From kurdeng at aps.nl Thu Sep 14 06:46:35 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 14 Sep 1995 06:46:35 Subject: TURKEY HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1993 References: Message-ID: Subject: TURKEY HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1993 PART 3 TURKEY HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1993 part 3 Source: U.S. Department of State From: kendal at nucst9.neep.wisc.edu (Kendal) Date: 4 Feb 1994 21:45:23 GMT Distribution: world In all, five journalists were assassinated in 1993. On January 24 prominent journalist and secularist Ugur Mumcu was killed by a bomb that had been placed under his car. Three different Islamic groups claimed responsibility for his killing. By year's end, none of these murders had been solved. On September 21 Ali Sahap Samk, a teacher in Diyarbakir and member of the leftist teachers' union, Egit Sen, was shot and killed by unidentified persons outside his home. The Diyarbakir leader of the labor union blamed security forces for the murder. In most cases, the Government failed to initiate any public inquiry or to press charges in connection with these murders. In September the regional governor for the southeast asserted that 200 mystery murders which occurred in the region between July 1991 and July 1992 had been solved. To date none of the cases has been prosecuted, and no evidence has been proferred to back up his claim. In May the press reported that the then Interior minister downplayed the 1992 murders of 15 journalists by claiming that only 4 of the 15 murdered journalists were "real" journalists, and the others were killed as a result of clashes between rival factions in the southeast. A delegation of the International Federation of Journalists visited Turkey in March to investigate the increasing number of unsolved murder cases in the southeast; the head of the delegation said PEN believes that Turkey, where 15 journalists had been murdered over the last 15 months, posed a major danger to reporters. A parliamentary committee investigated the mystery murders in 1993 but had issued no report by year's end. In early March, an SHP delegation submitted its report to the Ministry of Justice and suggested assigning a team of public prosecutors to Silvan, Batman, Nusaybin, Kiziltepe, and Midyat to investigate the mysterious murders. The report said local people had lost their confidence in the current prosecutors and other officials who have been unable to solve the murders so far. As of the end of 1993, the Justice Ministry had issued no public response. Political murders carried out by terrorists occurred predominantly in southeast Anatolia. Victims of killings almost certainly perpetrated by the PKK included state officials (Jandarma, local mayors, and schoolteachers), paramilitary village guards (and family members), and persons suspected of supporting rightwing terrorist groups. According to Milliyet, a mainstream newspaper, in the period between June 1992 and June 1993, unidentified assailants murdered 20 teachers in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir alone. In early January, a group of alleged PKK militants stabbed to death Halis Sisman, an elementary schoolteacher in Yassica village, Bitlis. On September 21, unidentified persons shot and killed primary schoolteacher Ahmet Arcagok in Diyarbakir. Other victims were found with Turkish lira notes stuffed in their mouths, a signal that the person killed was thought to be a government collaborator. On May 24 the PKK attacked a number of buses killing 33 unarmed recruits in civilian clothing, thus ending the PKK's unilateral spring cease-fire. In that action, as many as 150 PKK members blocked the Bingol-Elazig highway, stopped buses, pulled the recruits from the buses, and executed them. The PKK also targeted state-paid village guards. On August 4, for example, the PKK raided a radio relay station near Yuksekova in Hakkari province, killing eight soldiers and two village guards. Religious officials also were political murder victims. PKK militants on May 4 reportedly kidnaped Abdulselam Eran, imam of Baloglu village, Kulp, from his home in Comlekci hamlet, and his body was found near the village a week later. There were incidents of religious violence; the worst occurred in Sivas on July 2 when a crowd of Islamic fundamentalists set fire to a hotel, killing 37 people. The purported target of their ire was well-known author and humorist Aziz Nesin, the translator of Salman Rushdie's "The Satanic Verses." Nesin escaped, but 37 people perished, and approximately 100 were injured. The crowd also toppled statues of Ataturk and martyred Alawi poet Abdal Pir Sultan. Many criticized the city government and police for failing to take adequate security measures in a timely manner, despite prior evidence of the potential for such violence. Dev Sol, a violent Marxist-Leninist group, though substantially weakened by police actions against it in 1991 and 1992, resurfaced in August and September, claiming responsibility for several shootings, including the August 25 assassination of Recep Silo, an analyst with the Turkish National Intelligence Organization, as he watched a soccer game at his neighborhood field. b. Disappearance Disappearances continued to occur in 1993, while, with one exception, those reported in 1992 and earlier remained unsolved. Some disappeared after witnesses reported they had been taken into custody by security forces. In some of these cases, the person's body was later discovered, as happened in the disappearance of Ferhat Tepe (see Section 1.a.). Ayse Malkac, a correspondent working in Ozgur Gundem's Istanbul bureau, disappeared midmorning on August 7 after leaving her office and has not been seen since. Eyewitnesses claimed to have seen her being detained in the street by plainclothes police officers, but local authorities denied taking Malkac into custody. Human rights groups, journalists, and others alleged the complicity of security forces in this and other disappearances. PKK terrorists continued their frequent abductions of local villagers, teachers, religious figures, and officials in the southeast, many of whose bodies were later discovered. The PKK expanded its kidnaping activities to include foreign tourists. Several Western tourists were kidnaped during the summer but eventually released unharmed, after periods of captivity ranging from 2 to 5 weeks. c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Despite the Constitution's ban on torture, Turkey's accession to the U.N. and European Conventions Against Torture, and the public pledges of successive governments to do away with torture, the practice continued. Human rights attorneys and physicians who treat victims of torture state that most persons charged with, or merely suspected of, political crimes suffer torture, usually during periods of incommunicado detention in police stations and Jandarma headquarters before they are brought before a court. Anecdotal evidence suggested that the implementation of the CMUK facilitated more immediate attorney access to those arrested for common crimes. However, human rights groups have not yet ascertained a related decrease in allegations of torture. The U.S.-based Helsinki Watch advised that its reports indicated that torture continued to be used in police interrogation centers against about half of ordinary criminal suspects. CMUK does not apply to those detained under the Anti-Terror Law. The HRF reported that there was no indication either of the amelioration of treatment of those charged under the Anti-Terror Law or of an overall decrease in the incidence of torture in 1993. Human rights observers report that the system whereby the arresting police officer is also responsible for interrogating the suspect is conducive to torture because the officer seeks to obtain a confession that would justify the arrest. According to those familiar with Turkish police operations, in petty criminal cases, the arresting officer is responsible for following up on the case, whereas in major cases such as murder and political or terrorism-related crimes, "desks" responsible for the area in question are responsible for the interrogation. Credible reports from former detainees and professionals who rehabilitate victims state that commonly employed methods of torture include: high-pressure cold water hoses, electric shocks, beating of the genitalia, hanging by the arms, blindfolding, sleep deprivation, deprivation of clothing, systematic beatings, and vaginal and anal rape with truncheons and, in some instances, gun barrels. HRA offices have also reported the use by police of tiny cells in which detainees are incarcerated for periods up to 10 hours to coerce confessions. Within the last 2 months of 1993, the HRF received three reports from former detainees who say they have been taken to a deserted construction site and tortured there. Nilufer Koc, an interpreter who has lived in Germany for the past 20 years, was detained in Sirnak province while accompanying a German delegation in Turkey. She claimed that her torture included being hung by handcuffs from a hook for 2 hours, repeatedly hosed with cold water while naked, beaten, grabbed by the hair and having her head hit against the wall, and a weapon held against her forehead and told to make a last wish. Security forces believed her to be involved in PKK activities and wanted information about the activities of the PKK in Germany. After her release, Koc returned to Germany. The Turkish Government denied there was a problem. Although the Government asserted that medical examinations occur once during detention and a second time before either arraignment or release, former detainees asserted that some medical examinations took place too long after the event to allow any definitive findings, some examinations were cursory, and some were done in the presence of police officials. Human rights groups reported that some doctors were occasionally under pressure to submit false or misleading medical certificates, denying evidence of torture. According to the HRF, practice varies widely; in some cases proper examinations are conducted, and in others doctors sign off on papers handed to them. Authorities do not consistently investigate allegations of such abuses, and perpetrators are rarely sanctioned. Credible sources in the human rights and legal communities estimate that judicial authorities investigate only about one-half of the formal complaints involving torture and prosecute only a small fraction of those. Lawyers report harassment and threats for taking on torture cases, for example, anonymous telephone calls threatening they will suffer the same fate as Metin Can (see Section 1.a.). In one case, however, five policemen charged in a 1986 torture case which occurred in the Sebin Karahisar township of Giresun on the Black Sea coast were sentenced by the Giresun criminal court to terms ranging from 10 months to 6 years and 8 months. Two officers were acquitted. The Court of Appeals upheld the sentences, leaving the convicted policemen no further legal recourse. --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Tue Sep 12 21:35:24 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 12 Sep 1995 21:35:24 Subject: AI: Turkey bulletin References: Message-ID: ------------ Forwarded from : Ray Mitchell ------------ +------------------------------------------------------+ + AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL URGENT ACTION BULLETIN + + Electronic distribution authorised + + This bulletin expires: 12 October 1995. + +------------------------------------------------------+ EXTERNAL AI Index: EUR 44/89/95 EXTRA 101/95 Fear of "disappearance" / Torture 7 September 1995 TURKEY Gulbahar Nifak, nee Alici (f), aged 19, married with one child Lezgin Alici, aged 20, her brother Amnesty International is extremely concerned for the safety of Gulbahar Nifak and her brother Lezgin Alici, detained by police in the early hours of 4 September 1995. Reports indicating that Gulbahar Nifak has already been tortured have further heightened concern for the two young people, whose detention has so far not been acknowledged by the authorities. At about 3am on 4 September, police raided the Alici family house in Diyarbakir and detained 19-year-old Gulbahar Nifak and Lezgin Alici, aged 20. The following day, 5 September, a group of about seven police officers brought Gulbahar back to the house. The police searched the house, claiming that there were weapons there and insisting that the family disclose where they were. The family denied that there were any weapons in the house. The police then confiscated tape cassettes, photograph albums and some poetry manuscripts. The police asked Gulbahar some questions and began to beat her. They told her to kiss her two-year-old son, saying, "You may not see him again" and then took her away. According to her relatives, G=FClbahar was in a very poor physical state and had apparently been tortured. On 6 September Gulbahar and Lezgin's father applied for confirmation of the detention of his son and daughter to the prosecutor's office at the State Security Court in Diyarbakir, where the detention of political detainees have to be registered. His application was rejected. At the Diyarbakir Police Headquarters he was told that they would be able to give him an answer in a week's time. BACKGROUND INFORMATION Gulbahar and Lezgin Alici's sister Nalan Alici was detained in mid-March 1994 and after two days in police custody was committed to Diyarbakir Closed Prison on charges of membership of an illegal organization. She was held in prison until October 1994 when she was released while her trial continued. She absconded, though her trial continues. Police pressure on the Alici family has become worse during the past three months. About three months ago at around 2am, four plainclothes police officers came to the father's house and asked for Nalan. They took three of the children present in the house to Nalan's elder sister. One of them then admitted having seen Nalan Alici the previous Sunday. The police threatened Nalan Alici's father, telling him that he was to get Nalan to deliver herself into custody, otherwise they would take his son Lezgin. +-----------------------------------------------------------+ + 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 Tue Sep 12 21:39:16 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 12 Sep 1995 21:39:16 Subject: AI: Turkey bulletin References: Message-ID: 19; Tue, 12 Sep 1995 20:13:37 -0800 ------------ Forwarded from : Ray Mitchell ------------ +------------------------------------------------------+ + AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL URGENT ACTION BULLETIN + + Electronic distribution authorised + +------------------------------------------------------+ EXTERNAL AI Index: EUR 44/91/95 8 September 1995 Further information on UA 185/95 (EUR 44/83/95, 28 July 1995) - "Disappearance" / Fear of Torture TURKEY Ihsan Yazici, father of 12 Amnesty International has now been informed that Ihsan Yazici was released from police custody on 14 August 1995. It is not known whether any charges were brought against him or how he was treated in police custody. No further action is required. We thank all participants who sent appeals on Ihsan Yazici's behalf. +-----------------------------------------------------------+ + If you would like information 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 Sat Sep 16 23:30:44 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 16 Sep 1995 23:30:44 Subject: AI: Turkey bulletin References: Message-ID: ------------ Forwarded from : Ray Mitchell ------------ +------------------------------------------------------+ + AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL URGENT ACTION BULLETIN + + Electronic distribution authorised + + This bulletin expires: 25 October 1995. + +------------------------------------------------------+ EXTERNAL AI Index: EUR 44/93/95 EXTRA 106/95 "Fear of "disappearance"/Torture 14 September 1995 TURKEY Zafer Kirbiyik, student aged 24 Zafer Kirbiyik, a student, was detained in Mersin on 12 September 1995 and has "disappeared" in police custody. Amnesty International fears that he may be subjected to torture . On 12 September a local bus was stopped by armed men in plainclothes in the Pozcu district of Mersin near the Cumhuriyet police station. The men boarded the bus and after a struggle, Zafer Kirbiyik either jumped out or was pushed out. He shouted to passers-by: "My name is Zafer Kirbiyik, tell the Human Rights Association!" He was then bundled into a car with the registration number 33 SS 70? [the last letter could not be established] and the car drove off. Witnesses to the incident informed the Human Rights Association office in Mersin. After making inquiries at the State Prosecutor's Office, Zafer Kirbiyik's lawyers were told that no one by the name of Zafer Kirbiyik had been registered as detained. The lawyers have been unable to establish contact with anybody at Mersin Police Headquarters. The Detention Monitoring Office at Ankara General Police Headquarters, in operation since 1 August 1995, replied that they have no information about his detention. No Detention Monitoring Office has been set up in Mersin so far. Zafer Kirbiyik was one of 21 people detained in Ankara on 17 April 1994 (see UA EXTRA 24/94, 22 April 1994 and update of 6 May 1994) in connection with the legal magazine Alinteri (Toil) which had not been granted permission to display posters in preparation for 1 May. Zafer Kirbiyik was caught with six others as they were hanging the posters without permission in the Etlik district of Ankara and were handed over to the Anti-Terror Branch of Ankara Police Headquarters. His house was raided by the police that same night and his sister Firdevs detained as well. All detainees later alleged that they had been tortured in police custody. On 2 May he and one other were committed to prison and charged with membership of an illegal armed organization. Zafer Kirbiyik was released on 12 September 1994 at the first hearing before Ankara State Security Court. On 11 December 1994 he was detained again with three other people for putting up posters for Alinteri in Ankara. They later stated: "We were taken to Ostim Police Station. There they started to beat us. For two and a half hours we were subjected to degrading treatment by uniformed police. We were taken by plainclothes officers to Ankara Anti-Terror Branch. In the car I was hit and insulted. Some of us were hosed with water under pressure, and our heads were beaten against the wall. Two friends were hit on their eyes and ears, another was bleeding from nose and head. We were not properly examined at the Forensic Medicine Institute. One of us was threatened with 'disappearance'." They were released again on 12 December 1994. On 16 February 1995 Zafer Kirbiyik was sentenced in absentia to 12 years' imprisonment, and the same day a warrant was issued for his arrest. BACKGROUND INFORMATION 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 A*ar, announced that a unit would be set up, as from 1 August, to track detained persons. Unfortunately, Detention Monitoring Offices are presently 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. A lawyer who applied to the office on several occasions in August to track people lost in police detention told Amnesty International that the staff at the office "try to be helpful, but unfortunately they seem to be denied information by other branches of the police force - the Anti-Terror Branch in particular". 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 Sun Sep 17 19:08:12 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 17 Sep 1995 19:08:12 Subject: AI: Turkey bulletin References: Message-ID: ------------ Forwarded from : Ray Mitchell ------------ +------------------------------------------------------+ + AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL URGENT ACTION BULLETIN + + Electronic distribution authorised + + This bulletin expires: 1 November 1995. + +------------------------------------------------------+ EXTERNAL AI Index: AMR 53/10/95 15 September 1995 Further information on UA 176/95 (AMR 53/09/95, 19 July 1995) - Fear of Torture VENEZUELA Isabelino Bustamante, aged 60 (corrected age) and new names: Jose Hernandez, aged 27 Miguel Angel Guerrero, aged 55 Francisco Lara, aged 51 Martin Alavarez, aged 54 Juan Gomez, aged 47 Rodolfo Alvarez, aged 22 Antonio Dominguez, aged 61 Justo Pereira, aged 65 Trina Diaz (f), aged 58 Jose Ballona, aged 40 Alvaro Ballona, aged 29 Guillermo Lopez, aged 48 Ana de Lopez (f), aged 49 Mirian Lopez (f), aged 17 Judith Baldoyo (f), aged 24 Octavio Sabogal, aged 34 Luis Arguello, aged 39 Marcos Sanchez, aged 60 Amnesty International has received detailed reports of the torture of the 19 people named above (originally thought to have been 20). All have now been released from detention. The 19 had been arrested in Guasdualito, Apure State, by the Policia Tecnica Judicial (PTJ), Judicial Technical Police, between the 8 and 27 July 1995 (not all on the 19 July, as previously reported). The detainees have been interviewed and examined by medical personnel from the well-known Caracas-based non-governmental organization, Red de Apoyo por la Justicia y la Paz, Support Network for Peace and Justice. All were reportedly suffering from various post-traumatic symptoms, both psychological and physical. The detainees have described the various torture methods and threats that were used against them. They also stated that, while in detention, they were forced into signing statements that they had not been tortured, and they had been denied medical care before and after their torture. The official forensic doctor of Guasdualito is said to have stated in a report to the government that the detainees were in perfect physical condition, and the state attorney (Fiscal) of Guasdualito has also apparently stated that the detainees were not tortured. However, one of the detainees alleges that he asked the prosecutor to intervene to stop the torture, but when she (the state attorney) communicated this to the authorities, the detainee in question was subjected to further torture. To Amnesty International's knowledge, no investigation has been initiated into the detainees' allegations of torture and the subsequent medical confirmation of these allegations by the medical personnel of Red de Apoyo. +-----------------------------------------------------------+ + 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 Sun Sep 17 19:08:59 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 17 Sep 1995 19:08:59 Subject: AI: Turkey bulletin References: Message-ID: id VT18477; Sun, 17 Sep 1995 19:37:12 -0800 ------------ Forwarded from : Ray Mitchell ------------ +------------------------------------------------------+ + AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL URGENT ACTION BULLETIN + + Electronic distribution authorised + + This bulletin expires: 15 October 1995. + +------------------------------------------------------+ EXTERNAL AI Index: EUR 44/94/95 15 September 1995 Further information on EXTRA 106/95 (EUR 44/93/95, 14 September 1995) - Fear of "disappearance" / Torture TURKEY Zafer Kirbiyik, student, aged 24 new name: Firdevs Kirbiyik (f), his sister, board member of Health Workers' Union, Tum Saglik Sen The authorities have confirmd that Zafer Kirbiyik is being held in police custody. However, it has not been disclosed where he is being held nor for how long he may be held. On the afternoon of 15 September, his sister Firdevs Kirbiyik was also detained in Mersin, reportedly in the street. She had come to Mersin to try and find out where her brother was being held. No further details are available at this stage. Like Zafer Kirbiyik, Firdevs Kirbiyik was detained twice previously in Ankara and alleged that she had been tortured (see EXTRA 24/94, EUR 44/28/94, 22 April and follow-up (EUR 44/33/94, 6 May 1994). +-----------------------------------------------------------+ + 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 Wed Sep 20 21:44:26 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 20 Sep 1995 21:44:26 Subject: AI: Turkey bulletin References: Message-ID: ------------ Forwarded from : Ray Mitchell ------------ +------------------------------------------------------+ + AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL URGENT ACTION BULLETIN + + Electronic distribution authorised + + This bulletin expires: 18 October 1995. + +------------------------------------------------------+ EXTERNAL AI Index: EUR 44/96/95 EXTRA 107/95 Fear of "disappearance" / Fear of torture18 September 1995 TURKEY Serif Yilmaz, aged 15 Samil Yilmaz, his brother, aged 35 Amnesty International is concerned for the safety of brothers Serif and Samil Yilmaz, who are being held in unacknowledged detention. Serif Yilmaz, who is living in Istanbul with one of his brothers, was visiting his mother in =C7evrecik village in the Kulludere district of Hizan= , province of Bitlis. According to his mother, Muhbet Yilmaz, a team of gendarmes (soldiers carrying out police duties in rural areas) and village guards came to her house on 1 September 1995 and took the boy away. When she went to the Kulludere Gendarmerie Station to inquire about her son, it was denied that he was being held. One week later, on 7 September, Serif's elder brother Samil Yilmaz, living in Van, was detained there and taken to Van Gendarmerie Station. Again, his detention was denied when the family made inquiries, despite the fact that, as in the case of Serif, his detention had been witnessed. 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 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 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. A lawyer who applied to the office on several occasions in August to track people lost in police detention told Amnesty International that the staff at the office "try to be helpful, but unfortunately they seem to be denied information by other branches of the police force - the Anti-Terror Branch in particular". 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 Sep 21 01:40:27 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 21 Sep 1995 01:40:27 Subject: AI: Turkey bulletin References: Message-ID: 0:57:26 -0800 kcc at magi.com writes: >Hallo Tabe! > >Please unsub KCC (kcc at magi.com) from kurd-eng for the time being. >But, please subscribe AKIN (mail06672 at pop.net) instead! > >Dank je wel, hoor! Done! You can unsubscribe by sending mail to listserver2aps.nl in the message you write "unsubscribe kurdeng" Biji Kurdistan Tabe From kurdeng at aps.nl Sun Sep 24 01:39:03 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 24 Sep 1995 01:39:03 Subject: AI: Turkey bulletin References: Message-ID: ------------ Forwarded from : Ray Mitchell ------------ +------------------------------------------------------+ + AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL URGENT ACTION BULLETIN + + Electronic distribution authorised + + This bulletin expires: 10 November 1995. + +------------------------------------------------------+ EXTERNAL AI Index: EUR 44/97/95 UA 225/95 Fear of "disappearance" / Fear of torture 22 September 1995 TURKEY Hamza Guneri, aged 36 On 11 September 1995, plainclothes police came to the home of Hamza Guneri in Agri, detained him in front of his wife and three children, and took him away. On 12 September his sister-in-law Guvercin Guneri went to the Anti-Terror Branch of Agri Police Headquarters to make inquiries as to his whereabouts. His detention was then acknowledged. However, on 15 September, police attached to the Anti-Terror Branch came to Hamza Guneri's home and told his family that he had escaped from custody. When the Human Rights Association branch in Agri inquired with the Anti- Terror Branch of Agri Police Headquarters, they were told the same thing. Amnesty International is seriously concerned for Hamza Guneri's safety. His family, having had no news of him since his detention, fear that he has "disappeared" in police custody, given that an escape from Anti-Terror Branch custody is virtually unheard of. 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, 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. 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 Sat Sep 30 18:09:31 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 30 Sep 1995 18:09:31 Subject: AI: Turkey bulletin References: Message-ID: id VT21174; Sat, 30 Sep 1995 13:50:54 -0800 ------------ Forwarded from : Ray Mitchell ------------ EXTERNAL AI Index: EUR 44/100/95 EXTRA 114/95 Torture / Fear of further torture 28 September 1995 TURKEY Habib =C7iftci, a Kurd Habib =C7iftci was detained in Istanbul on 3 September 1995 and interrogated for 15 days at the Anti-Terror Branch of Istanbul Police Headquarters. According to a detainee, now released, who heard him whisper his name, Habib =C7iftci was very severely tortured during that time. The released detainee has stated that after interrogation sessions, Habib =C7iftci was thrown into the cell unconscious and left lying with a towel thrown over his face. As soon as he stirred trying to remove the towel, he was taken back for further torture. On 19 September, Habib =C7iftci was transferred to the Police Headquarters i= n Batman. The state prosecutor in Batman has given permission for him to be held and interrogated there for another 13 days. Under emergency legislation in force in Batman province he could be held there for a total of 30 days. Amnesty International continues to fear for Habib =C7iftci's safety while he is held incommunicado in Batman Police Headquarters, where severe torture has been reported in the past (see background). Habib =C7iftci was previously detained in July 1994. During a police operation in Istanbul against suspected members and supporters of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) he was one of 24 people then taken into police custody. No further details are known. BACKGROUND INFORMATION Three people died during interrogation at Batman Police Headquarters in 1992, apparently as a result of torture. People interrogated at the same time as those who died reported particularly brutal torture and medical evidence of torture was suppressed with misleading medical certificates. On 4 August 1994, Abdullah Baskin, a young villager, died after interrogation at Batman Gendarmerie Headquarters, where he had been subjected to hanging by the wrists tied behind the back, beatings and electric shocks. 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, 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. Any person suspected of supporting the PKK or any other illegal armed organization is at serious risk of torture, "disappearance" or extrajudicial execution. At least 20 cases of "disappearance" in police custody and six deaths in police custody have been reported in 1995 so far. ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurdeng at aps.nl Wed Sep 6 17:21:58 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 06 Sep 1995 17:21:58 Subject: Turkish Press Review References: Message-ID: id VT16876; Wed, 06 Sep 1995 16:51:06 -0800 MONDAY SEPTEMBER 4, 1995 Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning TURK SHOT DEAD IN COLOGNE A 42-year-old Turkish man was shot dead and his two children criticially injured in the west German city of Cologne overnight, German police said. Three people fled by car after the shooting, which occured outside a catering establishment, but police later detained a 21-year-old Turkish man. Police said that the incident was probably an internal Turkish affair and dismissed the theory of a political attack, usually attributed to members of the PKK terrorist organization. /Sabah/ OPERATIONS AGAINST PKK The Turkish Armed Forces have initiated in Tunceli a new operation against the PKK terrorist organization. More than 10,000 specially trained commandos will take part in the operation aiming to destroy PKK camps in the Tunceli region. A military official noted that the operation would be a "smashing blow" against the separatist organization. Clashes between the PKK organization and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) continue in Northern Iraq. KDP Ankara representative, Sefin Dizayi, said that the KDP had began to gain control over the region. Skirmishes between the PKK and KDP, have continued for 20 days, 50 people from both sides have been killed. PKK terrorists, mainly using hit-and-run tactics, have attacked the town of Zaho in Northern Iraq. Dizayi noted that the goal of the KDP was to clean the PKK out of the region and then to prevent their penetration into the region again. The KDP representative said that some difficulties had arisen from the geographic characteristics of the region and added that the PKK had to be pushed out of the region before the winter came, because the winter would provide some strategic advantages to PKK terrorists. On the other hand, Governer of the Emergency Region, Unal Erkan, noted that during the first eight months of 1995, 500 PKK terrorists surrendered to the security forces and 4,000 others were rendered ineffective. Turkish security forces have also suffered casualities: According to Defence Minister Mehmet Golhan, 2,762 Turkish soldiers have been killed in the struggle against the PKK terrorist organization so far. /Cumhuriyet, Milliyet, Hurriyet/ --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Wed Sep 6 17:22:54 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 06 Sep 1995 17:22:54 Subject: Turkish Press Review References: Message-ID: .nl (V-MailServer 2.20) id VT16890; Wed, 06 Sep 1995 16:51:18 -0800 TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 5, 1995 Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning PKK SUPPORTER KILLED IN CLASH WITH TURKS IN GERMANY A supporter of the PKK terrorist organization was killed and several were injured overnight in clashes between ethnic Kurds and Turks at Neumuenster in northwest Germany. According to police, the Kurds, armed with knives, axes, and clubs, attacked about 15 Turkish customers in a cafe. Fierce fighting erupted in which a Turk fired a gun. Several Kurds were hit by bullets and one died later in hospital. Chairman of the Union of Turkish Emigrants and Hamburg Parliament Deputy Prof.Dr.Hakki Keskin asked the Turkish people living in Germany not to succumb to provocations. According to a statement of Neumuenster police, two PKK supporters were killed and another two were seriously injured during the incident. /Cumhuriyet-Hurriyet/ COUNCIL OF EUROPE DISCUSSING TURKEY The Political Commission of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly is discussing Turkey's democratization process in a series of meetings that began in Paris yesterday. The Commission is supposed to put Turkey's situation on the agenda of the Parliamentary Assembly's meeting later this month. PKK ANTI-SEMITICISM The latest issue of the German weekly magazine Der Spiegel carries an article on new PKK anti-semiticism. According to Der Spiegel, PKK terrorist leader Abdullah "Apo" Ocalan has been quoted as saying that there are evidences of Jewish involvement in areas of Turkish activity, both in the past and today. PKK leader Ocalan has also accused the Jews of secretly supporting Turkey in operations against Iraqi Kurds. /Hurriyet/ CUSTOMS UNION MOVES INTENSIFY Turkey is taking urgent steps towards customs union with the EU. European Parliament (EP) members have been invited to Turkey so that they can come to better understand the issues involved. Prime Minister Tansu Ciller will soon tour the EU member countries. It has been announced that Ciller will pay her first visit to Brussels on 5 October and then go on to Spain, the current term chairman of the EU. Turkish officials have disclosed that voting for Turkey's customs union membership will be either in November or December and that both Foreign Minister Erdal Inonu and Foreign Ministry Undresecretary Onur Oymen, will pay visits to EU capitals. /Hurriyet/ PKK FREE ZONE PLAN According to a statement by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the PKK terrorist organization, after having deployed all of its forces in the Hayirsiz Mountains, was planning to establish a "free zone" in the Zaho-Duhok region of northern Iraq. The free zone will be used as a base for the Kurdish Parliament now in exile, high level KDP officials said. It was further reported that during the latest clashes between PKK terrorists and KDP forces in the Mergasor region, the PKK suffered many casualties. /Cumhuriyet/ 20 PKK TERRORISTS KILLED In a skirmish between Turkish security forces and PKK terrorists in the Karanlik Mountains to the west of Hakkari, 18 terrorists were killed. In operations in the province of Mus, another two PKK terrorists were killed, and two others surrendered to security forces. /Cumhuriyet/ --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Sun Sep 10 17:21:39 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 10 Sep 1995 17:21:39 Subject: Turkish Press Review References: Message-ID: FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 8, 1995 -------------------------- Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning TEHRAN MEETING ENDS WITH MUTUAL SATISFACTION Iran and Syria were satisfied with the information given by Turkey on its Iraqi policy in a tripartite experts meeting held in Tehran, said a Turkish official who attended the talks. "We explained the logic of our policy to our Iranian and Syrian counterparts. They understood that Turkey's policy is not against their national interests in the region. This