Turkey: dissapearences and extra-ju
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.LVigDD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>

Subject: Turkey: dissapearences and extra-judical killings, some examples

TURKEY: DISAPPEARANCES AND EXECUTIONS, A FEW EXAMPLES.

Preface.

Two words are sufficient to describe the last fifteen years in Turkey:
Disappearances and executions. About 25.000 people were slaughtered by
stateforces in the last fifteen years, including the people who were murdered
in the villages and mountains of Kurdistan. Since 1994 alone, more than 300
people have disappeared.
Turkey has become a Latin American country between Europe and Asia. The
number of disappearances and executions increases day by day. 

This document contains documentation regarding massacres and executions that
were carried out in the big cities since 1988. Sometimes the executions were
brought before court. Approximately 150 people were executed by the criminal
investigation department. After the murders they invent "political reasons"
to justify the murders. The reason is mostly this one: "They were members of
an organisation!" On the one hand this justification serves to  prevent the
organisation of the masses, on the other hand it is a political end to create
a phobia for organisations. 
After the massacres they always investigate whether the killed people were
members of an organisation or not. This means that according to the
government it is a reason to kill somebody when he or she belongs to an
organisation. One has to point out that most executed people were not members
of an organisation. They were only guilty of being revolutionaries-democrats,
and known to the police as such. More than once the police executed people,
only for revenge.

It is remarkable that the involved police-officers mostly were the same. For
example the names of the accused officers in a recent trial in Istanbul:
Refik Kul, Mustafa Altinok, Mesut Demirbilek, Remzi Kaya, Ismail Alici,
C
neyt Yesil, Resat Altay, A. Vasfi Kara, Mehmet Baki Avci, Ismail T
rk,
Selim Kostik... 
They created an execution team that always consistes of the same officers.
Interestingly enough, in all the trails, none of the accused officers was
punished. Usualy these officers removed the evidence and they are always
protected by the courts. The orders for the executions were always coming
from the same chiefs of police: for example Mehmet Agar, Necdet Menzir,
Ramazan Er and others. 
It is remarkable that the officers are many times decorated and promoted for
participating in executions. Mehmet Agar, the chief of police in Ankara,
protected the officers who tortured and murdered Birtan Altunbas and was
shortly after promoted to chief of police in Istanbul. He gave the orders for
the execution of the 12th of July, 1990, in Istanbul. He was appointed as
governor of Ersurum, and afterwards promoted to the leadership of the
policeforce. Refik Kul, well known for executions, was promoted from super-
intendent to head of the Anti-Terrorism Department. Resat Altay was promoted
from super-intendent to deputy-chief of the Anti-Terrorism Department in
Istanbul.

Ilhami Yelekci is always acting as lawyer for these officers. Besides Ilhami
Yelekci there are no lawyers who defend the officers. Nowadays Ilhami Yelekci
is protected around the clock by police-officers he once defended. The
enumeration of the executions is not complete. However, the examples describe
the massacres that are known to the general public in Turkey. The true
numbers however are much higher as mentioned. We think it is the duty of all
progressive people to be attentive to the executions, the murders under
torture and the policy of disappearances by the police in Turkey. Otherwise,
the numbers will even rise. When you read these documents, you will see that
the numbers of executions in the last years have risen.

We call upon the progressive and democratic public, to reject the executions
and the policy of disappearances.

April 30, 1988: Salih Kul and zt
rk Acari were executed.

During a police operation in the neighbourhood of G
rsel in
Istanbul/Okmeydani, zt
rk Acari and Salih Kul were murdered. With this
bloodbath the police wanted to intimidate the people for the 1st of May. They
tried to justify the police-operation with the argument that zt
rk Acari and
Salih Kul were preparing an illegal action for the 1st of May. 

October 7, 1988: The Tuzla Massacre.

On the 7th of October, 1988, the police opened fire on a red Opel, licence
number DEG-7843, on the Tuzla-bridge on the motorway E-5. There were four
people inside. In the bodies of the people inside they found 274 bullets. A
trial was opened against the police officers for the murder of Ismail Hakki
Adali, Kemal Sogukpinar, Fevzi Yalcin and Reha Sen. Sixteen officers were
accused of the killings. The Tuzla-Trial lasted for seven years. The accused
officers, Taki S
rme, Abdullah S
zer, H
seyin Demir, Ali Cekin, Enver
Aytemur, Bayram Kartal, Fahrettin Meral, Enver Arslan, Efraim Erkek, Mehmet
Kulac, Abuzer Fidanci, Fikret Isinkaralar, Ismail Alici and Metin zt
rk were
acquitted on the 6th of February, 1995. 
Immediately after the murders, the minister of Home Affairs and the Police-
Directorate declared, that the murdered people escaped from the prison in
Kirsehir. The chief of police in Istanbul said he had given the order to
kill. Later it turned out, the murdered people were not escaped prisoners. At
the trial it was said that the people in the car opened fire when they were
summoned by the police. In contrast with this assertion, there was only one
pistol found in the car, which didn't even work. This was also stated in the
trial documents, but afterwards they enclosed a statement that they
discovered more weapons in the car. 
In the first post-mortem reports it was concluded that bullets were fired
from a distance of 35-40 centimetres. This proves that the wounded people
were later murdered by the police from close range. At the trial the lawyers
of the police officer demanded a second report from the Judicial Medical
Institute. This time the Institute declared that the range of the deadly
bullets could not be established. 
After the accused officers were acquitted, the mother of Hakki Adali, who was
murdered in Tuzla, stated: "The one who realised this massacre, is the State
itself. In 1988, immediately after the bloodbath, we charged the
perpetrators. The trial lasted for seven years and the judge gave us no
opportunity to speak, although we asked for it. Every time they threatened to
throw us out of the court-room. The last session lasted for 5-10 minutes and
the judge said 'We have to acquit them as not guilty.' "

May 1, 1989: Mehmet Akif Dalci was murdered.

On the 1st of May, 1989, the police opened fire on about 5.000 people who
wanted to celebrate May-Day. Many people were wounded and Mehmet Akif Dalci
was shot dead. The massacre was planned beforehand. The chief of police in
Istanbul, Hamdi Ardali, said: "The ordinary people should stay away of Taksin
Square". He added, in accordance with the commander of the city-gendarmerie,
that they installed an "Operation Centre". The secretary of State, Cemil
Cicek, said: "The first of May must not disappear from the calendar, but out
of the minds." 
On the 1st of May the police stopped the crowd from entering the square with
batons, sticks and guns. Mehmet Akif Dalci's friends, who wanted to celebrate
May-Day with him, identified the traffic-policeman Kazim Cakmci from pictures
in the papers as the one who killed Mehmet Akif Dalci. Later they gave a
testimony to that. The state covered the murderers on the 1st of May and did
not even charge them. 

June 12, 1990: The Cihangir Massacre.

During a police operation in the neighbourhood of Cihangir in Istanbul, G
lay
Arici and Alper Ersoy were murdered in a house. Alper Ersoy was first found
wounded. After the officers killed Alper Ersoy inside the house, they riddled
G
lay Arici's body with approximately 100 bullets. A resident of the
neighbourhood described the event as follows: "At the event in the Beskurt
Street one could hear bombs exploding and successive gunshots. The entrance
and the exit of the street were blocked by armoured cars. The gunshots and de
cries lasted for five hours."

January 16, 1991: Birtan Altunbas was murdered.

Birtan Altunbas, the chair of the "Society for Solidarity with the Youth at
the Highschools in Ankara" and the Revolutionary Youth in Ankara, was
arrested on the 9th of January. This happened at the campus of the Hacettepe-
University were he studied. 
On the 16th of January, he was delivered ill at the Military Medical Academy
G
lhane were he died. In the coroners report, which was manufactured very
quickly, it was stated that he died a natural death. The police kept his
death a secret for the public until the 22nd of January. Murat Bbrek, who
was arrested at the same time as Birtan Altunbas, and who was acquitted by
the court, stated that Birtan Altunbas was tortured with electroshocks, that
he was hanged and beaten, and was kept naked in his cell often.

February 13, 1991: Ali Agdogan was murdered.

When the people's opposition in Turkey against the Gulf War rose, Ali Riza
Agdogan was arrested while organising a protest. The shops were to stay
closed as a protest against the war. He was brought to security office of 
Beyoglu. The police had no success with their torture and the threw him from
the third floor. After several days in coma, Ali Riza Agdogan died.

March 2, 1991: Imran Aydin was murdered.

Imran Aydin was killed on the 2nd of March, 1991, in the laboratory of the
Intensive Research Torture Room (DAL). The polices stated after this murder:
"She tried to escape and then died." In the post-mortem report of the
physicians from the Judicial Medical Institute it was stated: "Natural death
as a result from bleeding of the pancreas".

April 9, 1991: The police extends the executions from Istanbul to all over
Anatolia. 

On the 9th of April, 1991, the police in Izmir surrounded a house in Izmir.
Inside were 5 revolutionaries, including 3 women. Because of the resistance
of the revolutionaries, it came to a armed conflict. Thereupon the police
threw a bomb into the building and opened intensive fire on the house. After
the throwing-in of the bomb, gas cylinders inside the house exploded and the
house caught fire. In this operation Olcay Uzun and Faruk Bayrakci were
murdered and the other 3, including 3 women, were severely wounded. After a
few hours it was declared that the revolutionaries had carried out armed
actions. The state-forces however were not able of giving the names of de
murdered revolutionaries.

May 19, 1991: The Hasanpasa Massacre.

During a police operation in Istanbul/Hasanpasa, Hatice Dilek and Ismail Oral
were murdered. The minister of then minister of Home Affairs, Abd
lkadir
Aksu, said about the massacre: "Do you want us to give them flowers, or
what?" The building, were there was supposedly armed resistance, was declared
to have been a support base. However, that was not the case. 
In the report of the house-search, conducted by the public prosecutor, it was
said that there was not a sign of bullets in the walls of the room were
Hatice Dilek was in. 
According to statements of involved officers they stood direct in front of
Hatice Dilek and he supposedly had a gun in one hand and a bomb in the other.
In this way, a armed struggle occurred. However, the post-mortem reports
proof that the bullets who caused the death were fired from close range. One
bullet entered the skull behind the left ear and left the skull trough the
forehead. 
The trial-statements of the accused officers about the death of Ismail Oral
are contradictory. 
The operation, which started at 11 p.m., ended ten minutes later. According
to the registration of the public prosecutor, he was informed at 0.30 A.M. So
the accused had a lot of time to let the evidence disappear.
Among the evidence which disappeared are the clothes of the deceased. The
medical personal, who brought the bodies to the hospital on the same day,
stated that the bodies were dressed. The policemen who were involved in the
operation stated the same, they even described the clothes. The hospital
personal stated that they handed over the clothes to the policemen who
brought the bodies to the hospital. This evidence, and a lot more, was to be
hidden and destroyed, and although this was known, the members of the court
did not insist on seeing this evidence and they acted as if this evidence did
not exist. The 12 policemen were thereupon acquitted.

June 28, 1991: Perihan Demirer was murdered.

During a police attack on house no. 12 in Kalas Street in Istanbul,
Besiktas/Yenimahalle, Perihan Demirer was murdered. She was the only person
in the house. 
Approximately 300 officers surrounded the building. After the operation,
which lasted for 20 minutes, the police was unable to give the name of
Perihan, because they did not know who they killed. 
After this event the Association for Justice and Freedom demanded the
prosecutor to investigate the case, but they didn't even get an answer.

July 4, 1991: Their crime: speaking Kurdish.

In Avcilar, Istanbul, a policemen killed two people with the motive that they
had spoken and sung in Kurdish. The officer stated: "They started speaking
and singing in Kurdish, then I got angry."

July 12, 1991: The Massacre of the 12th of July.

On the 12th of July, 1991, Istanbul witnessed an extraordinary day. The
districts of Dikilitas, Balmumcu, Nisantasi en Yeni Levent were completely
surrounded. Exits and entrances were blocked. 
Almost the entire policeforce of Istanbul were ordered there by radio at 7.30
P.M. The people in the houses were warned by loudspeakers not to leave their
houses and to stay away from their windows. 
Shortly after these warnings one could hear detonating bombs and gunshots.
When the operation was over, 10 people were found murdered in above-mentioned
districts: Niyazi Aydin, Ibrahim Erdogan, Ibrahim Ilci, mer Coskunirmak,
Y
cel Simsek, Nazmi T
rkcan, Zeynep Eda Berk, Cavit zkaya, Bilal Karakaya
and Hasan Eliuygun.
The chief of police, Mehmet Agar, ordered this with the words: "You have to
do the necessary things."
Two days later, Fintz Dikme en Buluthan Kangalgil were "found dead"
according to the same method in Ankara. 
The chief of police in Istanbul, Mehmet Agar, congratulated the officers who
were involved in the operation. 
After this bloodbath they appointed Mehmet Agar to governor of Erzurum and
later to general chief of police.
During the trial, the post-mortem reports showed that the accused were lying.
Until this day, in the trials against the officers, there are no judicial
steps taken that would harm these policemen.
Although the police operations officialy were carried out after statements of
informers, there are no written accounts of these statements. 
In the same way things are handled with the weapons and the bullets of the
police: the registrationnumbers of the weapons and the sort of ammunition are
not mentioned. The statements which were manufactured after the massacres are
almost always signed by the responsible officer only and handed over to the
court. The public prosecutor visits the sight only after the police has taken
steps to destroy the evidence. The demands for investigations on the spot of
the events are slackened in the phase of preparation and during the trial,
until a important part of the evidence which could give clearness about the
massacre is no more available. 
Yet, it is possible in some trials to shed light over the truth by post-
mortem reports and eye-witness accounts. The judicial medical report
documents the one and other.
In the post-mortem report about Y
cel Simsek, who was murdered on the 12th of
July, 1991, in Balmumcu, the following was established: "Wounds caused by
metal parts arising from detonating explosives." The detailed post-mortem
report, made on the 5th of August about Zeynep Eda Berk, who was murdered in
the office in Dikilitas, states that the 5 entering bullets all came from
behind and left the body at the front. 
After the report the clothes were to be examined to determine the range of
the bullets. But the clothes disappeared, despite the inquiry of the court.
When it is the goal not to judge objectively, but to acquit the accused, then
no evidence can convince the court. During the trials against the involved
officers, one could observe the following: 31st of March, 1994: the 6th
Criminal Court  of Istanbul decided to examine the place of events. 4th of
June, 1994: the court did not even ask for the statements of the involved
officers. The court dismissed the demands of the complainer's lawyers.  8th
of February, 1995: the already three year lasting showtrial ends with
acquittals.

September 3, 1991: Murdered in her university.

Seher Sahin, artstudent at the university of Minar Sinan, was a member of the
Student Federation of Youth Associations in Turkey (TDEF). The university
was attacked by the police during the introduction-days for new students,
when there were informationstands. Seher Sahin was hunted by the police to
the third floor of the university building. There was no way to escape. She
resisted the policemen. Thereupon the officers of the Anti-Terror Department
threw her out of the window. Seher Sahin was brought immediately to the
hospital by her friends, however she died on the 8th of September. Later it
was established at the post-mortem inquest that several bones were broken.
After this, her father, Hayati Sahin, complained with the help of 25 lawyers
at the public prosecution. He wanted the responsible policemen to be found,
and that charges were brought up against them for premeditated murder.
However, he did not succeed.

January 27, 1992: The Mahmutbey Massacre.

On the 27th of January, 1992, three youngsters, Ismail Cengiz Gznek, Servet
Sahin en Mustafa Ates, were murdered in Mahutbey/Istanbul. Again the police
came with their well-known excuse: "They answered the appeal to surrender
with opening fire. After the following armed struggle they were found dead."
The human rights association IHD declared however: "It is established that
this house was not from an organisation, it was continually inhabited by a
family of six. It was established that all bullets were fired in the
direction of the killed youngsters. It was testified that the security forces
looted the house, smashed all windows, and to inflict even more damage, broke
all glasses and plates. According to the family, one youngster was killed in
the living room, one in the kitchen, and one in the bedroom. Relatives
stated, according to neighbours, that the murdered Cengiz Gznek was thrown
to the floor and murdered by policeteams who broke down the doors and stormed
the house, although he shouted: "We surrender". All murdered people were
dressed in in-house clothing and the weapons were at the left of them, at a
distance." 
The policemen were accused and trialed for the killing the three youngsters.
The first court-session was on the 10th of April, 1995, before the 3d
Criminal Chamber in Bakirky. The trial was asked for already three years
ago. The convicted officers, chief commissioner Remzi Kaya, Sefik Kul, Hasan
Erdogan, Mehmet Sakir, Ismail Alici, Bayran Kartal, H
seyin Dogru and C
neyt
Yesil stated that they provided security in the area and they did not open
fire. However, Birol Abonoz, Selim Kostik and Adnan Tasdemir stated the
following: "We put on bullet-proof vests, went to the housedoor and broke
open the door. Before we went in, we shot aimlessly at the killed persons who
had opened fire on us. We just fulfilled our task and want our acquittal." 

March, 1992: B
lent lk
 was murdered.

B
lent lk
, editor-in-chief and owner of the paper "Krfeze Bakis", who was
arrested in March, 1992, was found by a forester. he was found, wounded, on
the 12 kilometres long road from Bursa to Uludag. 
B
lent lku was brought to a hospital but could not be saved. According to
the forester, who found him, he was blindfolded. Later it was stated in the
examinations that the body was naked and that there was no blindfold. The
death of B
lent lk
 was caused by a bullet, fired from a distance of 40
centimetres. The bullet entered the left eye and shattered the skull. Open
and clear signs of torture were found on his body, on his hands - and
ankles - were signs of hand-cuffs and ropes, his arm-pits showed that he was
hanged by them, his forehead and temples showed signs of cigaret-burns, and
his fingers showed inkstands, stemming from taking fingerprints.

April 30, 1992: The Adana Massacre.

During the police-operation on the 30th of April, 1992, in the Kurtulus
district of Adana, Siddik Celik, Esma Polat and G
ven Keskin were murdered.
At this massacre, in which three people died, not even one bullet was fired
from the house, there were no weapons in the house. The police did not have
any document that there was a weapon inside the house.

May 4, 1992: The Massacre in Dikmen/Ankara.