meeting of Turkey, Iran and Syria once more displayed that such consultations among regional countries have great importance in avoiding misunderstandings," the Turkish official said. Foreign Minister Erdal Inonu is due to arrive in Tehran today to take part in ministerial level tripartite meeting. Inonu said on Thursday that Turkey gave the utmost importance to tripartite meeting with his counterparts from Syria and Iran. "The meeting in Tehran will take up the developments in Iraq in general and the instability in northern Iraq in particular. We will take up what we can do, what sort of diplomatic initiative we can take, as neighbouring countries, within the principle of maintaining the territorial integrity of Iraq," said Inonu./All Papers/ GERMAN-TURKISH TIES STRAINED BY ARSON ATTACKS AGAINST TURKS German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel urged police on Thursday to step up their protection of Turks from a spate of firebomb attacks that he said had strained ties between Bonn and Ankara. Spurred on by Tuesday's fatal attack on a house inhabited primarily by Turks and a telephone call from his Turkish counterpart, Kinkel vowed that Germany would do its utmost to safeguard the two-million-strong Turkish community in Germany. German-Turkish relations are important," Kinkel said in a statement, adding that he had asked authorities to beef up protective measures. "We cannot allow Turkish members of the community to be treated as free game in Germany because of crime against foreigners or violent acts by militant Kurds who abuse their right to live here. Attacks on Turkish properties are not attacks on strangers in our eyes. They effect us directly," he added. PRESIDENT DEMIREL RECEIVES PRO-TURKISH EP DEPUTIES A group of European Parliament deputies visited President Suleyman Demirel on Thursday to obtain information which they can use to answer other deputies who oppose customs union with Turkey. "We wanted to obtain information before the vote on the customs union. Because those who are against a customs union with Turkey come to us armed with arguments, we need information as well if we are to keep up our pro-Turkish stances." Demirel reminded the deputies that their support would not only help Turkey's inclusion in the customs union but also the promotion of European ideas and values. "Turkey embraced both European values and its own national ones in its support of globalization in the world. Turkey, which is, de facto, a European country, wishes to become one officially as well, the President said. /All Papers/ "TERROR" WARNING TO SYRIA Confirming that Turkey sought good relations with Syria, President Suleyman Demirel also warned yesterday that Syrian support for terrorism was not received well in Turkey. Demirel said that Syria was one of the lead- ing countries that supported international terror, and that this was totally unacceptable as far as Turkey was concerned. Noting that no form of terrorism should be supported, Demirel added that it should never be forgotten that thousands of innocent victims had been killed because of terrorism. Talking with a director of the Washington Institute for Near Eastern Studies, Rob Satloff, Demirel also said that Turkey was a secular country where religious funda- mentalism would never take root. /Cumhuriyet/ NEW PKK CENTRE IN NORTHERN IRAQ Radio broadcasts from northern Iraq have claimed that the PKK terrorist organization has set up new centres of operation in the region. The radio station operated by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) said yesterday that the PKK was setting up a new military base in order to intensify its activities in the region. Although the PKK is still attacking targets throughout the area, KDP representatives said yesterday that PKK leader "Apo" Ocalan would be "digging his own grave" if he moved in against the KDP. /Milliyet/ TURKEY ADVANCING TOWARDS CUSTOMS UNION During his one day visit to Turkey, British Foreign Minister Malcolm Rifkind said that developments towards an eventual acceptance of Turkey as a participant in EU customs union had been initiated by the UK. "We believe that Turkey has much to offer. Turkey's acceptance in the customs union will be to the benefit, not only of Turkish people, but also to the UK and the whole of Europe," Rifkind noted. Commenting on the PKK separatist organization and on terrorism, Rifkind pointed out that in the past Britain also had had to deal with the problem of terrorism, and for this reason shared the feelings of the Turkish people who wanted to solve the problem of terrorism democratically as soon as possible. /Sabah/ --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Sun Sep 17 17:17:00 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 17 Sep 1995 17:17:00 Subject: Turkish Press Review References: Message-ID: THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 1995 --------------------------- Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning SUPPORT FROM GERMAN MINISTER ON CUSTOMS UNION German Economic Minister Gunter Rexdort said that Germany was on the side of Turkey's moves for customs union with the European Union (EU). Rexdort, who made contacts with the Turkish Businessmens and Industrialists Association in Europe, stated that Turkey's access to the customs union would be beneficial for both Turkey and the EU. German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel, in his speech at the Federal Assembly last week, said: "Turkey has proven its goodwill by amendments in the Constitution, therefore its entrance in the customs union must be realised." /Milliyet/ DUBLIN MEETING BEGINS WITH DEMILITARIZATION TALKS The second round of the Dublin meeting has begun with discussions on the demilitarization of the northern Iraqi city of Irbil, the Anatolia news agency reported. The US-sponsored talks between the rival northern Iraqi Kurdish groups, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), is aimed at establishing peace in the region. The talks focused on the details of a peace accord and control mechanisms. If the meeting is succesful, it will be followed by the signing of a peace agreement in Washington. During the talks, Turkey is expected to stress to the leaders of KDP and PUK, Mesud Barzani and Celal Talabani, that they must accept responsibility for preventing the PKK terrorist organization from filling the power vacuum in northern Iraq. Turkey is also expected to underline the importance of preserving Iraq's territorial integrity and sovereignty. At the first peace talks in Ireland, a draft agreement was drawn up which calls for the demilitarization of the city of Irbil. This will be overseen by a neutral commission formed under the auspices of the Iraqi National Congress. US STATE DEPT SUPPORTS TURKEY Reports say that the US State Department has taken the side of Turkey against claims put forward by representative for Indiana Lee Hamilton, who says that US supplied weapons are being used by Turkey against the Kurdistan Workers Party or PKK. Hamilton is an influential member of the House International Relations Committee and has often been critical of Turkey's human rights record. Despite Hamilton's pressures to get the US government to accept that Turkey is abusing human rights in its struggle against PKK terrorism, the State Department has refused to go along with Hamilton's claims. Assistant Secretary of State Wendy Sherman has written a very clear letter in reply to Hamilton's claims, stating that Turkey is in fact, cleaning up its human rights record. /All papers/ FIRST STEPS TOWARDS HABITAT CONFERENCE Turkey's ambassador to Washington, Nuzhet Kandemir, has already taken a first step towards the conference on human settlements (Habitat II) that will be held in Istanbul next year. The news from Washington is that Kandemir has already welcomed future participants in the conference at a pre-conference meeting in Washington that was followed by a reception at the Turkish Embassy. Habitat II will take place in Istanbul during June next year, and will be just about the biggest function that the city has ever hosted. The conference will deal with housing and population problems. /All papers/ BIG ANKARA DEFENCE FAIR Wednesday September 20, will see the opening of a major defence fair in Ankara. IDEF-95 is the second international fair showing the latest in defence industry and civil aviation products. The fair, seen as one of the world's top fairs in these sectors, will attract military experts, high level government representatives and civilian companies from all over the world, said the Anatolia news agency. MORE STRIKES AGAINST THE PKK Fourteen members of the PKK terrorist organization, including two women, have been caught in Adana. According to the Anatolia news agancy, the PKK members are responsible for at least five murders in the region. Over in the southeast of the country, security forces have been conducting operations to find PKK terrorists responsible for killing five villagers. During the operations twenty terrorists were captured or killed in areas around Siirt, Diyarbakir, Batman and Hakkari. During a series of raids in Istanbul, police and security forces nabbed a group of eleven bomb-makers. During the raid the police took away 146 bombs and PKK documents. --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Wed Sep 20 23:24:07 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 20 Sep 1995 23:24:07 Subject: Turkish Press Review References: Message-ID: erver 2.20) id VT18910; Wed, 20 Sep 1995 23:02:45 -0800 -------------------------- MONDAY SEPTEMBER 18, 1995 ------------------------------ Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning TURKEY DEALS HEAVY BLOW TO PKK In a major blow to the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Turkish security forces killed 51 rebels and captured four others after a two-day battle, local officials said on Friday. The statement said that beside the slain militants, 34 PKK members or sympathizers had been rounded up in the southeastern and eastern provinces during the past few days. Apart from Turkey, the PKK has been locked in combat with the Iraqi Kurds in their Western-protected enclave in northern Iraq since last month./All Papers/ GERMAN ECONOMY MINISTER: "WE SUPPORT TURKEY FOR CUSTOMS UNION" ATIAD (Turkish Businessmen and Industrialists Association in Europe) visited German Economy Minister Gunter Rexrodt in Bonn. Rexrodt stated that they will give full support for Turkey's admittance in the customs union. He said he admired the performance of Turkish investors in Germany, and added that Turkish businessmen play a very important role in the German economy's industrial, trade and high-tech sectors. He added that they are for a liberal economy, and are willing to integrate the Turkish market into the customs union./All Papers/ PUK AND KDP FAIL TO AGREE ON IMPLEMENTING KURDISH PEACE ACCORD Rival Iraqi Kurd factions meeting in Dublin failed to agree on implementing a peace accord because of differences over sharing customs revenues, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) said on Saturday. The PUK and its rival Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) meeting in the Irish capital since Tuesday to try and implement a US and Turkish-backed peace accord-reached in August in the Irish town of Drogheda. The main sticking-point was sharing out customs levied by the KDP on Iraqi oil transported by truck to Turkey through Kurdish-held northern Iraq. The oil deliveries are the Kurds main revenue, amounting to $ 100,00-150,000 a day. They agreed last month on sharing the revenue. But Barham Salah, the PUK spokesman, said the KDP gave no commitment in Dublin to share the money that has been exacted for the last 18 months or so. Salah said no date had been set for another meeting, at which the US Statement Department, Turkey and the Iraqi National Congress opposition coalition would also have been represented./All Papers/ BOMB EXPLOSION IN IZMIR A bomb left in a street rubbish bin exploded killing four people and injuring 28 others in the Gaziemir district of Izmir on Sunday. Although no known terror groups have claimed responsibility, officials say that initial investigations point to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The bomb was left in a rubbish bin outside a shopping area which was full of people from all over Izmir. After the bomb went off at 9:45 in the morning the area was littered with body parts and looked like a battle-ground. After examining the wreckage and destruction, experts said that the method used was one previously utilized by the PKK terror organization. Government leaders and local officials have all condemned the attack, and vowed that the terrorists will be found. /All papers/ --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Sat Sep 23 22:00:47 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 23 Sep 1995 22:00:47 Subject: Turkish Press Review References: Message-ID: MailServer 2.20) id VT19343; Sat, 23 Sep 1995 21:17:31 -0800 THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 21, 1995 --------------------------- Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning COALITION COLLAPSES Prime Minister Tansu Ciller yesterday put an end to four years of cooperation between her center-right True Path Party (DYP) and its social democrat partners, announcing her government's resignation after failed talks with Deniz Baykal, the newly-elected leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP) on terms of extending the coalition. Emerging from a three- hour bargaining on the terms for extending the partnership for the remaining year, Baykal declared that "the coalition is effectively finished, if not legally". After consulting her party aides, Ciller submitted her resignation to President Suleyman Demirel to give the legal dimension to the final demise of the country's longest-surviving coalition. An announcement from the President's office said Demirel had accepted the resignation and had asked her to stay on until the formation of the new government. Demirel is now expected to consult with the leaders of political parties before naming a new prime minister designate. /Hurriyet-Cumhuriyet-Sabah/ EARLY REACTION TO CILLER'S RESIGNATION Although there have been some warning noises from the European Union (EU) countries, cautioning that an early election would delay customs union between Turkey and the EU countries, the US has noted that relations between Turkey and the US "could not be better". A number of EU representatives have already said that human rights and democratization issues in Turkey will now get bogged down in political developments. On the other hand, US State Department Spokesman Nicholas Burns said that the US did not want to get involved in speculation about the immediate political future of Turkey. He said that this was a matter for the Turkish public, and the US respected that. /Hurriyet/ TURKISH FM SHRUGS OFF PKK CALL Turkish Foreign Minister Erdal Inonu, asked to respond to the call for a cease-fire by PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, said he would not comment. "You know that I do not comment on the statements of the PKK" he told journalists at a press conference on Monday. "You know our stance against terrorism. Our security forces are trying to combat it" Inonu said. GERMANY LIFTS WEAPONS EMBARGO The German parliament has officially announced that the weapons embargo against Turkey has been lifted. The embargo, imposed after the German government claimed that German-made weapons were being used by Turkish armed forces during military incursions into northern Iraq, drove a wedge between Turkey and Germany for many months. The Federal Defence Ministry has already begun to get outstanding military equipment off to Turkey. Groups on both sides are working on lists of military needs and are comparing notes on what Germany has yet to supply according to previous agreements. /Hurriyet/ --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Mon Sep 25 06:56:56 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 25 Sep 1995 06:56:56 Subject: Turkish Press Review References: Message-ID: FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 22, 1995 ------------------------- Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning DEMIREL ASSIGNS CILLER TO FORM NEW GOVERNMENT President Suleyman Demirel yesterday assigned Tansu Ciller to form the country's new government a day after she ended a four-year coalition partnership with the social democrats. A brief statement issued from the Prime Minister's office after Ciller's meeting with Demirel said she would start preparations to form the new government on Friday after meeting with officials of her True Path Party (DYP). Shortly before her assignment, Ciller addressed the nation on television and reaffirmed her opposition to an early election because the country's economy would not be able to survive spending on electioneering. At present, Ciller's True Path Party (DYP) commands 182 seats in the Parliament, followed by the Motherland Party (ANAP) which has 96. The Republican People's Party (CHP) has 65, the Islamist Welfare Party (RP) 38. the National Movement Party (MHP) has 17, the Democratic Left Party (DSP) has 10, the Grand Union Party (BBP) has 7, the New Party (YP) has three and a liberal New Democracy Movement (YDP) has two seats. There are six independents and 22 vacant seats in the legislature. Ciller has to form the new government in 45 days. Therefore, she must form the government by 4 November. Otherwise, dissolution of the Assembly and an early election will head the agenda. Meanwhile, Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) Speaker Husamettin Cindoruk proposes to form a wide-base election government. He is against a weak minority government models and considers the preparation of a new electoral law as the first priority. He added that he believed the crisis will be evaded when a date for an early election is announced. Cindoruk in a television program also noted he would not run away from duty "as a politician who is playing in the finals" if he is called upon to fulfill certain obligations for the sake of the country's and the people's interests. /Hurriyet-Cumhuriyet-Sabah/ 13 PKK MILITANTS KILLED, SIX CAPTURED AND SIX SURRENDER Thirteen militants of the PKK terrorist organization were killed during military operations in the Southeast, six were captured and six surrendered. One non-commissioned officer and five soldiers were killed, and four soldiers were injured during clashes. Officials from the emergency rule region said that eleven militants were killed in Siirt's Kalender district, and two in Batman's Kozluk district and Sirnak's Ballikaya district. A soldier was killed in action during the clashes. Six PKK militants surrendered in Mus' Haskoy district, Sirnak's Silopi district and in Bingol, with their weapons. Twenty-one PKK militants were arrested after their capture in Bingol, Bitlis, Mardin, Mus and Tunceli. A non-commissioned officer and five soldiers were killed in action in Van's Gurpinar district, and four soldiers were injured during a clash. Meanwhile, five militants were captured in Icel's Tarsus district by police and many outlawed documents were confiscated. /Hurriyet/ GERMANY EXTENDING MILITARY AID TO TURKEY At a press conference yesterday, German Ambassador to Ankara Hans Joachim Vergau gave details about the lifting of the weapons embargo Germany imposed against Turkey after military operations in Northern Iraq. He said that Germany will extend previously postponed military aid to Turkey worth $150 million, together with military equipment worth DM 100 million in the form of grants. More than two million Turks live in Germany, and for this reason Germany, more than any other country, has the right to expect a non-military solution to the problem in Northern Iraq, Ambassador Vergau said, commenting on recent developments in southern and southeastern Anatolia. He added that the Turks living in Germany were also effected by violent reactions to Turkish domestic problems. /Cumhuriyet/ RESIGNATION TURKEY'S OWN AFFAIR A spokesman for the European Union (EU) Council in Brussels, said yesterday that the EU was not about to interfere in the domestic workings of Turkey, following the resignation of Prime Minister Ciller. The EU spokesman added that the current political situation in Turkey would not affect the process now going ahead that will bring Turkey into customs union with the EU countries. "This is something that only affects Turkey's own internal affairs. Relations with the EU and the customs union process will not be influenced." /Milliyet/ US PROMISES CONTINUED AID According to reports from Washington, the US Senate has not seen fit to make changes in economic aid to Turkey during the 1996 fiscal year. Within the framework of the Economic Support Fund (ESF), the US will continue to extend economic aid to Turkey regardless of present political developments. Although alternative reductions were put forward by the chairman of the Committee for Banking, Housing and City Issues, Alfonse D'Amato, these were turned down by the Senate. Other Senators spoke out in support of Turkey, and the situation now appears to be that barring any sudden change in policy, economic aid levels will be set at 100 million dollars. /Milliyet/ --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Sat Sep 23 21:58:53 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 23 Sep 1995 21:58:53 Subject: 20 KILLED IN TURKISH FIGHTING References: Message-ID: 23 Sep 1995 21:17:20 -0800 20 Killed in Turkish fighting Date: 06 Mar 94 17:48:59 EST AP 03/06 09:08 EST V0497 Copyright 1994. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. ERZURUM, Turkey (AP) -- Intensified fighting between security forces and separatist Kurdish guerrillas claimed 20 lives Sunday, including four soldiers, the Anatolia agency said. In three separate clashes in this eastern province, troops killed 11 Kurdish rebels, the news agency said. Further east, the troops killed five guerrillas on the fourth day of an anti-rebel operation on Mount Ararat. Four soldiers were killed. The troops have been launching land and air operations against Kurdish rebel bases on the mountain since Thursday. Mount Ararat, believed to have been the site of the biblical Noah's ark, is located in the area where the borders of Iran and Armenia meet. Sunday's clashes raised the number of guerillas killed in the last three days to 44. Kurdish guerrillas have been launching hit-and-run attacks from their bases in Iran, Armenia and northern Iraq. The guerrillas of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), have been fighting for autonomy mostly in the southeast since 1984. The fighting has claimed more than 11,000 lives. --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Sat Sep 23 22:01:51 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 23 Sep 1995 22:01:51 Subject: Turkish Press References: Message-ID: (V-MailServer 2.20) id VT19350; Sat, 23 Sep 1995 21:17:36 -0800 HURRIYET - Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) members caught trying to buy arms from Romania in exchange for heroin. CUMHURIYET - An Israeli firm that won a contract to modernise Turkish F-4 jets was turned down for a similar project in its own country because it wasn't competent and its price was too high. - Turkey accuses feuding Iraqi groups of not trying hard enough for peace. Turks Bag Seven on Heroin Run ISTANBUL, Sept 18 (Reuter) - Turkish police said on Monday they had arrested seven people, six Turks and one Romanian, trying to smuggle two kg (4.4 pounds) of heroin out of the country. Police spokesman Captain Tayfun Bora told Reuters the seven had links to a banned Kurdish guerrilla group and were planning to send the heroin to Romania for further distribution, Turkish officials have often said the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), fighting for autonomy or independence in southeast Turkey, funds its 11-year-old battle through narcotics traffic by bringing in heroin across Turkey's border with Iran. PKK Calls For Ceasefire ANKARA, Sept 19 (Reuter) - The leader of Turkey's Kurdish rebels is considering calling a ceasefire in the guerrillas' 11-year-old separatist campaign, a Kurdish news agency said on Tuesday. ``If the Turkish state does not come against us with the intention of destroying, we want to start a new ceasefire process,'' the Germany-based DEM agency quoted Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan as saying. The agency said the ceasefire would be similar to one called by the rebels in 1993. That unilateral ceasefire held for nearly three months until the guerrillas killed 33 unarmed soldiers in a bus ambush after complaining Turkey had not reciprocated. More than 18,000 people have been killed in the PKK's fight for Kurdish autonomy or independence in southeast Turkey. Turkey has often said it is on the brink of defeating the PKK militarily. DEM said Ocalan was considering holding a news conference to announce a possible ceasefire ``in the following days.'' ``The PKK has been in talks with Turkish circles who have agreed to support their campaign for a ceasefire,'' the agency said. It did not elaborate. Calls for a truce and international mediation by Ocalan last year were flatly rejected by Prime Minister Tansu Ciller who said Turkey would not deal with a ``terrorist.'' The Marxist rebel leader, believed to be based in Syria or the Syrian-controlled Bekaa Valley in Lebanon, urged Iraq's Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) militia to hold talks with the PKK to end recent fighting between the two groups. ``We expect the KDP to undertake steps for negotiations otherwise we will not be responsible for the blood that flows,'' Ocalan, also known as ``Apo,'' told the agency. PKK fighters emerged from mountain hideouts in north Iraq last month to attack targets in KDP-held territory in an apparent attempt to increase their influence in the region. --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Sat Sep 30 20:02:36 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 30 Sep 1995 20:02:36 Subject: Turkish Press References: Message-ID: id VT21235; Sat, 30 Sep 1995 18:27:56 -0800 TURKEY SLAMS US SENATE DECISION ON FOREIGN AID Turkey expressed its uneasiness over a US Senate decision which imposes conditions on Turkey regarding the use of US foreign aid. "This is a very unfortunate development while the two countries' bilateral relations are rapidly improving in all aspects and in a period when the US and Turkey have common strategic interests" Foreign Ministry Deputy Spokesman Nurettin Nurkan said. Nurkan warned that the attitude of the US on foreign aid credits would hurt the Turkish people who had national pride. "Some Congress members, who are acting according to some lobbies with short-term political concerns, are also harming US national interests" Nurkan added. He said it had been expected that the foreign aid draft would be reviewed by the Conference Committee on Thursday. "We hope that the members of this committee will act with responsibility and prevent these amendments from negatively impacting our bilateral relations" he concluded. (Cumhuriyet 29 September) NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL DISCUSSES N.IRAQ The National Security Council (MGK), Turkey's highest advisory body, discussed yesterday several domestic and foreign issues related to the country's security, and particularly the situation in northern Iraq. An MGK statement released after the four-hour meeting, chaired by President Suleyman Demirel, said foreign and domestic developments affecting Turkey's security were reviewed. Prime Minister-designate Tansu Ciller, Chief of the General Staff Gen.Ismail Hakki Karadayi, Deputy Premier Hikmet Cetin, some ministers, commanders of the forces and other top civilian and military officials attended Thursday's MGK meeting. STRONG ELECTION WINDS BLOWING In another surprise move Prime Minister-designate Tansu Ciller spoke on the phone yesterday with Chairman of the Supreme Election Board, Nihat Yavuz. The main point of the conversation was that Ciller told Yavuz that he should get things ready for a December election. Preparations for a general election can be completed within sixty days, but now the parties have to come up with the cash. Yavuz has already told Ciller that she will have to cough up 2.8 trillion TL. The prospect of a December vote has again thrown the political scene into confusion. Most parties were getting ready for Ciller to set up a minority government after the DYP-ANAP coalition debacle. Now the field is wide open, with a whole new target to reach-3.5 million new young voters. /Hurriyet/ --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Fri Sep 1 23:22:22 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 01 Sep 1995 23:22:22 Subject: TURKISH DAILY NEWS / 31 AUGUST 1995 Message-ID: US: PKK has no constructive role to play anywhere By Ugur Akinci Turkish Daily News _________________________________________________________________ WASHINGTON- U.S. State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns on Tuesday repeated the administration's view that the "PKK is a terrorist group" and that it "has no constructive role to play in northern Iraq or anywhere else." Responding to a TDN question concerning the attacks launched last week by the PKK on KDP bases in northern Iraq, Burns said: "Both Kurdish partners in the ongoing peace process facilitated by the United States, that is the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), have expressed support for Turkey's legitimate security interests in its struggle against the PKK." "We know that the PKK uses northern Iraq as a safe haven. When the security situation is uncertain enough to allow it freedom of movement and action, increased stability among the Kurds in northern Iraq is the best way to deter PKK terrorists' operations inside northern Iraq," Burns said. PKK is showing its true face Editorial by ilnur cevik Turkish Daily News _________________________________________________________________ The fact that 3,000 militants of Turkey's terrorist organization PKK (the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party) have attacked the strongholds of the Kurdistan Democratic Party in northern Iraq offers several lessons to our Western friends who wanted to see the Kurdish separatists in a political context... PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan has said the aim of the PKK attack against Massoud Barzani's KDP was to sabotage the peace brokered between this organization and its archrival, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) by the United States at a meeting in Ireland. There are claims that Ocalan was encouraged to sabotage the peace process in northern Iraq by Syria, which feels it should have a say in what happens in northern Iraq... Ocalan claimed the end of the peace process between KDP and the PUK would be a blow to Turkey and confirmed a Turkish Daily News report published on Tuesday that his aim was to provoke a Turkish military intervention in northern Iraq. What Ocalan does not seem to understand is that the U.S. was the actual player behind the peace process in northern Iraq and the PKK is sabotaging an American effort which will not go down too well in Washington... The PKK has always said it is fighting the Turkish state because it claims the Kurdish people are subjected to injustices. Thus the PKK says its sole aim is to set up a separate Kurdish state on Turkish soil. The fact that the PKK is now involved in a power game in northern Iraq shows that the terrorist organization has other ulterior motives... Those who supported the Iraqi Kurds (especially in France) and who always spoke out about their plight must now have something to say when these people come under PKK attacks... Maybe those who at least had some sympathies for the PKK in the West will now see the true face of this terrorist organization, which has very little regard even for their own brothers in northern Iraq... When Turkey sent its incursion force into northern Iraq, our friends in the West were all up in arms. Turkey said the PKK was a threat to its national security and vowed not to allow the PKK to operate in northern Iraq. After Turkey pulled its troops from the region under severe Western pressure PKK returned to the area and had the courage to attack the Iraqi Kurds. Now we expect those who opposed our military incursion to do some explaining to us... The Provide Comfort force was set up by the Western powers and Turkey to protect the Iraqi Kurds against Saddam Hussein and his troops. Now we see that the Iraqi Kurds are under threat from the PKK militants. So are we to just sit on the sidelines and watch the PKK butcher Iraqi Kurds as they did civilians inside Turkey? Or should we teach a lesson to the PKK and Ocalan? Ciller: Turkey meets West's minimum standards for democracy Turkish Daily News _________________________________________________________________ ISTANBUL- Prime Minister Tansu Ciller said yesterday that the West's minimum standards for democracy, including open and free elections, an independent way of living, an independent judiciary, a free and lively press and freedom of religion have all been soundly established in Turkey. Speaking at a closed door breakfast meeting of the American think tank Aspen Institute at the Ciragan Palace, Ciller said that following the collapse of the Soviet Union Turkey was said to have lost its "strategic importance", and much of its value to the West. She also remarked on how as countries turn their attention to economics and human rights, Turkey is subjected to criticism concerning its human rights performance. The prime minister stressed how far Turkey had gone in achieving a democratic country, and pointed out the recent elimination of praise for the army in the country's constitution. She admitted she felt still a need for more democratization, by both constitutional reforms and turning over some central government power to local administrations. She said changing the constitution shows the Turks' decisiveness in improving democracy and developing basic rights for the future. She also emphasized the need to protect freedom of thought and speech. Ciller sounded the theme of Turkey's strategic importance for the West, calling it a reality which cannot be ignored, but must be developed and supported as relations between Turkey and Europe improve. Among the guests attending the sessions are United States Senators Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, Bob Graham of Florida and the powerful Alan Simpson of Wyoming, as well as Representatives Pat Schroeder, William Clay, Arno Houghton and Nancy Johnson. American Ambassador Mark Grossman participated as an observer, and members of parliament from Russian, Italy, Poland, the Ukraine, Germany and Britain were present as well. The conference's overall theme was "The U.S.'s Relations with Russia, the Ukraine and Eastern Europe." _________________________________________________________________ --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Tue Sep 5 16:30:47 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 05 Sep 1995 16:30:47 Subject: ERNK: Turkish Fascists Murder Kurd Message-ID: From: Arm The Spirit Subject: ERNK: Turkish Fascists Murder Kurd In Germany Cologne - September 4, 1995 The following is a statement from the ERNK European Representation in Hamburg concerning the murder of Sedat Kalan by Turkish fascists in Neumunster. ERNK Sympathizer Murdered By Turkish Fascists In Neumunster The series of attacks by Turkish fascists, which can be linked to the government in Ankara, have escalated. On the night of September 3, 1995, four Kurds in the vicinity of an establishment frequented by Kurds were attacked by armed Turkish fascists. An ERNK sympathizer named Sedat Kalan from Bingol was so badly injured in the attack that he died. Ahmet Senol and Mahmut Sozen, two other Kurds, were seriously wounded. Police reports which claim that the incident followed an attack by Kurds on a group of Turks are simply not true. When you observe the outcome of this confrontation, all of the murdered and wounded persons were Kurds. This makes it clear that the German authorities are consciously distorting the reality behind these provocations by Turkish fascists. These types of attacks by fascist gangs of "Grey Wolves" (Bozkurt) are centrally planned and orchestrated. It's no coincidence that this attack took place at a time when the chair of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan, recently make public a call for a political dialogue with the German government. Recent events in Kurdistan also played a role in this, because PKK victories are continuing to put the Turkish army in a bind. In the past few days there were firebomb attacks in Ulm, Bielefeld, and Mulheim on Turkish and Kurdish businesses which must be attributed to these fascist gangs. The attack in Neumunster was the latest in this series. The aim of these incidents is to escalate the present situation. Both the Turkish Embassy in Bonn as well as Turkish consulates work together with the Turkish Secret Service (MIT) to establish fascist Turkish front organizations in the form of mosques, associations, and sporting clubs, places where youths are trained and armed. While Kurdish flags are banned and Kurdish associations and organizations are closed down, the MHP (National Movement Party) has been able to use Germany as "free territory". The German authorities, who have made the PKK and Kurds who support it targets for their attack, close their eyes in the face of Turkish fascist organizing. This only gives them encouragement. On many occasions, the Turkish General Staff has stated that he will also wage war on "separatist Kurds" in Europe. The German government, the political parties, and democratic circles must keep their eyes on these fascist forces, which base themselves on Hitler's racist fascism. And they should stop having prejudices against the Kurds. Let us work together and decisively against the organizing being carried out by Turkish fascists. In this spirit, we call on Kurds living in Europe to not let themselves be provoked by this attack and to defend their democratic rights within the boundaries of the law. National Liberation Front of Kurdistan (ERNK) European Representation September 4, 1995 From kurdeng at aps.nl Tue Sep 5 17:30:09 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 05 Sep 1995 17:30:09 Subject: mainstream news on Kurds / Israel t Message-ID: Subject: mainstream news on Kurds / Israel to upgrade Turkish defence 12 Kurdish rebels killed in Turkey, north Iraq DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuter) - Turkish troops killed 12 Kurdish separatist rebels Sunday in separate clashes in southeastern Turkey and across the Iraqi border, reports from the region said. The emergency rule governor's office, based in Diyarbakir, said in a statement that Turkish forces killled nine Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters in operations in Bitlis, Bingol and Siirt provinces. Three others were captured in the regions of Tunceli and Elizag, it said. There was no word of any government losses nor any independent confirmation of the reports. Across the Iraqi border, three PKK guerrillas were killed after they attacked a post belonging to rival Iraqi Kurds of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Turkey's state-controlled Anatolian news agency said. Eight KDP ``peshmerga'' guerrillas were wounded while repelling the early-morning assault by dozens of PKK rebels, Anatolian said. The latest incidents reflect heightened tensions along the sensitive border separating Turkey from the Iraqi Kurdish enclave under Western military protection. Last month the PKK emerged from mountain hideouts in northern Iraq to attack targets in KDP-held territory -- an apparent bid to secure bases for attacks inside Turkey. PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan last month told a leading Arabic daily that his forces sought to provoke a fresh incursion into northern Iraq by Turkish forces. The aim, he said, was to provoke Western criticism of Ankara before the European parliament's expected vote this autumn on a European Union customs accord with Turkey. In March, Turkey sent 35,000 troops pouring over the Iraqi border to suppress PKK bases, a move that was denounced by many of Ankara's European allies. A much smaller cross-border operation in July, by contrast, drew a muted response. Israel wins contract to upgrade Turkey's airforce JERUSALEM (Reuter) - Israel Aircraft Industries has won a contract to upgrade 54 Phantom F-4 jets of the Turkish air force, Israeli industry sources said Sunday. The deal was both a shot in the arm for Israel's defense industries and a sign of the strengthening ties between Israel and Turkey, distant during decades of Arab-Israeli conflict but both firm U.S. allies with a range of shared interests. The sources could not confirm the value of the five-year contract, saying finances were still under negotiation. But two Israeli newspapers reported the deal was worth $600 million which would make it one of state-controlled Israel Aircraft's biggest single contracts. Turkey, a Muslim but secular nation, and Israel kept a political distance during decades of Arab-Israeli conflict but good relations have blossomed in recent years after the Middle East peace process began. Both nations have an interest in curbing Islamic militancy. Last year they signed a comprehensive security protocol to jointly combat international terrorism and organised crime. In November Prime Minister Tansu Ciller became the first Turkish leader to visit the Jewish state since its creation in 1948. But bilateral defense ventures have been taking place for over a decade and Israeli military contractors have been negotiating for Turkish contracts since the early 1980s, according to Jane's International Defense Review. The Turkish air force first selected IAI last year to modernise its F-4s but the contract was delayed by workshare negotiations as Turkey sought greater participation for its own industry. According to Israeli newspapers it has now been agreed that part of the work will take place in Turkey. The upgrading of the McDonnell Douglas fighter bombers will involve advanced avionics systems including radar and electronic warfare and navigation systems. Israel Aircraft will be the prime contractor, with several leading Israeli defense companies involved as subcontractors. The deal is based on the Phantom 2000 package used to upgrade Israeli air force F-4s. --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Tue Sep 5 20:29:34 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 05 Sep 1995 20:29:34 Subject: Test message from AKIN! Message-ID: From: mail06672 at pop.net (AKIN) Greetings, friends. This is a test message from the American Kurdish Information Network. We hope it works! Roj bash. AKIN -- American Kurdish Information Network (AKIN) 2309 Calvert Street, NW Suite #3 Washington, DC 20008-2603 Tel: (202) 483-6444 Fax: (202) 483-6476 From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Tue Sep 5 20:59:17 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 05 Sep 1995 20:59:17 Subject: ERNK: Kurd Murdered By Turkish Fasc Message-ID: From: Arm The Spirit Subject: ERNK: Kurd Murdered By Turkish Fascists In Germany Cologne - September 4, 1995 The following is a statement from the ERNK European Representation in Hamburg concerning the murder of Sedat Kalan by Turkish fascists in Neumunster. ERNK Sympathizer Murdered By Turkish Fascists In Neumunster The series of attacks by Turkish fascists, which can be linked to the government in Ankara, have escalated. On the night of September 3, 1995, four Kurds in the vicinity of an establishment frequented by Kurds were attacked by armed Turkish fascists. An ERNK sympathizer named Sedat Kalan from Bingol was so badly injured in the attack that he died. Ahmet Senol and Mahmut Sozen, two other Kurds, were seriously wounded. Police reports which claim that the incident followed an attack by Kurds on a group of Turks are simply not true. When you observe the outcome of this confrontation, all of the murdered and wounded persons were Kurds. This makes it clear that the German authorities are consciously distorting the reality behind these provocations by Turkish fascists. These types of attacks by fascist gangs of "Grey Wolves" (Bozkurt) are centrally planned and orchestrated. "separatist Kurds" in Europe. From kurdeng at aps.nl Wed Sep 6 21:35:21 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 06 Sep 1995 21:35:21 Subject: ERNK: Kurd Murdered By Turkish Fasc References: Message-ID: Subject: Re: ERNK: Kurd Murdered By Turkish Fascists In Germany , 06 Sep 1995 21:22:43 -0800 ------------------------ Forwarded from : ats at etext.org ------------------------ Cologne - September 4, 1995 The following is a statement from the ERNK European Representation in Hamburg concerning the murder of Sedat Kalan by Turkish fascists in Neumunster. ERNK Sympathizer Murdered By Turkish Fascists In Neumunster The series of attacks by Turkish fascists, which can be linked to the government in Ankara, have escalated. On the night of September 3, 1995, four Kurds in the vicinity of an establishment frequented by Kurds were attacked by armed Turkish fascists. An ERNK sympathizer named Sedat Kalan from Bingol was so badly injured in the attack that he died. Ahmet Senol and Mahmut Sozen, two other Kurds, were seriously wounded. Police reports which claim that the incident followed an attack by Kurds on a group of Turks are simply not true. When you observe the outcome of this confrontation, all of the murdered and wounded persons were Kurds. This makes it clear that the German authorities are consciously distorting the reality behind these provocations by Turkish fascists. These types of attacks by fascist gangs of "Grey Wolves" (Bozkurt) are centrally planned and orchestrated. "separatist Kurds" in Europe. ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurdeng at aps.nl Wed Sep 6 17:19:51 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 06 Sep 1995 17:19:51 Subject: Mainstream news on Kurds Message-ID: lServer 2.20) id VT16869; Wed, 06 Sep 1995 16:51:01 -0800 Gunmen Kill Two Turks In Germany COLOGNE, Germany, Sept 3 (Reuter) - Gunmen shot dead a Turkish man and his son outside a Turkish bar in the western city of Cologne before fleeing by car, police said on Sunday. Police said they had detained two suspects, who were Turks, and were hunting a third in their investigation of the shooting late on Saturday. A 42-year-old Turk died instantly and his 19-year-old son died in hospital on Sunday morning. Another son of the dead man was wounded in the attack, which police said did not appear to be politically motivated. Police say they later found the get-away car and the owner was detained as a suspected accomplice. They also found a gun which had been abandoned in a bush near the scene of the crime, which they said may have been used in the attack. Turkish properties have been the target of a series of firebomb attacks in Germany over the last two months. Police suspect the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), fighting for autonomy or independence in southeastern Turkey, to be behind the arson attacks. Turkish And Iraqi Kurds Clash DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Sept 2 (Reuter) - Iraqi Kurds from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) on Saturday increased checkpoints in northern Iraq after 12 Turkish Kurdish militants were killed in a clash, KDP officials and the Anatolian news agency said. Anatolian said 12 guerrillas from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), fighting for autonomy or independence in southeast Turkey, were killed on Friday evening in a clash near Kani Masi in northern Iraq. The KDP, which last month reached a tentative ceasefire agreement with a rival Iraqi Kurdish group, boosted checkpoints along the Zakho-Batufa road running parallel with the Turkish border, KDP officials said. Last week the PKK emerged from mountain hideouts in northern Iraq to attack targets in KDP-held territory. Fighting over the past year between the KDP and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) has split northern Iraq into a patchwork of rival territories and sources say the PKK wants to establish itself as a third force in the region. U.S.-sponsored talks between the KDP and PUK in mid-August raised hope that fighting between the Iraqi Kurdish groups would end in northern Iraq. Although the region is under Iraqi Kurdish rebel control, an allied ``no-fly zone'' was set up after the 1991 Gulf War to protect Kurds from attack by Iraq's army following a large-scale assault in 1991. Iran, Turkey and Syria Meet To Discuss Iraq NICOSIA, Sept 2 (Reuter) - Iran said on Saturday the foreign ministers of Iran, Turkey and Syria would meet in Iran this month to discuss the situation in northern Iraq, which is contested by rival Kurdish factions. The Iranian news agency IRNA quoted a foreign ministry official as saying the meeting would definitely be held in Isfahan in early September. It said the ministers would review the situation in Iraq and ``threats against Iraq's territorial integrity.'' All four countries have large and sometimes restive Kurd minorities. --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Sun Sep 10 17:19:44 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 10 Sep 1995 17:19:44 Subject: Mainstream news on Kurds References: Message-ID: Iraqi Kurds Gear Up to Fight PKK ANKARA, Sept 7 (Reuter) - Iraqi Kurdish fighters are mobilising to halt attacks by Turkish Kurd rebels in northern Iraq, an Iraqi Kurdish leader said on Thursday. ``We have started a wide military operation against the PKK,'' Nachirwan Barzani of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) told reporters in the region. ``The PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) has made a big mistake in attacking the KDP,'' he said. Barzani said about 4,000 KDP ``peshmerga'' guerrillas were fanning out to boost security in the Barzan area near the Turkish border. Ten PKK rebels and two KDP fighters were killed in the Begova district, near Barzan, in fighting on Wednesday. The PKK, which has bases in northern Iraq, have attacked KDP positions in recent weeks in an apparent bid to ensure they do not lose out in any peace agreement between Iraqi Kurd groups. Barzan is the home district of the Barzani clan which forms the backbone of the KDP. Turkey sent 35,000 troops into northern Iraq in March in a six-week operation to flush out the PKK, fighting a separatist war in southeast Turkey. But the guerrillas remained active in the region. Northern Iraq broke away from the Baghdad government shortly after the end of the 1991 Gulf War. The region is protected from Iraqi troops by a Western allied air force based in Turkey. German - Turkish Ties Strained by Attacks BONN, Sept 7 (Reuter) - German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel urged police on Thursday to step up their protection of Turks from a spate of firebomb attacks that he said had strained ties between Bonn and Ankara. Spurred by Tuesday's fatal attack on a house inhabited primarily by Turks and a telephone call from his concerned Turkish counterpart, Kinkel vowed that Germany would do its best to safeguard the two-million-strong Turkish community here. Dozens of Turkish properties have been torched this year in a rash of attacks blamed primarily on Kurdish extremists. ``Attacks on Turkish properties have reached such an extent that that they are starting to weigh seriously on German-Turkish relations,'' Kinkel said in a statement, adding that he had asked authorities to beef up protective measures. ``We cannot allow Turkish members of the community to be treated as free game in Germany via either crime against foreigners or violent acts by militant Kurds who abuse their right to live here,'' he added. Investigators in the northern city of Luebeck have yet to determine the motive for an arson attack that killed a Turk and a German and injured 20 people. Press reports suggest insurance fraud rather than racism may have played a role. Authorities say the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), fighting for independence or autonomy in southeastern Turkey, has been primarily responsible for firebomb attacks on Turkish businesses, mosques and cultural clubs this year. Most of the attacks have caused only property damage, but the PKK has also been linked to an arson fire in Stuttgart last month that killed two African refugees and injured four. The firebombings have deeply unsettled Germany's Turkish community, the largest in western Europe. Germany hosts around 400,000 Kurds, most of whom are from Turkey. Turkish officials have repeatedly urged Bonn to take a harder line against members or sympathisers of the PKK, which Bonn banned in 1993 after a series of violent protests. Kinkel said Germany must do its utmost to prevent ``cowardly attacks'' from damaging bilateral ties and expressed solidarity with Turks in the country. ``Attacks on Turkish properties are not attacks on strangers in our eyes. They affect us directly,'' he said. Turk Arrested For Heroin In Germany BAYREUTH, Germany, Sept 5 (Reuter) - Bavarian police seized 72 kg (158 lb) of heroin with a street value of some 40 million marks ($27.30 million) from a raid in a Turkish man's home in southern Germany, authorities said on Tuesday. Police found the drugs, which they suspect had been smuggled into Germany from Turkey in a lorry, in three travel bags in the 38-year-old man's home in Bayreuth early on Sunday morning. Police detained the man and a 34-year-old compatriot. Dutch Foreign Minister To Visit Turkey THE HAGUE, Sept 5 (Reuter) - Dutch Foreign Minister Hans van Mierlo will visit Turkey next week as part of the fence mending process since the two countries fell out over Kurds in April. A foreign ministry spokesman said on Tuesday the visit would take place on September 13 and 14. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were soured in April when Turkey criticised the Netherlands for allowing Kurdish representatives to set up a parliament-in-exile in The Hague. Turkey, claiming the body was a propaganda tool for Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerillas which is fighting for a Kurdish state in southern Turkey, withdrew its ambassador to The Hague in protest. However, he returned in late June saying that relations had improved. --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Wed Sep 6 17:22:49 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 06 Sep 1995 17:22:49 Subject: Daily News excerpts Message-ID: US: We don't and won't take sides in internal Turkish politics State Dept. says Grossman flap is overblown, RP says US intervention "normal" By Ugur Akinci Turkish Daily News _________________________________________________________________ WASHINGTON / ANKARA- Responding to a TDN question on a recent flap caused by a letter Ambassador Marc Grossman sent to the Speaker of the Turkish Parliament Husamettin Cindoruk, a U.S. State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said "we have not, nor will we take sides in internal Turkish politics." The letter Grossman sent to Cindoruk to applaud the constitutional amendments also had attached a July 25 statement by Burns giving credit to Ciller for her "victory," as well as other parties in the parliament. The prime minister alienated Cindoruk at the most recent congress of her party (DYP) by referring to the "dinosaurs" within the DYP, which some observers claimed was a reference to such party founders as Cindoruk and President Demirel. The same observers claimed that by such a letter, Grossman signalled he was siding with Ciller against the old-guard of the DYP. Cindoruk interpreted the enclosure of Burns' statement as Grossman's meddling in Turkey's internal affairs. The story was headlined by daily Hurriyet, on the front page. "I can tell you that these reports have absolutely no substance or truth to them," Burns said. "Ambassador Grossman, one of our finest foreign service officers, has sent a congratulatory letter to the leaders of all political parties that supported the series of constitutional amendments that were approved on July 23 and which expanded democracy and political participation in Turkey. "In my July 25 press briefing I conveyed the department's congratulations to the Grand National Assembly and to the leaders of all the political parties ... that supported these amendments, in addition to noting the prime minister's role -- as is appropriate, of course -- in securing the passage of these amendments. So my statement was directed to the Grand National Assembly and to all political parties, and we see passage of these amendments as a victory for the Turkish people and for all political parties in Turkey." When TDN followed up with a question on the peculiar timing of the congratulatory letter, sent one month after the amendments were actually passed by the Turkish Parliament, Burns said, "I think that we have shown that we are interested in Turkish democracy, that we are not involving ourselves in the internal debates within Turkey's democracy, that we are not favoring one political party over another. We have great respect for the Turkish political system and the Turkish people, and we wouldn't do that, and that everything that Ambassador Grossman did was consistent with everything I've just said." Sidelined Islamists say 'nothing unusual' A leading politician of the Islamist Welfare Party (RP), which tried to obstruct the constitutional amendments because they retained the safeguards for Turkey's secularism, said his party had not received a congratulatory letter which U.S. officials said had been sent to the political parties as well as the Parliament Speaker. Sevket Kazan, the deputy RP chairman, commented that "the United States habitually intervenes in the domestic and foreign affairs of Turkey... and it will be a surprise only when it can continue doing so when the Welfare is in power." "It is only too well known that the United States closely monitors personages in power in Turkey, or those who are likely to come to power...The United States also guides Turkey's domestic and foreign policies. Operation Provide Comfort (which protects Iraqi Kurds with a Turkey-based Western air force) and the Cyprus negotiations are examples. We as a nation know this very well; so the fact that such a letter has been sent should be viewed in this context," the Islamist politician said. As for Cindoruk's reply, Kazan said, "He is a statesman who, from time to time, upholds national dignity before everything else," but rapped the Parliament Speaker for replying not on behalf of Parliament as a whole but only on behalf of those parties which endorsed the amendments. Yasin Hatipoglu, another senior RP deputy sent a letter to Cindoruk, saying it was improper for anyone, "particularly an ambassador" to try to negate his (Cindoruk's) personal contributions to the passage of the amendments. "The Turkish nation is not a tribe of Apaches," fumed the Islamist deputy in his letter. -- --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Wed Sep 6 17:23:15 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 06 Sep 1995 17:23:15 Subject: Iraqi Kurds vow to end PKK activity Message-ID: Subject: Iraqi Kurds vow to end PKK activity in north Iraq 97; Wed, 06 Sep 1995 16:51:23 -0800 ANKARA, Turkey (Reuter) - An Iraqi Kurdish leader said in an interview published Monday that his forces had quelled a spate of attacks by Turkey-based Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, and vowed to end their activities in his territory. ``We have completely stopped the attacks in the area,'' Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani told Milliyet daily. ``We will continue our fight until we completely finish the (Kurdistan Workers Party) PKK's activities in our region. The PKK is not a northern Iraqi party,'' he said. ``Let them go and fight in their own country.'' The PKK, fighting for autonomy or independence in southeast Turkey, emerged from its mountain camps in northern Iraq 10 days ago to attack targets in KDP-held territory in an apparent warning that a planned peace deal between rival Iraqi Kurdish groups should include it too. ``We will not allow them to obstruct the peace process which we initiated in Dublin, and to use our territory for their own business,'' Barzani told Milliyet. His Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), a rival Iraqi Kurdish group, agreed in mid-August to a tentative cease-fire during U.S.-sponsored talks in Dublin. More than a year of intermittent fighting had paralyzed the region and killed about 3,000 people. Barzani said the KDP's efforts in northern Iraq had always been within the framework of Iraq's territorial integrity. ``To establish a federal state (in northern Iraq) is our biggest wish at the moment. We consider this federal state within the Iraqi borders and with the Iraqi government,'' he said. Barzani said he could not think of any federal settlement without PUK leader Jalal Talabani because of the latter's political weight in the region. KDP officials told Reuters the PKK had fled the Mergasor area of northern Iraq over the weekend, leaving 33 of their fighters dead and abandoning 15 bases full of weapons and food. * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Wed Sep 6 18:34:37 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 06 Sep 1995 18:34:37 Subject: ERNK (correct version) Message-ID: From: Arm The Spirit (Sorry if the last time this important statement went out incomplete....) Cologne - September 4, 1995 The following is a statement from the ERNK European Representation in Hamburg concerning the murder of Sedat Kalan by Turkish fascists in Neumunster. ERNK Sympathizer Murdered By Turkish Fascists In Neumunster The series of attacks by Turkish fascists, which can be linked to the government in Ankara, have escalated. On the night of September 3, 1995, four Kurds in the vicinity of an establishment frequented by Kurds were attacked by armed Turkish fascists. An ERNK sympathizer named Sedat Kalan from Bingol was so badly injured in the attack that he died. Ahmet Senol and Mahmut Sozen, two other Kurds, were seriously wounded. Police reports which claim that the incident followed an attack by Kurds on a group of Turks are simply not true. When you observe the outcome of this confrontation, all of the murdered and wounded persons were Kurds. This makes it clear that the German authorities are consciously distorting the reality behind these provocations by Turkish fascists. These types of attacks by fascist gangs of "Grey Wolves" (Bozkurt) are centrally planned and orchestrated. It's no coincidence that this attack took place at a time when the chair of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan, recently make public a call for a political dialogue with the German government. Recent events in Kurdistan also played a role in this, because PKK victories are continuing to put the Turkish army in a bind. In the past few days there were firebomb attacks in Ulm, Bielefeld, and Mulheim on Turkish and Kurdish businesses which must be attributed to these fascist gangs. The attack in Neumunster was the latest in this series. The aim of these incidents is to escalate the present situation. Both the Turkish Embassy in Bonn as well as Turkish consulates work together with the Turkish Secret Service (MIT) to establish fascist Turkish front organizations in the form of mosques, associations, and sporting clubs, places where youths are trained and armed. While Kurdish flags are banned and Kurdish associations and organizations are closed down, the MHP (National Movement Party) has been able to use Germany as "free territory". The German authorities, who have made the PKK and Kurds who support it targets for their attack, close their eyes in the face of Turkish fascist organizing. This only gives them encouragement. On many occasions, the Turkish General Staff has stated that he will also wage war on "separatist Kurds" in Europe. The German government, the political parties, and democratic circles must keep their eyes on these fascist forces, which base themselves on Hitler's racist fascism. And they should stop having prejudices against the Kurds. Let us work together and decisively against the organizing being carried out by Turkish fascists. In this spirit, we call on Kurds living in Europe to not let themselves be provoked by this attack and to defend their democratic rights within the boundaries of the law. National Liberation Front of Kurdistan (ERNK) European Representation September 4, 1995 From KOMMAG at ASCO.comlink.apc.org Wed Sep 6 11:54:00 1995 From: KOMMAG at ASCO.comlink.apc.org (KOMMAG at ASCO.comlink.apc.org) Date: 06 Sep 1995 11:54:00 Subject: kurdisches Kulturfestival Message-ID: <5tKloWEnx.B@kommagp.asco.nev.sub> *Internationales kurdisches Kulturfestival* *in Rotterdam (Holland) am 16. September 1995* *** achtet auf die bundesweite Plakatierung! *** Informationen gibts bei kurdischen Kulturvereinen! -- pgp-key als EB >> Willkommen im GLOBALEN dOrFFrIedhOf! ## CrossPoint v3.02 R ## From KOMMAG at ASCO.comlink.apc.org Wed Sep 13 02:54:00 1995 From: KOMMAG at ASCO.comlink.apc.org (KOMMAG at ASCO.comlink.apc.org) Date: 13 Sep 1995 02:54:00 Subject: kurdisches Kulturfestival References: <5tKloWEnx.B@kommagp.asco.nev.sub> Message-ID: <5tlul5JIx.B@kommagp.asco.nev.sub> hallo netzgemeinde! K>*Internationales kurdisches Kulturfestival* K> K> *in Rotterdam (Holland) am 16. September 1995* K> K> K>*** achtet auf die bundesweite Plakatierung! K>*** Informationen gibts bei kurdischen Kulturvereinen! vertreterInnen der holl?ndischen regierung, der stadt rotterdam und des kurdischen vorbereitungskomitees haben die veranstaltung verschoben. sie ist nicht verboten wurden, sondern auf bitten der holl?ndischen regierung zur?ckgestellt. der holl. au?enminister f?hrt kurzfristig am 13.9. nach ankara...;-) das kulturfestival wird um zwei bis drei wochen verschoben! in den n?chsten tagen sende ich den genauen termin. gru? holger -- pgp-key als EB >> Willkommen im GLOBALEN dOrFFrIedhOf! ## CrossPoint v3.02 R ## From kurdeng at aps.nl Fri Sep 8 10:14:28 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 08 Sep 1995 10:14:28 Subject: Top Headlines From The Turkish Pres Message-ID: Subject: Top Headlines From The Turkish Press ANKARA, Sept 6 (Reuter) - These are the leading stories in the Turkish press on Wednesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. SABAH MILLIYET - Iraqi governor of Dohuk says they need Turkish troops to fight the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). YENI YUZYIL - Turkish, Iranian and Syrian foreign ministers to discuss northern Iraq in Tehran meeting. ZAMAN - PKK steps up assaults on Turks living in Germany. Turkey Complains To Great Britain About PKK TV By Suna Erdem ANKARA, Sept 6 (Reuter) - Turkey complained to British Foreign Minister Malcolm Rifkind on Wednesday that a Kurdish television channel based in Britain threatens Turkish interests. ``There is one question which still is not solved, and that is the broadcast of the so-called MED-TV, which in our minds is subversive propaganda against the territorial integrity of Turkey,'' Turkish Foreign Minister Erdal Inonu told reporters at a joint news conference with Rifkind. MED-TV was set up in May, and broadcasts in Kurdish for three hours daily by satellite to Turkey, where Kurdish-language broadcasting is not allowed. Turkey is worried that the channel, which has broadcast interviews with separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan, is being used by the guerrilla group to promote demands for independence or autonomy in Turkey. Rifkind said if there was question of the channel being used to incite violence or ``terrorism,'' then that was grounds for a licence being withdrawn, but he could give no assurances. ``Under British law the question of a licence for a television company is determined by the Independent Television Commission, which is a body set up by parliament free of political interference,'' he told a news briefing. After Rifkind had left the joint briefing, Inonu griped to mainly Turkish journalists that Britain was missing the point. ``(MED-TV) is part of the PKK. We keep telling them that. But they say the speeches on MED-TV do not incite violence,'' Inonu said. ``Okay, they do not say 'Go and attack this place'...but everything (a PKK spokesman) says is aimed at violence.'' More than 17,500 people have been killed in Turkey since the PKK took up arms for a Kurdish homeland in 1984. During the news briefing, Rifkind pledged British support for Turkey's efforts for a customs union with the European Union. But in a later speech at a Turkish scientific grouping, he drew attention to Turkey's shaky human rights record, which has long attracted criticism from the West. ``I would be less than frank if I did not mention here the importance of Turkey's performance on human righs matching up to the international standards it has embraced,'' Rifkind said. Turkey, hoping the European Parliament will ratify the customs union treaty by the end of 1995, has most often been rebuked with regards to its treatment of Kurds, which Ankara defends by citing the PKK's 11-year guerrilla struggle. Iraqi Kurds Deny Seeking Turkish Military Assistance ANKARA, Sept 6 (Reuter) - An Iraqi Kurdish group on Wednesday denied that one of its officials had asked for Turkish military support against Turkish Kurd rebels. Abdulaziz Tayyip, governor of northern Iraq's Dohuk province, was quoted by Turkey's state-controlled Anatolian news agency on Tuesday as saying he wanted Turkish troops to chase guerrillas of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) out of the province. ``After establishing contact with the governor it became clear that no such statement was ever made,'' the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) said in a statement in English. ``No reference was made to inviting Turkish military into the region or assisting local authorities in ending the clashes,'' it said. An Anatolian editor said he had no immediate comment on the denial. Reuters, along with the Turkish media, reported the governor's remarks as quoted by Anatolian. Tayyip, a KDP official, was an outspoken critic of a big Turkish military operation aimed at crippling the PKK in northern Iraq earlier this year. The Turkish Kurd guerrillas, fighting for independence or autonomy in southeast Turkey, remained active in the region and late last month turned on the KDP. They have staged dozens of attacks in KDP-held areas in the last two weeks in an apparent bid to scuttle a peace process between Iraqi Kurdish groups. Constitutional Court Delays Ruling on DEP Parliamentarians ANKARA, Sept 6 (Reuter) - Turkey's constitutional court has postponed until September 12 an appeal hearing that could return pro-Kurdish deputies to parliament, a court official said on Wednesday. He blamed the delay on the court's workload. The case of the deputies, some of whom lost their immunity and were convicted on the basis of statements made in favour of Turkey's Kurds, has clouded prospects for a customs union with the European Union. The deputies were jailed for upto 15 years. The European Parliament has strongly supported the former MPs, suggesting their freedom could go a long way toward sealing the customs deal. A vote on the matter is expected this autumn. Lawyers for the MPs said earlier that a favourable ruling would mean six deputies imprisoned last December could regain their parliamentary seats. Rotterdam Bans Kurdish Meeting ROTTERDAM, Sept 6 (Reuter) - The Rotterdam city council said on Wednesday it had prohibited a planned cultural gathering by Kurds at a local soccer stadium on September 16 because of concern about possible clashes between ethnic Kurds and Turks. Fighting broke out in Rotterdam's Feyenoord district in April after a demonstration by Kurds supporting the creation of a separate Kurdish state in southeastern Turkey. Dutch-based Kurds have also angered Ankara through the inauguration of a Kurdish parliament-in-exile in The Hague, the Dutch seat of government. The Rotterdam city council said in a short statement to Dutch television that the political standpoint of the Kurds was not the reason for turning down a permit for the gathering. PKK Loses 10 To Turkish Troops in Southeast DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Sept 6 (Reuter) - Turkish security forces have killed 10 Kurdish rebels in clashes in southeastern Turkey, regional security officials said on Wednesday. The emergency rule governor's offfice, based in Diyarbakir, said the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas were killed in three different clashes in Hakkari and Bitlis provinces on Tuesday. It said seven of the guerrillas were killed in Isiklar village and Altindaglar mountain in Hakkari province and the other three were killed in Agacdere village in Bitlis province. More than 17,500 people have been killed in Turkey since the PKK took up arms for a Kurdish homeland in 1984. Iraq Reaches Out to Turkey and Other Neighbors By Leon Barkho BAGHDAD, Sept 6 (Reuter) - Iraq, striving to break loose from its political and economic isolation, is asking its neighbours help it fight crippling U.N. trade sanctions. The government in Baghdad has made calls for normalisation of ties with former enemies -- Syria and Iran -- and has also asked Turkey to boost existing trade relations. The overtures come as its three neighbours prepare a meeting of foreign ministers in Iran due on Friday to discuss Iraq. Officials holding preparatory meetings talked of their ``deep concern'' over threats to Iraq's territorial integrity. Iraq's Foreign Minister Mohammad Saeed al-Sahaf surprised analysts and diplomats in Baghdad on Tuesday by praising President Hafez al-Assad of Syria for what he termed his ``balanced and positive'' remarks on the defection to Jordan of Lieutenant-General Hussein Kamel Hassan. Assad was quoted as saying the defection of President Saddam Hussein's son-in-law to Jordan last month was not as important as media reports had suggested. Hussein Kamel, the brains behind Iraq's military industries, has called for the overthrow of the Baghdad government. Sahaf's statement front-paged Baghdad newspapers on Tuesday and was repeated several times by the country's state radio and television. ``That was the first positive reaction from Baghdad towards Assad since 1979,'' said an Arab diplomat. ``Maybe the Iraqis think the solution to their problem lies in drastic changes in the political alliances in the region.'' Hussein Kamel's defection, and reports of other dissent in Iraq's ruling circles, has already prompted one shift against Iraqi interests as Jordan's King Hussein moved sharply away from his one-time ally and openly called for change in Baghdad. And the United States has been positively agitating against Iraq in the last few weeks, urging its Arab allies to band together against Saddam and moving troops and ships around