On the 4th of May, 1992, Halil Ates, Solmaz Karabulut. Fikri Keles and Ali
Yilmaz were killed by the police in the Sokull-quarter in Dikmen/Ankara. The
correspondent H. Uysal, who reported about this massacre, said: "Without the
summons "Surrender!", the house was fired upon for 20 minutes with 15-20
machine-guns. From inside the house the firing was answered with only one
revolver. Then the house was once again shot with machine-gun volleys. In
that moment a women's voice was heard in the house. Thereupon one of the
officers demanded two bombs and threw them, one after the other, inside the
house. After the explosion the police summoned: "You are surrounded,
surrender!" From the eye-witness accounts it is evident that this was an open
massacre.

July 13, 1992: The Kasimpasa Massacre.

On the 13th of July, 1992, units from the Anti-Terror Department, Special
Units and subordinated officers organised and carried out a raid on a house
in Kulaksiz in Kalimpasa/Istanbul. During this operation Nurten Demir and
Ismail Akarcesme were murdered. In the trial about this massacre they are
searching for clothes for already three years. According to the post-mortem
report, three of the seven bullets, who hit Nurten Demir, were fired from a
distance and four of them were fired point-blank. But because the clothes
went missing, the exact distance can not be determined.

July 19, 1992: The Operation in Kartal.

During raids on houses on the 19th of July, 1992,  in Kartal Maltepe and in
Pendik G
zelyali, Emre Bilgin, Ramazan Ceviz, Nurg
zel Yasar and Hasan Demir
were executed. Against the officers, involved in the massacre, no trial was
opened, they were shielded.

August 13, 1992: The Ankara Massacre.

On the 13th of August the districts of Maltepe en K
c
k Esat in Ankara were
surrounded by approximately 3.000 policemen. Armoured cars, machine-guns and
units with bullet-proof vests took their positions. Also the minister of Home
Affairs, Ismet Sezgin, the Secretary of State and responsible for human
rights, Mehmet Kahraman, chief of police Yilmaz Ergun and the governor of
Ankara, Erdogan Sahinoglu, were present. 
It was probably the first time in world history that high-ranking state and
government-officials came to witness a massacre and give their consent. 
After the operation, also the state prosecutors Nuh Mete Y
ksel and lk

Cozkun from the State Security Court came to the scene and accompliced by
hiding evidence and not allowing the press and lawyers to the scene.
After the massacre the police tried  to stage support by the people of
Ankara. They entered houses and threatened people, ordering them to hang
Turkish flags out of their windows. A group of plain-cloth policemen shouted
slogans, approving the massacre. The police, who stopped the lawyers from
entering the house, also tried to conduct the post- mortem investigation
without them. The lawyers were locked in a room from the Judicial Medical
building and they wanted to beat them there.

August 31, 1992: Ekrem Akin Savas was murdered.

On the 31st of August, Ekrim Akin Savas, student from the faculty for
literature at the University of Istanbul, was followed by the police in
Resitpasa. He was murdered when he tried to hide in a house. The order to
execute him came from Necdet Menzir who at that moment was with the president
of the government and his deputy. 

28. September, 1992: Kayhan Tazeoglu and Fatma S
zen were murdered.

Two revolutionaries, Kayhan Tazeoglu and Fatma S
zen, were murdered by the
police who attacked their house in Beyerbeyi/Istanbul. 
The policeofficers fired 25 bullets into the body of Kayhan Tazeoglu and 15
bullets into Fatma S
zen. 
After the massacre a trial was opened against the officers who committed the
murder before the Great Criminal Chamber in sk
dar. At the session of 3
February, 1994, only 5 of the 12 officers were present. The lawyers from the
barristers-at-law office asked for the detention of all the accused because
of the risk for escape or destruction of evidence. The court dismissed this
request, citing no. 3713 from the Anti-Terror Law, article 15/1. This
happened despite the fact that the Constitutional Court had abolished this
law on the 27th of January, 1993, in verdict no. 21478 and the publication of
this verdict in the official judicial magazine. 
The statements of the policemen who came to the trial were as followed: "It
all happened exactly as was the chief-commissioner of police ... stated. I am
not guilty and want to be acquitted." The public prosecutor who opened this
trial, did not even once ask a question to clear the case. According to the
post-mortem report Kayhan Tazeoglu was hit by only two bullets, fired from a
distance, and Fatma S
zen was hit by one. As always, evidence was destroyed:
the clothes of the victims could not be found! The court did not find one
sufficient piece of evidence. Also the trial against commissioner Hasan
Erdogan and the officers H
seyin Dogrul, Senol Ayg
n, mer Kaplan, Selim
Kostik, mer Caliskan, Nizamettin Tuncer, Aydin Oruc Aydemir, Enver Karaban,
Ali Cetkin, Ali Osman Akar and Efraim Cinar ended with acquittal of the
accused. After the acquittal the lawyers of the barristers-at-law office of
the People pointed at the fact that they would bring this case before the
European Human Rights Court. They said: "Because we knew that this was a show
trial, we were not surprised by the verdict. What did disappoint us, was the
fact that this trial was conducted in the shortest time, without any
investigations. Until now, no massacre-trial ended so quick and in such a
short time."

28-29. September, 1992: Nakbule S
rbeli was murdered.

In the night from the 28-29th September, the police and special units
surrounded Nakbule S
rmeli's house in Icerenky, Istanbul. The police, known
for their executions and torture, wanted to commit the murder this time
without witnesses and without causing a sensation. That's the reason why they
tried to prevent that the murder became known to the press.

10. October, 1992: Sultan Canik was murdered.

On the 10th. of October, 1992, Sultan Canik was murdered in the third floor
of an apartment building in Muhittin st
ndagstreet by units from the Anti-
Terror Department, subordinated to the Security Department. He was killed in
a hail of bullets. This operation was led by the chief of police from
Istanbul, Mecdet Menzir, personally.

November, 1992, Remzi Basalak and Saban Budak were murdered.

In November, 1992, Remzi Basalak, Saban Budak and Mustafa Yasar were arrested
by the police in Adana. Saban Budak was killed on the spot. A few hours
later, Remzi Basalak and Mustafa Yasar were shown to the press, heavily
tortured. Remzi Basalak told the journalists that he was tortured and he
cursed the police. The press was immediately removed. Remzi Basalak was
tortured again and murdered. Their was a trial against 14 officers for the
1st and 2nd Criminal Court in Ankara after Mustafa Yasar declared he could
recognise the murderers of Remzi Basalak and said he wanted to testify as a
witness. However, he was not allowed as a witness. The post-mortem reports
state that Remzi Basalak "died of cerebral haemorrhage". As in other trials,
Saban Budak's clothes were never found again. For appearances only, officers
were put on patrol-duty. But as always, the trial will end in acquittals. 

27. February, 1993: Lawyer Metin Can and physician Hasan Kaya were murdered.

The bodies of Metin Can, a lawyer, and Hasan Kaya, a physician, kidnapped on
the 21st of February, 1993 by the contra-guerrilla, were found, on 27
February on the Dinar-Bridge, 15 km. from Dersim. Relatives and
representatives of democratic mass-organisations who came to the bridge to
identify the corpses, found clear signs of torture on the bodies. At 500
meters from the bridge where the bodies were found, there is a policestation.
Both Can and Kaya received threats before they died more than once because
they defended and examined revolutionaries - democrats.

March 25, 1993: The Bahcelievler Massacre.

March 25, 1993, Recai Dincel, Ibrahim Yalcin and Avni Turan were killed in
Bahcelievler, Istanbul. 
During the struggle, which lasted for 4,5 hours, the policeforces used more
than 2.000 bullets. Tens of bombs were thrown into the house. After the three
people who were inside were killed, their bodies were exposed to a hail of
bullets. Later people saw that there were 25-30 bullets in each corps. During
the fight the press was not allowed to come closer than 200 meters.
Ahmet D
zg
n Y
ksel, lawyer from the People's Barristers Office and committee
member from zg
r Der Marmara, was present during the post-mortem inquest. He
was hindered and threatened by the police. According to his reports there had
been an open and clear execution: "Heavy guns were used in the operation with
the intention to kill. More than half of the bullets were lethal. The bullets
that hit I. Yalcin Arkan en Recai Dincel, entering and leaving the heads
above the ears, indicate that the shots were fired point blank. After Avni
Turan and Recai Dincel were murdered, they were shot in their feet to suggest
an idle escape-attempt and resistance by the suspects. Furthermore, the
bodies were hit by quick-firing guns from the front, as well as from the
back."

April 23, 1993: Ibrahim Yalcin was murdered.

Ibrahim Yalcin managed to escape from prison in February, 1993. Until that
time he was repeatedly threatened by the police and received threatening
letters from several sources.
After his escape, Ibrahim Yalcin was wanted with an "order to kill". At the
time I. Yalcin was killed, he was alone and unarmed. This was confirmed by
witnesses. During the trial against the policemen, on January 25, 1995, the
witness Kismet Sahin confirmed her previous testimony and replied to the
question "Did Ibrahim Yalcin carry a gun in his hand?": "No. Between us there
was a distance of 4-5 meters, but I didn't see a gun in his hand." All
witnesses of the massacre (Emel Yilmaz, Kiymet Sahin, Song
l zden, Nihal
D
lger and Dursun Sen) pointed out that they did not hear an appeal to
"Surrender!"

April 30, 1993: Ugur and Seng
l were murdered.

April 30, 1993, Ugur Yasar Kilic and Seng
l Yildiran were murdered in their
student apartment in Kadiky, Istanbul. The police, who stormed the building
without warning and broke the doors, opened fire on the apartment. Thereupon
Ugur Yasar Kilic, Seng
l Yildiran and Erg
l Uzundiz fled to the roof. They
were unarmed. 
Erg
l Uzundiz confirmed this later in her testimony. The police, who pursued
the three unarmed persons with their weapons ready, murdered Ugur Yasar Kilic
and Seng
l Yildiran on the roof. 
Erg
l Uzundiz managed to safe herself by hiding. The bodies were first
brought to the apartment, and later on to the street. There they were shown
to the press. 
Normally the police does not conduct in this manner; they show the corpses on
the spot. The police wanted to do some things in the apartment and tried to
lead away the attention from the house. 
Indeed, the trial documents state that there were weapons and posters found
in the apartment. There were posters in the apartment, because these students
were members of IY-DER (Solidarity Association of University Youth in
Istanbul) and they had prepared posters for the May-Day festivities, the next
day. 
The only surviving witness of the massacre, Erg
l Uzundiz, gave after a long
time hiding for the police, a statement to the public prosecutor on August 2,
1993, in the palace of justice in Istanbul. Thereupon she was immediately
arrested. 
They started a trial against the policemen under the filenumber:, 93/281, for
the 3. State Security Court. The court decided that "Erg
l Uzundiz does not
have to be heard as a witness in the preliminary investigation." 
Her own case was heard separate, casenumber 93/22, for the 2. State Security
Court. Obviously, the court tried to hush up the matter. The trial was
separated and combined twice more. In this way they prolonged the
bureaucratic procedures and Erg
l was hindered to make use of her right to
speak. In the end they combined the cases again and during the last
courtsession the prosecutor demanded 15 years in prison against Erg
l
Uzundiz. 
The prosecutor came up with only one proof: Erg
l had been in the same house
as the murdered people. Apparently the prosecutor thought it unjust that
Erg
l managed to save her live, and therefore she had to be punished. His
reasoning was even more peculiar: according to the prosecutor all the
deceased were members of an organisation. Proof for their membership: they
were killed. This trial lasted for two years. The court concurred with the
prosecutor and Erg
l was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.

June 5, 1993: Murat G
l was murdered.

On June 5, 1993, Murat G
l was murdered in the district of Cakmak in
Sincan/Ankara in house no. 160. This murder was later also adjusted to the
trial. Besides the policemen, also the chief of police in Ankara, Mehmet
Cansever and state prosecutor Nuh Mete Y
ksel were in State Security
Courtroom. Supposedly Murat G
l was summoned a few times to surrender. Nuh
Mete Y
ksel declared: "We told him, surrender. Clear him away." In this way
they committed another murder.

June 26, 1993: D. Mehmet Eroglu and Y
ksel G
neysel were murdered.

On June 23, 1993, Devrim Mehmet Eroglu and Y
ksel G
neysel had a meeting with
the candidate for the chairmanship of the districtcounsel, Mehmet Altuncu
from the Social Democratic People's Party (SHP, later called the People's
Party of the Republic, CHP). The SHP is a coalition partner of the DYP. After
a while they left and Devrim and Y
ksel said they would come again to talk. A
short time later Mehmet Altuncu betrayed the two to the police who
immediately took preparations for their execution. On June 26, two policemen
in workingmen's clothes were seen, working in the place where Altuncu works.
Two other officers took position in Altuncu's office. In the meantime,
Altuncu moved a meeting, "SHP-Chairmanship for the districtcounsel",
scheduled for that day in his office, to another place. That's why there were
no witnesses. Totally unaware of a trap, the two revolutionaries were
surprised with gunfire as soon as they entered the office. First, the police
shot them in their legs and both were wounded. In this state they could no
longer escape. After this they both were murdered, point blank. After the
operation the deputy of the Security chancellery of Gazi Osman Pasa explained
their success as follows: "This operation took only 30 seconds, no, even 20
seconds." The testimonies show that there wasn't a fight. 
The families of D. M. Eroglu and Y. G
neysel filed charges and the trial
started on October 11. before the 1st. Criminal Crime Court in Ey
p. Four
policemen were present. They stated they had only defended themselves.
However, the words of the traitor Mehmet Altuncu, who was heard as a witness,
"The policemen came on this day to me at 10.00 o'clock before the operation
and they warned me that there was going to be a shooting", show clearly that
they came with the intention to kill.
The prosecutor of Gazi Osman Pasa charged the policemen  for "execution
without verdict", a rare exception. Although the prosecutor of Gazi Osman
Pasa prepared the charges himself, the trial was moved to Ey
p because Gazi
Osman Pasa does not have a court for heavy crimes.

July 16, 1993: Kemal Ayg
l was murdered.

Kemal Ayg
l was executed on the street in Sirinevler on July 16. 1993. This
execution was extraordinary in the way that it is impossible to decide if
Kemal could have been arrested alive, because Kemal Ayg
l was already
arrested. An eye-witness, who does not want to give his name and who saw the
whole event, said in an interview with "Kurtulus" magazine: "This very young
men was held by his arms by the policemen and they flogged him. The oldest
officer, a super-intendent I think, shouted: 'Kill him, let him kick the
bucket.' Then he added: 'Leave him to me, I'll finish him'. The young man
yelled to the policemen before he died, 'You murderers!... We will hold you
responsible for this!' He was held by two officers. Then the super-intendent
came closer and first shot him in his knee from a distance of 15-20
centimetres. Then he emptied his weapon on Kemal Ayg
l. When a women started
to shout 'You murderers, you killed him in the middle of the street!', the
policemen called her names and they fired in the air." There was no inquiry
in this murder to which all the inhabitants of 12. Street could testify and
the press wrote about Kemal Ayg
l as follows: "As a result of a armed fight
which he started with the police he was apprehended dead."

July 28, 1993: Ferhat Tepe was kidnapped and murdered.

Ferhat Tepe, who was kidnapped in the centre of Bitlis on July 27, 1993, was
a correspondent for "zg
r G
ndem". He was kidnapped by the contra-guerrilla
and his body was found a short time later in lake Hazar in Sivrice district,
Elazig, drowned. His passport was removed. After two days in the health-
clinic of the district, his body was brought to the state hospital in Elazig
and there he was buried in an unmarked grave by the city. His father, Ishak
Tepe, DEP-chairman in Bitlis, received a phone-call and travelled to Elazig
to identify the body. Ferhat was heavily tortured by his kidnappers, he was
murdered by them and after the left his body behind in a corner, they
telephoned his father, as if to show their indifference.

August 13, 1993: The Perpa Massacre.

In the workingcentre of Perpa, Istanbul, Sabri Satilmis, Selma Citlak, Nebi
Aky
rek, Mehmet Salgin and Hakan Kasa were murdered on August 13, 1993. The
police did not find out their names until the following day when they
released their bodies.
After the bloodbath zg
r-Der (Association for Rights and Freedom) said in a
statement: "We believe that much is made clear by the fact that the lawyers
were not allowed to the preliminary post-mortem inquiry, despite the wishes
of the families. As we have seen on the spot, the police riddled the
cafeteria with bullets from heavy weapons. We have learned from the press
that a number of retail traders, who want to stay anonymous, knew some of the
murdered people. As far as known, the police killed at least two persons,
Selma Citlak and Sabri Satilnis, later on because they didn't want to leave
any witnesses. They were apprehended alive. Some retailers, who don't want to
give their names, state that they were kept alive. The position of Selma
Citlak gives important clues, it shows that she was shot from above,
downwards. The bullet which entered the window from the top is clear evidence
that Selma Citlak, who was already on the floor, was murdered." 
On August 22, a delegation of the Contemporary Barrister's Association and
the Human Rights Association, which conducted an inquiry into the Perpa
massacre on the spot, published a statement for the press: "1. Most bullets
were shot from the outside, into the building. This is a clear sign that
there was no firefight with the police. 2. There are great inconsistencies in
regard with the inspection of the policeweapons which were used and the
weapons which were supposedly used by the murdered people. The weapons which
allegedly belonged to the deceased were not even useable. For that matter,
because all the shots at the deceased were given in random-fire, there can be
no talk of self-defence. 3. According to the recordings of SHOW TV and ATV,
sound-records and eye-witness accounts, there were no summons to
"Surrender!". 4. It all happened in a cafeteria. Orders were delivered
outside. All the deceased worked in the afternoon. Although the security
forces did have the opportunity to go into the shop as costumers and to ask
for service outside, the police did not conduct in this manner." 
It is evident that what happened in Perpa was an execution. In November,
1993, the trial was opened. On February 14, 1994, the second courtsession
took place against the policemen who murdered Mehmet Salgin, Hakan Kasa, Nebi
Aky
rek, Selma Citlak and Sabri Satilmis on August 13, 1993, in Perpa. The
trial was held before the 7th Chamber for Heavy Crimes in Istanbul. The
police, who took heavy security precautions in the surroundings, terrorised
the families and the lawyers who took part in the trial. Ilhami Yelekci, the
permanent police-lawyer in execution-cases, demanded that the press be
excluded from the trial. For security-reasons he demanded that the names and
pictures of his clients could not be published in the press. This was
dismissed by the court. When the families were heard by the court, Mehmet
Salgin's father damned the murderers of his son as "bloodsucking dogs". When
the court threatened to throw him out of the building, the furious father
shouted at the judges: "You too are dogs, you protect them." When the other
families reacted as well, the case was adjourned. After the interval, Ilhami
Yelekci handed over a forged bulletin of Devrimci Sol to the court and
declared that Devrimci Sol had issued death warrants against the accused
officers, so publication of their pictures would endanger their lives. Based
on the forged bulletin the court committee ordered a news-blockade for the
press. Intervention by the prosecution could not change that.
The court adjourned the trial to March 23, 1995, reasoning that the other
accused officers had to be heard and some documents were to be completed. The
accused officers are: mer Kaplan, Ayhan Taskin, Ayhan zkan, H
seyin Dogrul,
Selim Kostik, Kadir Ucar, Erc
ment Yilmaz, Harun Erdogan and Ali Cetkin.
Erdogan Sakar, who was arrested at the massacre, was enclosed on the list of
disappeared people. There has been no sign of Erdogan Sakar since.