the region in well-publicised manoeuvres. In response, Iraq has also changed tone towards Tehran, the foe it fought for eight bloody years in the 1980s. Baghdad is now asking openly for a tactical or strategic alliance with Tehran against their tormentor, the United States. As part of its policy to isolate both Iraq and Iran, Washington has banned American companies doing business with Tehran and is the main advocate of sanctions on Iraq imposed for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. For the third day running, the official press urged Iran to reconsider what it termed its hostile attitude towards Iraq ``for the service of the Moslem peoples of the two countries.'' ``Today, Iran should prove its good intentions to establish good neighbourly relations with Iraq,'' said the English language daily Baghdad Observer in an editorial. Iraq is also seeking to improve ties with Turkey. The Vice- Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council Izzat Ibrahim, in remarks published on Wednesday, stressed ``Iraq's desire to develop relations with our neighbour Turkey in a manner that will serve the interests of the two Moslem countries.'' Iraq's ties with its neighbours are a highly complex web of interests, some of them conflicting with others. Syria, Iran and Turkey routinely affirm their commitment to Iraq's territorial sovereignty and opposition to any foreign intervention in its internal affairs. But they all host Iraqi opposition leaders too. Syria and Iraq, both adherents of Baathist ideology, have long been locked in the bitter struggle of two splinter groups claiming to be the true heirs of the same revolutionary movement. Shi'ite Iran has been historically linked to coreligionists in Iraq, where the key Shi'ite shrines of Najaf and Kerbala are located. And Turkey has made two large-scale military incursions into northern Iraq this year to chase down Turkish Kurd rebels. Talabani Discusses Iraq Situation in Damascus DAMASCUS, Sept 6 (Reuter) - Iraqi Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani, who arrived in Damascus on Tuesday night, held talks with Syrian Vice-President Abdul-Halim Khaddam on developments in northern Iraq, a Kurdish spokesman said on Wednesday. He said Talabani, head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), also discussed with Khaddam relations between Syria and the union. Talabani maintains good ties with the Syrian leaders and he made his visit ahead of a U.S-sponsored meeting between the PUK with the rival Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) which is due to be held in Ireland on September 12. The meeting seeks to find ways of ending a feud between the KDP and the PUK that has split northern Iraq between the factions in a conflict that has killed some 3,000 people. Neighbouring Turkey is expect to attend the talks. The foreign ministers of Syria, Turkey and Iran, expressing concern over the developments in northern Iraq and the dangers to its territorial integrity, are to meet in Iran on Friday. -- Yusuf Pisan y-pisan at nwu.edu http://www.eecs.nwu.edu/~yusuf --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Sat Sep 9 23:20:17 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 09 Sep 1995 23:20:17 Subject: Turkey Confirms 2,665 Kurdish V Message-ID: Subject: Re: Turkey Confirms 2,665 Kurdish Villages Destroyed 09 Sep 1995 23:14:07 -0800 ------------------ Forwarded from : mail06672 at pop.net (AKIN) ------------------- Official Turkish Sources Confirm 2,665 Kurdish Villages Destroyed Quoting "official statistics of the Super-Prefecture of the State of Emergency Region", the Turkish daily Milliyet of July 25, 1995 wrote under the byline of Derya Sazak that already by the end of 1994, 2,665 Kurdish villages and hamlets had been recorded as completely evacuated or partly destroyed. At the end of 1993, the score of villages destroyed had been 874. Thus, in a single year, in the face of the international community's deafening silence, a so-called "democratic" country, which is a member of the Council of Europe and NATO, has destroyed nearly 1,800 villages and murdered or imprisoned all those, whether MPs, journalists, or campaigners for human rights, who might bear witness to this tragedy. And all this with complete impunity. Source: International Committee for the Liberation of the Kurdish Parliamentarians Imprisoned in Turkey, August 1, 1995 -- 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 Sun Sep 10 17:18:28 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 10 Sep 1995 17:18:28 Subject: Turkey, Britain eye to eye on CFE, Message-ID: Subject: Turkey, Britain eye to eye on CFE, differ on MED-TV Turkish Daily News -------------------------------------------------- ANKARA- Turkey's appeal to Britain to close down MED-TV, a pro-separatist Kurdish TV channel based in Britain, has fallen on deaf ears during the visit of British Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind. Rifkind said that authorization for the TV station, which broadcasts all over Europe, had been given by an independent commission, which was "outside political influence." Turkey has asked Britain many times to close down the channel. Erdal Inonu, Turkey's foreign minister, reiterated on his side that the channel was threatening the territorial integrity of Turkey. "I believe if our British allies look closely, they will see that this TV channel is provocative and encourages violence. I am hopeful that they will see that," he told reporters after a joint press conference with Rifkind. Although the two leaders failed to see eye to eye on this matter, their views on other issues, such as French nuclear testing, the need to deter Bosnian Serbs, encouraging Turkey's drive toward Europe and the need to maintain the credibility of an accord on Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE), appeared harmonious. Rifkind, who traveled to Turkey from Moscow, said that if there were changes to be made on CFE, this should be through an agreement with all other countries involved. This was a direct response to rising Turkish concerns about the attempts of Russia to increase its arms ceilings in the Caucasus. Rifkind maintained that Turkey's concerns were as legitimate as those of Russia and he had made that point clear to Moscow. "Turkey and Britain have no political problems," Inonu said in the joint press conference. He added that they had discussed the Bosnian question in depth and both sides hoped that the Bosnian Serbs would understand the message given to them by NATO and the United Nations. "We sincerely prefer the establishment of peace and a solution at the negotiation table, rather than on the battleground," Inonu said. Rifkind said earlier on Wednesday that NATO was prepared to do what was necessary to ensure Bosnian Serb compliance with U.N. demands to ease the siege of Sarajevo. Rifkind was quoted by the Anatolia news agency as saying that any armed resistance by Serb forces was foolish. "This operation was necessary, but I hope it will not continue too long and the Bosnian Serbs will accept the conditions that have been imposed," the news agency quoted Rifkind as saying. Rifkind has held talks with President Suleyman Demirel, Prime Minister Tansu Ciller and Ufuk Soylemez, the chairman of the Privatization Administration. The minister, who had breakfast with Soylemez and his aides, was accompanied by British businessmen. The British businessmen were interested in the privatization of the Turkish Postal Authority, Anatolia news agency reported. -------------------------------------------------- RIFKIND IN ANKARA British Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind, who traveled to Turkey from Moscow, said that if there were changes to be made on Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE), this should be through an agreement with all other countries involved. This was a direct response to rising Turkish concerns about the attempts of Russia to increase its arms ceilings in the Caucasus. Rifkind maintained that Turkey's concerns were as legitimate as those of Russia and he had made that point clear to Moscow. "Turkey and Britain have no political problems" Inonu said in the joint press conference. He added that they had discussed the Bosnian question in depth and both sides hoped that the Bosnian Serbs would understand the message given to them by NATO and the UN. "We sincerely prefer the establishment of peace and a solution at the negotiation table, rather than on the battle-ground" Inonu said. Regarding MED-TV, a pro-separatist Kurdish TV channel based in Britain, Inonu said: "I believe if our British allies look closely, they will see that this TV channel is provocative and encourages violence. I am hopeful that they will see that" he told reporters after a joint press conference with Rifkind. Later, Rifkind held a conference "Britain and Turkey: Regional Cooperation". Rifkind has held talks with President Suleyman Demirel, Prime Minister Tansu Ciller, Motherland Party (ANAP) Chairman Mesut Yilmaz and Chairman of the Privatization Administration Ufuk Soylemez. The minister, who had breakfast with Soylemez and his aides, was accompanied by British businessmen. The British businessmen were interested in the privatization of the Turkish Postal Authority. /Milliyet-Cumhuriyet-Sabah/ DOUBLE SUMMIT FOR NORTHERN IRAQ Today, there is a northern Iraq summit in Tehran, Iraqi, Turkish, Iranian and Syrian Foreign Ministers Erdal Inonu, Ali Ekber Velayeti and Faruk El-Sara will evaluate recent regional developments. Erdal Inonu will inform his counterparts about the Dublin peace process and get information about PKK attacks in northern Iraq. On 12 September, representatives of Kurdish leaders Barzani and Talabani will attend a meeting in Dublin, in which Turkey will also participate. /Hurriyet/ NETHERLANDS BANS PKK MEETINGS The Netherlands, which permitted the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to establish a "parliament-in-exile", is now displaying a harsh attitude against the PKK. Bram Peper, Rotterdam Mayor, has not given permission to Kurds living in Holland who wants to organize a festival at the De Kuip Stadium in Rotterdam. /Hurriyet/ --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Sun Sep 10 17:20:50 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 10 Sep 1995 17:20:50 Subject: TURKISH DAILY NEWS / 8 SEPTEMBER 19 Message-ID: Subject: TURKISH DAILY NEWS / 8 SEPTEMBER 1995 Demirel helps pro-Turkish deputies of the European Parliament defend their position Turkish Daily News -------------------------------------------------- ANKARA- A group of European Parliament deputies visited President Suleyman Demirel on Thursday to obtain information which they can use to answer other deputies who oppose a customs union with Turkey. "We wanted to obtain some new information before the vote on the customs union," said Jean Gon on behalf of the group. "Because those who are against a customs union with Turkey come to us armed with arguments, we need information as well if we are to keep up our pro-Turkish stance." Despite their evident support for Turkey, the deputies expressed their concern at the human rights situation in the country, the Anatolia news agency reported. They inquired especially about the recent claim on the part of some newspapers that a political prisoner had been executed. Reportedly, the president swiftly presented the deputies with news stories on the subject and pointed out that the person in question was not a political prisoner but a member of a terrorist organization who had killed six police officers. This quick response surprised the delegation, according to the Anatolia news agency. The deputies also voiced their concern about the imprisonment of members of the banned pro-Kurdish Democracy Party. Demirel reminded the deputies that their support would not only help Turkey's inclusion in the customs union but also the promotion of European ideas and values. "Turkey has embraced both European values and its own national ones in its support of globalization in the world," he said. He described Turkey as a democratic, secular country devoted to the market economy as well as a stabilizing factor in the region. "Turkey, which is, de facto, a European country, wishes to become one officially as well," the President concluded. -------------------------------------------------- German-Turkish ties strained by arson attacks against Turks Reuter -------------------------------------------------- BONN- German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel urged police on Thursday to step up their protection of Turks from a spate of firebomb attacks that he said had strained ties between Bonn and Ankara. Spurred by Tuesday's fatal attack on a house inhabited primarily by Turks and a telephone call from his concerned Turkish counterpart, Kinkel vowed that Germany would do its best to safeguard the two-million-strong Turkish community here. Dozens of Turkish properties have been torched this year in a rash of attacks blamed primarily on Kurdish extremists. "Attacks on Turkish properties have reached such an extent that they are starting to weigh seriously on German-Turkish relations," Kinkel said in a statement, adding that he had asked authorities to beef up protective measures. "We cannot allow Turkish members of the community to be treated as free game in Germany via either crime against foreigners or violent acts by militant Kurds who abuse their right to live here," he added. Investigators in the northern city of Luebeck have yet to determine the motive for an arson attack that killed a Turk and a German and injured 20 people. Press reports suggest insurance fraud rather than racism may have played a role. Authorities say the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), fighting for independence or autonomy in southeastern Turkey, has been primarily responsible for firebomb attacks on Turkish businesses, mosques and cultural clubs this year. Most of the attacks have caused only property damage, but the PKK has also been linked to an arson fire in Stuttgart last month that killed two African refugees and injured four. The firebombings have deeply unsettled Germany's Turkish community, the largest in western Europe. Germany hosts around 400,000 Kurds, most of whom are from Turkey. Turkish officials have repeatedly urged Bonn to take a harder line against members or sympathizers of the PKK, which Bonn banned in 1993 after a series of violent protests. Kinkel said Germany must do its utmost to prevent "cowardly attacks" from damaging bilateral ties and expressed solidarity with Turks in the country. "Attacks on Turkish properties are not attacks on strangers in our eyes. They affect us directly," he said. -------------------------------------------------- --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From TARIK.HADZIC at ZAMIR-TZ.comlink.apc.org Mon Sep 11 14:58:21 1995 From: TARIK.HADZIC at ZAMIR-TZ.comlink.apc.org (TARIK.HADZIC at ZAMIR-TZ.comlink.apc.org) Date: 11 Sep 1995 14:58:21 Subject: http://www.esri.com Message-ID: <89.11581@zamir-tz.ztn.apc.org> could you send www page here? on tuzla bbs for human rights? i love esri From KOMMAG at ASCO.comlink.apc.org Wed Sep 13 02:23:00 1995 From: KOMMAG at ASCO.comlink.apc.org (KOMMAG at ASCO.comlink.apc.org) Date: 13 Sep 1995 02:23:00 Subject: ANKARA NSAN HAKLARI DERNE 'NE "TA References: <5tluOOj2x.B@kommagp.asco.nev.sub> Message-ID: <5tluOOj2x.B@kommagp.asco.nev.sub> ## Nachricht vom 13.09.95 weitergeleitet ## Ursprung : /INFO-IST/INSAN_HAKLARI ## Ersteller: KOMMAG at ASCO.nev.sub.de (KommAG - interaktive PlattForm) (Uebersetzung eines Artikels aus /INFO-IST/'Menschenrechte' vom 10.9.1995) (/INFO-IST/INSAN_HAKLARI makale tercuemesi 10.9.1995) Betreff: Menschenrechtsverein IHD-Ankara der "Aufwiegelung" beschuldigt IA>BASIN A?IKLAMASI, Pressemitteilung IA>?nsan Haklar? Derne?i Ankara Pubesi, Ankara Emniyeti IA>taraf?ndan bask? alt?na al?nmak istenmektedir.?nsan IA>Haklar? Derne?i Ankara Pube Bafkan? NAC?YE ERKOL, IA>Ke?ioeren Ovac?k'ta bir gencin oeldueruelmesi olay?yla IA>ilgili olarak bas?na ve kamuoyuna yapt??? a??klamalardan IA>dolay? 6.9.1995 tarihinde Dernek binas?na gelen Guevenlik IA>Pubesi polislerince goezalt?na al?nmak istenmiftir. Ancak, IA>Pube Bafkan?m?z Naciye Erkol'un dernek binas?nda bulunmamas? IA>sonucu bir tebligatla 7.9.1995 tarihinde ifade vermek uezere IA>Dernekler Masas?'na ?a??r?lm?f ve orada Ke?ioeren'deki IA>oelduerme olay?na ilifkin bas?na ve kamuoyuna yapt??? IA>a??klamas?nda "halk? tahrik" etti?i iddia edilerek ifadesi IA>al?nm?ft?r. Die Sicherheitskraefte Ankara versuchen den Menschenrechtsverein (IHD) Ankara unter Druck zu setzen. Naciye Erkol Vorsitzende(r)? des Menschenrechtvereins (IHD) Ankara hatte bezueglich der Ermordung eines Jugentlichen in Ke?ioeren Ovac?k Pressemitteilungen an die Presse und Oeffentlichkeit abgegeben. Aus diesem Grund kamen am 6.9.1995 Polizeibeamte des Sicherheitsbueros in die Vereinsraeume um, sie/ihn zu verhaften. Da die/der Vorsitzende des Menschenrechtsvereins nicht im Verein anwesend war, wurde sie/er vorgeladen, am 7.9.1995 Aussagen zu der Pressemitteilung an die Presse und Oeffentlichkeit bezueglich der Ermordung des Jugendlichen in Ke?ioeren abzugeben. Sie/ Er wurde bei der Aussage beschuldigt "Volksverhetzung"betrieben zu haben. >Bafkan?m?z?n ifadesinin al?nd??? guen, Yueksel Caddesi'nde IA>Ke?ioeren Belediye Bafkan? Turgut Alt?nok'un goerevden al?nmas? IA>i?in imza toplamakta olan Erdal Y?ld?r?m'?n ailesinden ue? IA>kifi goezalt?na al?nm?ft?r. Bir taraftan polise teslim olan IA>katiller serbest b?rak?larak adaletten ka?malar? sa?lan?rken IA>di?er taraftan Erdal Y?ld?r?m'?n ac?l? ailesine olay?n pefini IA>b?rakmalar? i?in bask? uygulanmaktad?r. Katiller serbest IA>dolaf?rken ma?durun yak?nlar?na ve demokratik kuruluflara IA>bask? uygulanmas?n? k?n?yoruz. An dem Tag an dem unser(e) Vorsitzende(r) verhoert wurde, wurden drei Familienangehoerige von Erdal Y?ld?r?m, der Unterschriften fuer die Absetzung des Turgut Alt?nok den Buergermeister von Ke?ioeren, gesammelt hatte, in Untersuchungshaft genommen. Auf der einen Seite werden den Moerdern, die sich der Polizei selbst ergeben haben, die Flucht vor der Gerechtigkeit ermoeglicht auf der anderen wird die Familie des Erdal Y?ld?r?m unterdrueckt, damit die Ereignisse nicht weiter verfolgt werden. Wir verurteilen, dass die Benachteiligten und demokratischen Vereinigungen unterdrueckt werden, waehrend die Moerder frei rumlaufen. IA>Daha oence, ?nsan Haklar? Derne?i pek?ok bask? uygulamalar?yla IA>karf? karf?ya kalm?f, yoeneticileri tehdit edilmif, goezalt?na IA>al?nm?f, dernek binas?n?n etraf? kufat?larak insan haklar? IA>savunucular? taciz edilmiftir. ?nsan haklar? savunucular?n?n IA>oelduerueldue?ue, ifkenceden ge?irildi?i, can guevenli?inin olmad??? IA>bu suere?te; buetuen bask? ve y?ld?rma politikalar?na ra?men bizler, IA>insan haklar? savunucular? olarak uestlendi?imiz misyonun gereklerini IA>en iyi fekilde yerine getirmek konusunda kararl?y?z. Auch schon vorher ist der Menschenrechtsverein Ziel verschiedenster Unterdrueckungsmethoden gewesen, seine Mitglieder sind bedroht, verhaftet, der Verein umstellt und die Menschenrechtler belaesstigt worden. In einer Zeit in der Menschenrechtler umgebracht werden, es keine Garantie fuer die Unversehrtheit des Lebens gibt, sind wir, die sich der Einhaltung Menschenrechte zur Aufgabe genmacht haben, trotz der Abschreckungspolitik, entschlossen, unsere Aufgaben so gut es geht, zu erfuellen. IA> 9.9.1995 IA> ?nsan Haklar? Derne?i IA> Ankara Pube Sekreteri IA> Y?ld?z Temuertuerkan Menschenrechtsverein (IHD) Ankara Uebersetzung & Gruss aus Kassel/BRD -Nimet- -- pgp-key als EB >> Willkommen im GLOBALEN dOrFFrIedhOf! ## CrossPoint v3.02 R ## From kurdeng at aps.nl Thu Sep 14 05:44:11 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 14 Sep 1995 05:44:11 Subject: Improvement seen in Turkish-Iranian Message-ID: Subject: Improvement seen in Turkish-Iranian ties Tehran once more displays political will to improve its relations with Ankara, while Damascus remains distant By Adnan Caglayan Turkish Daily News ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TEHRAN/ANKARA- Despite claims of competition in central Asia and Tehran's alleged support to the PKK separatists, Iran and Turkey displayed quite warm relations at the three countries' latest gathering while Syria chose to remain distant. The tripartite meeting of Iran, Syria and Turkey, held in Tehran on Friday, showed clearly that Iran agrees with Turkey on security matters to which Ankara attaches great importance. Turkish officials who attended the meeting told the Turkish Daily News that Iran had displayed firm support for the Turkish position during the talks. They added that Tehran had spent great efforts to bring Damascus to the tripartite meeting, which was postponed twice, due mainly to Syria's objections to its timing. Tehran at the meeting expressed its uneasiness about the chaotic situation in northern Iraq. Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayeti briefed reporters on his country's stance on the northern Iraqi issue after the tripartite meeting. "While Iraq does not have sufficient control over the region and foreign powers would like to dominate the area, we cannot afford to wait for Iraq to gain enough power," he said. Turkey, which also is uneasy about Western powers' escalating interference in its back yard, was apparently satisfied with Velayati's statement. But, the atmosphere of mutual understanding between Iran and Turkey was hurt when the issue of the United States interference in the region came on the agenda. "We want peace in the region but not a pax-Americana," an Iranian official said, referring to the Aug. 11 U.S.-sponsored Dublin meeting of rival Iraqi Kurds, which Turkey attended as an observer. Tehran and Damascus initially expressed their uneasiness about Turkey's presence in Dublin during the tripartite meeting, saying they have doubts on Ankara's policy toward Iraq. Iran's uneasiness was clearly felt with a Hezbollah demonstration staged in front of the Turkish Embassy in Tehran last Wednesday. Hezbollah was protesting against a Turkish newspaper which had published a story about the late Ayatollah Ruhullah Khomeini. "Allowing radical groups to stage demonstrations is a well-known move of Iranian government to show its displeasure," analysts noted. "However, we informed our Syrian and Iranian counterparts that Turkey's regional policy, which is aimed at providing security and stability, was not against our neighbors' national interests. We think that they were satisfied with this information," a Turkish official noted after the meeting. But, the Iranian press remains unsatisfied and have pointed out that the Turkish participation in the Dublin meeting was against the sprit of the tripartite meetings mechanism, in their commentaries published after the tripartite meeting. "The Turkish-U.S. relations will remain as the main obstacle between Ankara and Tehran. The U.S. presence in the region is the main concern of Iran while Turkey is keen to use this superpower's support in its policies toward Middle East and Central Asia," a western observer said. He also indicated that before the second Dublin meeting Ankara has received Iran's and Syria's support for the prevention of unwanted developments in northern Iraq, namely the establishment of a Kurdish state, Syria involuntarily supported Turkey mainly because its only ally Iran took a positive approach to the issue, observers said. Damascus, squeezed under escalating U.S. pressure to sign a peace accord with Israel, tried to convince Tehran, which strongly opposes any agreement with Israel, that it would never sign the accord before making sure that all Israeli-occupied areas were freed. Diplomatic observers told the TDN that Ankara did not interfere in this argument between the two anti-West countries. Supreme board endorses Turkey's first bank privatization Turkish Daily News ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ANKARA- The High Board of Privatization (OYK), Turkey's highest decision-making body in sell-offs, endorsed on Monday the sale of Sumerbank to privately-owned textile firm Ipeks, a subsidiary of Garipoglu group of companies. This is Turkey's first privatization of a state-run bank. The Privatization Administration (OIB), the executive agency, said in a written statement that all 100 percent public shares at Sumerbank were sold to Ipeks for $103.4 million. It said the buyer has to pay half of the price, $51.7 million, in cash and the second half in two installments within 24 months. The seller, the OIB, will impose an annual interest rate of LIBOR (London Interbank Offering Rate) plus a spread of 2.5 percent on the second half. Sumerbank, established in 1933, reported net profits worth TL 1.048 trillion last year. Its first half profits were TL 287.8 billion this year. The bank has 49 branches nationwide and employs 619 people. Its assets climbed 38 percent from TL 4.303 trillion last year to TL 5.924 trillion at the end of June this year. Its paid-in capital stands at TL 1.6 trillion. The buyer, Ipeks, is a family conglomerate. Its parent group, Garipoglu, is owned by three brothers. It runs several cotton and textile factories in Turkey. The family also owns brewers Marmara Biracilik. --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Thu Sep 14 11:28:50 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 14 Sep 1995 11:28:50 Subject: Holland Cancels Kurdish Music Festi Message-ID: From: mail06672 at pop.net (AKIN) Subject: Holland Cancels Kurdish Music Festival Holland Bans Kurdish Cultural Festival We are not going to be able to hold the International Music Festival on September 16, 1995. For a long time now, we have been preparing for the day in the Rotterdam Stadium. Only recently, on orders from the office of the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, we were told to put a stop to our rehearsals. Naturally, we sought a way out of this prohibition through the court of law. Unfortunately, the Dutch Court, today, September 12, 1995, decided to uphold the decision of the government. Today also marks the visit of the Dutch Foreign Minister to Turkey. The decision, coming as it did, on the day of the actual visit, leads us to believe that the authorities based their decisions not on the rule of law but those of politics. We condemn such a ruling and urge the Dutch authorities to reconsider their decision. The Organizing Committee of the International Music Festival September 12, 1995 -- 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 kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Thu Sep 14 11:28:54 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 14 Sep 1995 11:28:54 Subject: The Kurdish Woman At The U.S. Senat Message-ID: From: mail06672 at pop.net (AKIN) Subject: The Kurdish Woman At The U.S. Senate Washington, D.C. The Kurdish Woman At The U.S. Senate "I was violated" the Kurdish woman wanted to say, but she could not. She, instead, sobbed and sobbed. Senator Diane Feinstein wanted to help. "Speak as if you were in the company of some good friends." It did not help. This was the scene at a recent hearing on "Iraqi Atrocities Against The Kurds." A number of experts and some victims of Saddam's misconduct were invited to testify. The event took place on August 3, 1995, at the Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs in the Dirksen Senate Office Building. To be sure, there never was a shortage of evidence to allow one to give the benefit of doubt to the ruler of Baghdad. Speaker after speaker spoke of the horrors that the Kurds had endured. The woman's inability to put her anguish into words left an indelible impression on the Senators. Others described the meticulous Baghdad schemes through operations such as "Anfal", a word taken out of the Koran, the holy book of Islam, to market the diabolical plans of Saddam and his cronies. As a Kurd, I was extremely disturbed by the proceedings, not because I was a novice to these tales of brutality against my people, but rather crying for help at the U.S. Senate did not seem to be a proper way to tackle this wrongdoing against the Kurds. I felt impotent; the world, historians tell us, had contempt for such peoples. There were other disquieting moments during the hearing. A Kurdish man spoke of a number of coordinated chemical attacks that had rained instant death on the unsuspecting Kurdish civilians. For example, in Halapja, Kurdistan, on March 16, 1988, some 5,000 Kurds had dropped dead after inhaling poisonous fumes. At the time, the international community did not consider imposing sanctions on Baghdad. It did so only after the invasion of Kuwait. A film put together by United States government officials serving in northern Iraq was also shown. It portrayed life in Iraqi Kurdistan. It was a page out of Hobbes' Leviathan. Some Iraqi soldiers blindfolding and tying Kurdish men to poles and shooting them in the sight of camera-recorders. The footage, the narrator said, was captured by the Kurdish fighters from the archives of retreating Iraqi soldiers during their brief liberation of Kurdistan. In a span of four years, from early 1987 to early 1990, approximately 4,000 Kurdish villages were destroyed. Some 182,000 people, mostly men, were killed. Today, in northern Iraq, the narrator went on to say, there is a higher ratio of women than men. Orphans and widows, hopelessness and prostitution have become facts of life. Kathryn Cameron Porter, president of the Human Rights Alliance, spoke of her recent visit to the Kurdish enclave in northern Iraq. The situation of the Kurds has not changed, she said. Death visits them often and does so at an alarming rate. The Iraqis and the Turks and the Iranians would rather see all Kurds dead. The Kurds of Iraq are now doing exactly that: killing one another to the dismay of their friends. Ken Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, spoke next. He noted the meticulous plans of Ali Hasan Al-Majid, the man Saddam had hand- picked to deal with the Kurds. In what became known as the "Anfal" campaigns, the Iraqi army began military attacks on Kurdish settlements, making use of chemical weapons, with the express purpose of dealing with the Kurdish question once and for all. Mr. Roth went on: "... the stores of documented testimonial and forensic evidence in the possession of Human Rights Watch provide incontrovertible proof that in 1988 the Iraqi state killed tens of thousands of Kurdish men, women, and children because they were Kurds. Our goal is to ensure that the Iraqi government is brought to account for its heinous crime of genocide." After the hearing, I felt like a Jew who had the misfortune of urging the West to rescue his kind from the fury that was Hitler during the Second World War. That help never came. The Kurds, too, will not get it. Saddam will either be his own nemesis or wait until my generation of Kurds catches up with him. Kani Xulam American Kurdish Information Network -- 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 kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Thu Sep 14 11:28:58 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 14 Sep 1995 11:28:58 Subject: PKK-NPA Sign Unity Agreement Message-ID: From: Arm The Spirit PKK-NPA Sign Unity Agreement Representatives of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) recently met in Brussels, the capital of Belgium. After a series of discussions, the National Liberation Front of Kurdistan (ERNK) and the National Democratic Front (NDF) signed a unity agreement. The NDF members responsible for international affairs, Luis Jalandoni and Emilio Rojo, signed the protocol on behalf of the Central Committee of the CPP. Representatives of both parties and fronts agreed to support and give solidarity to one another in all areas of praxis. The representatives stated in the protocol: "We, the Kurdistan Workers Party and the Communist Party of the Philippines, will intensify the ties between our comrades in the future. We will struggle against imperialism and reactionary forces, and we will strengthen our solidarity in the struggle for our national liberation and democracy. We will develop a democratic revolution with a socialist revolution as our goal. We have as our foundation the fundamentals of proletarian internationalism. We will turn these ideals into reality by means of our revolutionary praxis." The revolutionary-democratic movement in The Philippines has been waging a guerrilla struggle against the government since 1968. By means of the 23,000 fighters organized in the New People's Army (NPA), the CPP and the NDF are struggling in 10,000 villages in 60 major regions and on 60 military fronts. (Translated from Kurdistan Report #75, July/August 1995) ++++ 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 Thu Sep 14 21:37:16 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 14 Sep 1995 21:37:16 Subject: PKK-NPA Sign Unity Agreement References: Message-ID: id VT17910; Thu, 14 Sep 1995 20:29:15 -0800 ------------------------ Forwarded from : ats at etext.org ------------------------ PKK-NPA Sign Unity Agreement Representatives of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) recently met in Brussels, the capital of Belgium. After a series of discussions, the National Liberation Front of Kurdistan (ERNK) and the National Democratic Front (NDF) signed a unity agreement. The NDF members responsible for international affairs, Luis Jalandoni and Emilio Rojo, signed the protocol on behalf of the Central Committee of the CPP. Representatives of both parties and fronts agreed to support and give solidarity to one another in all areas of praxis. The representatives stated in the protocol: "We, the Kurdistan Workers Party and the Communist Party of the Philippines, will intensify the ties between our comrades in the future. We will struggle against imperialism and reactionary forces, and we will strengthen our solidarity in the struggle for our national liberation and democracy. We will develop a democratic revolution with a socialist revolution as our goal. We have as our foundation the fundamentals of proletarian internationalism. We will turn these ideals into reality by means of our revolutionary praxis." The revolutionary-democratic movement in The Philippines has been waging a guerrilla struggle against the government since 1968. By means of the 23,000 fighters organized in the New People's Army (NPA), the CPP and the NDF are struggling in 10,000 villages in 60 major regions and on 60 military fronts. (Translated from Kurdistan Report #75, July/August 1995) ++++ 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 kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Thu Sep 14 11:28:59 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 14 Sep 1995 11:28:59 Subject: The Kurdish Woman at the US Senate Message-ID: From: mail06672 at pop.net (AKIN) Washington The Kurdish Woman at the U.S. Senate "I was violated" the Kurdish woman wanted to say, but she could not. She, instead, sobbed and sobbed. Senator, Diane Feinstein, wanted to help. "Speak as if you were in the company of some good friends." It did not help. This was the scene at a recent hearing on the "Iraqi Atrocities Against the Kurds." A number of experts and some victims of Saddam's misconduct were invited to testify. The event took place on August 3, 1995, at the Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs in the Dirksen Senate Office Building. To be sure, there never was a shortage of evidence to allow one to give the benefit of doubt to the ruler of Baghdad. Speaker after speaker spoke of the horrors that the Kurds had endured. The woman's inability to put her anguish into words left an indelible impression on the Senators. Others described the meticulous Baghdad schemes through operations such as "Anfal," a word taken out of Quran, the holy book of Islam, to market the diabolical plans of Saddam and his cronies. A Kurd, I was extremely disturbed by the proceedings, not because I was a novice to these tales of brutality against my people, but rather crying for help at the U.S. Senate did not seem to be a proper way to tackle this wrongdoing against the Kurds. I felt impotent; the world, historians tell us, had contempt for such peoples. There were other disquieting moments in the hearing. A Kurdish man spoke of a number of coordinated chemical attacks that had rained instant death on the unsuspecting Kurdish civilians. For example, in Halapja, Kurdistan, on March 16, 1988, some 5000 Kurds had dropped dead, after inhaling the poisonous fumes. At the time, the International Community did not consider imposing sanctions on Baghdad. It did so only after the invasion of Kuwait. A film put together by the United States government officials serving in northern Iraq was also shown. It portrayed life in Iraqi Kurdistan. It was a page out of Hobbes' Leviathan. Some Iraqi soldiers blindfolding and tying Kurdish men to poles and shooting them in the sight of camera-recorders. The footage, the narrator said, was captured by the Kurdish fighters, from the archives of retreating Iraqi soldiers, during their brief liberation of Kurdistan. In a span of four years, from early 1987 to early 1990, approximately 4,000 Kurdish villages were destroyed. Some 182,000 people, mostly men, were killed. Today, in northern Iraq, the narrator went on to say, there is a higher ratio of women than men. Orphans and widows, hopelessness and prostitution have become facts of life. Kathryn Cameron Porter, President of Human Rights Alliance, spoke of her recent visit to the Kurdish enclave of Northern Iraq. The situation of the Kurds, has not changed, she said. Death visits them often and does so at an alarming rate. The Iraqis and the Turks and the Iranians would rather see all Kurds dead. The Kurds of Iraq are now doing exactly that: killing one another to the dismay of their friends. Ken Roth, the Executive Director of Human Rights Watch, spoke next. He noted the meticulous plans of Ali Hasan Al-Majid, the man Saddam had hand-picked to deal with the Kurds. In what became known as "Anfal" campaigns, the Iraqi army began military attacks on the Kurdish settlements, making use of the chemical weapons, with the express purpose of dealing with the Kurdish question once and for all. Mr. Roth went on: "... the stores of documentary testimonial and forensic evidence in the possession of Human Rights Watch provide incontrovertible proof that in 1988 the Iraqi state killed tens of thousands of Kurdish men, women and children because they were Kurds (the italics are the author's). Our goal is to ensure that the Iraqi government is brought to account for its heinous crime of genocide." After the hearing, I felt like a Jew who had the misfortune of urging the West to rescue his kind from the fury that was Hitler at the Second World War. That help never came. The Kurds too will not get it. Saddam will either be his own nemesis or wait until my generation of Kurds catches up with him. Kani Xulam American Kurdish Information Network ---- 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 kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Sat Sep 16 01:27:24 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 16 Sep 1995 01:27:24 Subject: Peace Manifesto Message-ID: From: mail06672 at pop.net (AKIN) Peace Manifesto On The Occasion Of World Peace Day (September 1) The specter of war, humanity's number one enemy since centuries past, is continuing to haunt our country. In the last 10 years, it has taken 20,000 lives, destroyed thousands of villages, driven millions of people from their homeland, burned forests, and dried up the earth. And is it not this undeclared dirty war which is chiefly responsible for our hunger, unemployment, and economic crisis? On September 1, World Peace Day, the need to end this war, which is threatening and undermining the future of our society, becomes clearly evident once again. This day is the anniversary of Hitler's attack on Poland, an action which touched off the Second World War, a war which cost 50 million human lives. The defeat of Hitler's fascism was proof that racism, occupation, and violence are no solution. So why do people still hold onto such unjust and false policies, which the past 100 years have continually proven to be unsuited for treating suffered pains? Those people who profit from war promote racism and fascism so that we might kill each other. Can someone who shouts "If you don't like it, then leave!" really wish to find peaceful understanding and equality with their opponent? The deaf sultans need to hear the screams of the war victims themselves. "The state is following the wrong path!" That is what we hear in the voices of Kurdish families who have lost their children, in the voices of the people in prison for seeking a democratic solution, in the voices of the families of soldiers who are sent off to war. We love this country and the people who live here. Why do others wish to continue this war? Is it not rather our duty, in the name of humanity, to struggle against this war, which is pitting people against one another and destroying all forms of hope? Why shouldn't people be educated in their own language? Why is one segment of the population forced to live under martial law, why others are governed by normal laws? Aren't these measures, which destroy the basis of our coexistence, the real example of separatism? The primary victims of this war are women, children, and elderly people. The war is threatening the people who are responsible for the continuation of our civilization. They are being left behind in ruins which can never be built up again. In the war regions, young people are not receiving an education, and expulsions are reducing the living possibilities for elderly people, women, and children. War brings death to the people and money to the profiteers. Why should we kill each other in an effort to prevent fundamental rights from being enjoyed, rights which form the basis for the equality of peoples as documented in human rights accords? The conscience of each individual, regardless of their language, race, gender, nationality, or faith, should dictate that they oppose the false and harmful policies of war, which alienate us further from humanity with each passing day. Enough! This war must be ended! The parties to this conflict must sign a cease-fire agreement! Let us see to it that they do! Let us engage in a free and open discussion about a democratic solution to the Kurdish question. Human rights should form the foundation of our law. People must not be imprisoned for their thoughts or opinions. Everything which we wish for ourselves we should also desire for our neighbors. Let us defend their right to have life, their native language, an education, and a political identity. The suffering must come to an end. The wounds must be healed. The parliament should immediately abandon its politics of war and decree a general amnesty as the first step towards peace. The state of emergency must be lifted. If we wish to see an end to our citizens being executed in foreign countries, then we ourselves must abolish the death penalty. If we are saddened by the human tragedy in Bosnia, then we must also see the fires in our own country and seek to put them out by providing a positive example for people by opposing all forms of ethnic, social, or political genocide. There is nothing which divides the people. The problem lies with the state, in its structure and outlook. These must finally be changed. The state must recognize the identity and rights of the Kurds and take steps towards a democratic solution. A free and happy future for the Turks, Kurds, and all other peoples who live in this country can only become reality if we seek to defend our common living culture and recognize and respect each other's identity. Let us stop the politics of war which dehumanize people. We may not and must not respect these; we must resist them. The hope of the people lies not in war but rather in a true democracy! We promise to continue this cry for as long as necessary until peace is reached. We call on everyone to join with us in this call for peace. Yasar Kemal, writer Melik Firat, member of parliament Munir Ceylan, trade unionist Ercan Kanar, deputy chair of the Human Rights Association (IHD) ---- 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 Sat Sep 16 23:26:33 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 16 Sep 1995 23:26:33 Subject: Turkish Kurd rebels attack Kurd Message-ID: Subject: Re: Turkish Kurd rebels attack Kurds in north Iraq id VT17982; Sat, 16 Sep 1995 22:42:40 -0800 -------------- Forwarded from : nytmx at mit.xs4all.nl (NY Transfer) -------------- Turkish Kurd rebels attack Kurds in north Iraq DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Sept 12 (Reuter) - Turkish Kurdish rebels killed eight Iraqi Kurdish guards and wounded three Turkish truck drivers in two separate attacks in northern Iraq, Iraqi Kurdish officials said on Tuesday. The rebels, from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), opened fire on a guardpost in the Begova area of north Iraq, on Monday night, Iraqi Kurdish officials in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir said. The PKK, fighting for autonomy or independence in southeast Turkey, killed eight guards from the Iraqi Kurdish Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and wounded eight, the officials said. There was no independent confirmation. The attack was carried out as representatives from the KDP and rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) were expected on Tuesday to start a second round of U.S.-sponsored talks in Dublin to end a 15-month feud that has split the region between rival militias. Since talks were first held last month officials have said that the PKK has emerged from mountain camps in the region and attacked KDP-held territory, a mountainious area that borders Turkey. Turkish Kurdish political analysts say the PKK wants to establish itself as a third force in the region and derail the peace talks, fearful any agreement could force the shutdown of its military bases in northern Iraq. In another attack, PKK rebels opened fire on Turkish truck drivers at the KDP-controlled Ibrahim Khalil border post in northern Iraq. KDP officials said the PKK was apparently trying to stop the border trade which has funded KDP coffers and is one reason why fighting broke out between the two Iraqi Kurdish groups. Northern Iraq is protected from possible attacks by the Iraqi army by U.S., French and British planes that have patrolled the skies since shortly after the 1991 Gulf War. Meanwhile, in southeast Turkey PKK guerrillas opened fire on a police car travelling on a road near Diyarbakir, wounding two officers, local officials said. Nearly 18,000 people have died in the 11-year-old conflict between the PKK and the Turkish authorities. Reut10:24 09-12-95 Reuter N:Copyright 1995, Reuters News Service From kurdeng at aps.nl Sat Sep 16 23:27:34 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 16 Sep 1995 23:27:34 Subject: Turkish court rejects Kurd retu Message-ID: Subject: Re: Turkish court rejects Kurd return to parliament -------------- Forwarded from : nytmx at mit.xs4all.nl (NY Transfer) -------------- Turkish court rejects Kurd return to parliament By Hidir Goktas ANKARA, Sept 12 (Reuter) - Turkey's constitutional court rejected on Tuesday an appeal from disenfranchised Kurdish members of parliament to be allowed to return to parliament. The ruling was seen as possibly endangering a planned trade pact with the European Union. The court's chairman Yekta Gungor Ozden told reporters it had rejected the appeal to backdate constitutional changes made in July to return parliamentary status to the 13 members of parliament from the Democracy Party (DEP). ``A decision has been taken by the majority of 10 votes to one to reject the request,'' Ozden said. The Kurds lost their seats when the court outlawed the party last year and eight of them were later imprisoned for up to 15 years for separatism and links to Kurdish guerrillas. At least two of the Kurdish lawmakers would have been released from jail if the constitutional court had accepted their appeal. Another court is expected to hear a judicial appeal on the sentence later this month, their lawyers said. European Parliament members have strongly supported the Kurds, suggesting their freedom could go a long way toward approval of a customs union with the EU set to begin in January. Turkish officials expect the rights-conscious European Parliament to vote on ratifying the pact in December. Feridun Yazar, a lawyer for some of the Kurds, said the court's decision was not unexpected. ``They don't go by the laws but according to how they feel,'' he told Reuters. ``(Yet) they want to get into the customs union, how can that be?'' A special security court jailed eight of the lawmakers last December for separatism and ties to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebel group. Two were released for time served. Almost 18,000 people have died in the Marxist group's 11-year-old fight for Kurdish independence or autonomy. Much of the evidence against them was based on statements they made urging more rights for Turkey's estimated 10-to-15 million Kurds. The trial was criticised by Turkey's Western allies. Another six Kurdish members of parliament fled to Western Europe last year to escape possible prosecution and are now active in a Kurdish parliament-in-exile, which is backed by the guerrillas. France's ambassador to Ankara urged Turkey to make political reforms to join the lucrative trade pact, under which trade barriers on both sides are set to fall. ``The customs union is an agreement that also has political overtones and this is why the agreement includes some norms that Turkey also has to accept,'' Francois Doppfer said during a conference in Istanbul on the customs union. Turkey could still get the go-ahead for the pact despite the latest court ruling if it eases harsh legal restrictions on Kurdish dissent, Western diplomats say. Prime Minister Tansu Ciller has repeatedly vowed to change or scrap Article 8 of the anti-terrorism law, which outlaws separatism. ``They have another chance with Article 8,'' lawyer Yazar said. Reut12:10 09-12-95 Reuter N:Copyright 1995, Reuters News Service From kurdeng at aps.nl Sat Sep 16 23:28:45 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 16 Sep 1995 23:28:45 Subject: Swiss held, freed for rebel Kur Message-ID: Subject: Re: Swiss held, freed for rebel Kurd ties in Turkey id VT17996; Sat, 16 Sep 1995 22:42:51 -0800 -------------- Forwarded from : nytmx at mit.xs4all.nl (NY Transfer) -------------- Swiss held, freed for rebel Kurd ties in Turkey ANKARA, Sept 12 (Reuter) - A Turkish court is investigating two Swiss citizens detained near Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey for possession of materials linked to the rebel Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), officials said on Tuesday. ``They were released from detention last night, but we are still evaluating whether they should be tried,'' a court official in Igdir, in eastern Kars province, told Reuters by telephone. Security officials in Igdir said the pair, a Swiss man and a Swiss-Italian woman, were detained in the area last Tuesday for possessing ``banned'' documents relating to the PKK. ``They have been here before. Some suspicious documents were found on them,'' a paramilitary gendarme official said. The Swiss embassy in Ankara named the pair as Swiss national Giuseppe Rezzonico and Karin Presti, a dual Swiss-Italian citizen. An embassy official said they were about to leave Turkey from the nearest port and as far as the embassy was concerned the whole thing was over for now. Rezzonico, a Jehovah's Witness, was kidnapped in the same area by the PKK in August 1993 with another Swiss and two Italians. Embassy officials said at the time they were seeking the remains of Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat. Rezzonico is believed to have been to Turkey several times before on a similar mission, but the embassy could not say if the Ark was his aim this time round. Turkish television said last night they were detained after they were found trying to film military zones on Mount Ararat. It said security forces had seized a computer, discs, video tapes of the military zones and PKK publications. They were also found to be carrying photographs taken of them together with high-ranking PKK officials on Mount Ararat last year, it said. Reut03:49 09-12-95 Reuter N:Copyright 1995, Reuters News Service From kurdeng at aps.nl Sat Sep 16 23:29:28 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 16 Sep 1995 23:29:28 Subject: Rebel Kurds kill two village gu Message-ID: Subject: Re: Rebel Kurds kill two village guards in Turkey id VT18003; Sat, 16 Sep 1995 22:42:56 -0800 -------------- Forwarded from : nytmx at mit.xs4all.nl (NY Transfer) -------------- Rebel Kurds kill two village guards in Turkey TUNCELI, Turkey, Sept 12 (Reuter) - Kurdish rebels killed two state-paid village guards in separate raids in Turkey's eastern province of Tunceli, army officers said on Tuesday. Following the raids on Monday night, soldiers pushed rebels back into the Alibogazi ravine, a 1,500-metre (5,000 feet) deep gash that cuts into the 3,000-metre (10,000 feet) Munzur mountains, one officer said. Two Cobra helicopters bombed the ravine early on Tuesday and up to 1,500 troops were sent to the area, where about 10,000 troops are already deployed, security officials said. Describing the rebel attacks, an officer said: ``A large group of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) attacked the Saribalta and Ulukale villages in Cemisgezek township at about 9.30 p.m. (1830 GMT) last night and killed two village guards,'' one officer said. Village guards, armed and paid by the state in the fight against the PKK, and their families are often targets for guerrilla attacks. Turkish forces last week began what they called a final push to wipe out PKK guerrillas in Tunceli province but so far only about 10 rebels have been reported killed there. Up to 50,000 troops were said to be involved in the sweep that may last several months, army officials said. Troops have tried in vain to flush the PKK out of Tunceli since the arrival of rebel chief Semdin ``Fingerless Zeki'' Sakik, who began operating in the region last year. The rebels have frequently defied government and military assertions that the elusive rebels are close to defeat. Nearly 18,000 people have been killed in the PKK's 11-year fight for independence or autonomy in the southeast. Reut07:23 09-12-95 Reuter N:Copyright 1995, Reuters News Service From kurdeng at aps.nl Sun Sep 17 17:16:13 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 17 Sep 1995 17:16:13 Subject: Turkish and US teams confer on Dubl Message-ID: Subject: Turkish and US teams confer on Dublin talks id VT18287; Sun, 17 Sep 1995 15:57:46 -0800 Briefing: PUK leader Talabani informed Syrian officials on first Dublin meeting, PUK sources say Turkish Daily News -------------------------------------------------- ANKARA- The Turkish and U.S. delegations met at the U.S. Embassy in Dublin, prior to the second round of talks with the rival northern Iraqi Kurdish groups, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), in an effort to establish peace in the region. Ecvet Tezcan, chief of the Turkish Foreign Ministry intelligence and research department chief and Robert Deutsch, a top U.S. State Department official attended the meeting. It has been learned that the Turkish and U.S. officials exchanged views and expressed their government's positions regarding the Dublin talks. It has also been reported that the Turkish delegation initially raised an objection to British participation as an observer at the second Dublin meeting but later withdrew their opposition at the request of the Americans. The first Dublin meeting was attended by the rival Kurdish groups, Iraqi National Congress, Turkey as an observer and the United States as sponsor. The second series of talks is expected to focus on details of the peace accord and control mechanisms. If the meeting is successful it will be followed by the signing of a peace agreement in Washington. It is reported that Turkey is expected to stress to the leaders of the KDP and the PUK, Massoud Barzani and Jalal Talabani, that they accept their responsibility for preventing the PKK (outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party) from filling the power vacuum in northern Iraq. Turkey is also expected to underline the importance of the preserving Iraq's territorial integrity and sovereignty. At the first peace talks in Ireland a draft agreement was drawn up which calls for the city of Irbil to be demilitarized. This will be overseen by a neutral commission formed under the auspices of the Iraqi National Congress (INC) -- an umbrella opposition group -- which will also control the division of revenues from the cross-border oil trade. This was the main cause of the 15 months feud between the Iraqi Kurdish groups. The draft says that these arrangements will respect the territorial integrity of Iraq and will also take into consideration the legitimate security concerns of Turkey. In a separate but related development, Talabani informed the Syrian officials in Damascus about the first Irish meeting, Anatolia reported on Tuesday. The PUK sources said that Talabani assured Damascus that sole aim of the meeting was to bring peace to the region. It is reported that Talabani will go to Jordan after Syria to meet Jordan Crown Prince Hassan. PUK sources noted that Talabani might have an opportunity to see Saddam Hussein's son in law General Huseyin Kamil Hasan Al Macid, who is living in Amman after his defection, but they indicated that there was no scheduled meeting with Al Macid. -------------------------------------------------- --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Sun Sep 17 17:17:53 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 17 Sep 1995 17:17:53 Subject: TURKISH DAILY NEWS / 14 SEPTEMBER 1 Message-ID: Subject: TURKISH DAILY NEWS / 14 SEPTEMBER 1995 US State Dept. sides with Turkey, and against Rep. Hamilton, on PKK fight By Ugur Akinci Turkish Daily News ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WASHINGTON- The U.S. State Dept. sided with Turkey concerning the government's fight against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) when Rep. Lee Hamilton (D) of Indiana questioned the use of U.S. weapons in that effort, according to documents recently acquired by the Turkish Daily News. Hamilton is a ranking and influential member of the House International Relations Committee who has frequently criticized Turkey in the past for its human rights record and the situation in Cyprus. In a letter dated June 29, 1995, addressed to Secretary of State Warren Christopher, Hamilton questioned that section of the State Department's "Report on Allegations of Human Rights Abuses by the Turkish Military," released on June 1, 1995, which stated "U.S.-origin equipment, which accounts for most major items of the Turkish military inventory, has been used in operations against the PKK during which human rights abuses have occurred. " "Are Turkey's human rights abuses with U.S.-origin military equipment... consistent with Section 4 of the 'Purposes for Which Military Sales by the United States Are Authorized,' under Section 4 of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA)?" Hamilton asked Christopher. Would that prohibit the sale of U.S. weapons to Turkey, he wanted to know. For any weapons sales to foreign countries, the State Department's "Export Licensing" department must issue an export license" first. Hamilton also raised the issue of a "political solution" to the "Kurdish problem." "Is it U.S. policy to promote a political solution in southeastern Turkey?" Hamilton asked in his letter. "Does Turkey support a political solution? What is the next step in trying to promote a political solution?" Replying to Hamilton a month and a half later, Assistant Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, writing on behalf of Christopher, told Hamilton on Aug. 15, 1995, that Section 4 of the AECA "provides in the relevant part that the U.S. government may provide U.S.-origin defense articles to friendly countries for a number of purposes, including for internal security. Although human rights violations have occurred in the course of operations, those operations appear in fact to have been undertaken for a purpose authorized under the AECA and therefore a report is not required under section 3(c)(2). " "Turkey's human rights record raises serious concerns, but we do not believe that it has engaged in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights within the meaning of Section 502B of the Foreign Assistance Act," Sherman wrote. Even the Turkish General Staff has instituted its own human rights program to train the soldiers, she noted. . After describing in detail the 16 constitutional changes of July 23, Sherman also replied Hamilton's inquiry about a "political solution." Describing the PKK as a "brutal terrorist organization," Sherman said "the Turkish government interprets references to the need for a 'political solution' in the southeast as encouragement to negotiate with the PKK, which we have not asked Ankara to do. We support Turkey's territorial integrity and legitimate right to fight terrorism. "While engaged in a difficult struggle with a brutal terrorist organization, the government of Turkey is making a determined effort to improve its human rights performance. We believe that to promote a settlement in the Southeast, our best course is to continue energetically to promote democratization, while supporting Turkey's legitimate struggle against terrorism. In both of these efforts, Turkey needs, and continues to deserve, our help and support," Sherman concluded. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Major defense fair to open in Ankara next week Turkish Daily News ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ANKARA- IDEF-95, the second International Defense Industry and Civil Aviation Fair, is due to open in Ankara on Sept. 20, bringing together company authorities, defense experts and high-ranking bureaucrats from all over the world. Twenty-two countries are due to be represented in the fair with 194 companies and their products, IDEF organizers told a news conference on Turkey. The Turkish Daily News will also take part in IDEF-95. Defense industry products raging from small arms and missiles to military helicopters and heavy artillery pieces will be exhibited in the fair, which will also include civil aviation pieces. Gurhan Paker, head of the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation which sponsors the fund, said the companies taking part in IDEF-95 would pay a total fee of $3.5 million. The United States, Britain, France, Israel and the Russian Federation are due to be the main foreign contributors to the fair while Turkey will be represented with the products of 42 companies. Israel, with which Ankara had distant relations until recently, will take part in IDEF-95 in its first participation in a defense fair organized in Turkey. The Turkish Armed Forces Foundation supports a number of Turkish military modernization projects. Delegations from 37 countries will be attending IDEF-95 which will be officially inaugurated by President Demirel on next Wednesday. Teams from Turkey and Britain will also perform air shows during the fair. The last defense fair in Turkey was organized in Ankara two years ago. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kandemir Ambassador to US, welcomes HABITAT delegates Turkish Daily News ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WASHINGTON- Nuzhet Kandemir, Turkish Ambassador to Washington, welcomed the participants in the Habitat Urban Finance Conference held at the World Bank with a reception at the Turkish Embassy. The delegates from seventy countries included Gurel Tuzun, coordinator of the second U.N. Conference on Human Settlements (HABITAT II); Deha Sezer, vice president of the Turkish Housing Development Administration (THDA); and Omer Kiral also from THDA. HABITAT II, to be held in June 1996 in Istanbul, is the last major U.N. conference to be held in what is left of the 20th century. Since 1992 the U.N. has held similar conferences in Rio, Cairo, Copenhagen and Beijing. "Sustained urban development is a major theme of HABITAT II," Mr. Sezer told the TDN. Amb. Kandemir, in his address to the invited guests, reminded that: "by the year 2000, half of humanity will be living in urban areas. By the year 2030, urban populations will be twice that of rural populations. "Given this reality, we need new ideas, new approaches and new established policies to solve the common problems of urbanization and to provide better 'habitats' for every human being around the world," Kandemir said. It is for this reason that HABITAT II will be held in Istanbul next year, he said. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Tue Sep 19 08:33:25 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 19 Sep 1995 08:33:25 Subject: New PKK Cease-Fire? Message-ID: From: mail06672 at pop.net (AKIN) (We received the following from the Kurdistan Committee in Brussels.) Press Release September 18, 1995 Abdullah Ocalan, the chair of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), in a live interview on the Kurdish television station MED-TV, announced that he would renew his call for a cease-fire as he had done back in 1993. From March 17 to June 8, 1993, the PKK observed a unilateral cease-fire which lasted for 83 days. The Turkish government, however, responded to this peace effort with more violence. PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan has repeatedly proven his willingness to find a peaceful and political solution to the Kurdish question, and he has always been consistent in insisting on a political dialogue. Ocalan has stated that the true interests of both the Kurdish and the Turkish peoples can only be secured through peace. PKK Chair Abdullah Ocalan: "We Want To Re-Start The 1993 Cease-Fire In Order To Prove Our Good Intentions" "I make this announcement especially for members of the press, and the Turkish media are included in this. At this time, Deniz Baykal, the newly-elected chair of the Republican People's Party (CHP), is moving into his position in the coalition government. By means of the Kurdish television station MED-TV, I would like to announce an initiative to pave the way for the government to respond in a positive manner. "Prof. Dogu Ergil and his friends, I understand, have begun a signature campaign to call for peace. The esteemed Ismail Nacar requests the same from us. There are other peace initiatives out there, and, as I have said, there is a new leadership in the CHP. In addition to this, the military has come to the realization that its policies are leading nowhere. All Turkish patriots and democrats can see that the military operations are pushing Turkey into a dead-end. Everyone agrees that Turkey is in a quagmire. Apart from a gang of warmongers, no one is happy about this. It is also worthwhile to note the Tomris Ozden incident. What she said about the colonel is correct. According to our information, the colonel was a symbol who represented a particular school of thought in the army. He knew the politics of the village guards and those of the MHP and the special teams, and how these have harmed the interests of the state. Now, heads may roll within the armed forces. The woman really means this; these are not empty words. One could almost say that there are camps forming within the army. A great deal of soul-searching is going on. In order to prove our good will, we want to re-start the 1993 cease-fire. We know that there are people who are interested in this. In order to give them the chance to raise their voices and enter into a dialogue with us, this will be an opportunity for them to do so. "The European Union is set to make a decision soon regarding Turkey, and we would like them to know that we are not the problem and that we are on record for wishing to seek a political solution, and if need be we are willing to renew the cease-fire. If Turkey does not plan to respond to such a gesture with more violence, then we will take this step soon and we will make an announcement." -- 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 kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Tue Sep 19 17:25:49 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 19 Sep 1995 17:25:49 Subject: ARGK: 11 Years Of Armed Liberation Message-ID: From: Arm The Spirit Subject: ARGK: 11 Years Of Armed Liberation Struggle "The Beginning Of The Formation Of People's Power" Statement From The Headquarters Of The ARGK On The Occasion Of The 11th Anniversary Of The Armed Liberation Struggle In Kurdistan On August 15, we will enter the 12th year of fighting in our national liberation struggle against Turkish colonial fascism, which is seeking to eradicate our people from history. We greet our people and all humanity on this 11th anniversary of our national liberation struggle, which is one of the most legitimate and humane struggles in history, directed against one of the most barbaric regimes in the entire world. Our national liberation struggle, which began on August 15, 1984 with a few propaganda groups, reached the stage of 'Serhildan' (popular uprising) by the early 1990s following a long phase of guerrilla warfare. Today, our experienced and powerful guerrilla army has reached the stage when liberated zones will be established. The past year was very significant, both in terms of the fiascos which the enemy suffered, as well as the aspects of our own development. The year 1994 was a year of intensive and heavy war. The colonial fascist Turkish Republic was forced to rely on major assistance from its allies, particularly Germany and the United States. Our guerrilla forces waged heroic resistance against the massive counter-revolutionary attacks and not only were able to keep the national reality of Kurdistan alive in the face of these brutal assaults, but they also transformed last year into a year of some of the most significant developments our national liberation struggle has seen so far. Last year, the PKK, which leads our struggle and our people's liberation army, carried out its 5th Party Congress. The realization of such a meeting with a long period of preparation shows the high level which our national liberation struggle has reached, destroying all of the plans which the enemy had made. Another significant development last year was the fact that there wasn't only heavy fighting between our guerrilla forces and the fascist Turkish army in northwest Kurdistan, but in south Kurdistan as well. The military operation which was launched by the Turkish army during Newroz has created a situation of war in south Kurdistan which continues to exist in different forms. This Turkish attack has helped to unify north and south Kurdistan, and steps are now being taken by our forces to create joint military strategy and tactics in all regions of Kurdistan. The resistance by our forces against the Turkish attacks in south Kurdistan turned their operation into a failure and the Turkish army became bogged down in south Kurdistan. In this way, the revolution in north Kurdistan is being transported to the south and is influencing the population there. The people of south Kurdistan are on the side of our revolution and they support it. South Kurdistan has become an important strategic region for us and it is controlled by our guerrilla forces. Thus, a new revolutionary phase has begun in south Kurdistan. This phase in south Kurdistan, just like in north Kurdistan, is the beginning of the formation of people's power. That is the reality in Kurdistan today. The imperialists and colonialists, who have realized that this reality does not fit with their interests, have gathered together collaborationist forces with the aim of halting revolutionary developments. But these dangerous counter-revolutionary measures will be defeated by us. We have not been blind to these plans, and our revolutionary positions, which we have struggled for, will destroy these plots and we will teach the necessary lessons to all those who planned them. In conjunction with the 5th Congress of the PKK, the stage which was developed in northwest Kurdistan in the spring and summer of this year is on the path to victory for our progressive struggle. We have inflicted serous blows on the fascist Turkish army in the region between the Zagros mountains and Dersim, and between the Taurus mountains and Serhat. As our guerrilla struggle in northern and central areas becomes further anchored, we are rapidly approaching victory in Botan and the Zagros region. Now is the time when we will seek to establish liberated zones and people's power based on the line of victory. The balance of the last year of fighting is proof of this. Kurdistan War Balance: August 15, 1994 - August 15, 1995 During the past year in Kurdistan, there were 3,281 armed encounters in the form of attacks, ambushes, assaults, executions, mine actions, and battles between Turkish army troops and our guerrilla forces. We know of Turkish casualties for about two-thirds of these encounters, but the results of the other one-third are unknown to us. Of the casualty figures known to us, a total of 6,493 Turkish soldiers were killed, including 209 officers, 19 lower-ranking officers, 74 special team commandos, and 6,191 normal soldiers. In addition to these, 1,099 village guards, including 9 village guard chiefs, and 285 agents and contra-guerrillas were killed. Therefore, a total of 7,877 enemy forces were killed, and an unknown number were wounded. During the same time period, we took 365 enemy forces prisoner, including 1 lieutenant, 1 lower-ranking officer, 11 soldiers, 5 sentries, 303 village guards, and 44 agents and contra-guerrillas. We also confiscated the following military equipment from the Turkish army during the past year: 10 heavy machine guns; 101 medium machine guns; 18 sniper rifles; 594 infantry weapons; 122,868 rounds of ammunition; 14 mortars; 54 flame throwers; 27 rocket launchers; 195 rockets; 6 grenade launchers; 256 hand grenades; 56 radios; 12 flare guns; 34 night vision glasses; 97 binoculars; 1,194 mines; and 2 mine detectors. During the past year, we completely destroyed the following: 2 airplanes; 6 helicopters; 10 tanks; 72 panzers; 204 army vehicles; 1 MIT vehicle; 146 village guard vehicles; 69 state vehicles; 59 pieces of construction equipment; 1 radar facility; and 2 radar stations. We also damaged 2 helicopters, 1 train, and 28 state buildings. Our forces also carried out 11 acts of sabotage (bombings) against the Kerkuk-Yumurtalek oil pipeline. Since August 15, 1994, we have completely destroyed 4 enemy military installations and forced the enemy to abandon and flee from another 8. Since Newroz 1995, a total of 73 villages have been forcibly evacuated by the Turkish army, 43 of these in south Kurdistan and the other 30 in north Kurdistan, and 73 rural villagers have