August 21, 1993: Baki Erdogan was tortured and murdered.

On August 10, 1993, Baki Erdogan was arrested by plain-clothes policemen in a
house were he stayed as a guest. He was tortured for eleven days. On August
21, he died in the state-hospital in Aydin were he was brought for treating
his wounds. 
The testimonies from the people he was arrested with, leave no doubts:
"Baki's head was covered with blood", "His arms just hang and he constantly
stared at one point", "He was kept naked in the police-station. His body
showed signs of beatings and open wounds", "The blanket he used was covered
with blood." 
After the murder the Judicial Medical Institute established as cause of
death: "oedema, resulting from under-nourishment". The post-mortem inquiry,
however, stated as cause of death: "suffocation". The progressive public
protested and the inquiry-report, made by the prosecutor and the physicians,
was send to the Judicial Medical Institute in Istanbul. The institute did not
change the "cause of death". They wrote their report without seeing the body.
Baki Erdogan's lawyers, Mehmet Yeter and H
lya cpinar gave a press
conference and stated that the judicial medical report was not truthful.
"Under-nourishment" was medically impossible as cause of death for a healthy
man, according to the lawyers, and they emphasised that the oedema of the
lungs did not result from under-nourishment, but from torture, electroshocks
and beatings. 
The lawyers pointed out that this was a case of deliberate deception and
said: "The state prosecutor and the physicians who prepared the post-mortem
report did give us deceiving indications and thus they tried to obscure the
events. They also deceived the Judicial Medical Institute by sending faulty
indications. The judicial medical report was based on this protocol. Besides,
they didn't even see the body." The lawyers, Mehmet Yeter and H
lya cpinar,
declared that the state prosecutors, H
seyn Eken and Cafer Kasaoglu, who
conducted the inquiry tried to protect the torturers and the demanded a new
examination of the report. The assertions of the lawyers were examined and
the report was considered dubious, thereupon a commission was formed to write
a new report.

COPERATION BETWEEN HOSPITALS AND THE POLICE.

A medical official, who whished to remain anonymous, told the Turkish 
Association of Physicians (TTB) about the events. The physicians T
rkcan
Baycal and Haluk Aydin from the TTB had to appear before the security
authorities after the investigation by the TTB's Central Council became
known.
This shows the open coperation between the state-hospital and the hospital.
When Baki Erdogan was brought to the hospital on August 20 at 24.00 hrs.,
unable to breath, the nurse put on a serum flask. When his condition did not
improve, the police-chiefs talked to the leading physician and achieved that
Baki Erdogan was not treated stationary in the hospital. The physician Alkan
Pehlivanli, who was on night-duty, put Baki in the special room for
prisoners. Baki Erdogan was not booked in the hospital register because it
was obvious to the personal that he was going to die as a result from the
torture he had been subjected to. Although the signs of torture were even
visible on video recordings and pictures, Feyyaz Piskins
t (a specialist on
night-duty on August 21.), wrote in his report: "...There is no pathological
evidence that indicates torture." This attitude can not be in accordance with
their Hypocritical Oath, nor with human dignity.

POLICE-OFFICERS FLEE BEFORE TRIAL!

The trial against the officers who were responsible for Baki Erdogan's death
was assigned to a higher court. The Criminal Court in Aydin declared itself
unauthorised on March 2, 1994, and assigned the trial to the higher court.
The accused officers did not show up, they claimed to be "on public duty".
According to Ali Asker Alkan, one of Baki's lawyers, the accused did not come
although they were summoned, and they probably wouldn't show up in future
sessions. He added: So we come in vain, we demand the arrest of the accused."

STATE PROSECUTORS HIDE FACTS FOR LAWYERS!

Mehmet Yeter, a lawyer, and Baki's father gave a press-conference on August
25. They said: "Both state prosecutor H
seyin Eken, who conducts the inquiry,
and the chief physician of the state hospital in Aydin told us that Baki's
body did not show any other marks than those of handcuffs." State prosecutor
H
seyin Eken did not hand over the inquiry report to the lawyers, Mehmet
Yeter and H
lya cpinar, claiming that it first had to send to the Judicial
Medical Institute. When the lawyers repeated their request on September 10,
which was refused verbally on August 31, they discovered that the report
never had been send to the Judicial Medical Institute in Istanbul. State
prosecutor Hafer Kasaogly responded to the lawyers, who pointed out that the
law requires a copy being handed over to them: "Go and complain to whom you
ever want to, I'm not going to give you any information or copies."

TTB CONCLUDES INVESTIGATION: TORTURE WAS CAUSE OF DEATH.

The TTB's Central Council stated: "Based upon both the reports from the
physicians who examined Erdogan before he died and the post-mortem results,
the marks on Erdogan's body were caused by electroshocks, the marks on his
shoulders and joints were caused by torture through hanging (way and duration
established), the marks on the foot-soles were caused by batons, and the
marks on the toes were caused by cuts and breaking of the bones. We are
convinced that both the reports concur. (...) Based on these knowledge, we
have serious doubts regarding the possibility that his death could have been
caused without torture." The investigation by the TTB and the lawyers show
that Baki Erdogan died as a result from torture. The murder of Baki Erdogan
by torture was also made known to Amnesty International and was even
discussed by the European Council.

October 26, 1993: Two people murdered in Balgat/Ankara.

During a police operation on October 26, 1993, in the 14. Street in the
district of Cevizlidere, Yasar Ylmaz and Tayyar Turhan Sayar were murdered.
The operation was intended on murder. The police didn't even consider their
arrest. This is clearly shown by the state of the house the revolutionaries
were in. 
The correspondent from M
cadele describes his observations as follows: "When
we entered the house, the scent of gunpowder and bombs bit in our noses. We
all tried to protect ourselves against the scent by holding our nose.
Although it all happened so many hours ago, the house was still so filled
with the scent of gunpowder and bombs. This clearly shows the enormous amount
of ammunition which was used by the police for this bloody murder. The house
was a ruin."
Also the eviction of the upper floors by the house-owner Makbule Sirin, a
short while before the start of the operation, gave from the beginning a clue
for the strength of the attack which was to be expected. 
Also the statement from Rahsan Eren, who was arrested after the operation,
give a clear picture of the massacre. "He said: When we entered the house,
both were still alive. We could have taken them alive, but the orders came
from the top." Rahsan Eren, who was forced to betrayal by torture and
repression, told the public what she lived through by giving a press-
conference in the Association for Human Rights on October 31, 1993.

November 26, 1993: Massacre in Hasky.

The house that was raided by the police on November 26, 1993, did not belong
to an organisation, it was already occupied by a family for ten years. The
execution was carried out openly and careless. 
Before the operation the residents of B
kl
m Street in the district of
Ciksalin were forced into their houses. The street was blocked and Erol
Yalcin and Selma Dogan, who were inside the third floor of the Sivri-
appartment, were surrounded by hundreds of policemen and officers of the
special units. 
They were killed by their bullets. Because of the fact that the house did not
belong to the organisation, the police could not seal the house and they did
not have time enough to get rid of the evidence. The door was riddled with
bullets. In Erol Yalkin's room the wall was completely covered with bullet-
holes, the room was riddled with machine-gun volleys. In the room where Selma
Dogan was executed, on the contrary, there was only one bullet found which
had hit the telephone. Selma was shot, point blank, behind the sofa were she
hid.
The deputy secretary from the Contemporary Association of Barristers in
Istanbul published the results from post-mortem inquiry which became known on
November 29. They show the massacre: "Three shots were fired at Selma Dogan.
One bullet entered the left cheek, one the lower lip from the left, and the
third one entered the skull. Erol Yalcin's body was riddled with bullets; two
bullets in the skull, two bullets in the right arm and the leg, on in the
left hip, one in the chest, two in the abdomen and the ribs, two in the left
and right shoulder, and one in the neck, in all 11 bullets. Furthermore, it
was established that three bullets passed through the body. As is made clear
by the post-mortem inquiry, the only aim was to murder." 
Selma Dogan was the daughter of a family who has lived in the same house for
ten years. That she was killed in her own house, only 18 years old, shows
that thepolicy of executions has no limits. Erol Yalcin did not live in that
house. Selma Dogan's mother confirmed that Erol only came by occasionally.
Sabiha Dogan, Elma's mother, about the day of the execution: "On the evening
of the execution I came home from work. It looked as if all the policemen
from Istanbul were there. Something like this, I could never have imagined.
When I approached the house, a policeman in civilian clothes came up to me
and said: "Let's go for a walk." I said: "Let me go home." Then they said:
"That's not possible now, there was a fire in your house." They wanted to
keep me away from my house. They arrested my son and my oldest daughter. They
took me to the station too. There they asked stubbornly whether I knew Erol."
Sabiha Dogan also noticed a theft by the execution team during the operation:
"The murderers who killed my daughter inside my house, plundered and robbed
the house, they took two cameras, a bracelet and the jewellery." 
The first trial against the policemen who carried out the execution took
place on April 21, 1994, before the 1st Chamber for Heavy Crimes in Beyoglu.
All the accused officers were there and the court ordered a news-blockade.
The executioners were protected and it was prevented that they became known
to the public. 
Sabiha Dogan, who was accompanied by families from TIYAD and lawyers, was
attacked at the entrance of the court-house and arrested. While this shows
the indifference of the executioners, the examining magistrate from the
public-prosecutors office, wanted to show that he was behind the massacre by
ordering the beating of Sabiha Dogan.

Massacre in Kasimpasa.

Velat Han GLSENOGLU was arrested in March, 1994, and brought to the police
station. There he was shot. The super-intendent from the station claims that
at the time of the event, no officers were present. GLSENOGLU was wounded by
shots in the neck, was brought to the hospital, where he died as a result of
his wounds. An eye-witness reports that GLSENOGLU was brought to the
hospital in the trunk of a car and left there for his fate. It was said that
he was not treated. The lawyers of the Human Rights Association, Eren Keskin,
Filiz K
stal, Ayhan Erkan and Erdal Canakci investigated the case. It was
found that Velat Han GLSENOGLU was first forced to kneel and then shot
through the neck. 

Maksut Polat was executed.

Maksut Polat was murdered on May 17, 1994, in Adana Yesilevler. When he got
out of a mini-bus, he was shot at. Eye-witnesses describe the event: "They
shot him, without warning, from a very short distance, when he got out of the
mini-bus. There was no fight." The commander of this operation, as well as of
many other operations, Ramazan Er, was the former chief-of-police in
Diyarbakir. He is also the chief responsible for the contra-guerrilla
operations in Diyarbakir. When he became chief-of-police in Adana, the number
of "murders by unknown perpetrators" rose especially in the Kurdish parts of
town. The murder of Maksut Polat shows that Ramazan Er and his killertroops
are responsible for these murders.


Massacre in Bagcilar.

On August 4, 1994, a house was surrounded in Istanbul-Bagcilar by Anti-Terror
Units and stormed with heavy weapons. Three revolutionaries, H
seyin Arslan,
G
ner Sar and zlen Kilic were murdered. 
The operation began at approximately 2.20 A.M. and lasted for approximatly
six hours. Handgrenades and heavy weapons were used. 
After the operation, the house looked like a ruin. "The police came at night.
They asked who lived on the top-floor. When they heard the description, they
said: "Yes, that's them." They rang the bell and when the door was not opened
they just when in and started shooting. They did not warn them before," says
the son of the house-owner. A delegation from fellow-workers from different
papers, magazines and human rights organisations wanted to start an
investigation in the house after the operation. However, this was not
allowed.
Post-mortem inquiries revealed that the deceased were first killed by bombs
and later shot. Zeki R
zgar, a lawyer from the People's Lawyers Office, was
present during the post-mortem inquiry. He said that the corpses of the
murdered showed many signs of wounds by shots and bombs, and he stated: "The
physicians established that the wounds by the bombs and the bullets were
inflicted simultaneously. After they threw the bombs, they must have started
shooting immediately."
The board from EGIT-SEN (Education and training Union) stated that the
victims were sentenced and executed outside the framework of the existing
laws.
Several democratic mass-organisations protested against this massacre in
their statements and pointed out that the police uses heavy weapons in these
kind of operations which are normally only used in wars, while the victims
could have been taken alive by means of sedation.
The Human Rights Association in Istanbul stated that this operation was an
act of terror, conducted by the state. The Human Rights Association in Izmir
protested against the bloodbath and stated that they would not call for an
explanation of the case, because the people who were responsible for this
crime were known anyway.

Rifat zg
ngr murdered in Sivas.

The former agent of M
cadele in Sivas, Rifat zg
ngr, was murdered in Hafik,
a suburb of Sivas. The murderers and their collaborators keep silent. They
say that they can't give an explanation as officials from the state. "Your
son's body is in the hospital in Sivas. Come and get him." The family was the
first to hear about zg
ngr's death. On September 16, the family was phoned
by the gendarmerie in Sivas. Without any explanation the family was told
about their son's death. When they went to the hospital to collect their
son's body, they saw that the hospital was surrounded by police. Their
questions about the circumstances of their son's death and why he was brought
to the hospital, remained unanswered. In a report, prepared by the
gendarmerie, it was said that zg
ngr seized a weapon from one of de
gendarmes and committed suicide.
The people who went to collect his body, found a mutilated corps. He was
tortured. The whole front part of his foot was cut off. The wrists showed
signs of handcuffs. Under a rib on the left side was a deep wound and on the
right side of his sexual organs was a shotwound. On the back side of his
head, swellings were visible.


Massacre in Besiktas.

In September 28, 1994, three revolutionaries were executed in a caf in a
neighbourhood of Istanbul, in front of many witnesses.
Physicians pointed out that "The police always come to us with their own
scenarios." The police took their fingerprints immediately after their
execution. 
The physicians who conducted the post-mortem inquiry said about this: "The
bodies come to us with the scenarios, invented by the police. They took the
fingerprints from the victims. Now we can not conduct an inquiry." 
The lawyers from the People's Lawyers Office gave a statement, based on the
post-mortem inquiry report. It says: "It was determined that the victims were
killed in a sitting position. Especially the shots through the head on Fuat
Erdogan, shot from both sides, and the angle of those shots, strengthen this
suspicion. This was an execution on the spot. It is a lie that the victims
were armed." 
An eye-witness from the execution: "It is always said that the police first
give warnings before they start shooting. That's what always said. After each
operation, the police has to be admired! The people are said to have
supported the police by shouting slogans! That's what we've heard many times.
I knew it was a lie, but that day I witnessed the lie myself and I cursed
them. The execution I witnessed went like this: Suddenly I noticed something
was going on in the neighbourhood of the caf. It was like a war had broken
out. I thought the whole policeforce of Istanbul was there. Suddenly hundreds
of policemen and plain clothes officers surrounded the caf. They had pistols
and machine-guns in their hands. The surroundings of the caf were blocked.
Suddenly several officers went inside the caf and started shooting without
any warning. It didn't even last a few minutes. The officers came out again
and the yelled, filled with joy, "We've sent them to hell". After that the
chief-of-police from Istanbul, Necdet Menzir, came to the scene himself. He
came to get the reports from his officials. The policemen were very happy
about their performance. They smoked and made jokes. Four lawyers, two
journalists and a female union activist who protested against the bloodbath,
were arrested.

October 8, 1994: The Sultanciftligi Massacre.

In the night of October 8, 1994, a house was surrounded and stormed by the
police in Sultanciftligi in Istanbul. G
ler Ceylan and Ibis Demir were killed
in this operation. At 9.45 p.m. the police had made their preparations. They
adjusted their radio equipment because they didn't want the press to be there
to soon. Only 3-4 hours later the press and the television heard about the
massacre. Only after the police had changed the scene in the way they wished
to present it, and the state prosecutor had arrived, did they allow the press
enter. About the details of the massacre: "no explanation"

Massacre in Adana.

The police in Adana declared on October 14, 1994, that Leyla Orhan and Asim
Aydemir had been killed in a armed fight with the police. Eye-witnesses,
however, state that the police shot at the two people without any warning.
Leyla Orhan's family said their daughter was not involved in politics and
that the murderers had planted a weapon in her hand after they murdered her.
They should be hold responsible for this.

Mersin: Ahmet zt
rk and Zeynep G
ltekin were murdered.

October 26, 1994: Anti-Terror Units stormed a house in Mersin. Two
revolutionaries were killed and one revolutionary was wounded. At
approximatly 4.30 p.m, the former agent of the paper M
cadele, Ahmet zt
rk,
phoned the headoffice of this paper in Istanbul. He said that his house was
surrounded by the police. zt
rk gave the address of his house and wanted to
have the lawyers in Adana and Mersin notified. The democratic mass
organisations and the press organs were immediately informed. After a few
hours it was known that Ahmet zt
rk and Zeynep G
ltekin had been murdered.
Sevgi Erdogan was brought to hospital, wounded. The siege continued for
several hours and therefore one could not get further information about the
execution. Sevgi Erdogan and Ahmet zt
rk had been threatened with murder by
the police several times. Sevgi Erdogan's husband was executed by the police
on July 12, 1991.

Faik Candan was murdered.

The lawyer Faik Candan left his office in Ankara Sihhiye on January 2, 1994.
Nobody heard from him again until his body was found on January 14 in Bala, a
suburb of Istanbul.
Candan was chairman of de DEP (Democratic Party) in Ankara for a while. When
he disappeared a lot of efforts were taken to get information about his
whereabouts. The Barrister's Chamber in Ankara called upon the minister of
the Interior and the minister of Justice to take action in the Candan's case.
The questions and summons remained unanswered. The chief-of-police, who first
denied that Candan had been arrested, later made remarks about his fate. "Of
course, there has to be a punishment for him working in an illegal
organisation." 
Because of the pressure from friends and acquaintances of Candan, one member
of parliament looked into the case. The answer from the chief-of-police to
the parliamentarians questions: "Do not look for this man. Why are you
looking for him? He is a dangerous person. He has contacts with a terrorist
organisation." These words reveal the murderers. On January 16, the
Contemporary Barristers Association came with a statement. They protested
against the murder of Candan. "Our lives are in danger ..."

In Diyarbakir four students from TDEF (the Federation of Student
Associations in Turkey) were murdered.

In Diyarbakir four students were murdered by state security forces on
February 12, 1994. The People's Lawyers Office investigated this case and
prepared a report. 
According to this report it was clear that the development of events and the
eye-witnesses accounts indicate an execution. According to the official
explanation a house in Diyarbakir was stormed which was inhabited by members
from a banned organisation. The police was said to have summoned the people
inside to surrender. Because they did not do so, it came to an armed
conflict. However, fact is that the murdered studied in Diyarbakir already
for four years. The houses and the student-appartments, occupied by the
students, were known to the police. The police had no intention to take them
alive. On the contrary: from the outset they intended to murder them. At
around 3 p.m., Reyhan and his girlfriend Nuray came from an exam. Nuray was
arrested, Reyhan was not. She was executed by the police on the same evening.
The house was not a hidden base of support of a illegal organisation, as was
claimed by the police. The house was inhabited by Reyhan and Nuray. H
seyin
and Selim lived in a student-appartment, Refik in an housing estate. Metin
Narin from the People's Lawyers Office declared about this: "They established
more than one hundred bullets in Selim's and Refik's bodies. This alone is
proof that this was an execution. The bodies were not thoroughly examined
during the post-mortem inquiry, it was just a formal inquiry. In these cases,
the inquiry is extremely important to find out the truth. In this case there
was no inquiry and the proof finding was hindered. The state prosecutor
himself has prevented the post-mortem inquiry."

Aysenur Simsek was arrested and murdered under torture.

On January 24, 1995, Aysenur Simsek was kidnapped by the police. Her family
and her lawyers went to the chiefs of police in Ankara and Amasya to get some
information about the whereabouts of Simsek. They all answered: "She is not
registered here as arrested." Aysenur Simsek was sought by the police.
Shortly before her disappearance her family was phoned by the police. A
super-intendent told them: "Your daughter is active in the organisation, we
know that. She works in the Topkat area. You have contact, bring her to us or
something bad will happen to her." 
Aysenur Simsek studied pharmaceutics in Ankara. After her study, she was an
active unionist. She founded SAGLIK-SEN (health care union) in Ankara.
Because of her activities she was arrested twice and tortured. The People's
Lawyers Office did their best to find out her whereabouts. Yasar T
rk, the
chief state prosecutor of the State Security Court told the lawyers: "When
you do not have a full power of attorney, I can not give you any
information." On April 12, the family was informed about the place where
Aysenur Simsek was buried. The post-mortem inquiry showed that she was killed
on January 29, 1995, by three bullets, shot from a close range. One bullet
hit her head, one a knee, and one hit her chest. Aysenur Simsek was
kidnapped, tortured and murdered by the police.

The Gazi Massacre.

On March 12, 1995, Gazi Mahalle Istanbul went through a massacre. Three cafs
and a candy bakery were shot from a passing car. A 61 year old man died and
many people were wounded. Although the police station was only a few hundred
meters away, it took the police 20 minutes to arrive at the scene. The
responsible officers claim that no one was at the station at the time because
the police men were at a football-game, taking care of security. This shows
that this bloodbath was state policy. The state does not care to capture the
murderers, on the contrary, they want to protect them. 
Gazi is slum area in Istanbul. Democratic and revolutionary ideas have a long
tradition in this neighbourhood. The population is largely from the Alevite
creed of Islam. The people, as in all the other slums, are in opposition to
the government. This district was especially selected for the massacre. They
wanted to terrorise and oppress the population. The people answered with a
rebellion. The uprising started in the night of the attack and lasted for
three days. 
For the first time in Turkey's history the partition between the people and
the state was this clear. The population demanded the murderers. With the
knowledge that the murderers are protected by the state, thousands of people
marched to the police station. In the night of March 12, the people were
fired upon by an armoured car. Mehmet G
nd
z died as a result of head
injuries. The police wanted to make clear to the people: When you resist, you
will be killed! The balance of the first day: One dead and several wounded. A
eye-witness recalls: "The search-lights of the armoured cars were directed at
us, suddenly they started shooting at us. Mehmet G
nd
z fell on a sand-bag.
He was bleeding from a head wound." 
On March 13, a curfew was declared in Gazi. In spite of this curfew, the
hundreds of policemen and the 5.000 soldiers who attacked, more and more
people joined the resistance. Around 3 p.m. the police opened fire on the
crowd and started using tanks and the military. State violence took extreme
action against the population. 26 people were murdered by fire-arms. More
than 300 people were wounded. Even the transportation of the wounded was
hindered. On March 14, many democratic groups and organisations called for a
demonstration in Ankara. At noon 5.000 people gathered for the demonstration.
The barricades, built by the police in front of the parliament building, were
overrun by the people. Three people were murdered and countless people were
wounded. On March 15, 20.000 people took part in the funeral of the victims
from the past days. Again 7 people got wounded by police bullets. In the
district of Bir Mayis 4 people were murdered by police fire-arms. The police
fired directly on the people. The wounded were trampled down by the officers,
tortured and even executed. Sezgin Engin, Zeynep Poyraz, Mehmet G
nd
z, Veis
Kopal, Dilek Sevinc, Fadime Bingl, Ali Yildirin, M
mtaz Kaya, Fvzi Tunc,
Dincer Yilmaz, Hasan Sel, Ismihan Y
ksel, Ismail Baltaci, Genco Demir and Ali
Cabuk were murdered by police bullets.

After several months there were "charges" against the police officers Adem
Albayrak, Metin G
ndogan, Hamdi zata, Hasan Yavuz, Isa Bostan, S
leyman
Memisci, Sedat zenir, Hayrullah Sisman, Ali Dogan, Metin Cakmaz, Yakup
Murat, Ibrahim Serdar, Orhan Dervis, Mehmet T
rk, Mustafa Keles, Ugur Duran,
Selcuk Bicer, Ali Ulukus, Ahmet T
rkmen, and Yetkin Korkut. They were not
even arrested. As in all other executions-trials, these officers were
acquitted.

Hasan Ocak was kidnapped and murdered.

On March 21, Hasan Ocak was arrested in Istanbul by officers from the Anti-
Terror Department. Nevertheless, they denied his arrest. 
His family and the democratic mass organisations demanded an official
explanation from the government. The authorities stated they would take care
of the matter. The government tried to prevent the efforts by the family and
arrested Hasan's mother, Emine Ocak. The minister of the Interior, Nahit
Mentese, delivered a statement in the daily "Cumhuriyet", where he said that
Hasan Ocak was arrested on March 21. However, he was taken out of his sphere
of influence, according to the minister. By doing so, the authorities who
claimed until then that they didn't have a clue about Ocak's whereabouts,
were portrayed as a bunch of liars. 
His brother and people who were next to Hasan Ocak moved everything to get
information about the kidnapping of Hasan. They went to ministers, for
example to: Kamer Genc, Sinan Yerlikaya, to the former minister for Human
Rights, Azimet Kyl
oglu, the present minister for Human Rights, Algan
Hacaloglu, and to many members of parliament. The minister for Human Rights
phoned to the Anti-Terror Department on April 3, and asked for Hasan Ocak and
Hasan Polat. They answered that neither was arrested. This was published in
the press and accepted on the same evening.

Later H
seyin Ocak, Hasan's brother, explained: "The minister and the members
of parliament which we approached said they couldn't do anything. Kamer Genc
said she addressed the governor and the chief of police and they answered he
wasn't there. They were also forced to believe this. Hikmet Cetin said it was
in his responsibility, but he couldn't prevent it. Hasan Ocak was arrested on
March 21 during the Newroz-festivities in Aksaray Yenikapi. The police denied
his arrest. There are witnesses he saw him at the police station in Vatan
Street. A prisoner in the Bayrampasa Prison gave written testimony to the
State Security Court: "On March 23, 1995, I saw Hasan Ocak in the police
station in Istanbul. He just came back from interrogation. He was in bad
condition when they brought him." 

The eye-witness, Bilgi Camekan, who was in prison, saw Hasan's name on a list
when they were taking his fingerprints. He was willing to give testimony, but
this was not allowed. 
In spite of all the efforts, the eye-witnesses and the evidence, it was
denied that Hasan Ocak was arrested. Hasan Ocak was strangled after five days
on March 26, 1995. His body was found in Beykoz, near Bozhane Ky
. H
sein
Ocak established that the people who discovered Hasan's body warned the state
prosecution and the gendarmes. But the state prosecutor tried to hide the
whole case for the public and wanted a quick post-mortem inquiry. The body
was kept for 28 days in the morgue. Then the body was buried in a grave for
unknown people and the cemetery in K
c
kcekmece Altinsehir. H
seyin Ocak
identified his brother on pictures which were taken in the morgue.

The arrest of Hasan Ocak, who was tortured and killed, is denied by the
government. Hasan's fingerprints, in their possession, and the fact that they
hid his body for one and a half month proof that the state was involved in
this murder.

Massacre in Antep.

On April 4, 1995, at noon, Demet Taner was murdered by the police and the
special units in the garden of Muzaffer Hafiz Street no. 6, house no. 3 in
the district of Inn
. At 10 p.m., the same day, H
seyin Coskun was murdered
at the Buryolu crossing.

The police claim one person was shot when he was hanging a banner on a
construction site where it came to an armed confrontation. But on the spot
where the execution took place, there was neither a construction site, nor a
banner. Five people from the Platform for Rights and Freedom in Istanbul and
Adana went to Antep on April 7. Later, people from the Association Freedom
and Human Rights/Antep, representatives from HADEP/Antep, revolutionary
democratic workers, civil servants and students joined the delegation. After
examining the house and hearing witnesses, the delegation stated: "Demet
Taner was wounded on the street at 10 a.m. when she wanted to empty her dust-
bin and she was then murdered in her garden. Several bullet-holes were found
on the spot and where Demet Taner was killed the garden-hose was teared up on
5-6 places. On the walls of the houses, several bullet-holes and blood-
spatters were found. During the investigation of the case from H
eyin Coskun
we found that there was no construction site on the spot. There is absolutely
nothing, except for a abandoned house. Besides from the fact that there
couldn't have been an armed confrontation from there, it was impossible to
hang a banner there."

According to other sources, H
seyin Coskun was arrested in the morning and
murdered in an other part of town. Everything was staged to look like an
armed confrontation! The differing statements from the police and the state
of the claimed place of events, confirm our statement.

The state prosecutor of Gaziantep, D. Ali Dursun, assigned the case against
the murderers, Ibrahim G
resci, Vakkas G
l, nal Nacar, Savas zbek, H
seyin
Dnmez and Necit Yur to the State Security Court. His motivation: this trial
was beyond his competency. The state prosecutor of the State Security Court
also protected the killers. It took him only one day to decide about the
case.

Massacre in Batikent, Ankara.

April 12, 1995. Ankara Batikent Kardelen Mah. Haritacilar Sitesi, block 13,
house no. 10. 9 o'clock p.m. Mustafa Selcuk, Sirin Erol and Seyhan Ayyildiz
are executed. As always, the responsible authorities said: "Summons by the
police were answered with fire. The militants were caught dead." The
delegation from the Platform for Rights and Freedom concluded: "The
responsible official said there was an armed confrontation during this
operation and the operation was described as a big success. That's how they
try to justify the bloodbath. When there was a confrontation, then this would
serve as a justification for the massacres which are supported by the state.
At the investigation of the house it was established that there wasn't a
confrontation at all... The evidence shows that Mustafa Selcuk, Sirin Erol,
and Seyhan Ayyildiz were executed while they were lying on the floor. Sixty-
four bullet-wounds were found in the bodies of the murdered revolutionaries.
That shows that the house was stormed on purpose to kill the revolutionaries.

In the house there is no indication of a confrontation. All the windows were
unbroken, the furniture was whole and stood on his place. There were only the
bullet-holes from the police who fired at the house to suggest a
confrontation.

The press-statement from the democratic mass organisations in Batikent says:
"The fight didn't last for one hour as was stated in the press. This
operation, conducted by the police, only lasted for five minutes and was from
the outset intended on murder. This is a major disgrace. It's a disgrace for
humanity!" The press-statement was a joined statement from the Teacher's
Association in Batikent, the Artist's Association in Batikent, the
Association of Journalists in Batikent, the Pir Sultan Abdal Association and
the Theatre Club from Batikent.

After the massacres, the inquiry was assigned to the prosecutor of the State
Security Court, Nuh Mete Y
ksel. Zeynep Firat, Mustafa Selcuk's lawyer,
demanded on April 15 that the prosecutor would be withdrawn from the case. In
her request she wrote: "In former trials of this sort, conducted by Nuh Mete
Y
ksel, there were no charges and the policemen were all acquitted. We have
no trust in him. Birtan Altunbas, for instance, was murdered under torture.
Nuh Mete Y
ksel was the responsible state attorney in this case. He did not
even hand over the post-mortem inquiry report to the family. When we started
working on that, he did not give any attention to our request. Furthermore,
in the cases of the massacres in K
c
kesat and Maltepe (Ankara) he refused to
hand over the bodies of the revolutionaries to the families and our demand
for the post-mortem inquiry reports were again dismissed. Therefore we
believe that he is not capable of investigating this case in an objective
manner. Besides. this case is not in his domain. We demand that he is
withdrawn from this case. The Constitution, the laws and international
treaties contain clear guidelines in these cases."



From kurdeng at aps.nl  Tue Oct 24 21:38:48 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 24 Oct 1995 21:38:48
Subject: Turkish Court Demands Explanation F
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.2P0HDD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>

Subject: Turkish Court Demands Explanation From Professor


      ANKARA, Oct 23 (Reuter) - A Turkish security court will ask a leading
professor to explain an academic report he wrote urging better treatment of
Turkey's Kurds, the court's chief prosecutor said on Monday.

    Nusret Demiral, chief prosecutor of Ankara state security court, told
Anatolian news agency that the court would seek a statement from Dogu Ergil
about a report he produced in August on the southeast, scene of an 11-year
Kurdish insurgency that has taken more than 18,000 lives.

    The report, commissioned by an influential Turkish business grouping,
included a rare poll of more than 1,200 Kurds, most of whom said they would
choose autonomy or being part of a federation if they could change Turkey's
political structure.

    The court has been examining the report with an eye to prosecution under
Turkey's laws on freedom of expression, which have been criticised by the
West.

    Demiral said Ergil would be called to give a statement this week or next.
Then the court would decide whether to investigate and charge him for
transgressing anti-terror laws, he said.

    Many conservative politicians, journalists and security officials
condemned the report's findings on its release. Most Turkish establishment
figures refuse to see the Kurdish problem as anything but one of internal
security.

    But the opposition and many of the media have suggested the report was
influenced by Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller in a bid to pave the way
for democratic reforms. Her office has denied this.

    The report said support for the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas
would weaken if Ankara heeded Kurds' social and economic grievances and
tolerated pro-Kurdish sentiments.

Agreement Reached on December Elections and Terror Law Change
    By Hidir Goktas

    ANKARA, Turkey (Reuter) - Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller's
government Monday proposed easing a freedom of expression law that could
clinch a trade deal with Europe just ahead of early elections it plans for
December.

    The government put forward a bill to parliament to soften the
anti-terrorism law's tough article 8, often used against peaceful advocates
of Kurdish rights.

    European Parliament members have urged changing or scrapping the law in
exchange for them ratifying a customs union pact between Turkey and the EU. A
vote on the lucrative deal is due by the end of the year.

    Ciller's True Path Party (DYP) and the social democrats sent a joint bill
to parliament suggesting general elections on Dec. 24, ahead of polls
scheduled for next October, Anatolian news agency said.

    The anti-terrorism bill, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters,
proposes that the penalty for ``separatist propaganda'' be decreased to a
maximum of three years from the current five.

    It also leaves the door open for jail terms to be suspended or converted
into a fine and for sentences to be applied retroactively.

    It was unclear whether the proposed changes would be enough to satisfy
the rights-conscious European Parliament.

    The catch-all article has been used to imprison scores of writers and
journalists for their comments on the country's Kurdish problem.

    Its definition of separatist propaganda includes perceived support for
Kurdish cultural and political rights and criticism of the fight against
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas.

    The article 8 bill might be debated within a week, parliamentary sources
said, but there was no immediate indication of whether it would be approved.

    The election date proposal is to go before parliament's constitution
committee Tuesday, Anatolian said.

    Ciller's right-wing minority government, which lost a vote of confidence
eight days ago, is still in power on a caretaker basis.

    She has agreed with the social democrats to revive their right-left
coalition which collapsed last month after a row about domestic security and
human rights.

    ``The (coalition) preparations are going well. Hopefully we'll shake
hands at the end of it,'' social democrat leader Deniz Baykal told the ATV
television station.

    The two parties have virtually agreed to the terms of a new alliance to
take the country to early general elections.

PKK Loses Six in Shootout
      DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Oct 23 (Reuter) - Turkish troops killed six rebels
of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in overnight clashes in the southeast,
security officials said on Monday.

    The emergency rule governor's office in Diyarbakir said in a statement
that soldiers had killed three PKK rebels in Sirnak province and one each in
the provinces of Bingol, Tunceli and Diyarbakir in separate clashes.

    It gave no military casualties.

    More than 18,000 people have been killed in the PKK's 11-year fight for
autonomy or independence in southeast Turkey.

Suspended sentence over Kurd satire in Turkey
     ANKARA, Turkey (Reuter) - A Turkish journalist was given a
20-month suspended sentence Wednesday for a satire on the
Kurdish problem that fell foul of laws on freedom of expression
criticized by the West, Anatolian news agency said.
     The Istanbul state security court suspended the sentence
against columnist Ahmet Altan for five years ``on the belief
that he will not commit the crime again and because of his place
in society,'' it said.
     Altan's satire, in the Milliyet newspaper, was entitled
``Atakurd'' and imagined what Turkey would be like today if the
country's founder Kemal Ataturk had been a Kurd. Ataturk, who
died in 1938, is still widely revered by Turks.
     Altan left Milliyet in a row over the article and now writes
for another newspaper.
     His lawyer denied the charge, under Article 312 of the penal
code, of ``provoking enmity and hatred by displaying racism or
regionalism,'' Anatolian said.
     Article 312 is one of several laws Turkey uses to jail
journalists and others for perceived criticism of the
government's handling of an 11-year-old Kurdish rebel campaign.
     The European Parliament is seeking an easing of Turkey's
restraints on freedom of expression before it ratifies a customs
union between Ankara and the European Union set for next year.