been killed by Turkish troops, 47 in south Kurdistan and 26 north Kurdistan. In the year that has passed since August 15, 1994, 1,286 of our fighters have fallen as martyrs in confrontations with Turkish forces. Another 399 have been wounded. In addition to these martyrs, 6 popular militia members have fallen and 14 of our fighters were wounded and taken prisoner by the Turkish army. During the past year, we have consistently proven that our army, which has developed through 11 years of struggle, is an unbeatable force which can secure the survival and defence of our people. We now find ourselves at the starting point of creating our lasting victory. May the history of the struggle of our people stride forward with many new August 15 advances! People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK) August 8, 1995 (Translated from Kurdistan Rundbrief 18/95) From kurdeng at aps.nl Tue Sep 19 23:24:32 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 19 Sep 1995 23:24:32 Subject: ARGK: 11 Years Of Armed Liberation References: Message-ID: Subject: Re: ARGK: 11 Years Of Armed Liberation Struggle ------------------------ Forwarded from : ats at etext.org ------------------------ "The Beginning Of The Formation Of People's Power" Statement From The Headquarters Of The ARGK On The Occasion Of The 11th Anniversary Of The Armed Liberation Struggle In Kurdistan On August 15, we will enter the 12th year of fighting in our national liberation struggle against Turkish colonial fascism, which is seeking to eradicate our people from history. We greet our people and all humanity on this 11th anniversary of our national liberation struggle, which is one of the most legitimate and humane struggles in history, directed against one of the most barbaric regimes in the entire world. Our national liberation struggle, which began on August 15, 1984 with a few propaganda groups, reached the stage of 'Serhildan' (popular uprising) by the early 1990s following a long phase of guerrilla warfare. Today, our experienced and powerful guerrilla army has reached the stage when liberated zones will be established. The past year was very significant, both in terms of the fiascos which the enemy suffered, as well as the aspects of our own development. The year 1994 was a year of intensive and heavy war. The colonial fascist Turkish Republic was forced to rely on major assistance from its allies, particularly Germany and the United States. Our guerrilla forces waged heroic resistance against the massive counter-revolutionary attacks and not only were able to keep the national reality of Kurdistan alive in the face of these brutal assaults, but they also transformed last year into a year of some of the most significant developments our national liberation struggle has seen so far. Last year, the PKK, which leads our struggle and our people's liberation army, carried out its 5th Party Congress. The realization of such a meeting with a long period of preparation shows the high level which our national liberation struggle has reached, destroying all of the plans which the enemy had made. Another significant development last year was the fact that there wasn't only heavy fighting between our guerrilla forces and the fascist Turkish army in northwest Kurdistan, but in south Kurdistan as well. The military operation which was launched by the Turkish army during Newroz has created a situation of war in south Kurdistan which continues to exist in different forms. This Turkish attack has helped to unify north and south Kurdistan, and steps are now being taken by our forces to create joint military strategy and tactics in all regions of Kurdistan. The resistance by our forces against the Turkish attacks in south Kurdistan turned their operation into a failure and the Turkish army became bogged down in south Kurdistan. In this way, the revolution in north Kurdistan is being transported to the south and is influencing the population there. The people of south Kurdistan are on the side of our revolution and they support it. South Kurdistan has become an important strategic region for us and it is controlled by our guerrilla forces. Thus, a new revolutionary phase has begun in south Kurdistan. This phase in south Kurdistan, just like in north Kurdistan, is the beginning of the formation of people's power. That is the reality in Kurdistan today. The imperialists and colonialists, who have realized that this reality does not fit with their interests, have gathered together collaborationist forces with the aim of halting revolutionary developments. But these dangerous counter-revolutionary measures will be defeated by us. We have not been blind to these plans, and our revolutionary positions, which we have struggled for, will destroy these plots and we will teach the necessary lessons to all those who planned them. In conjunction with the 5th Congress of the PKK, the stage which was developed in northwest Kurdistan in the spring and summer of this year is on the path to victory for our progressive struggle. We have inflicted serous blows on the fascist Turkish army in the region between the Zagros mountains and Dersim, and between the Taurus mountains and Serhat. As our guerrilla struggle in northern and central areas becomes further anchored, we are rapidly approaching victory in Botan and the Zagros region. Now is the time when we will seek to establish liberated zones and people's power based on the line of victory. The balance of the last year of fighting is proof of this. Kurdistan War Balance: August 15, 1994 - August 15, 1995 During the past year in Kurdistan, there were 3,281 armed encounters in the form of attacks, ambushes, assaults, executions, mine actions, and battles between Turkish army troops and our guerrilla forces. We know of Turkish casualties for about two-thirds of these encounters, but the results of the other one-third are unknown to us. Of the casualty figures known to us, a total of 6,493 Turkish soldiers were killed, including 209 officers, 19 lower-ranking officers, 74 special team commandos, and 6,191 normal soldiers. In addition to these, 1,099 village guards, including 9 village guard chiefs, and 285 agents and contra-guerrillas were killed. Therefore, a total of 7,877 enemy forces were killed, and an unknown number were wounded. During the same time period, we took 365 enemy forces prisoner, including 1 lieutenant, 1 lower-ranking officer, 11 soldiers, 5 sentries, 303 village guards, and 44 agents and contra-guerrillas. We also confiscated the following military equipment from the Turkish army during the past year: 10 heavy machine guns; 101 medium machine guns; 18 sniper rifles; 594 infantry weapons; 122,868 rounds of ammunition; 14 mortars; 54 flame throwers; 27 rocket launchers; 195 rockets; 6 grenade launchers; 256 hand grenades; 56 radios; 12 flare guns; 34 night vision glasses; 97 binoculars; 1,194 mines; and 2 mine detectors. During the past year, we completely destroyed the following: 2 airplanes; 6 helicopters; 10 tanks; 72 panzers; 204 army vehicles; 1 MIT vehicle; 146 village guard vehicles; 69 state vehicles; 59 pieces of construction equipment; 1 radar facility; and 2 radar stations. We also damaged 2 helicopters, 1 train, and 28 state buildings. Our forces also carried out 11 acts of sabotage (bombings) against the Kerkuk-Yumurtalek oil pipeline. Since August 15, 1994, we have completely destroyed 4 enemy military installations and forced the enemy to abandon and flee from another 8. Since Newroz 1995, a total of 73 villages have been forcibly evacuated by the Turkish army, 43 of these in south Kurdistan and the other 30 in north Kurdistan, and 73 rural villagers have been killed by Turkish troops, 47 in south Kurdistan and 26 north Kurdistan. In the year that has passed since August 15, 1994, 1,286 of our fighters have fallen as martyrs in confrontations with Turkish forces. Another 399 have been wounded. In addition to these martyrs, 6 popular militia members have fallen and 14 of our fighters were wounded and taken prisoner by the Turkish army. During the past year, we have consistently proven that our army, which has developed through 11 years of struggle, is an unbeatable force which can secure the survival and defence of our people. We now find ourselves at the starting point of creating our lasting victory. May the history of the struggle of our people stride forward with many new August 15 advances! People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK) August 8, 1995 (Translated from Kurdistan Rundbrief 18/95) ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Tue Sep 19 19:54:39 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 19 Sep 1995 19:54:39 Subject: 129a Trial Against Kurds In Frankfu Message-ID: From: kcc at magi.com (Kurdistan Committee of Canada) Subject: 129a Trial Against Kurds In Frankfurt 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. (Translated from Kurdistan Rundbrief 18/95) From kurdeng at aps.nl Tue Sep 19 23:26:08 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 19 Sep 1995 23:26:08 Subject: 129a Trial Against Kurds In Frankfu References: Message-ID: Subject: 129a Trial Against Kurds In Frankfurt (germany) 995 23:58:18 -0800 ------------------------ Forwarded from : kcc at magi.com ------------------------- 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. (Translated from Kurdistan Rundbrief 18/95) ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Wed Sep 20 16:53:59 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 20 Sep 1995 16:53:59 Subject: AKIN Testimony To CSCE Hearing - Se Message-ID: From: mail06672 at pop.net (AKIN) Subject: AKIN Testimony To CSCE Hearing - September 19, 1995 The Turkish Ship Is Sinking The U.S. Government Is Guiding It To The Rocks Statement by the American Kurdish Information Network before the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe hearing on "Turkey - U.S. Relations: Potential and Peril" Tuesday, September 19, 1995 Washington, DC ---- The Turkish Ship Is Sinking The U.S. Government Is Guiding It To The Rocks We live in an age that has witnessed some remarkable changes. Films such as "The Day After", which chilled us with the thought that we may be the last generation, can now be forgotten. Apocalyptic books such as Endgame may for now, we hope, gather some dust. But the new times, though promising, have brought new challenges in their wake. The emerging scenes, the clearer they become, now seem like vistas from "The Killing Fields". The beast in us has a way of prevailing over our nascent humanity to inflict untold misery and sufferings upon the human family. Reported and under- reported tragedies in places like Rwanda, Bosnia, Kurdistan, and East Timor clearly show how fragile is the bond of our civility. In some cases greed, in others racism prevents us from making this world a better place for all. One realm which has remained impervious to the vast changes that have taken us by surprise is that of Turkish/American relations. Ankara has insisted that the special relationship it enjoyed throughout the Cold War remain intact, arguing that nothing has changed to its north, and that even greater menaces now lie to its east (Iran) and southeast (the Kurds). The United States government seems to have accepted this Turkish logic, or as some cynics would put it, the Foggy Bottom has not yet awakened to the fact that the Soviet threat is gone. In our view, this unchanged policy endangers Turkey's stability and imperils American interests. The problem is the Kurdish question, -- every night it is the number one issue on Turkish television news, -- which has demanded a civil solution but has thus far only received a military response. Such an approach is nothing new in Turkey. What is new this time, however, is that Turkey faces an organized resistance from a popular mass movement that has passed the threshold of unbecoming by means of force. A cursory look at the origins of this problem will reveal some rather disturbing facts. First divided between the Ottomans and the Persians in 1514, the Kurds lived quietly on their mountains, oblivious to the world until 1923. To be sure, they were the subjects of the far-flung Ottoman and Persian Empires and suffered their share of the indignities that are the lot of captive peoples. But, most important for the subject of this paper, their land, Kurdistan, and their language, Kurdish, were respected and tolerated in a relatively free environment which preserved them to our own time. The Turkish Republic, which rose from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire, was conceived on a promise of full rights for the Kurds. Mustafa Kemal, the Turkish general who courted the Kurds to join with the Turks to liberate the remnants of the empire, said nothing at the time of the unitary state that he later advocated and to this day his successors have defended. He knew of the promises of self-determination made to the Kurds at the Treaty of Sevres in 1920, and yet he succeeded in convincing them that an Islamic comity of two peoples, that of the Turks and those of the Kurds, had a better prospect than the Kurds' allegiance to the "infidels" of the West. The Turkish and Kurdish war of liberating what is today called Turkey lasted some four years. At the peace talks in Lausanne in 1923, Mustafa Kemal sought legitimacy for his gains. In a symbolic act which his successors are emulating with the same adroitness, he sent a Kurdish envoy, Ismet Inonu, to the negotiating table. Mr. Inonu pleaded with his British interlocutor that the Kurds wanted no special rights and were happy to be part of the Turkish Republic. To assure the British that this indeed was the case, Ankara even stooped to the time-honored ploy of having reputable Kurdish representatives send telegraphic messages to the British at the peace conference stating that the Kurds were in favor of a "union" with the Turks. The Lausanne Treaty of June 24, 1923 officially sanctioned the division of the Kurdish lands among five states. Turkey proved to be the largest beneficiary holding onto 43% of the land. Iran, Iraq, Syria, and the Soviet Union got 31%, 18%, 6%, and 2% respectively.1 It is difficult to establish the current Kurdish population figures in these states, since the governments that have the Kurds in their custody choose to ignore the question or offer figures that run contrary to demographic trends. Unofficial figures vary from a low of 25 million to higher estimates of some 40 million Kurds. Of these, some 15 to 20 million live in Turkey. The life of the Kurds after Lausanne made the theocracy of the Ottomans seem enviable by comparison. Soon after the agreement, Ataturk (meaning "Father of the Turks", the name now given to Mustafa Kemal) abandoned all of his pre-war promises to the Kurds and conceived of Turkey as being a unitary state comprised of one, and only one, people: the Turks. His rallying cry "Turkey belongs to the Turks!" became the creed which to this day forms the basis for Turkish national consciousness.2 Even today, the Turkish Constitution reads: "The Turkish state, its territory and people, is one and indivisible. The language is Turkish. These facts cannot be changed, nor can changes be proposed."3 What the "facts" of the Turkish Constitution overlooked were the rights of the Kurds, the Armenians, the Greeks, and other natives of Anatolia who now were told to call themselves Turks because Ataturk had so decreed. The Greeks, as late as the 1950s, were systematically uprooted, sometimes by force and sometimes by provocative acts which compelled them to flee and leave everything that they had behind.4 The Armenians were silenced by the massacre of 1915, prompting Hitler two decades later to argue that what the Turks had done with impunity, the Germans could emulate against the Jews. The Kurds were a different matter. To begin with, there were more of them, and they were Muslims like the Turks. Something more than brute force was required to undo them. Meticulous plans were made for this act of social engineering. The solution was sought in forced assimilation. In a generation or two, the Turkish social engineers wanted to erase all the references to the Kurds. Beginning in 1924, the Kurdish language was banned. Then came the laws which enabled the authorities to give Turkish names to everything that had a Kurdish name. All at once, Kurdish cities, town, villages, and hamlets acquired new Turkish names. For example, the maps that were printed when the Ottomans ruled the area have references to the Kurds and their land, Kurdistan; modern Turkish maps, leaving aside the impartiality of science, refer to the entire region as Turkey. As can be expected, the Kurds did not take lightly to the death warrant that was issued in their name. They rose to undo the legislation that was condemning them to the dustbin of history. Long before United Nations Resolution 31035 sanctioned the use of force in liberation struggles, the Kurds fought on several occasions (most notably in 1925, 1930, and 1937/38) to gain control over their destiny. Up until the 1980s, however, all their uprisings were crushed. Known Kurdish leaders were hanged. Their relatives and followers were deported. As if the memory of the defeats were not enough, the Kurdish landscape, especially visible sites such as high mountain slopes, were selected for onerous expressions such as "How happy I am to be a Turk!", which were spelled out with stones in large fonts. If there ever was a psychotherapist for nations, he or she would treat the Turkish case as one that suffers from a severe inferiority complex. In no other part of the world has one witnessed such blatant self-adulation or environmental degradation over the lands of subject peoples. If the purpose of these Turkish maxims all over the Kurdish landscape were to instill love and respect for the Turks, the opposite has happened.The Kurds have resisted and the Turks have enforced the racist laws that were instituted by Ataturk and his cronies. Today, the struggle has taken the form of a massive resistance led by the armed forces of the ARGK, the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan, the military wing of the PKK. This struggle has become an all-out war on the part of the Kurds to prevail over death, while the Turkish military does all it can to keep the fascist legacy of Ataturk intact. There are a number of published reports which document the cost of this Kurdish struggle for freedom and liberty. One of the most compelling is a small book entitled File of Torture: Deaths in Detention Places or Prisons, published by the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey in 1994. It lists the violent deaths of 420 political prisoners in custody since 1980. And, as the fighting intensifies, other reports keep surfacing. Derya Sazak, in the July 25th edition of the Turkish daily Milliyet, quotes the governor of State of Emergency Region, stating that 2,665 Kurdish villages have been destroyed in the conflict. That is an official Turkish government statistic. The uprooted villagers, their numbers now in the millions, have moved to the cities where they live in shantytowns, without jobs; they are vexing with anger and restlessness against the system. The Kurdish liberation struggle has no friends at Foggy Bottom. Washington is not even a disinterested party in this conflict. The U.S. administration has literally given a blank check to Turkey. Jennifer Washburn, a research associate at the World Policy Institute in New York, in a recent commentary in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, had this to say about Turkish/U.S. relations: "Since the Turkish crackdown on the Kurdistan Workers Party began in 1984, the United States has contributed to the conflict by arming Turkey to the hilt, exporting more than $6.3 billion worth of weapons to an undemocratic, military-led government engaged in a ruthless campaign of terror against its Kurdish population. From 1987-91, Turkey bought 76% of its weapons from the United States. From 1990-93, when the counterinsurgency war intensified and human rights abuses worsened, that number increased to 80%."6 There is a saying in Turkish that might shed some light on the nature of Turkey/U.S. relations. It goes something like this: "Give a man a hammer and he will think all problems are nails." Turkey has been supplied with plenty of hammers by the United States government, and it is the Kurds who are being ruthlessly pounded like nails. This obviously has engendered anti- American feelings among some Kurds. They assert, and the available data supports them, that the Turkish government could not continue its dirty war against the Kurds without massive amounts of aid and assistance from Washington. The continuation of present policy does not serve the interests of this country for a number of reasons. Sooner rather than later, it will backfire. Notwithstanding Turkish claims, it is not just one group of Kurds but rather the Kurdish people as a whole who are targeted by American-made weapons. If the United States government wishes to avoid a debacle in Ankara, it needs to seriously rethink the ties that have blinded it to Turkey's war aims. Lest it not be clear, a few Turkish generals who have appointed themselves to the National Security Council in Ankara are pushing the country to the brink of an abyss. It will not serve the United States government well to associate with such brutes. The following are our recommendations for putting Turkey/U.S. relations on a more healthy course: 1. The U.S. government should demand that Turkey make fundamental changes to its Constitution and grant democratic and political rights to the Kurds. Turkey says it wants the fighting to stop, but it refuses to deal with Kurdish demands for a civil solution to the conflict. This is like trying to solve an equation without dealing with one of the given variables. In mathematics, this is impossible; in politics, it is no different. The Turkish government would do itself a favor by distancing itself from the fascist ideology of Ataturk and accepting the values of democracy and humanity, and the laws of science, and thereby recognize the existence of the Kurds by reforming the republic's anachronistic Constitution. The United States government would be a beneficiary of such a step as peace and stability would then revisit Turkey. 2. The U.S. government should advocate that Turkey address its Kurdish problem by means of democratic policy and reconciliation, rather than taking the more dangerous route of courting Islamic fundamentalism. Turkey is keeping the Islamic card up its sleeve, so to speak, so as to blackmail support from the West. In the words of a recent Foreign Relations Committee delegation which just returned from Turkey: "Despite claims that it regards fundamentalism as a threat to its secular heritage, the government of Turkey appears to be encouraging and even sponsoring Islamic activities in an attempt to bind the country together and defuse separatist sentiment."7 But the Islamic movement in Turkey has a different compass than the government officials would like it to follow, and Turkey's present policy "could backfire and inadvertently provide a foothold for Islamic extremists."8 In 1994, voters in two of Turkey's largest cities, Istanbul and Ankara, elected Islamic mayors from the fundamentalist Refah Party who oppose the separation of religion from the state. Turkey is edging dangerously close to Iranian-style Islamic fundamentalism. It is not in the interests of the United States government to see an Islamic theocracy come to power in Ankara. Rather than trying to subvert the rising Kurdish movement by fomenting religious strife (remember the massacre in Sivas in 1993 and the bloody scenes in Istanbul in March of this year), Turkey should take a more sound and reasoned approach to the issue. Only this can guarantee a place for Turkey among the nations of the West, thus preserving a vital ally of American foreign policy in the troubled region of the Middle East. 3. The U.S. government should encourage negotiations between the Turkish government and Kurdish representatives. One step in this direction would be to recognize the right of the Kurdish Parliament in Exile. The Kurds of Turkey are a fact of life. When their duly elected representatives to the Turkish Parliament were jailed in December 1994, Kurds in Europe responded by forming a Parliament in Exile in April of this year. This body has stated that a political solution to the Kurdish question is the preferred option for a durable settlement. It would be in the interest of the United States government to recognize the Kurdish Parliament in Exile to serve as a starting point for negotiations with the Turkish government. Such a gesture would give much needed encouragement to those Kurds who have tried again and again to seek a peaceful and democratic solution to this question, but who have met with nothing but violence and repression at the hands of the Turkish state. The Kurds of Turkey, as the philosophers would put it, have freed themselves in their thoughts. No amount of force will cause them to abandon their natural right to a life with dignity. But even the PKK, the most militant of all Kurdish parties, has time and again expressed its willingness to forgo its stated goal of creating an independent Kurdistan and to entrust the complexities of the situation to the negotiating table, hinting that a federal model could be the basis for a solution. Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of PKK, on March 17, 1993 and again on May 25, 1995, has gone on record for wanting to do his share to bring an end to the this enduring conflict. But a deafening silence has prevailed in Ankara. Historians have noted that it is the mark of statesmanship when the policy makers have foreseen problems and charted courses that have cleared the ship of state from rocky paths. The present Turkish government is refusing to deal with the problem at hand, because the Turkish military is not letting them do so. The top brass simply has too many hammers to allow the tedious but essential work of the politicians to take over. With each passing day, more and more body bags are flown back to western Turkey as more and more Turkish soldiers are sent to the eastern provinces to fight in a war which has lasted for far too long. It is an irony of history that the head of the present U.S. administration, President Bill Clinton, refused to serve in the armed forces because he opposed a war which he felt was unjust; now, two decades later, he is fueling a conflict which nearly everyone would agree is inhumane. President Clinton on numerous occasions has expressed his "understanding" for Turkey's armed forays against the Kurds. How can a man who felt the Vietnam War was immoral now "understand" the need to wipe out thousands of Kurdish villages and condemn millions of Kurdish civilians to live their lives as refugees? Twenty years ago, the adventure in Vietnam was wrong; student Bill Clinton was right to protest. Today, the war in Kurdistan is just as wrong; President Bill Clinton, however, is pursuing a policy which is wholly misguided from the standpoint of human rights. We trust that Bill Clinton will right this wrong soon, for the sake of humanity. American Kurdish Information Network (AKIN) 2309 Calvert Street NW #3 Washington, DC 20008-2603 Tel: (202) 483-6444 - Fax: (202) 483-6476 - Email: mail06672 at pop.net ---- ENDNOTES: 1 "Kurds and Kurdistan: Facts and Figures", The International Journal of Kurdish Studies, Volume 8, Numbers 1&2 1995, p.160. 2 The second best selling Turkish daily, H]rr/yet, now uses this expression, "Turkiye Turklerindir", as its motto. 3 Turkiye Cumhuriyet Anayasasi 1995, Article 3. 4 Charles William Maynes, "Bye-Bye Bosnia", The Washington Post, Sunday, August 6, 1995, p.C1. 5 This 1973 resolution, which was passed by a vote of 83 in favor, 13 opposed, and 19 abstentions, read as follows: "The struggle of a people under colonial or foreign rule or under a racist regime to gain their rights to self-determination and independence is legitimate and in full agreement with the Principles of the Rights of Peoples." 6 Jennifer Washburh, "Turkey Uses U.S. Arms To Attack Kurds", St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Thursday, September 7, 1995, p.7B. 7 Foreign Relations Committee Staff Report on Turkey, September 15, 1995. 8 ibid. -- 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 Wed Sep 20 21:43:06 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 20 Sep 1995 21:43:06 Subject: AKIN Testimony To CSCE Hearing - Se References: Message-ID: Subject: Re: AKIN Testimony To CSCE Hearing - September 19, 1995 ---------------------- Forwarded from : mail06672 at pop.net ---------------------- The Turkish Ship Is Sinking The U.S. Government Is Guiding It To The Rocks Statement by the American Kurdish Information Network before the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe hearing on "Turkey - U.S. Relations: Potential and Peril" Tuesday, September 19, 1995 Washington, DC ---- The Turkish Ship Is Sinking The U.S. Government Is Guiding It To The Rocks We live in an age that has witnessed some remarkable changes. Films such as "The Day After", which chilled us with the thought that we may be the last generation, can now be forgotten. Apocalyptic books such as Endgame may for now, we hope, gather some dust. But the new times, though promising, have brought new challenges in their wake. The emerging scenes, the clearer they become, now seem like vistas from "The Killing Fields". The beast in us has a way of prevailing over our nascent humanity to inflict untold misery and sufferings upon the human family. Reported and under- reported tragedies in places like Rwanda, Bosnia, Kurdistan, and East Timor clearly show how fragile is the bond of our civility. In some cases greed, in others racism prevents us from making this world a better place for all. One realm which has remained impervious to the vast changes that have taken us by surprise is that of Turkish/American relations. Ankara has insisted that the special relationship it enjoyed throughout the Cold War remain intact, arguing that nothing has changed to its north, and that even greater menaces now lie to its east (Iran) and southeast (the Kurds). The United States government seems to have accepted this Turkish logic, or as some cynics would put it, the Foggy Bottom has not yet awakened to the fact that the Soviet threat is gone. In our view, this unchanged policy endangers Turkey's stability and imperils American interests. The problem is the Kurdish question, -- every night it is the number one issue on Turkish television news, -- which has demanded a civil solution but has thus far only received a military response. Such an approach is nothing new in Turkey. What is new this time, however, is that Turkey faces an organized resistance from a popular mass movement that has passed the threshold of unbecoming by means of force. A cursory look at the origins of this problem will reveal some rather disturbing facts. First divided between the Ottomans and the Persians in 1514, the Kurds lived quietly on their mountains, oblivious to the world until 1923. To be sure, they were the subjects of the far-flung Ottoman and Persian Empires and suffered their share of the indignities that are the lot of captive peoples. But, most important for the subject of this paper, their land, Kurdistan, and their language, Kurdish, were respected and tolerated in a relatively free environment which preserved them to our own time. The Turkish Republic, which rose from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire, was conceived on a promise of full rights for the Kurds. Mustafa Kemal, the Turkish general who courted the Kurds to join with the Turks to liberate the remnants of the empire, said nothing at the time of the unitary state that he later advocated and to this day his successors have defended. He knew of the promises of self-determination made to the Kurds at the Treaty of Sevres in 1920, and yet he succeeded in convincing them that an Islamic comity of two peoples, that of the Turks and those of the Kurds, had a better prospect than the Kurds' allegiance to the "infidels" of the West. The Turkish and Kurdish war of liberating what is today called Turkey lasted some four years. At the peace talks in Lausanne in 1923, Mustafa Kemal sought legitimacy for his gains. In a symbolic act which his successors are emulating with the same adroitness, he sent a Kurdish envoy, Ismet Inonu, to the negotiating table. Mr. Inonu pleaded with his British interlocutor that the Kurds wanted no special rights and were happy to be part of the Turkish Republic. To assure the British that this indeed was the case, Ankara even stooped to the time-honored ploy of having reputable Kurdish representatives send telegraphic messages to the British at the peace conference stating that the Kurds were in favor of a "union" with the Turks. The Lausanne Treaty of June 24, 1923 officially sanctioned the division of the Kurdish lands among five states. Turkey proved to be the largest beneficiary holding onto 43% of the land. Iran, Iraq, Syria, and the Soviet Union got 31%, 18%, 6%, and 2% respectively.1 It is difficult to establish the current Kurdish population figures in these states, since the governments that have the Kurds in their custody choose to ignore the question or offer figures that run contrary to demographic trends. Unofficial figures vary from a low of 25 million to higher estimates of some 40 million Kurds. Of these, some 15 to 20 million live in Turkey. The life of the Kurds after Lausanne made the theocracy of the Ottomans seem enviable by comparison. Soon after the agreement, Ataturk (meaning "Father of the Turks", the name now given to Mustafa Kemal) abandoned all of his pre-war promises to the Kurds and conceived of Turkey as being a unitary state comprised of one, and only one, people: the Turks. His rallying cry "Turkey belongs to the Turks!" became the creed which to this day forms the basis for Turkish national consciousness.2 Even today, the Turkish Constitution reads: "The Turkish state, its territory and people, is one and indivisible. The language is Turkish. These facts cannot be changed, nor can changes be proposed."3 What the "facts" of the Turkish Constitution overlooked were the rights of the Kurds, the Armenians, the Greeks, and other natives of Anatolia who now were told to call themselves Turks because Ataturk had so decreed. The Greeks, as late as the 1950s, were systematically uprooted, sometimes by force and sometimes by provocative acts which compelled them to flee and leave everything that they had behind.4 The Armenians were silenced by the massacre of 1915, prompting Hitler two decades later to argue that what the Turks had done with impunity, the Germans could emulate against the Jews. The Kurds were a different matter. To begin with, there were more of them, and they were Muslims like the Turks. Something more than brute force was required to undo them. Meticulous plans were made for this act of social engineering. The solution was sought in forced assimilation. In a generation or two, the Turkish social engineers wanted to erase all the references to the Kurds. Beginning in 1924, the Kurdish language was banned. Then came the laws which enabled the authorities to give Turkish names to everything that had a Kurdish name. All at once, Kurdish cities, town, villages, and hamlets acquired new Turkish names. For example, the maps that were printed when the Ottomans ruled the area have references to the Kurds and their land, Kurdistan; modern Turkish maps, leaving aside the impartiality of science, refer to the entire region as Turkey. As can be expected, the Kurds did not take lightly to the death warrant that was issued in their name. They rose to undo the legislation that was condemning them to the dustbin of history. Long before United Nations Resolution 31035 sanctioned the use of force in liberation struggles, the Kurds fought on several occasions (most notably in 1925, 1930, and 1937/38) to gain control over their destiny. Up until the 1980s, however, all their uprisings were crushed. Known Kurdish leaders were hanged. Their relatives and followers were deported. As if the memory of the defeats were not enough, the Kurdish landscape, especially visible sites such as high mountain slopes, were selected for onerous expressions such as "How happy I am to be a Turk!", which were spelled out with stones in large fonts. If there ever was a psychotherapist for nations, he or she would treat the Turkish case as one that suffers from a severe inferiority complex. In no other part of the world has one witnessed such blatant self-adulation or environmental degradation over the lands of subject peoples. If the purpose of these Turkish maxims all over the Kurdish landscape were to instill love and respect for the Turks, the opposite has happened.The Kurds have resisted and the Turks have enforced the racist laws that were instituted by Ataturk and his cronies. Today, the struggle has taken the form of a massive resistance led by the armed forces of the ARGK, the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan, the military wing of the PKK. This struggle has become an all-out war on the part of the Kurds to prevail over death, while the Turkish military does all it can to keep the fascist legacy of Ataturk intact. There are a number of published reports which document the cost of this Kurdish struggle for freedom and liberty. One of the most compelling is a small book entitled File of Torture: Deaths in Detention Places or Prisons, published by the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey in 1994. It lists the violent deaths of 420 political prisoners in custody since 1980. And, as the fighting intensifies, other reports keep surfacing. Derya Sazak, in the July 25th edition of the Turkish daily Milliyet, quotes the governor of State of Emergency Region, stating that 2,665 Kurdish villages have been destroyed in the conflict. That is an official Turkish government statistic. The uprooted villagers, their numbers now in the millions, have moved to the cities where they live in shantytowns, without jobs; they are vexing with anger and restlessness against the system. The Kurdish liberation struggle has no friends at Foggy Bottom. Washington is not even a disinterested party in this conflict. The U.S. administration has literally given a blank check to Turkey. Jennifer Washburn, a research associate at the World Policy Institute in New York, in a recent commentary in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, had this to say about Turkish/U.S. relations: "Since the Turkish crackdown on the Kurdistan Workers Party began in 1984, the United States has contributed to the conflict by arming Turkey to the hilt, exporting more than $6.3 billion worth of weapons to an undemocratic, military-led government engaged in a ruthless campaign of terror against its Kurdish population. From 1987-91, Turkey bought 76% of its weapons from the United States. From 1990-93, when the counterinsurgency war intensified and human rights abuses worsened, that number increased to 80%."6 There is a saying in Turkish that might shed some light on the nature of Turkey/U.S. relations. It goes something like this: "Give a man a hammer and he will think all problems are nails." Turkey has been supplied with plenty of hammers by the United States government, and it is the Kurds who are being ruthlessly pounded like nails. This obviously has engendered anti- American feelings among some Kurds. They assert, and the available data supports them, that the Turkish government could not continue its dirty war against the Kurds without massive amounts of aid and assistance from Washington. The continuation of present policy does not serve the interests of this country for a number of reasons. Sooner rather than later, it will backfire. Notwithstanding Turkish claims, it is not just one group of Kurds but rather the Kurdish people as a whole who are targeted by American-made weapons. If the United States government wishes to avoid a debacle in Ankara, it needs to seriously rethink the ties that have blinded it to Turkey's war aims. Lest it not be clear, a few Turkish generals who have appointed themselves to the National Security Council in Ankara are pushing the country to the brink of an abyss. It will not serve the United States government well to associate with such brutes. The following are our recommendations for putting Turkey/U.S. relations on a more healthy course: 1. The U.S. government should demand that Turkey make fundamental changes to its Constitution and grant democratic and political rights to the Kurds. Turkey says it wants the fighting to stop, but it refuses to deal with Kurdish demands for a civil solution to the conflict. This is like trying to solve an equation without dealing with one of the given variables. In mathematics, this is impossible; in politics, it is no different. The Turkish government would do itself a favor by distancing itself from the fascist ideology of Ataturk and accepting the values of democracy and humanity, and the laws of science, and thereby recognize the existence of the Kurds by reforming the republic's anachronistic Constitution. The United States government would be a beneficiary of such a step as peace and stability would then revisit Turkey. 