---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From kurdeng at aps.nl  Fri Oct 27 17:11:47 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 27 Oct 1995 17:11:47
Subject: Baghad Sends Team to Discuss Northe
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.qF8mDD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>

Subject: Baghad Sends Team to Discuss Northern Iraq and UN Embargo


      ANKARA, Oct 25 (Reuter) - Iraqi deputy foreign minister Saad
Abdel-Majid al-Faisal met his Turkish opposite number Onur Oymen on
Wednesday for talks focusing on Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq and a U.N.
embargo on Baghdad, the foreign ministry said.

    ``They met today and the Iraqi delegation is due to meet the Foreign
Minister Coskun Kirca late today or Thursday,'' Foreign Ministry spokesman
Nurettin Nurkan told Reuters.

    Nurkan said the Iraqi and Turkish delegations discussed bilateral
issues, focusing on northern Iraq and the United Nations embargo imposed on
Iraq for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. He gave no further details.

    Both Ankara and Baghdad are concerned at instability in the three
northern provinces of Iraq, controlled by Iraqi Kurds under Western air
protection since the end of the Gulf War, as Kurdish militias fight to
settle longstanding feuds.

    Iraq wants the mandate of the allied air force, which Turkey votes on
every six months, to be terminated. Nurkan said the matter was for
parliament to decide, and that Ankara could give the visiting delegation no
promises.

    The warring Iraqi Kurds have recently been drawn to the negotiating
table with U.S.-sponsored talks in Dublin, but one militia is now fighting
the Turkey-based Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which launches attacks on
Turkey from bases in the area.

    More than 18,000 people have been killed in Turkey in the PKK's
11-year-old fight for Kurdish independence or autonomy.

    Nurkan said Turkey, which mounted a 35,000-man six-week military
incursion into the region in March, was still staging small-scale attacks
against the PKK there.

    ``But there is no question of a wide-ranging operation inside Iraq at
the moment,'' he said.

    Emergency Rule Governor Unal Erkan, based in Diyarbakir, told Reuters
that troops had staged an air attack on PKK targets in northern Iraq on
Tuesday.

    ``We sometimes launch air operations against the terrorists, who escape
from the attacks of the KDP (Kurdistan Democratic Party) and settle near
our borders -- there was one bombing raid on Tuesday,'' he said.

    The KDP, which shares power with a rival militia in northern Iraq, said
on Monday it had launched a big drive against the final PKK stronghold in
the rugged Khwakurk district near Iraq's border with Iran in an operation
begun on Sunday.

    In Turkey, the emergency rule governor's office said troops had killed
18 PKK rebels in separate clashes in the provinces of Diyarbakir, Bitlis,
Tunceli and Batman.


Turkish Unions Hopeful for Swift End to Strike ANKARA, Oct 25 (Reuter) -
Turkish labour unions are hopeful that a five-week-old public workers' pay
strike that has rocked the political arena will be solved soon, a labour
confederation spokesman said on Wednesday.

    ``Everything is going well. With a bit of nudging, this is going to be
finalised,'' Yildirim Koc, a senior official from the labour confederation
Turk-Is, told Reuters.

    ``We held talks yesterday, and we are expecting a call from the labour
minister about resuming those talks later today,'' Koc said. ``Things could
be solved in today's meetings.''

    The labour strike by up to 335,000 public workers began on September 20
over an initial government pay rise offer of 5.4 percent for 1995. Annual
inflation is expected to hit 70 percent.

    The strike was influential in Prime Minister Tansu Ciller's 10-day
minority government being toppled in a vote of confidence on October 15.

    After losing the confidence vote, Ciller has come full circle to revive
her right-left coalition, which collapsed the day the strike began when she
resigned in a rift with the leader of her social democrat partners.

    The government has since raised its pay rise offer, but Koc declined to
give the latest figures.

    The Anatolian news agency said the government and Turk-Is disagreed
mainly over percentage rises for the second year.

    At its height, the strike idled ports, railways and sugar production,
and cost Turkey $10 million a day in exports alone.

    Around 200,000 workers are still on strike after the government ordered
workers in some key sectors back to work.

European Human Rights Commission To Hear Kurdish Paper Case
      ANKARA, Oct 25 (Reuter) - The European Human Rights Commission has
agreed to hear a case by a pro-Kurdish Istanbul daily that complained
Turkish authorities harassed it and forced it to shut down, the paper's
lawyer said on Wednesday.

    ``The commission has accepted the case by Ozgur Gundem newspaper
against Turkey...which has acted in a biased manner against the paper to
block its freedom of expression and right to information,'' attorney Osman
Ergin told Reuters.

    Ankara denounced the decision to hear the case, calling it a misuse of
European human rights laws.

    Members of the European Parliament, expected to vote in December on
customs union with Turkey, want Ankara to amend or scrap elements of a
special anti-terror law, used to jail scores of people for writings and
speeches on the Kurdish issue.

    Prime Minister Tansu Ciller's government on Monday put forward a bill
to parliament to soften the anti-terrorism law's tough article 8.

    But Turkish officials said the Ozgur Gundem case was about combating
``terrorism,'' not about free speech or other human rights.

    ``The decision of the commission on a case closely tied with the
support of terrorism through the press will be...proof of just how
principled and objective a stance the monitoring bodies in Strasbourg take
towards the fight against terrorism,'' Foreign Ministry spokesman Nurettin
Nurkan told a news briefing.

    Ozgur Gundem shut down almost two years after its May 1992 founding
because of closure orders issued by an Istanbul state security court for
publishing ``separatist propaganda'' and encouraging Kurdistan Workers
Party (PKK) guerrillas.

    Gundem's successor Ozgur Ulke and the latest pro-Kurdish daily Yeni
Politika shut down after a court deemed them to be essentially the same as
Ozgur Gundem.

    A Reuters correspondent, Aliza Marcus, has been charged by an Istanbul
security court under Turkey's laws on the freedom of expression for an
article that appeared in Ozgur Ulke under her byline. She faces up to three
years in jail.



---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From kurdeng at aps.nl  Fri Oct 27 17:14:23 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 27 Oct 1995 17:14:23
Subject: US Repudiates Apo letter / article
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.4L8mDD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>

Subject: US Repudiates Apo letter / article 8


By Ugur Akinci

Turkish Daily News
  _________________________________________________________________

WASHINGTON- A letter allegedly written by PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party)
leader Abdullah "Apo" Ocalan and sent to the White House, as well as
several Congressional leaders, has been repudiated both by senior White
House and State Department officials. The letter, dated Oct. 13, was
published in Turkish newspapers and the Arabic daily Al Hayat a week ago. .

When asked for his reaction to the letter at a press briefing at the
Foreign Press Center, Ambassador Robert Pelletreau Jr., assistant secretary
of state for Near Eastern affairs, told Turkish journalists that: "We
consider the PKK to be a terrorist organization. And I think that's a
sufficient answer to (your) question.'

A White House official, who wished to remain anonymous, similarly told the
Turkish press that they had no information about the alleged letter from
Ocalan and there was no way they could act as an intermediary between the
PKK and Turkey as requested in the letter. The "PKK is a terrorist
organization.

If it has anything to settle, it should settle it with Turkey. Action
speaks louder than words. A cease-fire would benefit the PKK itself since
they are harming the Kurdish people," the official said.

In the said letter, its writer, who signed his name "Abdullah Ocalan," told
U.S. President Bill Clinton that the PKK was not in favor of a violent
solution at all. "Despite the continuing war, our party is ready for an
unconditional, peaceful solution to the Kurdish question... We are ready to
start a new unilateral cease-fire... We are open to a federal solution, one
that also prevails in the United States of America," the letter said.

Certain observers in Washington claim that, if President Demirel's visit to
the White House had not been cancelled, the surfacing of the letter would
have coincided with his visit.

That sort of "coincidence" fuels suspicions in Washington that the letter
might be nothing more than "a leak" designed to manipulate public opinion
at a time when the PKK is claimed by Turkish sources to be suffering
militarily. .
_________________________________________________________________

 Parliamentary Justice Commission adopts amendment of Article 8

TDN Parliament Bureau
  _________________________________________________________________

ANKARA- The draft bill calling for the amendment of the controversial
Article 8 of the Anti-Terrorism Law, which bars freedom of expression, was
endorsed by the Parliamentary Justice Commission on Wednesday.

The Parliamentary Justice Commission passed the bill, prepared by the Tansu
Ciller-led minority government, at its afternoon session after a morning
session ended in deadlock.

Speaking at the commission's morning meeting, DYP Afyon Deputy Etem Kelekci
had described the bill as amounting to an "undeclared amnesty" and had said
he was completely against any legal amendment leading to prison sentences
being commuted to fines.

The most criticized part of the bill was the section calling for the
elimination of a clause which bans the spread of separatist propaganda,
whatever the means employed or whatever the purpose or thought behind it.

The draft bill calls for a one-year reduction in the existing minimum
two-year prison term for those convicted of spreading separatist
propaganda. It also proposes commuting prison terms of up to a year to
fines or even suspending such sentences.

A temporary article inserted in the draft bill allows courts, which have
already convicted defendants for violating the Anti-Terrorism Law, to
rehear cases and either commute their prison terms to fines or suspend
their sentences.

At the commission's morning meeting, the Motherland Party (ANAP) and the
Welfare Party (RP) members tried to obstruct the passage of the draft bill.

They claimed that according to the relevant provisions of parliamentary
bylaws, the justice commission was not authorized to convene. When this
objection was rejected, they called for the draft bill to be debated first
by the Parliamentary Constitutional Commission.

While Coskun Gokalp from the Republican People's Party (CHP) said he found
the bill positive although not satisfactory, Etem Kelekci, a DYP member of
the commission, said he could never accept allowing the spread of
separatist propaganda. Kelekci said he would accept the draft bill if some
changes, proposed by him, were adopted by the commission. Otherwise,
Kelekci said, he would vote against the draft bill. He stressed that the
section of the draft bill calling for fines or the suspension of sentences
should be completely deleted.

The ANAP members of the commission harshly opposed the proposed amendment
of the Anti-Terrorism Law, stressing that the indivisibility of the country
could not be given up just because the European Parliament wanted this.
_________________________________________________________________ end


---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Sat Oct 28 04:57:35 1995
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 28 Oct 1995 04:57:35
Subject: PKK Letter To President Clinton
Message-ID: <bac1c849.QQzniv01394.199510280422@alterdi>

From: akin at kurdish.org (AKIN)

Press Release #3

October 27, 1995

PKK Leader Offers New Cease-Fire In Letter To President Clinton

We received the following letter from the European office of the National
Liberation Front of Kurdistan (ERNK) in Brussels, Belgium. It follows for
your perusal verbatim:


October 13, 1995

President William J. Clinton
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President,

As you are fully aware, the Kurdish question is becoming more violent with
each passing day.  A democratic solution to this enduring problem is of the
utmost necessity.

In our recent past, a policy of genocide was visited upon the Greeks and
the Armenians of Anatolia.  It seems as if, with some slight variations,
this same policy is now being inflicted upon our people, the Kurds.  This
policy has expressed itself in a way which has denied our people the chance
to express their identity.  The very existence of our people is slated for
systematic extinction.  The Kurdish people are denied the most basic human
rights which are enshrined in United Nations declarations and other
international covenants.

It is the policy of the Turkish state to forcibly assimilate the Kurdish
nation within its borders.  In our land, this policy of war has led to the
destruction of over 3,000 villages.  In the last ten years, some 3 million
Kurds have been forced to migrate from their lands.  In attacks that are
clearly supported by the Turkish state, thousands of Kurdish politicians,
writers and artists have been murdered.  Violence has been a policy that
has targeted all segments of our society.  Duly elected Kurdish
parliamentarians have been killed, their constitutional immunity lifted,
and some are now serving time in prison.

These developments have followed the birth of our party and the nature of
our struggle.  We want to stand against the policies which seek to
assimilate our people, we want to stop the forced removal of our people
into oblivion.  Because all of the legal channels by which our people
sought to organize themselves politically were barred, we undertook our
struggle so as to preserve ourselves.

Despite the widening, serious problems which confront Ankara, the
government's policy is to insist on military solution.  This mind-set will
cause more bloodshed in Kurdistan and harm the interests of the people of
Turkey.  To pave the way for the cause of peace, our party unilaterally
declared a cease-fire on March 17, 1993 which lasted for 83 days.  But the
Turkish government, refusing to accommodate the wishes of the Kurdish and
Turkish peoples to live in peace, refused to acknowledge our goodwill.

Mr. President,

Despite the continuing war, our party is ready for an unconditional,
peaceful solution to the Kurdish question.  If we are not attacked, we will
not attack.  We are ready to start a new unilateral cease-fire.

Allow me at this time to dispel some misconceptions about our party, namely
that we are like other classic Communist parties and that we may be seeking
to change the existing borders of Turkey or that we insist upon separation
from Ankara.  None of these assertions is true.  We are also opposed to
acts of terror.  We want to end the pain and suffering of both the Turkish
and Kurdish peoples.  We want the record to show that we, as a party, are
opting for peace and stability, not only in Turkey but also in the region
as a whole.  To that end, we are open to a federal solution, one that also
prevails in the United States of America.

I have reason to believe that you will support non-violent solutions to the
Kurdish question.  To that end, I trust you will persuade the Turkish side
to honor such a move.  Your support will mean that genocide against a
people will be averted, its cultural identity protected, and its democratic
and political rights ensured.

Allow me to convey to you my deepest respects,

Abdullah Ocalan
Chair of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)


cc: Senate Majority Leader, Bob Dole
     Speaker of the House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich




----
American Kurdish Information Network (AKIN)
2309 Calvert Street, NW
Suite #3
Washington, DC 20008-2603

Tel: (202) 483-6444
Fax: (202) 483-6476
Email: akin at kurdish.org




From kurdeng at aps.nl  Sun Oct 29 01:43:36 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 29 Oct 1995 01:43:36
Subject: mainstream news:elections, article
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.c9VPDD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>

Subject: mainstream news:elections, article 8, strikes, more


ANKARA, Turkey (Reuter) - The Turkish parliament early Friday approved a
bill for early general elections on Dec. 24, Turkey's state-run television
said.

The bill, submitted by Prime Minister Tansu Ciller's True Path Party and
the social democrat Republican People's Party, also gives expatriate Turks
the right to vote at customs posts, lowers the voting age to 18 from 21 and
increases the number of parliamentary seats to 550 from 450. Elections were
due by November next year at the latest.

The bill will take effect when published in the official gazette, probably
later this week.

Ciller's minority government, which lost a vote of confidence on October
15, holds power on a caretaker basis.

She has agreed with the social democrats to revive a former right-left
coalition government, which collapsed in mid-September in a row about
domestic security and human rights, after ruling the country for four
years.

(2)

By Suna Erdem

ANKARA, Oct 26 (Reuter) - Turkey's appeals court on Thursday ordered the
release of two Kurdish parliamentarians, but upheld sentences against four
other Kurdish MPs imprisoned late last year on charges of separatism.

The six deputies from the Democracy Party (DEP) were jailed last year for
separatism, largely on the basis of speeches they made in favour of broader
Kurdish cultural and political rights.

The appeals court decision, announced at a brief session, means that Ahmet
Turk, serving a 15-year sentence, and Sedat Yurtdas, jailed for 71/2 years,
will be released.

Lawyers for the MPs said Turk and Yurtdas would be retried under article 8
of the anti-terror law, which bans separatist propaganda and carries a
prison sentence of up to five years.

The appeals court refused to heed demands for the release of female MP
Leyla Zana and three others serving 15-year prison terms.

European parliamentarians have demanded the release of the six MPs before
they will agree to ratify a lucrative customs pact between Turkey and the
European Union. Euro-MPs also want Turkey to improve its human rights
record in general.

"I don't know if this will be enough for the European Parliament," a
Western diplomat at the appeals court hearing told Reuters.

Another six DEP deputies fled to Europe last year to avoid the risk of
prosecution. The party was shut down by Turkey's high court in 1994. The
court on Thursday also upheld the decisions against an independent
pro-Kurdish deputy and another DEP deputy, neither of whom are serving
prison terms.

Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas are waging a separatist war in
southeast Turkey, a conflict that has cost more than 18,000 lives since
1984.

(3)

By Jonathan Lyons

ANKARA, Oct 26 (Reuter) - Turkey edged towards closer ties with the West
and wrapped up a messy domestic labour dispute on Thursday in some rare
bright spots for beleaguered Prime Minister Tansu Ciller.

Ciller's hopes for a Customs Union with Europe got a partial fillip after a
court freed two of six Kurdish MPs, jailed in a case that has threatened to
torpedo Ankara's 32-year dream of a customs deal with Europe.

The prime minister also agreed to a $1.3 billion deal with public sector
workers, heralding an end to a strike that brought down her minority
government in a vote of confidence on October 15. She now heads a caretaker
administration. But it was not clear whether either development could ease
pressure on Turkey, criticised abroad for human rights abuses and battered
at home by runaway inflation and towering deficits.

Turkey's appeals court ordered the immediate release of Ahmet Turk and
Sedat Yurtdas, serving 15 years and 7 1/2 years respectively, but upheld
sentences against four other MPs.

In Brussels a leading member of the European Parliament said the decision
to confirm prison terms on the four Kurdish MPs did not bode well for the
Customs Union.

"Chances of a Customs Union have certainly not improved," said Pauline
Green, who leads the Socialist Group in the assembly. The Socialists are
the biggest single group in the European Parliament which has threatened to
veto the Customs Union unless Ankara cleans up its human rights act.

The six Kurdish MPs were jailed in 1994, largely for speeches backing
broader Kurdish cultural and political rights. Two others were convicted
but freed for time served.

Analysts saw some hopeful signs in Thursday's verdict, shored up by
Ciller's fresh appeal to water down Article 8 of the anti-terror law --
used to stifle debate of the Kurdish issue. "We think it is very positive,"
a diplomat from Spain, now holding the EU presidency, told Reuters. "It is
of utmost importance to combine the release of the MPs with quick,
non-cosmetic reform to Article 8. A combination of these two elements will
be decisive for the European Parliament in a way that each done separately
may not."

Ciller on Thursday welcomed parliamentary debate on changes to Article 8.
"These changes can help expand freedom of expression and end some of the
prosecutions that have been subject to debate at home and abroad," she said
in a statement. Two of the Kurdish MPs were convicted under Article 8.

The proposed changes include lowering prison terms to a maximum of three
years from five years and allowing some sentences to be suspended or
converted into fines. The rewritten law would also require "intent" to
violate Turkey's territorial integrity, but human rights activists say it
is unclear how courts would define the term.

Thursday's ruling on the Kurdish MPs did not please the chief prosecutor at
Ankara state security court, where the MPs were tried on capital charges.
"They are traitors. They should have been executed," Nusret Demiral told
Anatolian news agency. "(If) they continue to commit their crime, we will
take new steps against them."

(4)

By Jeremy Lovell

BRUSSELS, Oct 26 (Reuter) - A leading member of the European Parliament
warned on Thursday that the decision by Turkey's appeals Court to confirm
15-year prison terms on four Kurdish members of parliament did not bode
well for the planned Customs Union with the European Union.

"Chances of a Customs Union have certainly not improved," Pauline Green,
who leads the Socialist Group in the assembly, said in a statement.

The Parliament is due to vote on the pact, due to come into effect on
January 1, in early December.

A rejection would automatically delay implementation of the accord which
was finally agreed in early March when Greece was persuaded to lift its
veto linked to the divided island of Cyprus.

Implementation of the Customs Union would release around $1 billion in aid
and loans for Turkey and give both sides unfettered access to each other's
markets.

The parliament is particularly anxious that article eight of Turkey's
anti-terror laws should be either erased or at worst considerably modified.

The Turkish Appeals Court on Thursday ordered the release of two of the six
Kurdish members of parliament. But it confirmed the 15-year terms on the
four others including Leyla Zana who has been nominated by the European
Parliament's Socialist Group for the annual Sakharov Prize for Freedon of
Thought.

"We are bitterly disappointed in the confirmation of the jail sentences,"
Green said.

(5)

ANKARA, Oct 26 (Reuter) - Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller on Thursday
welcomed planned parliamentary debate on changes to a law curbing freedom
of expression that could help seal approval for a trade pact with Europe.

"Yesterday's action by the Justice Commission approving modification to
Article 8 of the Anti-Terrorism Law is of great importance to our nation,"
Ciller said in a written statement. "These changes can help expand freedom
of expression and end some of the prosecutions that have been subject to
debate at home and abroad," she said.

The recommendation on Wednesday by the parliamentary commission paves the
way for MPs to vote on changing Article 8 of Turkey's anti-terror law,
which bans "separatist propaganda" and is often used against peaceful
advocates of Kurdish rights.

The changes include lowering prison terms to a maximum of three years from
five years and allowing some sentences to be suspended or converted into
fines.

The rewritten law would also require the person charged had "intent" to
violate Turkey's territorial integrity, but human rights activists say it
is unclear how courts would define intent.

Changes in Article 8, under which scores of writers, lawyers and others are
in prison for writings or speeches, are demanded by some European
parliamentarians before approving a customs deal with Turkey.

The freeing of two of six Kurdish MPs jailed for having ties with or
encouraging the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) on Thursday may
help Turkey's bid for the customs union with Europe, scheduled to go into
effect at the start of next year.

(6)

ANKARA, Oct 26 (Reuter) - Turkey's National Security Council on Thursday
advised the extension of the mandate of an allied strike force stationed in
Turkey to protect Iraqi Kurds but shortened the term to three from six
months.

A statement issued after the monthly meeting of the council chaired by
President Suleyman Demirel said the task force, named Operation Provide
Comfort, should continue to be based in Turkey for three months from
January.

The council, whose recommendations are adopted by the government as a
matter of routine, usually extends the mandate for six months. No reason
was given for the shorter extension.

The decision coincides with a visit by Iraqi deputy foreign minister Saad
Abdel-Majid al-Faisal, who met Foreign Minister Coskun Kirca for talks
focusing on northern Iraq, the Iraq force and a U.N. embargo on Iraq
imposed for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

Iraq wants the mandate of the allied air force to be terminated. Foreign
ministry officials have said the matter was for parliament to decide, and
that Ankara could give the visiting delegation no promises.

The National Security Council also recommended that emergency rule be
extended in 10 southeastern provinces, where Kurdish guerrillas are
fighting an 11-year insurgency that has killed more than 18,000 people. It
agreed emergency rule should be extended for four months from November 19.

Opposition in Turkey has grown against the allied air force, which has
protected autonomous Iraqi Kurds from Baghdad and patrols an exclusion zone
north of the 36th parallel. Critics say the autonomy given to the Iraqi
Kurds, regularly consumed in fratricidal conflict, increases the
instability in the region and allows the Turkish Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK) to build bases from which to launch attacks on Turkey.

Parliament will have the final say when it votes on both issues this month
or early next month. Provide Comfort consists of more than 100 U.S., French
and British planes based at Incirlik in southern Turkey.

(7)

ANKARA, Turkey (Reuter) - Turkey's government Thursday settled a pay
dispute with labor unions, heralding an end to a five-week-old strike by
public workers that has destabilized the political arena, union officials
said.

The dispute helped bring down Prime Minister Tansu Ciller's minority
government in a vote of confidence on Oct. 15.

Officials from the labor confederation Turk-Is told reporters Ciller had
agreed to give the workers a back-dated 16 percent rise for the first half
of 1995 and 16 percent for the second six months.

The 1995 rise would cost the government $1.3 billion, the officials said.
The workers would then get an 18 percent rise for the first six months of
1996, and 20 percent for the second six.

Ciller has been loathe to give the workers inflation-linked rises as they
had demanded because she says this would hinder her 1994 economic austerity
plan, brought in to quell a financial crisis.

The strike began the same day Ciller ended her right-left coalition with
the social democrats on Sept. 20. The workers' supporters withheld their
approval of Ciller's new minority administration in the confidence vote
earlier this month, helping sink the 10-day government.

The strike by up to 335,000 public sector workers began over a government pay
rise offer of 5.4 percent for 1995. Annual inflation is expected to hit 70
percent.

At its height, the strike brought ports, railways and the sugar industry to a
standstill and cost Turkey $10 million a day in exports alone. Around 200,000
workers are still on strike after the government ordered workers in some key
sectors back to their jobs.

Turk-Is officials have said a deal between the government and the union would
bring the strike to an immediate end.


---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From kurdeng at aps.nl  Sun Oct 29 01:45:31 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 29 Oct 1995 01:45:31
Subject: TDN
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.i9VPDD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>


Court upholds DEP convictions

Tough decision: Court of Appeals upholds DGM's convictions against Leyla
Zana, Orhan Dogan, Hatip Dicle, and Selim Sadak,

frees Ahmet Turk and Sedat Yurttas and orders heavier fines on Mahmut
Alinak and Sirri Sakik

Turkish Daily News
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

ANKARA- The Court of Appeals on Thursday revised an initial conviction of
eight pro-Kurdish politicians, upholding the prison sentences passed on six
and ordering the retrial of two. The court upheld judgements against Leyla
Zana, Orhan Dogan, Hatip Dicle and Selim Sadak, who were each sentenced to
15-year prison terms by the State Security Court (DGM) last December. The
DGM's sentences against Ahmet Turk and Sedat Yurttas were upheld, but the
court ordered their release since they have served the required minimum of
their sentences under Turkey's liberal parole bill. The appeals court
ordered their retrial under the Anti-Terrorism Law.

The Court of Appeals also decided that the fines of TL 70 million imposed
on Sirri Sakik and Mahmut Alinak, both also sentenced to three-and-a-half
years in prison, were too lenient. The decisions of the appeals court were
announced by judge Demirel Tavil.

The former deputies Zana, Dogan, Dicle, and Sadak were originally charged
under the Anti-Terrorism Law with being members of an outlawed armed
organization and following their conviction applied to the appeals court.
ARA BASLIK --- Reactions to verdict

There were strong reactions to the Court of Appeals' decisions.

Responding to questions after the court session, Alinak evaluated the
decision as a punishment of the public. He likened the verdict to that
brought against Adnan Menderes and his colleagues, who were hanged on
Yassiada Island.

"Everybody is familiar with the case of Deniz Gezmis and his friends in
Turkey, they were sentenced to death unjustly," said Alinak. He continued
that the case against the former DEP deputies amounted to those who felt
powerful suppressing the poor. He added that the decision crushed the law
and was old-fashioned and claimed the trial was not a proper judicial
procedure.

He added that the verdict harmed voters' powers and also amounted to a
sentence passed on the public. He continued that nobody, even Prime
Minister Tansu Ciller, the former Chief of General Staff Dogan Gures and
President Suleyman Demirel could defend the Court of Appeals' decision.
Alinak said the verdict harmed human rights.

Speaking about the court's judgement, Sakik said it was a political
decision because former Chief of General Staff Dogan Gures had said he
wanted the deputies to be tried. He added that as everybody could see, the
Court of Appeals had ratified the verdict. Sakik claimed that the verdict
would not support peace and the decision favored neither Turkish society
nor Kurdish society. Lawyers of the defendants evaluated the verdict by
saying that they had not expected such a severe punishment. Lawyer Yusuf
Alatas said he had been optimistic from the beginning because of his
confidence in the Court of Appeals. He continued that this verdict had led
to disappointment, adding that it also meant sadness and disappointment for
the judiciary.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

65th Interpol meeting to be held in Turkey

Antalya to host police chiefs from 176 countries

Turkish Daily News
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

ANKARA- The 65th meeting of Interpol, which investigates international
crimes, will be held in Antalya on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey in
October 1996, with police chiefs of 176 countries participating.

Officials say that the meeting will be a very important opportunity to
promote Turkey and its tourism potential, demonstrating that Turkey is a
safe and secure country.

The 64th meeting is being held in Beijing this year. Yusuf Vehbi Dalda,
chief of the Interpol department at the Turkish police general directorate,
said that Interpol has 176 member countries and at least 500 police chiefs
are expected to participate in the meeting.

Dalda added that drug smuggling, anti-terrorism work, nuclear terrorism,
environmental pollution and counterfeit money operations will be discussed.

Mehmet Agar, chief of the police general directorate, said that it is very
important for Turkey to be the host of the meeting.

Agar recalled that Interpol organized the anti-drug and terrorism meeting
in Antalya in 1994, and that the international drug conference was held in
Istanbul this year. Police chiefs from most regions of the world attended
those meetings, an important point for Turkey, Agar added.

Police officials said that the connection between the outlawed Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK) and the drug trade will be outlined to the police
chiefs during the meeting.

Officials added that the meeting will be one of the biggest to be held in
Turkey and preparations have already started.


---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)


From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Sun Oct 29 21:56:11 1995
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 29 Oct 1995 21:56:11
Subject: Update On Kani Yilmaz And Repressio
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199510292130.QAA08621@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Update On Kani Yilmaz And Repression Against Kurds In Germany

From: RALF GOLDAK <rag at aber.ac.uk>

Translation: Ralf Goldak
Department of International Politics
University of Wales - Aberystwyth, UK

Lawyer Hans Eberhardt Schultz - Speech to Meeting of British MPs,
convened by John Austin Walker MP, House of Commons - October 26,
1995

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Friends,

     It has been a great pleasure to accept John Austin Walker's
invitation to speak at this important meeting. For the second
time in the course of a year I would thus like to report on the
developments in the case of Kani Yilmaz and to provide a brief
sketch of its background. As on the last occasion on which I
spoke in this House, my contribution has been translated from
German by friends of the Kurdistan Information Centre, so that I
am able to present this complex case with the necessary clarity.
Thank you for your patience, both for reading from a prepared
script and for my occasional mispronunciation.
     First of all, I would like to convey the regards of Kani
Yilmaz, whom I have just visited in the high security prison of
Belmarsh. I am retained as his defence counsel in Germany, where
he is being charged with ring-leadership of a so-called
"terrorist organisation within the PKK", and stands accused of
being personally responsible for a great number of attacks
against Turkish facilities during 1993. Today, Kani has been
imprisoned under conditions of near-isolation for one year. Yet
he considers his personal situation secondary in its importance.
His first concern remains with the dirty war in Kurdistan as he
focuses his entire political energy on bringing this conflict to
an end through a political solution.

What Has Been The Development Of The Proceedings To Extradite
Kani Yilmaz?

     The Bow Street magistrate sitting at the high security court
in Belmarsh has declared the extradition as fully admissible
after the German government had withdrawn a series of
particularly serious charges against him. The court decided that
a consideration of the lack of evidence for the charges brought,
which his British legal team had criticised, was outside its
remit. Privately, both the representatives of the crown
Prosecution Service and of the German Federal Prosecutor General
have told me that it would be unlikely that Kani Yilmaz could be
prosecuted for the charge of membership in a terrorist
organisation (Art. 129a of the German Penal Code), because no
such all-encompassing penal provision exists in British criminal
law. Yet they were not prepared to limit the official extradition
request accordingly. This has been one of the reasons why we have
appealed against the decision of the Magistrates, so that next
year, the divisional court will have to decide about the
admissibility of his extradition.

What Are The Chances Of Success?

     In my research on this case I have come across an earlier
case of an extradition request concerning a German national
(Astrid Puttnick-Proll), which in my opinion is an important
precedent for our case: in this case, the German government
decided not even to demand on the charge of membership in a
criminal organisation (Art.129 German Penal Code), despite the
fact that a German warrant of arrest on this charge existed,
because no corresponding provision exists in British criminal
law. If we consider Kani's case in the light of this precedent,
we can conclude that his extradition on charges of membership in
a terrorist association is not admissible. It is for this that we
will have to continue to struggle.
     Even if the appeal was to be unsuccessful, the political
situation remains the same as I have sketched it when I last
spoke to a meeting in this House in May: even if the extradition
of Kani Yilmaz is considered legally admissible, it remains the
perogative of the British government to comply with the request,
or to reject it. That means, if the court decides that the
extradition is legally possible, the government can reject it on
grounds of foreign policy or humanitarian grounds.
     The decision is thus not only a legal decision, but a
political and humanitarian one, which is subject to the
responsibilities of this parliament.
     Considering the development which the persecution of Kurds
has taken in Germany during the last 6 months, your work in this
question is now more important than ever before.

For The Present, I Can Only Give You A Brief Sketch Of The
Current Persecution Of Kurds In Germany

     The nation-wide and almost limitless criminalisation of
Kurds, on the basis of the ban imposed on the PKK and the ERNK in
November 1993, has seen a further dramatic escalation. Here are
some of the consequences in summary form:

- By now, 20 Kurds are imprisoned under conditions of isolation
as alleged te rrorists under Article 129a German Penal Code.

- In total, we can assume that there are more than 200 Kurdish
political prisoners, mostly detained in relation to a campaign of
blockading motorways and other charges in relation to prohibited
Newroz (or New Year) celebrations, and so on.

- Further Kurdish Associations have been banned or closed down,
among these the Kurdistan Information office, which was deemed a
substitute for the Kurdistan Committee; every single local
Kurdish association in Bavaria, despite the fact that they had
already been banned by the Federal Minister of the Interior in
1993 and had won the appeal against this action; and even the
Kurdish news-agency and Kurdish publishers were banned.

- All Kurdish associations are placed under blanket surveillance
and control, police raids, house searches and confiscations occur
almost daily.

- Time and again, peaceful demonstrations and events are banned
under the pretext that there is a "concrete danger that symbols
of banned organisations PKK/ERNK may be displayed". These are
flags, stickers, photos of Abdullah Ocalan, and so on.
Deployments of police in consequence, even against an originally
legal hunger-strike, are frequently characterised by great
brutality, resulting in serious injuries and the death of a woman
hunger-striker.

- Even German citizens from the Munich area were brought before
the state security division of the Munich District Court, alleged
to have supported the banned PKK by distributing the German
language publication Kurdistan Report.

     The political police, and the hard-liners in German politics
and the legal system are obviously fervently determined to
criminalise and discriminate the Kurds further in order to
boycott all attempts to find a political solution which includes
the PKK, thereby creating a general climate of prejudice which
places all attempts of a sober assessment of realities in
jeopardy. This despite the fact that court decisions taken in the
two most spectacular cases which served to justify the so-called
PKK-Ban in 1993 tell a quite different story: In the reasoning
for its decision on the occupation of the Munich Consulate in
June 1993, the Bavarian Supreme Land Court argued: No exercise of
control on this action by the PKK could be found, nor had this
even been alleged by the Federal Prosecutor General.
     Recently, the Wiesbaden District Court has cleared the
accused Kurds from the charge of aggravated arson leading to
fatality in an incident which ocurred in November 1994. And
during last week we have achieved that the proceedings for the
distribution of the Kurdistan Report were abandoned as a result
of protracted negotiations.
     These examples clearly show that it is worthwhile to fight
against these developments, even on the legal front in our
country.
     The development of this legal and political complex in other
Western European countries and the feedback this generated is a
factor in this struggle that cannot be underestimated in its
significance. The work for the freedom of Kani Yilmaz thereby
becomes part of a wider struggle; the struggle towards a
political solution to the war which is being waged by a NATO
member-state with the arms and the political support of Western
Europe against a non-state nation. 

H. Eberhardt Schultz



 ++++ stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal ++++
   ++++ if you agree copy these lines to your sig ++++
     ++++ see http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/spg-l/sigaction.htm ++++

+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++==
Arm The Spirit is an autonomist/anti-imperialist collective based
in Toronto, Canada. Our focus includes a wide variety of
material, including political prisoners, national liberation
struggles, armed communist resistance, anti-fascism, the fight
against patriarchy, and more. We regularly publish our writings,
research, and translation materials in our magazine and bulletins
called Arm The Spirit. For more information, contact:

Arm The Spirit
P.O. Box 6326, Stn. A
Toronto, Ontario
M5W 1P7 Canada

E-mail: ats at etext.org
WWW: http://burn.ucsd.edu/~ats
FTP: ftp.etext.org --> /pub/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit
+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== 


From kurdeng at aps.nl  Mon Oct 30 17:26:15 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 30 Oct 1995 17:26:15
Subject: Update On Kani Yilmaz And Repressio
References: <bac1c849.199510292130.QAA08621@locust.cic>
Message-ID: <bac1c849.103095020358Rnf0.79b6@newsdesk.a>

Subject: Re: Update On Kani Yilmaz And Repression Against Kurds In Germany

------------------------ Forwarded from : ats at etext.org ------------------------

From: RALF GOLDAK <rag at aber.ac.uk>

Translation: Ralf Goldak
Department of International Politics
University of Wales - Aberystwyth, UK

Lawyer Hans Eberhardt Schultz - Speech to Meeting of British MPs,
convened by John Austin Walker MP, House of Commons - October 26,
1995

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Friends,

     It has been a great pleasure to accept John Austin Walker's
invitation to speak at this important meeting. For the second
time in the course of a year I would thus like to report on the
developments in the case of Kani Yilmaz and to provide a brief
sketch of its background. As on the last occasion on which I
spoke in this House, my contribution has been translated from
German by friends of the Kurdistan Information Centre, so that I
am able to present this complex case with the necessary clarity.
Thank you for your patience, both for reading from a prepared
script and for my occasional mispronunciation.
     First of all, I would like to convey the regards of Kani
Yilmaz, whom I have just visited in the high security prison of
Belmarsh. I am retained as his defence counsel in Germany, where
he is being charged with ring-leadership of a so-called
"terrorist organisation within the PKK", and stands accused of
being personally responsible for a great number of attacks
against Turkish facilities during 1993. Today, Kani has been
imprisoned under conditions of near-isolation for one year. Yet
he considers his personal situation secondary in its importance.
His first concern remains with the dirty war in Kurdistan as he
focuses his entire political energy on bringing this conflict to
an end through a political solution.