2. The U.S. government should advocate that Turkey address its Kurdish problem by means of democratic policy and reconciliation, rather than taking the more dangerous route of courting Islamic fundamentalism. Turkey is keeping the Islamic card up its sleeve, so to speak, so as to blackmail support from the West. In the words of a recent Foreign Relations Committee delegation which just returned from Turkey: "Despite claims that it regards fundamentalism as a threat to its secular heritage, the government of Turkey appears to be encouraging and even sponsoring Islamic activities in an attempt to bind the country together and defuse separatist sentiment."7 But the Islamic movement in Turkey has a different compass than the government officials would like it to follow, and Turkey's present policy "could backfire and inadvertently provide a foothold for Islamic extremists."8 In 1994, voters in two of Turkey's largest cities, Istanbul and Ankara, elected Islamic mayors from the fundamentalist Refah Party who oppose the separation of religion from the state. Turkey is edging dangerously close to Iranian-style Islamic fundamentalism. It is not in the interests of the United States government to see an Islamic theocracy come to power in Ankara. Rather than trying to subvert the rising Kurdish movement by fomenting religious strife (remember the massacre in Sivas in 1993 and the bloody scenes in Istanbul in March of this year), Turkey should take a more sound and reasoned approach to the issue. Only this can guarantee a place for Turkey among the nations of the West, thus preserving a vital ally of American foreign policy in the troubled region of the Middle East. 3. The U.S. government should encourage negotiations between the Turkish government and Kurdish representatives. One step in this direction would be to recognize the right of the Kurdish Parliament in Exile. The Kurds of Turkey are a fact of life. When their duly elected representatives to the Turkish Parliament were jailed in December 1994, Kurds in Europe responded by forming a Parliament in Exile in April of this year. This body has stated that a political solution to the Kurdish question is the preferred option for a durable settlement. It would be in the interest of the United States government to recognize the Kurdish Parliament in Exile to serve as a starting point for negotiations with the Turkish government. Such a gesture would give much needed encouragement to those Kurds who have tried again and again to seek a peaceful and democratic solution to this question, but who have met with nothing but violence and repression at the hands of the Turkish state. The Kurds of Turkey, as the philosophers would put it, have freed themselves in their thoughts. No amount of force will cause them to abandon their natural right to a life with dignity. But even the PKK, the most militant of all Kurdish parties, has time and again expressed its willingness to forgo its stated goal of creating an independent Kurdistan and to entrust the complexities of the situation to the negotiating table, hinting that a federal model could be the basis for a solution. Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of PKK, on March 17, 1993 and again on May 25, 1995, has gone on record for wanting to do his share to bring an end to the this enduring conflict. But a deafening silence has prevailed in Ankara. Historians have noted that it is the mark of statesmanship when the policy makers have foreseen problems and charted courses that have cleared the ship of state from rocky paths. The present Turkish government is refusing to deal with the problem at hand, because the Turkish military is not letting them do so. The top brass simply has too many hammers to allow the tedious but essential work of the politicians to take over. With each passing day, more and more body bags are flown back to western Turkey as more and more Turkish soldiers are sent to the eastern provinces to fight in a war which has lasted for far too long. It is an irony of history that the head of the present U.S. administration, President Bill Clinton, refused to serve in the armed forces because he opposed a war which he felt was unjust; now, two decades later, he is fueling a conflict which nearly everyone would agree is inhumane. President Clinton on numerous occasions has expressed his "understanding" for Turkey's armed forays against the Kurds. How can a man who felt the Vietnam War was immoral now "understand" the need to wipe out thousands of Kurdish villages and condemn millions of Kurdish civilians to live their lives as refugees? Twenty years ago, the adventure in Vietnam was wrong; student Bill Clinton was right to protest. Today, the war in Kurdistan is just as wrong; President Bill Clinton, however, is pursuing a policy which is wholly misguided from the standpoint of human rights. We trust that Bill Clinton will right this wrong soon, for the sake of humanity. American Kurdish Information Network (AKIN) 2309 Calvert Street NW #3 Washington, DC 20008-2603 Tel: (202) 483-6444 - Fax: (202) 483-6476 - Email: mail06672 at pop.net ---- ENDNOTES: 1 "Kurds and Kurdistan: Facts and Figures", The International Journal of Kurdish Studies, Volume 8, Numbers 1&2 1995, p.160. 2 The second best selling Turkish daily, H]rr/yet, now uses this expression, "Turkiye Turklerindir", as its motto. 3 Turkiye Cumhuriyet Anayasasi 1995, Article 3. 4 Charles William Maynes, "Bye-Bye Bosnia", The Washington Post, Sunday, August 6, 1995, p.C1. 5 This 1973 resolution, which was passed by a vote of 83 in favor, 13 opposed, and 19 abstentions, read as follows: "The struggle of a people under colonial or foreign rule or under a racist regime to gain their rights to self-determination and independence is legitimate and in full agreement with the Principles of the Rights of Peoples." 6 Jennifer Washburh, "Turkey Uses U.S. Arms To Attack Kurds", St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Thursday, September 7, 1995, p.7B. 7 Foreign Relations Committee Staff Report on Turkey, September 15, 1995. 8 ibid. -- 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 Wed Sep 20 23:23:13 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 20 Sep 1995 23:23:13 Subject: Iraqi Kurds Launch Attacks Against Message-ID: Subject: Iraqi Kurds Launch Attacks Against PKK/Dublin Talks ISTANBUL, Sept 16 (Reuter) - Iraqi Kurds moved forces to a mountainous area near Zakho in northern Iraq to flush out Turkish Kurdish rebels based there, the state-controlled Anatolian news agency said on Saturday. About 3,000 Iraqi Kurdish guards from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in the early morning surrounded the area where some 600 rebels from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) were believed based, the agency said. KDP spokesman Safeen Dizayee in Ankara told Reuters he could not confirm the operation, but said there had been plans to search for PKK rebels in that area. The PKK, fighting for autonomy or independence in southeast Turkey, started attacking KDP positions in northern Iraq last month just as Iraqi Kurdish groups began peace talks to end a 15-month feud that has split the region between rival militias. Turkish Kurdish political analysts have suggested the PKK's attacks were spurred by fears any accord from the U.S.-sponsored talks in Dublin could force the closedown of PKK bases in northern Iraq. Analysts say the PKK wants to set itself up as a third force in the region and send a warning to the Iraqi Kurds that only an agreement that takes the PKK into consideration will be tolerated. A second round of talks ended on Friday without any final agreement between the KDP and its rival, the Iraqi Kurdish Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. Dublin Talks Fail To Reach Iraqi Kurd Accord By Rachel Noeman DUBLIN, Sept 15 (Reuter) - Iraqi Kurds failed to reach agreement after a second round of U.S.-brokered peace talks in Ireland on Friday, but expressed continued commitment to a month-long ceasefire. U.S. mediator Robert Deutch said the four-day talks were ``very serious and very positive'' and took place in a good atmosphere, and agreement had been reached on some points, adding that contacts would be maintained with all parties. ``All of the participants reaffirmed their commitment to the Drogheda statement, including the confidence-building measures that include the ceasefire,'' he added. The factions, with a history of rivalry going back to the 1960s, agreed to a ceasefire and exchange of prisoners at talks in the town of Drogheda, near Dublin, last month. They also agreed then to the formation of a neutral commission under the auspices of the Iraqi National Congress (INC), an umbrella body for Iraqi dissident groups in exile, and the depositing of all the parties' revenues in bank accounts supervised by a neutral commission. About 3,000 people have died in intermittent fighting between the armed groups since last summer. ``We must never give up hope about the prospects of peace in my homeland,'' Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) delegate Barham Salih told reporters at the end of the talks. Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) delegate Sami Rahman said the PUK was the main stumbling block in the talks, but pledged that his party would respect the ceasefire unless attacked. Rahman said the dean of the economics faculty at the University of Arbil, a member of the KDP, was assassinated on Thursday in premises under the control of the PUK. Commenting on recent violence between his party and Turkish Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) members in northern Iraq, another KDP representative Hishyar Al Zebari said the PKK started the campaign and the KDP was merely defending itself. Zebari's delegation would, he said, stop in Ankara en route to Iraq. Asked if they would seek assistance from Turkey against the PKK, Rahman said there would be consultations but Turkey's main role was in ensuring the observation of the ceasefire. Salih, of the PUK, said time was of the essence: ``I emphasise the imperative of a quick closure to this insanity in Iraqi Kurdistan,'' he said. Asked about the assassination report, he said: ``Yesterday there was an unfortunately successful attempt on the life of a university lecturer in the city of Arbil. We totally condemn this murderous act and I am sure that the judicial authorities and the police and security forces are looking at the matter.'' Salih said there was some progress on Arbil but there were significant gaps between the two sides on the issue of revenues. ``It appears that the KDP has yet to come to terms with the concept and principles outlined in the Drogheda statement, namely that revenues should be for all the people of Iraqi Kurdistan, not collected by militias and parties,'' he said. The two main stumbling blocks in the 15-month feud have been the demilitarisation of the city of Arbil, held by the PUK, and the collection of border oil levies, controlled by the KDP. U.S., British and French planes based in southern Turkey have patrolled the skies of northern Iraq since shortly after the Gulf War in 1991, keeping Baghdad's forces at bay. --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Wed Sep 20 23:25:05 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 20 Sep 1995 23:25:05 Subject: Five people killed as a result of a Message-ID: Subject: Five people killed as a result of a (PKK?) bomb VT18917; Wed, 20 Sep 1995 23:02:51 -0800 ANKARA, Sept 18 (Reuter) - The death toll from the bombing of a cafe in the Turkish city of Izmir rose to five on Monday after a soldier died of his wounds, hospital officials said. The 20-year-old private was one of 25 people wounded in the explosion on Sunday at a cafe frequented by soldiers on weekend leave in the western city. Another soldier and three civilians were killed almost immediately. No group has claimed responsibility for the blast but Izmir police chief Kemal Yazicioglu vowed the bombers would be found. "There was a similar attack last year, the perpetrators were caught and we passed all the information to the media," he told Reuters by telephone. "We have some suspicions," he said, without elaborating. In January, Turkish police arrested a leading Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrilla who they said was responsible for a bombing in Izmir last October which killed one person. Yazicioglu at the time accused Turkey's rival Greece of training the bomber at a camp near Athens. Greece denied the charge. Anatolian news agency said the bomb that caused the latest blast was a homemade device of a type often used by the PKK. More than 18,000 people have been killed in the rebels' 11-year-old fight for autonomy or independence in southeast Turkey. Hundreds of thousands of Kurds have migrated to the Izmir area in recent years to flee the fighting. Izmir's mayor called for tighter controls on migrants to cities in western Turkey. "This incident also shows that visas and registration of residence should be brought into force in the big cities," Anatolian quoted mayor Burhan Ozfatura as saying. In the southeastern town of Diyarbakir, regional security officials on Monday said Turkish troops had killed 11 Kurdish rebels and lost two of their own men in a clash near Dicle township in Diyarbakir province. The emergency rule governor's in Diyarbakir said in a statement that the PKK guerrillas and the soldiers were killed on Sunday. Anatolian also said two soldiers died when a military vehicle overturned in the southeastern province of Van. --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Thu Sep 21 21:22:50 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 21 Sep 1995 21:22:50 Subject: Ciller Resigns; PKK Postpones Cease Message-ID: From: mail06672 at pop.net (AKIN) Subject: Ciller Resigns; PKK Postpones Cease-Fire Press Release #1 September 21, 1995 Turkish Prime Minister Steps Down; PKK Cease-Fire is Postponed On September 20, 1995, following the first round of new coalition talks, Turkish prime minister Tansu Ciller officially announced her resignation. According to official statements, the continuation of the coalition government between the Republican People's Party (CHP) and the True Path Party (DYP) was no longer possible due to disagreements about the terms of the coalition. The collapse of the government comes at a time when the number one domestic problem in the country, the Kurdish question, was having some prospects of solution. On September 18, 1995, Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), stated in a television interview that he thought the present conditions offered a new chance for a political solution to the conflict. He said: "In order to prove our good will, we want to restart the 1993 cease-fire...Particularly now, as the European Union is about to make a decision regarding Turkey's admissibility to Custom's Union. We would like them to know that we are not the problem and that we are on record for wishing to seek a political solution. If Turkey does not plan to respond to such a gesture with more violence, we will make the announcement soon." According to information reaching our office, Abdullah Ocalan was planning to make the cease-fire announcement in an interview with MED-TV scheduled for September 25. But unfortunately for the casue of peace, the news that government in Ankara had stepped down has forced the Chair of PKK to postpone his decision. In his words: "... until there is a interlocutor in Ankara who could respond to our call, we are going to wait and see." The surprise collapse of the Turkish government is reminiscent of 1993, when Turgut Ozal, the president of Turkey at that time, died of mysterious causes shortly after the PKK announced a unilateral cease-fire. Claims that Ozal died of a heart attack seem far-fetched when one considers the number of voices, even within Turkey, which seemed to indicate that there were political motives for his death. Against the wishes of the Turkish National Security Council, Turgut Ozal had intended to deal with the Kurdish question at the political level. Since all real power in Turkey is in the hands of the military, no civilian politician is willing to take on the risk of acknowledging the cease-fire. It seems that this government collapse is being staged so as to prevent there being any high-ranking officials who can take on the responsibility of utilizing the chances offered by the cease-fire. Furthermore, a collapsed government cannot be held responsible for failing to make use of the cease-fire, and this would remove the burden of having to answer to international pressure. -- 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 Fri Sep 22 01:41:22 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 22 Sep 1995 01:41:22 Subject: Ciller Resigns; PKK Postpones Cease References: Message-ID: Subject: Ciller Resigns; PKK Postpones Cease-Fire ------------------ Forwarded from : mail06672 at pop.net (AKIN) ------------------- Press Release #1 September 21, 1995 Turkish Prime Minister Steps Down; PKK Cease-Fire is Postponed On September 20, 1995, following the first round of new coalition talks, Turkish prime minister Tansu Ciller officially announced her resignation. According to official statements, the continuation of the coalition government between the Republican People's Party (CHP) and the True Path Party (DYP) was no longer possible due to disagreements about the terms of the coalition. The collapse of the government comes at a time when the number one domestic problem in the country, the Kurdish question, was having some prospects of solution. On September 18, 1995, Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), stated in a television interview that he thought the present conditions offered a new chance for a political solution to the conflict. He said: "In order to prove our good will, we want to restart the 1993 cease-fire...Particularly now, as the European Union is about to make a decision regarding Turkey's admissibility to Custom's Union. We would like them to know that we are not the problem and that we are on record for wishing to seek a political solution. If Turkey does not plan to respond to such a gesture with more violence, we will make the announcement soon." According to information reaching our office, Abdullah Ocalan was planning to make the cease-fire announcement in an interview with MED-TV scheduled for September 25. But unfortunately for the casue of peace, the news that government in Ankara had stepped down has forced the Chair of PKK to postpone his decision. In his words: "... until there is a interlocutor in Ankara who could respond to our call, we are going to wait and see." The surprise collapse of the Turkish government is reminiscent of 1993, when Turgut Ozal, the president of Turkey at that time, died of mysterious causes shortly after the PKK announced a unilateral cease-fire. Claims that Ozal died of a heart attack seem far-fetched when one considers the number of voices, even within Turkey, which seemed to indicate that there were political motives for his death. Against the wishes of the Turkish National Security Council, Turgut Ozal had intended to deal with the Kurdish question at the political level. Since all real power in Turkey is in the hands of the military, no civilian politician is willing to take on the risk of acknowledging the cease-fire. It seems that this government collapse is being staged so as to prevent there being any high-ranking officials who can take on the responsibility of utilizing the chances offered by the cease-fire. Furthermore, a collapsed government cannot be held responsible for failing to make use of the cease-fire, and this would remove the burden of having to answer to international pressure. -- 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 -------------------------- ----------------------------------------------- \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ aps at aps.nl [ \\\ [ [ \\\ [ [ \\\\[ Activists Press Service [ \\\ [ [ \\\\[ [\\\\ [ BBS: ##-31-206842147 [\[ [\[ [\[ [\\\\\[ info: info at aps.nl From kurdeng at aps.nl Fri Sep 22 05:36:05 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 22 Sep 1995 05:36:05 Subject: * Waffen fuer die Tuerkei Message-ID: 51 -0800 ------ Forwarded from : German News ------ - Waffen fuer die Tuerkei Das Bundeskabinett hat heute beschlossen, Waffen im Wert von 30 Millionen Mark an die Tuerkei zu liefern. Damit endet die 1964 begonnene deutsche Ruestungshilfe fuer den NATO-Partner. Gestern hatte der Haushaltsausschuss die Freigabe von 150 Millionen Mark fuer den Bau zweier tuerkischer Fregatten gebilligt. Das Geld war nach den tuerkischen Militaeraktionen gegen Kurden im Fruehjahr eingefroren worden. ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From KOMMAG at ASCO.comlink.apc.org Sat Sep 23 03:57:00 1995 From: KOMMAG at ASCO.comlink.apc.org (KOMMAG at ASCO.comlink.apc.org) Date: 23 Sep 1995 03:57:00 Subject: Reihe zu Kultur und Politik Message-ID: <5uP7oVz2x.B@kommagp.asco.nev.sub> aus ?zg?r Politika (22.9.95): --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gro?veranstaltungen zu kurdischer Kultur und Politik --------------------------------------------------------------------------- - PROGRAMM - RednerInnen: Ercan Kanar (IHD Istanbul) M?nir Ceylan ('Petrol - Is'-Gewerkschaft) Mehmet ?zer (Fotograf) VertreterInnen d. kurdisches Exilparlaments (nur in Paris) EKB-VertreterIn *************************************************************************** Angeh?rige von ermordeten und verschwundenen Menschen: H?seyin Ocak (Bruder) Aysel Ocak (Schwester) Hatice Toraman (Mutter) G?lsah Tagac (Mutter) *************************************************************************** Kultur: Ferhat Tunc und Orchester Arif Sag Sivan Perwer Volkan Yagan Beser Sahin (nur K?ln) Yenig?n - Musikgruppe *************************************************************************** Theater: Ankara Birlik Theater Folklore Film --------------------------------------------------------------------------- K?ln - 30.9. - Samstag - 16 h - Sporthalle Basel AG - 23.9. - Samstag - 16 h - Gundeldinger-Casino (Tellplatz 6) Wien - 1.10. - Sonntag - 13.30 h - Kongre?haus (Margareteng?rtel 138-140) Paris - 24.9. - Sonntag - 13.30 h - 144-146 Av.da President Wilson (93210 La Plaine St. Denis) das Vorbereitungskomitee -- pgp-key als EB >> Willkommen im GLOBALEN dOrFFrIedhOf! ## CrossPoint v3.02 R ## From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Sat Sep 23 19:13:06 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 23 Sep 1995 19:13:06 Subject: Senate Foreign Relations Committee Message-ID: From: mail06672 at pop.net (AKIN) Subject: Senate Foreign Relations Committee Staff Report On Turkey FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE STAFF REPORT ON TURKEY (United States Senate - September 15, 1995) [Page: S13655] Mr. PELL. Mr. President, during the August recess two members of the Foreign Relations Committee minority staff traveled to Turkey at my direction to assess a range of issues related to United States-Turkish bilateral relations. Turkey, one of the largest recipients of United States military assistance, is an important United States ally in a dangerous and unstable region. It is therefore, incumbent upon us to take a close look at what is occurring in Turkey--the threats to its security, its political struggles, and its human rights situation. In particular, I asked my staff to focus on Turkey's Kurdish problem, which has broad implications for regional stability, as well as Turkey's relations with the West. Among the staff's findings is that the Kurdistan Workers' Party [PKK] poses a grave threat not only to Turkey, but to regional stability as well. At the same time, the Government of Turkey is unable--or unwilling--to distinguish the genuine threat posed by the PKK from the legitimate rights and aspirations of the Kurdish people. Turkey is responding with a heavy-handed, indiscriminate military campaign against the Kurds, even as it shuts off opportunities for nonviolent, Kurdish political expression. Consequently, Turkey may be fomenting, rather than preventing Kurdish separatism. I believe this report makes an important contribution to the Congress' consideration of the United States approach toward Turkey. I ask unanimous consent that the `Summary of Key Findings' be placed into the Record at this point, and would commend the full report, which is a available at the Foreign Relations Committee office, to my colleagues' attention. Summary of Key Findings Turkey, which places a high priority on good relations with the West in general and the United States in particular, is an important U.S. ally in a dangerous and unstable neighborhood: Three of its immediate neighbors--Iran, Iraq, and Syria--are on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism; it is engaged in an economic and political competition with Russia for influence in and access to the resources of Central Asia and the Caucasus; there is ongoing conflict to Turkey's north--in Georgia and between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Turkey is not, however, a disinterested in neutral party, it is openly sympathetic to Azerbaijan's position, and although it has opened an air corridor to Armenia, Turkey maintains a road and rail blockade; it continues to spar with Greece over Cyprus and other issues, in particular, a dispute over maritime boundaries in the wake of Greece's ratification of the Law of the Sea treaty threatens to bring Turkey and Greece into outright conflict. The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) poses a grave threat not only to Turkey, but to regional stability as well. The PKK--which employs deadly terrorist tactics against innocent noncombatants in Turkey and against innocent civilians elsewhere in the Middle East and Europe--bears direct responsibility for much of the tensions in southeast Turkey and for prompting the recent Turkish invasions of Iraq. Operation Provide Comfort, the allied humanitarian and security operation in Northern Iraq, is a critical element of U.S. and Western strategies with regard to Iraq, and may be the only thing preventing tens of thousands of Kurds from pouring into southeastern Turkey. Although some Turkish officials recognize these facts and military officials at Incirlik have provided splendid cooperation to their British, French and American counterparts, other Turkish military and political officials (including parliamentarians) argue that Provide Comfort offers the PKK protection and cover in Northern Iraq. This rather schizophrenic view of Provide Comfort makes Turkey appear a relucant participant in the allied effort, which Turkey has exploited to its advantage in dealings with its allies. In keeping with traditions established during the days of Mustafa Kemal Attaturk, Turkey has an almost paranoid fear of losing its Turkish identity. The government of Turkey accordingly is unable--or unwilling--to distinguish the genuine threat posed by the PKK from the legitimate rights and aspirations of the Kurdish people. As a result, Turkey refuses to engage in a political dialogue with nonviolent Kurdish representatives, and is executing a heavy-handed, indiscriminate military campaign to eradicate what it views as a monolithic threat to the unity of the country. The city of Diyarbakir, which symbolizes the ethnic difficulties that persist within Turkey, has become a haven for rural Kurds forced to evacuate neighboring towns and villages destroyed by the Turkish military. By some estimates, the city's population has grown from roughly 300,000 to more than 1,500,000 during the past five years. Although Turkish officials, local residents, and some independent observers suggest that tensions have subsided during the past two years, it is evident that any existing calm is tenuous and the result of Turkey's overwhelming--and at times oppressive--security presence, which has exacted a high cost in terms of human rights violations. Turkey's government refuses even to acknowledge that there is a `Kurdish problem,' and thereby is ignoring the real issue. By equating all Kurdish aspirations with the terrorist designs of the PKK, Turkey effectively has eliminated outlets for nonviolent Kurdish political or cultural expression. As a consequence, Turkey unintentionally may be contributing to the PKK's appeal. Turkey desperately wants to join the European Union's Customs Union, and is making some effort to meet the European Parliament's minimum demands regarding democratization and human rights in order to achieve membership. It may even make some modifications to Article 8 of the Anti-Terror law (which prohibits the advocacy of separatism). Turkey will not, however, take any action which it perceive as comprising the Turkish identity, so there are limits to the amount of genuine change it will make to gain membership in the Customs Union. It is equally unclear that the West would have much impact on Turkish behavior by withholding benefits such as Customs Union membership. Despite claims that it regards fundamentalism as a threat to its secular heritage, the government of Turkey appears to be encouraging and even sponsoring Islamic activities in an attempt to bind the country together and defuse separaist sentiment. Such a strategy--which parallels efforts of governments in the Near East seeking to counter radical lefist groups during the 1970s and early 1980s--could backfire and inadvertently provide a foothold for Islamic extremists. ---- 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 Sat Sep 23 22:07:45 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 23 Sep 1995 22:07:45 Subject: Senate Foreign Relations Committee References: Message-ID: Subject: Re: Senate Foreign Relations Committee Staff Report On Turkey ---------------------- Forwarded from : mail06672 at pop.net ---------------------- FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE STAFF REPORT ON TURKEY (United States Senate - September 15, 1995) [Page: S13655] Mr. PELL. Mr. President, during the August recess two members of the Foreign Relations Committee minority staff traveled to Turkey at my direction to assess a range of issues related to United States-Turkish bilateral relations. Turkey, one of the largest recipients of United States military assistance, is an important United States ally in a dangerous and unstable region. It is therefore, incumbent upon us to take a close look at what is occurring in Turkey--the threats to its security, its political struggles, and its human rights situation. In particular, I asked my staff to focus on Turkey's Kurdish problem, which has broad implications for regional stability, as well as Turkey's relations with the West. Among the staff's findings is that the Kurdistan Workers' Party [PKK] poses a grave threat not only to Turkey, but to regional stability as well. At the same time, the Government of Turkey is unable--or unwilling--to distinguish the genuine threat posed by the PKK from the legitimate rights and aspirations of the Kurdish people. Turkey is responding with a heavy-handed, indiscriminate military campaign against the Kurds, even as it shuts off opportunities for nonviolent, Kurdish political expression. Consequently, Turkey may be fomenting, rather than preventing Kurdish separatism. I believe this report makes an important contribution to the Congress' consideration of the United States approach toward Turkey. I ask unanimous consent that the `Summary of Key Findings' be placed into the Record at this point, and would commend the full report, which is a available at the Foreign Relations Committee office, to my colleagues' attention. Summary of Key Findings Turkey, which places a high priority on good relations with the West in general and the United States in particular, is an important U.S. ally in a dangerous and unstable neighborhood: Three of its immediate neighbors--Iran, Iraq, and Syria--are on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism; it is engaged in an economic and political competition with Russia for influence in and access to the resources of Central Asia and the Caucasus; there is ongoing conflict to Turkey's north--in Georgia and between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Turkey is not, however, a disinterested in neutral party, it is openly sympathetic to Azerbaijan's position, and although it has opened an air corridor to Armenia, Turkey maintains a road and rail blockade; it continues to spar with Greece over Cyprus and other issues, in particular, a dispute over maritime boundaries in the wake of Greece's ratification of the Law of the Sea treaty threatens to bring Turkey and Greece into outright conflict. The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) poses a grave threat not only to Turkey, but to regional stability as well. The PKK--which employs deadly terrorist tactics against innocent noncombatants in Turkey and against innocent civilians elsewhere in the Middle East and Europe--bears direct responsibility for much of the tensions in southeast Turkey and for prompting the recent Turkish invasions of Iraq. Operation Provide Comfort, the allied humanitarian and security operation in Northern Iraq, is a critical element of U.S. and Western strategies with regard to Iraq, and may be the only thing preventing tens of thousands of Kurds from pouring into southeastern Turkey. Although some Turkish officials recognize these facts and military officials at Incirlik have provided splendid cooperation to their British, French and American counterparts, other Turkish military and political officials (including parliamentarians) argue that Provide Comfort offers the PKK protection and cover in Northern Iraq. This rather schizophrenic view of Provide Comfort makes Turkey appear a relucant participant in the allied effort, which Turkey has exploited to its advantage in dealings with its allies. In keeping with traditions established during the days of Mustafa Kemal Attaturk, Turkey has an almost paranoid fear of losing its Turkish identity. The government of Turkey accordingly is unable--or unwilling--to distinguish the genuine threat posed by the PKK from the legitimate rights and aspirations of the Kurdish people. As a result, Turkey refuses to engage in a political dialogue with nonviolent Kurdish representatives, and is executing a heavy-handed, indiscriminate military campaign to eradicate what it views as a monolithic threat to the unity of the country. The city of Diyarbakir, which symbolizes the ethnic difficulties that persist within Turkey, has become a haven for rural Kurds forced to evacuate neighboring towns and villages destroyed by the Turkish military. By some estimates, the city's population has grown from roughly 300,000 to more than 1,500,000 during the past five years. Although Turkish officials, local residents, and some independent observers suggest that tensions have subsided during the past two years, it is evident that any existing calm is tenuous and the result of Turkey's overwhelming--and at times oppressive--security presence, which has exacted a high cost in terms of human rights violations. Turkey's government refuses even to acknowledge that there is a `Kurdish problem,' and thereby is ignoring the real issue. By equating all Kurdish aspirations with the terrorist designs of the PKK, Turkey effectively has eliminated outlets for nonviolent Kurdish political or cultural expression. As a consequence, Turkey unintentionally may be contributing to the PKK's appeal. Turkey desperately wants to join the European Union's Customs Union, and is making some effort to meet the European Parliament's minimum demands regarding democratization and human rights in order to achieve membership. It may even make some modifications to Article 8 of the Anti-Terror law (which prohibits the advocacy of separatism). Turkey will not, however, take any action which it perceive as comprising the Turkish identity, so there are limits to the amount of genuine change it will make to gain membership in the Customs Union. It is equally unclear that the West would have much impact on Turkish behavior by withholding benefits such as Customs Union membership. Despite claims that it regards fundamentalism as a threat to its secular heritage, the government of Turkey appears to be encouraging and even sponsoring Islamic activities in an attempt to bind the country together and defuse separaist sentiment. Such a strategy--which parallels efforts of governments in the Near East seeking to counter radical lefist groups during the 1970s and early 1980s--could backfire and inadvertently provide a foothold for Islamic extremists. ---- 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 kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Sat Sep 23 19:13:07 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 23 Sep 1995 19:13:07 Subject: Explosion hits pro-Kurd office in T Message-ID: From: Arm The Spirit Subject: Explosion hits pro-Kurd office in Turkey (fwd) Explosion hits pro-Kurd office in Turkey ISTANBUL, Sept 20 (Reuter) - 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. ``For sure it was not a gas canister, it was a bomb,'' said a HADEP official who did not want to be named. He told Reuters by telephone there were depressions in the ground outside the door where they thought the bomb was left, while the office's gas canisters remained intact. 