What Has Been The Development Of The Proceedings To Extradite
Kani Yilmaz?

     The Bow Street magistrate sitting at the high security court
in Belmarsh has declared the extradition as fully admissible
after the German government had withdrawn a series of
particularly serious charges against him. The court decided that
a consideration of the lack of evidence for the charges brought,
which his British legal team had criticised, was outside its
remit. Privately, both the representatives of the crown
Prosecution Service and of the German Federal Prosecutor General
have told me that it would be unlikely that Kani Yilmaz could be
prosecuted for the charge of membership in a terrorist
organisation (Art. 129a of the German Penal Code), because no
such all-encompassing penal provision exists in British criminal
law. Yet they were not prepared to limit the official extradition
request accordingly. This has been one of the reasons why we have
appealed against the decision of the Magistrates, so that next
year, the divisional court will have to decide about the
admissibility of his extradition.

What Are The Chances Of Success?

     In my research on this case I have come across an earlier
case of an extradition request concerning a German national
(Astrid Puttnick-Proll), which in my opinion is an important
precedent for our case: in this case, the German government
decided not even to demand on the charge of membership in a
criminal organisation (Art.129 German Penal Code), despite the
fact that a German warrant of arrest on this charge existed,
because no corresponding provision exists in British criminal
law. If we consider Kani's case in the light of this precedent,
we can conclude that his extradition on charges of membership in
a terrorist association is not admissible. It is for this that we
will have to continue to struggle.
     Even if the appeal was to be unsuccessful, the political
situation remains the same as I have sketched it when I last
spoke to a meeting in this House in May: even if the extradition
of Kani Yilmaz is considered legally admissible, it remains the
perogative of the British government to comply with the request,
or to reject it. That means, if the court decides that the
extradition is legally possible, the government can reject it on
grounds of foreign policy or humanitarian grounds.
     The decision is thus not only a legal decision, but a
political and humanitarian one, which is subject to the
responsibilities of this parliament.
     Considering the development which the persecution of Kurds
has taken in Germany during the last 6 months, your work in this
question is now more important than ever before.

For The Present, I Can Only Give You A Brief Sketch Of The
Current Persecution Of Kurds In Germany

     The nation-wide and almost limitless criminalisation of
Kurds, on the basis of the ban imposed on the PKK and the ERNK in
November 1993, has seen a further dramatic escalation. Here are
some of the consequences in summary form:

- By now, 20 Kurds are imprisoned under conditions of isolation
as alleged te rrorists under Article 129a German Penal Code.

- In total, we can assume that there are more than 200 Kurdish
political prisoners, mostly detained in relation to a campaign of
blockading motorways and other charges in relation to prohibited
Newroz (or New Year) celebrations, and so on.

- Further Kurdish Associations have been banned or closed down,
among these the Kurdistan Information office, which was deemed a
substitute for the Kurdistan Committee; every single local
Kurdish association in Bavaria, despite the fact that they had
already been banned by the Federal Minister of the Interior in
1993 and had won the appeal against this action; and even the
Kurdish news-agency and Kurdish publishers were banned.

- All Kurdish associations are placed under blanket surveillance
and control, police raids, house searches and confiscations occur
almost daily.

- Time and again, peaceful demonstrations and events are banned
under the pretext that there is a "concrete danger that symbols
of banned organisations PKK/ERNK may be displayed". These are
flags, stickers, photos of Abdullah Ocalan, and so on.
Deployments of police in consequence, even against an originally
legal hunger-strike, are frequently characterised by great
brutality, resulting in serious injuries and the death of a woman
hunger-striker.

- Even German citizens from the Munich area were brought before
the state security division of the Munich District Court, alleged
to have supported the banned PKK by distributing the German
language publication Kurdistan Report.

     The political police, and the hard-liners in German politics
and the legal system are obviously fervently determined to
criminalise and discriminate the Kurds further in order to
boycott all attempts to find a political solution which includes
the PKK, thereby creating a general climate of prejudice which
places all attempts of a sober assessment of realities in
jeopardy. This despite the fact that court decisions taken in the
two most spectacular cases which served to justify the so-called
PKK-Ban in 1993 tell a quite different story: In the reasoning
for its decision on the occupation of the Munich Consulate in
June 1993, the Bavarian Supreme Land Court argued: No exercise of
control on this action by the PKK could be found, nor had this
even been alleged by the Federal Prosecutor General.
     Recently, the Wiesbaden District Court has cleared the
accused Kurds from the charge of aggravated arson leading to
fatality in an incident which ocurred in November 1994. And
during last week we have achieved that the proceedings for the
distribution of the Kurdistan Report were abandoned as a result
of protracted negotiations.
     These examples clearly show that it is worthwhile to fight
against these developments, even on the legal front in our
country.
     The development of this legal and political complex in other
Western European countries and the feedback this generated is a
factor in this struggle that cannot be underestimated in its
significance. The work for the freedom of Kani Yilmaz thereby
becomes part of a wider struggle; the struggle towards a
political solution to the war which is being waged by a NATO
member-state with the arms and the political support of Western
Europe against a non-state nation. 

H. Eberhardt Schultz



 ++++ stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal ++++
   ++++ if you agree copy these lines to your sig ++++
     ++++ see http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/spg-l/sigaction.htm ++++

+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++==
Arm The Spirit is an autonomist/anti-imperialist collective based
in Toronto, Canada. Our focus includes a wide variety of
material, including political prisoners, national liberation
struggles, armed communist resistance, anti-fascism, the fight
against patriarchy, and more. We regularly publish our writings,
research, and translation materials in our magazine and bulletins
called Arm The Spirit. For more information, contact:

Arm The Spirit
P.O. Box 6326, Stn. A
Toronto, Ontario
M5W 1P7 Canada

E-mail: ats at etext.org
WWW: http://burn.ucsd.edu/~ats
FTP: ftp.etext.org --> /pub/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit
+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== 


----------------------------- End forwarded message --------------------------

From kurdeng at aps.nl  Tue Oct 31 01:52:41 1995
From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl)
Date: 31 Oct 1995 01:52:41
Subject: Mainstream news in important times
Message-ID: <bac1c849.gate.VuLTDD1w165w@newsdesk.aps.nl>

Subject: Mainstream news in important times on Turkey/Kurds


Free Speech Becomes Casualty in War on Kurds
By CELESTINE BOHLEN

10/29/95 N.Y. Times

ANKARA, Turkey - Last summer, a political science professor in Ankara
published a survey based on interviews with 1,200 Kurds whose lives had been
swept up in the war that for 11 years has raged between government forces and
Kurdish rebels in southeastern Turkey.

The report's findings were neither startling nor particularly threatening.
Only a small minority endorsed the idea of an independent Kurdish state, and
those who favored a federation were clearly befuddled as to what that meant:
some, he found, thought federation meant ``peace and bread.''

But what the Kurds did say clearly in the personal interviews conducted by
the professor, Dogu Ergil, was that now more than ever they consider
themselves to be Kurds, a distinct ethnic group that has yet to be recognized
by the Turkish state.

``It was the first time the Kurds of Turkey were asked, who are you and what
do you want,'' said Ergil, who heads the political behavior department at
Ankara University. ``The overwhelming majority said they want to stay in
Turkey, but as Kurds.''

In many countries where the population is ethnically divided, such a
conclusion would be self-evident. But in Turkey, where for 72 years the
government has struggled to forge a single nation, Ergil's report was
promptly referred to a State Security Court where it is being examined to see
if it fits the definition of ``separatist propaganda'' under Article 8 of a
1991 anti-terrorism law.

But Ergil, unlike many others who have dared write or talk about the Kurdish
question in Turkey, has not yet been put on trial or in jail. Nor have the
sponsors of his report, an association that represents 700,000 small-business
executives, disclaimed the author or his findings, despite denunciations in
the mainstream press.

At a time when Turkey's human rights record is being closely watched,
particularly in Europe, the reaction to Ergil's report reflects Turkey's
continuing difficulty in confronting the war in the southeast that since 1984
has claimed 18,000 lives, displaced hundreds of thousands of people and is
costing the state an estimated $7 billion a year.

Kurds in Turkey, who number about 12 million out of a total population of 65
million, can now openly speak and write in their own language and listen to
their own music, rights that were begrudgingly granted them in the 1980s. But
they cannot form ethnic associations, use their language in schools, on radio
or on television - something that falls into the category of ``separatist
propaganda.''


Dealing with the Kurdish question has always been a challenge for Turkey,
founded in 1923 on the ruins of the Ottoman Empire by Mustafa Kemal, known as
Ataturk. His vision was of a modern, secular, indivisible Turkish state; for
this, it was necessary to create a Turkish national consciousness that
allowed no room for a separate Kurdish identity. A Kurdish rebellion in 1925
was summarily suppressed.

Turkey's poor record on human rights pre-dates the war in the southeast, but
the unrelenting campaign of terrorism begun by the Kurdish Workers' Party in
1984 has produced a harsh and uncompromising government response that many
Turks consider essential for peace.

The southeast has been placed under a state of emergency; hundreds of Kurdish
villages have been forcibly evacuated, sometimes burned; pro-Kurdish
political parties have been silenced; prisoners are tortured, and human
rights campaigners are jailed.

But the clampdown has spread beyond the southeastern provinces where a
majority of Turkey's Kurds still live. In Istanbul and Ankara, Kurdish
newspapers are regularly censored and periodically closed; writers,
journalists and intellectuals who have defended broader rights for the
Kurdish minority have been tried in court, sometimes jailed.

Critics, like Ergil, have long argued that by suppressing debate on the
Kurdish question, Turkey has driven many Kurds into the arms of the Kurdish
Workers' Party.

``We found considerable support for the terrorist organization not because
these people condone the violence, or think of it as their savior, but
because they see it as an organ to air their dissatisfaction,'' he said.

Another Turkish journalist was convicted this month for writing a satirical
article on the Kurdish question. And on Oct. 12, a State Security Court in
Istanbul decided to prosecute an American correspondent for the Reuters news
agency on charges that she provoked ``racial hatreds'' by writing an article
on the forced evacuation of Kurdish villages that appeared in a Kurdish
newspaper in Istanbul.

Walter Cronkite, chairman of the Committee to Protect Journalists, met
recently with Prime Minister Tansu Ciller to protest the charges against the
correspondent, Aliza Marcus, whom he described as ``the first American
casualty of the Turkish government's deplorable campaign of censorship and
intimidation against journalists covering the Kurdish separatist movement.''

These cases have again put the spotlight on Turkey at a time when the
European Parliament is nearing a vote on Turkey's longstanding quest to join
the European customs union. The Europeans have insisted that Turkey, at a
minimum, broaden political rights and ease restrictions on free speech.

With the passage last July of a package of constitutional amendments that
lifted restrictions on political participation by a number of social groups,
attention is now focused on Article 8, a law that regards as a crime any act
that ``threatens the indivisible unity of the Turkish state.'' According to
human rights observers, there are 174 people now in Turkish prisons convicted
under Article 8, compared with 120 last year.

Mrs. Ciller's coalition government has promised to push for changes to
Article 8, but it is still not clear what amendments she will be able to get
through the Parliament.

Many politicians resent the pressure from outside the country to change a law
that they regard as a cornerstone in the fight against terrorism. Opposition
to any softening in the war against the Kurdish Workers' Party has made
repeal of Article 8 unlikely, politicians say.

``I want to see Article 8 abolished, but we do not have the majority'' said
Hitmet Cetin, a social democrat who was deputy prime minister in Mrs.
Ciller's first coalition government. ``I want an ideal solution, but we have
to be realistic. It was the same thing with the constitutional amendments: We
have to start somewhere.''

Human rights observers are skeptical that a change in the law will do much to
change Turkey's repressive tactics. They note that several recent cases,
including the one brought against Ms. Marcus, have been brought under other
articles in the penal code.

``We don't want to overplay this,'' said one Western diplomat. ``Changing
Article 8 doesn't solve all of Turkey's human rights problem but that is the
one the European parliament has focused on.''

But Ergil is hoping for an open debate that looks at the Kurdish question in
a broader, more political context.

``We are no longer dealing with single acts of terrorism,'' he said. ``It has
risen to the level of a social conflict, and it is a conflict we have to
understand, contain and if not eliminate then at least dry out.''


PKK Loses 38 In Clash With Turks

      DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuter) - Turkish security forces killed 38 Kurdish
rebels and lost four of their own in fresh clashes in southeastern Turkey,
the regional governor's office said Sunday.

    Twenty-six guerrillas of the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)
were killed during an operation Saturday night near Genc town in Bingol
province. Four soldiers died and five others were wounded in the clash, the
office said.

    On the same day, troops killed five PKK rebels in Cukurca town near the
Iraqi border.

    Seven other PKK guerrillas were killed in two separate clashes in the
southeastern towns of Hazro and Yuksekova.

    More than 18,000 people have died since 1984 when the PKK launched a
armed campaign for an independent Kurdish state in the southeast.

By Jonathan Clayton

BRUSSELS, Oct 29 (Reuter) - A drive to anchor Turkey firmly to western Europe
moves into a critical phase this week when European Union and Turkish foreign
ministers meet to complete technical work on a landmark customs union.

But after a week which has seen Turkey's human rights record again in the
spotlight, both sides are desperately looking for a way of saving a pact which
is about far more than mere economics.

"Things are not looking too good," said one senior EU diplomat about the
chances of the customs union winning the required support in the left-leaning
European Parliament. "We rather think it may be better to put off the vote than
have a vote which is negative," he added. The European Parliament was
originally due to vote at its December session.

The customs union gives Turkey better access and terms than virtually any other
non-member of the 15-nation EU and is seen as essential to support secular
democratic government in the vast country on western Europe's turbulent
southern flank. But in Turkey, Prime Minister Tansu Ciller's coalition
government, which made the pact one of its key foreign policy goals, is now
hanging on by a shoestring.

Ciller's minority government lost a vote of confidence on October 15 and now
holds power on a caretaker basis, making it difficult to resist pressure from
conservative hawks in her True Path Party and critics outside who argue against
relaxing Turkish anti-terror laws because of European pressure.

Political analysts say Ciller is in no position to deliver sweeping reforms
demanded by European parliamentarians, particularly on the contentious Kurdish
issue for which there is a deep fund of sympathy in European democracies.

Last week, Turkey released two jailed Kurdish MPs -- Ahmet Turk and Sedat
Yurtdas, serving 15 and seven-and-a-half years respectively -- but upheld
sentences of 15 years for four others found guilty of aiding Kurdish separatist
guerrillas.

Pauline Green, leader of the Socialist group in the European Parliament, said
she was "bitterly disappointed" by the decision to keep the four other MPs
behind bars.

In remarks emphasising Ciller's lack of much room for manouevre, the chief
prosecutor Nusret Demiral was unrepentant: "They are traitors. They should have
been executed."

Eight Kurdish MPs were arrested in March last year after Ciller said they were
members of the Kurdistan Workers Party "sheltering under the parliament's
roof." Six others fled to Europe and the Democracy Party was banned.

There was an international outcry and calls for the scrapping of Turkey's
catch-all Article 8 of the constitution, its main anti-terrorist law, under
which many Kurdish separatists and sympathetic supporters are held. The state
prosecutor's indictment was based largely on the MPs' speeches on Kurdish
rights, bugged telephone calls and confessions from jailed separatists. Defence
lawyers maintain the MPs did not have the chance to introduce witnesses and
evidence.

Late on Friday, Ankara managed to win some good marks with a successful vote in
parliament backing proposed amendments to Article 8, but EU sources say it will
not alone go far enough. "It may buy more time, that's all," said one analyst.

Immediately after their release, Turk and Yurtdas said the planned changes were
cosmetic and did not alter the lack of real human rights change in Turkey.

The changes would not affect the MPs still in prison, but sentences on others
accused of "separatist propaganda" could be reduced or commuted to fines.
Scores of intellectuals could be released.

Turkey hailed the 189-83 vote, with two abstentions, as more evidence of the
upgrading process of democracy in the country.

"This development is a further demonstration of Turkey's commitment to the
continuation of democratic reforms," Uluc Ozulker, Turkey's ambassador to the
EU, said in a statement.

(2)

ANKARA, Oct 27 (Reuter) - Two Kurdish MPs, jailed last year for separatist
activities, left Ankara central prison on Friday, more than 24 hours after an
appeals court overturned their convictions and ordered their release, witnesses
said.

Four other Kurdish members of the Turkish parliament remain behind bars after
the same court rejected their appeals.

Looking stern, Ahmet Turk and Sedat Yurtdas walked out of the prison's big grey
doors accompanied by their lawyer, to a warm reception from a small crowd of
friends, supporters and journalists.

They slammed Thursday's decision by Turkey's appeals court to free them while
upholding the 15-year sentences of the other four MPs jailed last year in a
case that has threatened Ankara's bid for a customs union with Europe. "This is
a deception, it was done for the European Union," Yurtdas said. The pair then
made their way by car to their parliamentary residences in Ankara which they
must now vacate.

The jailed deputies' release has been demanded by Ankara's critics in the
European Parliament, which must ratify the customs union deal before it can go
into effect next year.

The court's move, though seen as lame by many European diplomats and
parliamentarians, could still help Turkey get the trade pact if Ankara can also
deliver promised changes to article 8 of its tough anti-terrorism law.

Turk and Yurtdas, standing before the prison where they had been held for more
than a year, criticised planned changes to the phrasing and penalties of
article 8 as merely cosmetic, and expressed disappointment in the lack of real
human rights change in Turkey.

Turk had been serving 15 years for taking orders from the banned separatist
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Yurtdas was given 7.5 years for aiding PKK
guerrillas. All MPs from the pro-Kurdish Democracy Party (DEP) were stripped of
their parliamentary immunity and their MP status last year.

Seven DEP deputies and an independent were tried and convicted last December
but two of them were released for time served. Six others fled to Europe before
they could be prosecuted.

(3)

ANKARA, Turkey (Reuter) - Two Kurdish parliamentarians, fresh from Ankara
central prison, Friday slammed the appeals court that set them free but ordered
four others to serve out 15-year sentences for separatist activities.

"We were not pleased at all by the decision," said former Mardin MP Ahmet Turk,
sitting in his parliamentary residence while his children and grandchildren ran
up for hugs. "We say it today and we will say it tommorrow, who profits from
this situation where the elected representatives of the people are thrown out
of parliament?" Turk, looking wan and thin from 20 months behind bars, told
Reuters.

Turk and former Diyarbakir MP Sedat Yurtdas, released from prison more than 24
hours after the court's decision, accused the court of trying to boost Turkey's
bid for a lucrative customs deal with the European Union.

The release of the jailed deputies has been demanded by Ankara's critics in the
European Parliament, which must ratify the customs union deal due to go into
effect at the start of 1995. The court's move, although seen as insufficient by
many European diplomats and parliamentarians, could still help Turkey get the
trade pact if Ankara can also deliver promised changes to article 8 of its
tough anti-terrorism law.

But Turk said Ankara's planned rewrite of the anti-terror law was a "window
dressing" for Turkey's Western allies and called on Europe to reject the
customs union bid. Turk had been serving 15 years for taking orders from the
banned separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Yurtdas was given 7 1/2 for
aiding PKK guerrillas. They were not accused of taking part in armed actions.

(4)

By Jonathan Lyons

ANKARA, Turkey (Reuter) - The Turkish parliament Friday accepted changes to an
anti-terror law, paving the way for the release of intellectuals, lawyers and
politicians convicted for publicly demanding greater rights for the country's
10 million Kurds.

The changes, sponsored by Prime Minister Tansu Ciller and championed by her
social democratic allies, would allow for reduced jail terms or freedom for
those already convicted under the law.

Turkey's partners in the European Union have for months been seeking the
changes in return for a lucrative customs union worked out early this year. But
some in the European parliament, due finally to debate the customs union in
December, have sought broader changes such as gutting or even scrapping the
1991 law which bans "separatist propaganda." It is not yet clear if the changes
proposed on Friday would satisfy them.

The proposed law would reduce maximum jail terms under the law to three years
from five, make it possible to commute jail terms to fines and require
prosecutors to prove a defendant's remarks were intended to undermine the
unitary Turkish state.

"The basic intent is to make the law compatible with the commitments in our
existing (human rights) treaties and conventions," Onur Oymen, foreign ministry
undersecretary, told a press briefing as MPs began debate. If the reform bill
passes, as Turkish political analysts expect, it would be another shot in the
arm for Ciller, due to form a new government with the social democrats more
than one month after they left her previous government.

Thousands of workers ended a five-week strike Friday, the biggest in the modern
history of Turkey's state sector, after the government offered a $1.3 billion
settlement.

Oymen said the reforms also called for review of all convictions within one
month: "This shows it will have an immediate impact... we think this is a
rather substantial change in our law."

The release from jail Thursday of two of six Kurdish MPs -- some of whom were
convicted under Article 8 of the law -- has so far done little to win over
Turkey's European critics. But opposition even to the current set of proposed
reforms remains entrenched in Turkey's nationalistic parliament, particularly
to any commutation of jail time to fines. "With this law, those who defend
terrorists will pay money and stroll around... while the martyrs lie under the
ground," Orhan Erguder, an Istanbul conservative, told parliament.

Social democrats said the reforms reflected ordinary Turks' yearnings for
greater democracy. "This is not being done because the West wants it, we are
doing it for our people," said social democrat deputy Coskun Gokalp.

Rights activists estimate about 100 people are in jail under Article 8, many of
whom could be freed under the planned review. The terror law dates back to
1991, when it replaced other laws barring communist, fundamentalist and
separatist "activities." It has been used effectively to stifle debate of
Kurdish and human rights issues.

(5)

By Aliza Marcus

ANKARA, Turkey (Reuter) - Turkish human rights monitors and lawyers have
slammed changes to a restrictive law on freedom of expression, charging the
reforms will not stop people from going to jail for things they say or write.

"This is just a trick, a type of cosmetic change that will not protect us from
being punished for our thoughts," said Akin Birdal, head of the independent
Human Rights Association of Turkey, said.

Prime Minister Tansu Ciller has called the changes -- passed by parliament late
Friday -- to Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law banning "separatist propaganda" a
key part of Turkey's drive for greater democratisation.

Article 8, which in Europe became a symbol of alleged human rights abuses in
Turkey, has been used to jail scores of writers, lawyers and others who
demanded broader freedoms for the Kurdish minority or criticised alleged
abuses. But many analysts say the changes do not go far enough to protect
freedom of speech and are little more than a sop to Europe before a trade pact
with Turkey comes to a vote in the European Parliament in December.

"These changes are not acceptable to us, now we have to see whether they are
acceptable for the Europeans," said Haluk Gerger, a Turkish intellectual
released from prison last week after 16 months under Article 8 for writing that
violence results when peaceful channels for dissent are closed.

Rights-conscious Euro-MPs have threatened to veto the customs union -- which
will give Turkey close ties to the European Union and access to financial
credits -- unless Ankara made concrete steps to improve its human rights
record.

Under the amended law, the maximum prison sentences were dropped to three years
from five, jail terms can be commuted to fines or suspended and courts must
prove the defendant intended to disrupt the territorial unity of the Turkish
republic.

Pressure from European allies was seen as the catalyst that led parliament to
approve the changes, which will allow many of the some 100 people now in prison
to be released. Analysts say the changes will not open the way for unfettered
criticism of Turkey and its policies toward the Kurds, some 15 percent of
Turkey's 60 million people.

"The changes are nonsense, a joke, it's like make-up that doesn't fit," said
Mehmet Ali Birand, host of an influential public affairs television program.
"All it showed is that pressure from the European parliament worked because
otherwise you couldn't have pushed parliament to make even this kind of
change," he told Reuters.

The changes also will not affect the estimated 70 additional people human
rights groups say are in prison under other laws for stating their views, such
as Turkish sociologist Ismail Besikci, sentenced to a total of 103 years in
prison for books and articles on the Kurds.

The ban in Article 8 on "separatist propaganda" remains and lawyers say because
intent is not defined, courts could say that simply writing for a pro-Kurdish
publication is proof of intent.

Many Turkish politicians argue limits on speech are needed as long as Kurdish
guerrillas continue their 11-year battle for autonomy or independence in the
mainly Kurdish southeast. More than 18,000 people have died in fighting. But
others say the battle by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) is fuelled by
restrictions on freedom of speech and Kurdish identity, such as bans on
Kurdish-language education and broadcasts and the imprisonment of people who
write about Kurdish history or criticise alleged abuses.

(6)

BRUSSELS, Oct 27 (Reuter) - EU foreign ministers are expected to approve the
last technical details to allow a customs union with Turkey to enter into force
on January 1, 1996 even though it is widely believed the pact is dead.

The foreign ministers will hold an Association Council with Turkey in the
margins of next Monday's GAC in Luxembourg.

"The Association Council is also expected to bolster the current framework of
cooperation between Turkey and the EU including in the financial area," the
Turkish delegation to the EU said in a statement.

The customs pact, which would give Turkey better access to EU markets than
almost any other non-member, must be approved by the European Parliament which
objects to Ankara's human rights record.

The chances of the pact garnering sufficient votes to pass through the
parliament declined further this week when the country's supreme court
confirmed long prison sentences against four Kurdish members of parliament.

The parliament has frequently said ratification of the accord is conditional
upon the freeings of the MPs who were sentenced to up to 15 years in jail last
year for belonging to or abetting the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

The PKK, a guerrilla group fighting against the army in south-eastern Turkey
for the past 11 years, has been blamed by the government for a series of
vicious terrorist attacks.

The European Parliament is due to vote on the issue at its December session.
"The view at the moment is that it may be better to put off a vote rather than
to hold one and lose it," said one EU diplomat.

(7)

BONN, Oct 27 (Reuter) - Germany said on Friday the decision by a Turkish court
to uphold sentences imposed on four Kurdish deputies on separatist charges
would not help Ankara's bid for a customs union with the European Union.

"The verdict of the Turkish court of cassation in the case of the Kurdish
deputies is disappointing," Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel said in a statement,
adding that the German government would study the ruling.

Turkey's appeals court on Thursday ordered the release of two Kurdish deputies,
but upheld the 15-year sentences against four others jailed last year for
separatism. The charges were largely based on speeches made in favour of
broader Kurdish cultural and political rights.

"Bearing in mind the (forthcoming) decision of the European Parliament on the
creation of a customs union between the EU and Turkey, everything must be done
on the Turkish side to create the appropriate conditions," Kinkel said.
"Yesterday's verdict certainly did little to help in this respect. I appeal to
the Turkish national assembly to create the legal conditions so that such
trials cannot be repeated. The appeals decision must not be the last word,"
Kinkel said.

He said Germany had repeatedly put the case of the jailed deputies from the
Democracy Party (DEP) to the Turkish authorities.

(8)

(Reuter) - Turkish President Suleyman Demirel Saturday approved a bill calling
for early general elections, paving the way for Dec. 24 polls despite fears
there is not time to update voting lists. But parliamentarians opposed to early
polls immediately started collecting signatures to force the constitutional
court to review the law in hopes of having it overturned.

"We want the law to be revoked," social democrat MP Mumtaz Soysal told the
state-controlled Anatolian news agency.

Parliament has passed two laws to hold early general elections, one which can
be reviewed by the high court and one which analysts say cannot be reviewed.
But Soysal threatened to find a way to get the second decision overturned as
well.

The bill was originally submitted by Prime Minister Tansu Ciller's True Path
Party and the social democrat Republican People's Party. Ciller's minority
government, which lost a vote of confidence on Oct. 15, holds power on a
caretaker basis.

Some politicians have already cast doubts on whether the polling can be held
because of tough winter conditions that make parts of the country impassable
and the need to update voting lists in line with recent constitutional changes.

Debate now centres on whether Turkey can register 18-year-olds in time for
polling and make provisions to allow citizens overseas to vote. Previously the
voting age was 20. There is also the issue of re-registering voters because of
huge migration from southeast Turkey, where millions of Kurds have fled their
homes because of fighting between separatist Kurdish guerrillas and the Turkish
army.

Last year by-elections were cancelled after the Turkish constitutional court
ruled voting lists had to be updated to allow Kurds driven from their homes the
chance to vote where they had taken refuge.

(9)

By Suna Erdem

ANKARA, Oct 27 (Reuter) - Beleaguered Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller has
been boosted by the end of a big labour strike, but doubts over planned early
polls and the economic strain of a workers' pay rise deal still cloud her
horizon.

Her aim of sealing a customs union with Europe ahead of polls set for December
remains in the balance as Turkey's European allies appear disappointed with an
appeals court decision to release just two of six jailed Kurdish MPs.

Thousands of state workers returned to work on Friday after a five-week strike
ended when the government and trade unions reached a pay rise settlement worth
$1.3 billion.

"Most sectors are resuming work immediately from today," said Yildirim Koc, a
senior official at Turkey's largest trade union confederation Turk-Is, which
struck the pay deal with Ciller's government on Thursday. He told Reuters all
workers who took part in the strike that helped sink Ciller's minority
government in a confidence vote earlier this month would be back at work by
Monday.

The end of the strike of up to 335,000 public workers comes as immediate relief
for Ciller, but Thursday's big pay settlement, expected to cost $1.3 billion in
1995 alone, will hamper her efforts to cure the economy's rampant ills.

Turkish economists expect the next government will have to launch a tough
stabilisation package similar to Ciller's 1994 economic austerity plan, brought
in after a financial crisis.

Ciller had resisted early elections until she lost the vote of confidence,
saying an election economy would hinder her stringency plan and vote-seeking
campaigning would detract from vital aims such as passing laws for customs
union. But after the vote, her True Path Party (DYP) and its prospective social
democrat coalition partners proposed the bill that was passed early on Friday
setting early elections for December 24. Elections are due any time before late
October, 1996.

Several hurdles remain before the date is fixed for good, and opposition
parties and the state election authority cast doubts the polls could be held
that soon.

Opposition MPs say the poll date is a Ciller ploy to find an unfeasible
election formula, enabling her to stay in office longer until the ensuing
confusion is sorted out. "We believe she either expects the constitutional
court will annul the bill or that the High Election Committee (YSK) will say it
cannot organise elections in time," said Oltan Sungurlu, a deputy chairman of
main opposition Motherland Party (ANAP).

The liberal Yeni Yuzyil daily quoted YSK chairman Nihat Yavuz as saying it
would be very hard to hold polls in December, saying plans to do so were out of
"political caprice".

But President Suleyman Demirel told the Anatolian news agency that early polls
would breathe new life into Turkish politics, in turmoil since September 20 when
Ciller ended her right-left coalition and the workers strike began.

Also on Friday, two pro-Kurdish MPs, jailed last year for "separatism", left
Ankara central prison more than 24 hours after Turkey's appeals court overturned
their convictions. But the decision to keep four other Kurdish members of the
Turkish parliament behind bars after the court rejected their appeals has
disappointed Turkey's Western allies and left in doubt a vote by the European
Parliament on customs union.

"Yesterday's verdict certainly did little to help in this respect," German
Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel said in Bonn. The rights-conscious Euro-MPs are
due to vote in December on Turkey's goal for a customs deal with Europe.

(10)

ANKARA, Oct 27 (Reuter) - Thousands of Turkish state workers returned to work
on Friday after a five-week strike ended when the government and trade unions
reached a pay rise settlement worth $1.3 billion, union officials said.

"Most sectors are resuming work immediately from today," said Yildirim Koc, a
senior official at Turkey's largest trade union confederation Turk-Is, which
struck the pay deal with Prime Minister Tansu Ciller's minority government on
Thursday. He told Reuters all striking workers, whose number fell to about
200,000 from 335,000 on October 17 after the government ordered workers in key
sectors back to work, would return to the workplace on Monday at the latest.

Union officials from non-sugar agriculture and cement sectors said their
workers resumed work on Friday.

Ciller's government gave the workers retroactive 16 percent pay rises for each
half of this year. It also pledged a rise of 18 percent for the first six
months of 1996 and 20 percent for the second half.

The 1995 rise will cost the cash-short treasury 65 trillion Turkish lira
($1.3 billion), officials said.

Economy officials say the back-dated wage payments will put a substantial
strain on the over-burdened treasury, whose outstanding domestic debt stood at
1,190 trillion lira ($23.6 billion) in September.

At its height, the strike caused losses of $10 million a day in foreign trade
alone. Under Thursday's agreement, the minimum net monthly wage for a state
worker will rise to 12 million lira ($238) from the current 6.6 million
($131).

The average annual increase for 1995 comes to 34.6 percent -- well below the
year-on-year consumer price inflation of 91.3 percent. The government's 1996
inflation target of 45 percent is also higher than the 41.6 percent rise for
workers next year.

(11)

By Servet Yildirim

ANKARA, Oct 27 (Reuter) - Turkish economists expect the next government to
launch a tough stabilisation package after parliamentary elections planned for
late December.

But any effort to cure the economy's rampant ills will be further hampered by
Thursday's big pay settlement for public sector workers, expected to cost $1.3
billion in 1995 alone.

"Turkey must implement a new stability package which I believe should have
been introduced (already). It has been delayed due to political concerns,"
Izzettin Onder, a professor of economics at Istanbul University, told Reuters.

The Turkish parliament approved a bill on Friday for early general elections on
December 24, but several hurdles remain before the date is fixed for good.

The inflation-ridden economy, struggling with big deficits, may suffer more
ahead of the polls from increased farm subsidies and the new pay deal, which
ended a five-week strike. Both were seen by economists and analysts as
pre-election manoeuvres by Prime Minister Tansu Ciller to win votes.

"Pay rises will boost domestic demand, push up inflation and increase public
borrowing needs. Its effect will be felt in inflation over the next four
months," a planning official said.

Businessmen and economists say Turkey must stabilise its economy in 1996 when
it hopes to begin a customs union with Europe. They fear some Turkish producers
will not be able to compete with their rivals after the accord takes effect,
unless interest rates and inflation are brought down to European levels.

Inflation is now running at around 80 percent and compound interest rates on
treasury bills hit 130 percent.

Any new government will have to focus efforts on curbing inflation, narrowing
budget and trade deficits, managing high debts, and speeding up privatisation.

Turkey last launched a stabilisation programme in April 1994 when the country
was hit by a financial crisis. The 1994 measures, also backed by the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) through a stand-by loan, calmed the markets,
reduced inflation from triple digits to 80 percent and helped the economy
recover after a contraction of 6.1 percent in 1994.

But the economy has worsened since mid-September when Turkey was hit by
political turmoil after Ciller's right-left coalition collapsed and some
350,000 workers went on strike over a pay dispute. The dispute was solved on
Thursday and workers are returning to their jobs.

Cutting real wages was part of the 1994 IMF recipe which most economic analysts
say Turkey must retain.

"A new government may also seek to extend the duration of the IMF stand-by
agreement," Fettullah Acil, deputy general manager of Tekstil Bank, said. The
accord will end in February.

Professor Onder thinks the government may also support the package with a
"reasonable dose of devaluation" to eliminate the overvaluation of the lira in
a move to increase Turkish exporters' competitiveness in Western markets.

But Ergun Ozen, assistant general manager of Garanti Bankasi, said Turkey
should depreciate the lira smoothly instead of devaluing the currency sharply
in a one-off move in order to avoid boosting inflation and destabilising the
markets.

Under a new package, Turkey will probably impose delayed public sector price
increases and curb wage rises. The central bank is likely to restrict monetary
expansion which economists say blocked Turkey's efforts to bring down
inflation. Bankers say Turkey will pursue tight monetary policies under which
interest rates are to be held at high levels.

(12)

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuter) - Turkish security forces killed 38 Kurdish rebels
and lost four of their own in fresh clashes in southeastern Turkey, the
regional governor's office said Sunday.

Twenty-six guerrillas of the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) were
killed during an operation Saturday night near Genc town in Bingol province.
Four soldiers died and five others were wounded in the clash, the office said.

On the same day, troops killed five PKK rebels in Cukurca town near the Iraqi
border. Seven other PKK guerrillas were killed in two separate clashes in the
southeastern towns of Hazro and Yuksekova.

More than 18,000 people have died since 1984 when the PKK launched an armed
campaign for an independent Kurdish state in the southeast.


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 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)