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 autonomy or 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. Reuter N:Copyright 1995, Reuters News Service From kurdeng at aps.nl Sat Sep 23 22:06:39 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 23 Sep 1995 22:06:39 Subject: Explosion hits pro-Kurd office in T References: Message-ID: Subject: Re: Explosion hits pro-Kurd office in Turkey (fwd) at, 23 Sep 1995 22:22:55 -0800 ------------------------ Forwarded from : ats at etext.org ------------------------ Explosion hits pro-Kurd office in Turkey ISTANBUL, Sept 20 (Reuter) - 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. ``For sure it was not a gas canister, it was a bomb,'' said a HADEP official who did not want to be named. He told Reuters by telephone there were depressions in the ground outside the door where they thought the bomb was left, while the office's gas canisters remained intact. 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 autonomy or 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. Reuter N:Copyright 1995, Reuters News Service ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurdeng at aps.nl Sun Sep 24 21:37:49 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 24 Sep 1995 21:37:49 Subject: Explosion hits pro-Kurd office in T References: Message-ID: Subject: Re: Explosion hits pro-Kurd office in Turkey VT20165; Sun, 24 Sep 1995 20:04:31 -0800 -------------- Forwarded from : nytmx at mit.xs4all.nl (NY Transfer) -------------- Explosion hits pro-Kurd office in Turkey ISTANBUL, Sept 20 (Reuter) - 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. ``For sure it was not a gas canister, it was a bomb,'' said a HADEP official who did not want to be named. He told Reuters by telephone there were depressions in the ground outside the door where they thought the bomb was left, while the office's gas canisters remained intact. 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 autonomy or 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. Reut08:18 09-20-95 Reuter N:Copyright 1995, Reuters News Service From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Sat Sep 23 19:13:14 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 23 Sep 1995 19:13:14 Subject: Want to unsubscribe? Message-ID: From: Arm The Spirit Dear kurd-l recipients, If at any time you wish to unsubscribe from this news listserv, simply send a message to listserv at burn.ucsd.edu with a blank subject header and "unsubscribe kurd-l" as your message body (not in quotation marks). If we have inadvertently subscribed anyone who does not wish to be on an automated list, we are sorry! That is poor Netiquette. Sincerely, kurd-l admin From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Sat Sep 23 19:17:58 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 23 Sep 1995 19:17:58 Subject: From The German Press Message-ID: From: mail06672 at pop.net (AKIN) German Media Reports Translated From 'Kurdistan Rundbrief 18/95' Ciller Criticizes Survey Of Kurds Turkish prime minister Tansu Ciller has expressed criticism of a study of the Kurdish settled region of southeastern Turkey. A press statement from the government stressed that the report entitled "The Southeast Question: Diagnosis and Prognosis", which was published by the Turkish Union of Chambers of Commerce and Stock Exchanges (TOBB), was not sanctioned by the government, nor would Mrs. Ciller support its ideas. Speculations of any connection with the report were mistaken. The Turkish primer minister claims she only learned about the report herself after a press conference was called by TOBB chairman Erez. Erez is an unofficial advisor to Mrs. Ciller. The TOBB report criticized Turkey's policies towards the Kurds. The study says that viewing the Kurdish question as merely a security issue and only following a military approach was a mistake. The report also concluded that paramilitary village guards, who are armed by the government to fight against Kurdish guerrillas, and other security forces were utilizing dirty tactics. In some locations, these forces have even disguised themselves as terrorists in order to stir up trouble. If the Turkish government would simply tolerate pro-Kurdish sentiments, says the report, and take the economic and social problems seriously which the 10 millions Kurds in Turkey face, then support for the terrorist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) would disappear. The TOBB has called for more democratic rights and fairer treatment for the Kurds. They also suggest that the Turkish government carry out economic, administrative, and cultural initiatives in the southeast of Turkey. Now state security officials at the State Security Court in Ankara are investigating the report to see if charges can be brought against individual researchers for "violating laws of expression under Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law" in order to open a trial against the TOBB. Calls for a federated solution and official sanctioning of the Kurdish language could fulfil the necessary criteria for charges of disseminating separatist propaganda. Representatives of the Turkish security forces and Turkish interior minister Mentese offered harsh words about the TOBB report. Mentese rejected any possibility that Turkey could transform itself into a federal state. The interior minister once again repeated his claim that Turkey suffered from neither ethnic conflict nor a Kurdish problem. In a survey conducted during the study, a majority of the Kurdish population said that the PKK represented their interests. In response to the question, what had the PKK achieved, 34.4% of those who responded said that the PKK had made the Kurdish issue known internationally. 65.2% of those surveyed would not answer when asked if they had relatives in the ranks of the PKK. Only 13.4% admitted that they had family members who went to the mountains to join the guerrilla. When asked to explain why the Turkish state had so far been unsuccessful in eliminating the PKK, 24% admitted that the PKK enjoyed the support of the population. 18% felt that the state was failing because it relied solely on violence and other means of repression. 34.4% did not answer the question. (FAZ, 11.8.95) 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, 19.8.95) 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, 25.8.95) 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, 25.8.95) -- 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 Sat Sep 23 22:05:50 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 23 Sep 1995 22:05:50 Subject: From The German Press References: Message-ID: ---------------------- Forwarded from : mail06672 at pop.net ---------------------- German Media Reports Translated From 'Kurdistan Rundbrief 18/95' Ciller Criticizes Survey Of Kurds Turkish prime minister Tansu Ciller has expressed criticism of a study of the Kurdish settled region of southeastern Turkey. A press statement from the government stressed that the report entitled "The Southeast Question: Diagnosis and Prognosis", which was published by the Turkish Union of Chambers of Commerce and Stock Exchanges (TOBB), was not sanctioned by the government, nor would Mrs. Ciller support its ideas. Speculations of any connection with the report were mistaken. The Turkish primer minister claims she only learned about the report herself after a press conference was called by TOBB chairman Erez. Erez is an unofficial advisor to Mrs. Ciller. The TOBB report criticized Turkey's policies towards the Kurds. The study says that viewing the Kurdish question as merely a security issue and only following a military approach was a mistake. The report also concluded that paramilitary village guards, who are armed by the government to fight against Kurdish guerrillas, and other security forces were utilizing dirty tactics. In some locations, these forces have even disguised themselves as terrorists in order to stir up trouble. If the Turkish government would simply tolerate pro-Kurdish sentiments, says the report, and take the economic and social problems seriously which the 10 millions Kurds in Turkey face, then support for the terrorist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) would disappear. The TOBB has called for more democratic rights and fairer treatment for the Kurds. They also suggest that the Turkish government carry out economic, administrative, and cultural initiatives in the southeast of Turkey. Now state security officials at the State Security Court in Ankara are investigating the report to see if charges can be brought against individual researchers for "violating laws of expression under Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law" in order to open a trial against the TOBB. Calls for a federated solution and official sanctioning of the Kurdish language could fulfil the necessary criteria for charges of disseminating separatist propaganda. Representatives of the Turkish security forces and Turkish interior minister Mentese offered harsh words about the TOBB report. Mentese rejected any possibility that Turkey could transform itself into a federal state. The interior minister once again repeated his claim that Turkey suffered from neither ethnic conflict nor a Kurdish problem. In a survey conducted during the study, a majority of the Kurdish population said that the PKK represented their interests. In response to the question, what had the PKK achieved, 34.4% of those who responded said that the PKK had made the Kurdish issue known internationally. 65.2% of those surveyed would not answer when asked if they had relatives in the ranks of the PKK. Only 13.4% admitted that they had family members who went to the mountains to join the guerrilla. When asked to explain why the Turkish state had so far been unsuccessful in eliminating the PKK, 24% admitted that the PKK enjoyed the support of the population. 18% felt that the state was failing because it relied solely on violence and other means of repression. 34.4% did not answer the question. (FAZ, 11.8.95) 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, 19.8.95) 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, 25.8.95) 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, 25.8.95) -- 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 Sat Sep 23 21:57:53 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 23 Sep 1995 21:57:53 Subject: Turkish Coalition Collapses Message-ID: (1) Turkish Coalition Collapses ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- Prime Minister Tansu Ciller resigned Wednesday after a party pulled out of her coalition government to protest austerity measures that have prompted one of the biggest labor walkouts in Turkey's history. Ciller, Turkey's first woman prime minister, refused to call early elections, and said she would try instead to form a new government. She said she would stay on until a new government is in place. "What the country needs at the moment is not elections but a solution. Solutions are endless in a democracy," said Ciller, leader of the True Path party. Earlier Wednesday, Deniz Baykal withdrew his Republican Peoples Party from the government after a three-hour meeting with Ciller. Baykal, who was elected party leader last week, faced strong criticism from the party's traditional base -- blue-collar workers and civil servants -- who opposed the austerity program that has kept wage increases well below inflation. Baykal's announcement came hours after more than 160,000 workers in state-run industries went on strike at the start of one of the biggest walkouts ever in Turkey. The number of striking worker is to gradually increase to 350,000 by Oct. 2. "The most appropriate move will be to call for early elections," Baykal said. General elections are scheduled for the fall of 1996. Ciller, who was a professor of economics before becoming prime minister in June 1993, launched the austerity program under the supervision of the International Monetary Fund. She does not want to call elections while Turks are feeling the effects of the harsh economic measures. The government has refused to offer more than a 5.4 percent salary hike, while the union has demanded a 72 percent increase to keep up with inflation. Mesut Yilmaz, leader of the main opposition Motherland Party, said Wednesday he would be willing to form a coalition government with the True Path if an election date were set. (2) Turkish PM's resignation casts cloud over Eurobond By Alexander Smith LONDON, Sept 20 (Reuter) - A $300 million Eurobond launched by Turkey on Tuesday and hailed within hours as a hugely successful return to the market could flounder following Prime Minister Tansu Ciller's decision to step down, syndicate managers said on Wednesday. Launched as the final chapter in a carefully engineered return to the international capital markets, the Turkish bond could even be abandoned altogether under a so-called force majeure clause, they added. "That would obviously be the choice of last resort. But this certainly constitutes a potential force majeure," said one. A force majeure clause, exempting parties from their obligations under a contract, can be invoked when an event occurs outside the control of the contracting parties. But JP Morgan, the lead manager of the three-year deal, would only invoke this if there was a massive run on the bonds and after consulting Turkey, syndicate managers said. Ciller resigned as head of a right-left coalition in a dispute with her social democrat partners over domestic security policy. She made the announcement in late afternoon but then took on the role of caretaker until a new government can be formed. The price of the Eurobond, launched at 99.741, slipped by almost a point on news of Ciller's resignation, traders said. This caused the yield spread over U.S. Treasuries to widen from the launch level of 300 basis points (three percentage points) over to 325 b.p. over at 1600 GMT, a syndicate manager at one U.S. firm said. The fact investors who had bought the bonds would not yet have paid for them was one reason the transaction could be aborted by the lead manager, syndicate sources said. Payment date for the issue is October 5. Although early indications showed a sell-off in the paper, this was not sufficiently pronounced for the deal to be shelved immediately, the syndicate official at the U.S. firm said. "At 325 (basis points) over it is less than a 10 percent sell-off," he said, but did not discount further widening. But JP Morgan would be carefully considering its options and talking to all the main parties involved, he added. Earlier in the day the issue had narrowed to 287 b.p. over, from a Tuesday night close of 295 b.p. Turkey completed a series of investor roadshows last week as it sought to convince institutional investors that it was on the road to recovery after an economic crisis in 1994. Eurobond players said the mission had been largely successful, with some healthy U.S. demand for the bonds. But Europe had been the biggest buyer of the bonds, with significant Asian and Middle Eastern interest, and only when news of the political situation had filtered through to them would the full impact on the deal be known, traders said. --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Sat Sep 23 22:00:03 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 23 Sep 1995 22:00:03 Subject: ANKARA SEEKING MORE COOPERATION WIT Message-ID: Subject: ANKARA SEEKING MORE COOPERATION WITH TEHRAN .20) id VT19336; Sat, 23 Sep 1995 21:17:25 -0800 Turkish ambassador to tehran Mithat Balkan hopes that the joint economic commission will meet very soon as his country is seeking more cooperation with iran. Speaking to the english-language daily tehran times, published monday, he revealed a visit in the near future by the turkish minister of transport for the purpose of signing a new transport agreement to update an earlier one made in 1980. In view of changes in the social democrat leadership, the exact date of the joint commission meeting has not been set, he announced and gave assurances that there will be no major changes in turkish policy towards the islamic republic of iran. On the natural gas agreement, he said that two delegations have met and agreed on the technical aspects and signed the contract, adding that there are no problems as to implementation. The ambassador further cited the imbalance in the trade between the two countries in favour of iran. ''Turkey's exports to iran are about dlrs. 250 Million. Its imports from iran are about dlrs. 600 Million. If iran does not buy more from turkey, the trade deficit will grow,'' the daily quoted him saying. He cited the gas pipeline agreement has been concluded and will connect turkmenistan to turkey via iran, adding that its implementation is just awaiting the necessary financing. Commenting on the kurdistan workers' party (pkk) fighting to gain autonomy from the turkish government, balkan described their condition in turkey as very bad and said they are not in a position to operate now. ''The government is in control of all parts of the country and for this reason they have transferred (their operations) to northern iraq,'' he said, adding, the few elements still left in turkey are about to be wiped out. referring to relations of pkk with other kurdish groups such as the democratic party of kurdistan (dpk), the ambassador noted that barzani has recently been subject of attacks by the pkk and differences between barzani and the pkk in northern iraq are still ongoing. On the recently concluded iran-turkey-syria tripartite meeting, he said, ''the fact is that the three countries came together and expressed their determination to keep iraq's territorial integrity in the face of pressure from the outside world.'' The next high level experts meeting is scheduled to be held in tehran in december and the next ministerial meeting in six months' time, with turkey as the venue, tehran times quoted balkan as saying. Another meeting may be called in between the two meetings so as to discuss new developments as they come, he added. Rejecting the charges levelled against turkey that it is interested in northern iraq, balkan stressed, ''our territory is enough for us and we do not need northern iraq.'' On the continuing war in bosnia, the turkish ambassador stated that his country has contributed to the peacekeeping forces there and that new developments point to the determination of the international community to put an end to the fighting. He concluded by announcing a plan by turkish prime minister tansu ciller to visit iran in the near future. (from Islamic Republic News Agency) --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Sat Sep 23 22:03:04 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 23 Sep 1995 22:03:04 Subject: TURKISH DAILY NEWS / 20 SEPTEMBER 1 Message-ID: Subject: TURKISH DAILY NEWS / 20 SEPTEMBER 1995 Public workers begin widespread strike Demonstrations: An estimated 350,000 workers will stage large scale protests Turkish Daily News - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- ANKARA- Almost 260,000 public workers will go on strike between Sept. 20 and 25 as the collective bargaining negotiations with the government have reached deadlock. Workers in strategic sectors under the strike ban will also stop work for one day, on Wednesday, to support the strikers. The number of strikers is expected to reach 350,000 in the next few days, including 30,000 workers already on strike. They will stage large-scale protests and meetings during the strikes. The first of these meetings will be held at Ankara's Tandogon Square today at 10:00 a.m. The government is planning to halt the strikes with a suspension decree. But the coalition's junior partner, the Republican People's Party (CHP), is split on the suspension decision and some CHP ministers refused to sign the decree, preventing it from taking effect. The fate of the suspension decree and the new pay rise proposals will be decided during coalition negotiations which will start today between the CHP's newly-elected chairman, Deniz Baykal, and Prime Minister Tansu Ciller. Bayram Meral, chairman of the Confederation of Turkish Labor Unions (Turk-is), said that since the government did not propose a sufficient pay rise, workers will use their legal rights. "The government is doing this on purpose. Their aim is to suspend the upcoming strikes and then constrain us to negotiate the pay raise at the Arbitration Board," Meral told the Anatolia news agency. The Turk-is leader claimed that the government will pay the price for its acts at the next election. Minister of Labor and Social Security, Ziya Halis, said he is not in favor of suspending the strikes by government decision. "Under the constitution, the strikes can only be suspended on condition of threats to public health and security. Since no such threats exist, and an insufficient pay rise of 5 percent is offered, I am against the suspension," said Halis. But Halis explained that conditions could change at any moment and thus a suspension could become necessary. Yildirim Koc, head of the Turk-Is research department, described their pay rise proposal as "reasonable" and in accordance with the contracts signed since 1989. "Our proposal is totally based on the inflation rate and aims only to compensate the workers for their losses. We have two different proposals for two groups of workers. The first group consists of the 237,000 workers who signed contracts on Jan. 1 1995. For them our proposal is a 40 percent raise for the first 6 months, and a 31.17 percent increase for the second 6-month period. The other group of 270,000 workers signed contracts on March 1 1995. Our proposal is 52.3 percent for the first six months and 24.7 percent for the second six months. The government proposes an approximate 5.4 percent annual pay raise against this," Koc said to the TDN. Koc said workers will not stay at their factories or homes but rather stage large scale protests. "Ankara will be a meeting place for thousands of workers and they will voice their demands," said Koc. Koc continued, "Government policies are imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Therefore, our struggle is against the IMF. If the government had any respect for democracy and labor rights, they would change these policies." The labor unions and sectors of the 290,000 workers are on strike or about to strike. - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- High court to hear DEP appeal tomorrow Turkish Daily News - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- ANKARA- A criminal chamber of the High Appeals Court will hear the appeal by the attorneys of the seven former deputies of the now defunct Democracy Party (DEP) and independent deputy Mahmut Alinak on Thursday. Nusret Demiral, the chief prosecutor of the Ankara State Security Court (DGM), had also appealed the earlier verdict. The court made its decision on Dec. 8 when Hatip Dicle, Leyla Zana, Ahmet Turk, Orhan Dogan and Selim Sadak were each sentenced to 15-year prison terms, Sedat Yurttas to seven and a half years and Mahmut Alinak and Sirri Sakik to three and a half years. Alinak and Sakik were released since they had already been in custody for a period equal to their sentence. The appellate hearing will reportedly take place at the convention hall of the United Civil Chambers of the High Appeals Court. In its indictment, addressed to Criminal Chamber No. 9, the office of the chief prosecutor of the High Appeals Court requests that the prison terms against Sakik and Alinak be increased by one sixth. However, the chief prosecutor notes that the prison terms against Sakik and Alinak are in accordance with Article 8 of the Anti-Terrorism Law. The prosecutor wants the punishments against Turk and Yurttas to be made in accordance with Article 8 of the Anti-terrorism Law in lieu of the relevant provisions of the Turkish Criminal Code which calls for prison terms for Yurttas for providing assistance to an outlawed organization and for Turk for being member of an outlawed organization. He also wants Dogan's punishment Dogan to be given on charges of providing assistance to an outlawed organization instead of charges based on being a member of an outlawed organization. The chief prosecutor wants the prison terms against Sadak, Zana and Dicle to be upheld. On March 2, 1994, the immunity of the DEP deputies Hatip Dicle, Ahmet Turk, Leyla Zana, Orhan Dogan, Sirri Sakik, Selim Sadak, the independent deputy Mahmut Alinak, and the Welfare Party (RP) deputy Hasan Mezarci, was lifted. Hatip Dicle and Orhan Dogan were immediately detained by the police as they left the parliament building. On March 4, the five other deputies went to the State Security Court to be questioned where they too were detained. Selim Sadak was released, however, and the Constitutional Court later reinstated his immunity. Hatip Dicle, Ahmet Turk, Leyla Zana, Orhan Dogan and Mahmut Alinak were kept at Ankara Security headquarters until March 17, when they were brought before the State Security Court and were officially arrested. On June 16, the Constitutional Court closed down the DEP and its deputies lost their status as parliamentary representatives. Prior to that decision several members of the DEP, including Remzi Kartal, Nizamettin Toguc, Zubeyr Aydar, Ali Yigit, Naif Gunes and Mahmut Kilic, had already fled the country. Selim Sadak and Sedat Yurttas, who stayed in Turkey, were detained on July 2. Hatip Dicle, Leyla Zana, Ahmet Turk, Orhan Dogan, Sirri Sakik, and the independent deputy Mahmut Alinak were tried on Aug. 3, in the first session of the case. Later, the files of Selim Sadak and Sedat Yurttas were included in this case as well. European Parliament resolution for Mehdi Zana The deputies of the Green and socialist groups in the European Parliament presented draft resolutions calling for amnesty for the prisoners of conscience in Turkey including former Diyarbakir Mayor Mehdi Zana, the Anatolia news agency reported from Strasbourg on Monday. The draft resolutions also urge Turkey to abide by the international conventions which it has signed with regard to human rights issues. - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- The PKK-narcotics connection Interior Minister Nahit Mentese told a meeting in Istanbul today that he will launch a campaign against drug trafficking which is linked to the PKK. In a meeting at the Istanbul Security Directorate, Mentese said that the relationship between terror and the narcotics trade is very important and should be given attention. "We have to dry up the financing source of the PKK" he said. According to Mentese, the PKK is delivering narcotics to European countries through Turkey and in exchange is obtaining arms. On the bomb-raid in Izmir which killed 5 people on Sunday, Mentese said that the raid was aimed originally at the Izmir International Trade, but failed to attain this goal, because of the precautions taken by companies displaying at the fair. Istanbul Security Director Mehmet Agar said that the drugs traffic will also be stopped and said that the Turkish Security Directorate is collaborating with Rumania and Bulgaria, as well as other European countries. ATV quoted Agar as saying that this year, in Istanbul alone, the police seized 690 kilograms of heroin, 468 kilograms of Hashish, 117 kilograms of acid, 468 kilograms of cocaine and 2215 pills; 857 people were detained. Meanwhile, police arrested seven drug dealers, including a foreigners, who are members of the PKK. The group was caught red-handed attempting to smuggle narcotics out of Turkey. The group was to sell drugs in Europe and bring arms for the PKK. * In the vicinity of the Kursunlu village of Diyarbakir's Dicle township, security forces killed 11 terrorists. Two security staff were killed in the same clashes on Sunday. * In clashes with the PKK, peshmergas of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) killed 60 PKK members and injured 76. The spokesman for the KDP said that four temporary PKK bases in the region have been captured. --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Sat Sep 23 22:03:55 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 23 Sep 1995 22:03:55 Subject: Turkey's Message-ID: (c) 1995 Copyright The News and Observer Publishing Co. (c) 1995 Reuter Information Service ANKARA, Turkey (Sep 21, 1995 - 12:30 EDT) - The fall of Turkey's "odd-couple" coalition was a long time coming, but its roots lay in the move of its founder, Suleyman Demirel, from the prime minister's office to presidency more than two years ago, analysts said on Thursday. "Their problems began when Demirel left government for the presidency," political analyst Altan Oymen told Reuters. Demirel, who had formed the coalition in November 1991 with then social democrat leader Erdal Inonu, became president in May 1993 after the death of incumbent Turgut Ozal. Tansu Ciller, Turkey's first woman premier, was elected the next month to head the coalition between her True Path Party (DYP) and the Social Democrat Populist Party, which later merged with and took the name of the Republican People's Party (CHP). The left-right coalition that ended with Ciller's resignation on Wednesday night was Turkey's longest -- many analysts say only because other party combinations were even less viable. The final split came with the election of the self-confident Deniz Baykal as CHP leader 10 days ago. The CHP wanted him to shake off its hapless image in Ciller's domineering shadow. Baykal had based his leadership campaign on a tougher line on democracy and rights issues, and -- unlike his predecessors -- refused to budge in Wednesday's first talks with Ciller. "(The coalition) cracked long ago. At least Demirel and Inonu got on, and managed to agree on many points. With Ciller, disagreements started. It finally cracked when the CHP chose a new leader promising a policy with more character," Oymen said. Demirel, three decades in Turkish politics and a survivor of two army coups, was a pragmatist concerned with stability. But under the ambitious Ciller, the coalition tripped from crisis to crisis over Turkey's efforts to deepen democracy, an 11-year Kurdish insurgency, economic policy and Ciller's pet privatisation plans, which mainly social democrat ministers have twice had overturned in the constitutional court. The SHP-CHP wing changed leaders three times this year, and over half its 65 members took turns in ministerial posts, in a bid to find a match for Ciller's abrasive leadership. "Each time a new party boss came to office, saying he would not make any concessions from his left wing principles, in the end he made a U-turn and...Ciller got what she wanted," said Ilnur Cevik in an editorial in the English-language Turkish Daily News. Ciller said it was CHP demands that the hardline police chief of Istanbul, Necdet Menzir, be sacked that proved fatal. "The actual issue is the importance we accord to terror (of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)," she said later. In comments seen as affirming Ankara's tough, military policy on the PKK's separatist fight, Menzir last June attacked Turkey's human rights minister -- from the CHP wing -- who had talked of the country's poor rights record while abroad. Analysts then said Menzir would not have acted without backing from the military and security forces, many with ties to the DYP. As well as the Menzir affair, the CHP has been frustrated on a key demand to scrap Article 8 of the anti-terror law, which its critics see as a gross violation of the freedom of expression. In July it found changes to make the 1982 military-era constitution more democratic well short of expectations. Ciller, trying to tame inflexible, pro-Demirel conservatives in parliament and the DYP, has based her political image on tough talk about the PKK and the economy, which she vows to "sort out." Back-tracking on issues of domestic security for CHP-friendly coalition deal with Baykal is something she could ill afford to do, even amid her struggle to come up with rights improvements demanded by the European Union ahead of a customs union deal. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Turkish prime minister resigns ANKARA, Turkey (CNN) -- Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller resigned Wednesday in the wake of one of the biggest labor walkouts in Turkey's history. More than 160,000 state employees had gone on strike. However, Ms. Ciller will remain a prominent figure in Turkey's politics. A spokesman for Ms. Ciller said that she has asked to stay on as caretaker until a new government can replace her coalition. Her present coalition had drawn support from both the center and the left of the political spectrum. --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Sat Sep 23 22:04:58 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 23 Sep 1995 22:04:58 Subject: Turkey's References: Message-ID: (c) 1995 Copyright The News and Observer Publishing Co. (c) 1995 Reuter Information Service ANKARA, Turkey (Sep 21, 1995 - 12:30 EDT) - The fall of Turkey's "odd-couple" coalition was a long time coming, but its roots lay in the move of its founder, Suleyman Demirel, from the prime minister's office to presidency more than two years ago, analysts said on Thursday. "Their problems began when Demirel left government for the presidency," political analyst Altan Oymen told Reuters. Demirel, who had formed the coalition in November 1991 with then social democrat leader Erdal Inonu, became president in May 1993 after the death of incumbent Turgut Ozal. Tansu Ciller, Turkey's first woman premier, was elected the next month to head the coalition between her True Path Party (DYP) and the Social Democrat Populist Party, which later merged with and took the name of the Republican People's Party (CHP). The left-right coalition that ended with Ciller's resignation on Wednesday night was Turkey's longest -- many analysts say only because other party combinations were even less viable. The final split came with the election of the self-confident Deniz Baykal as CHP leader 10 days ago. The CHP wanted him to shake off its hapless image in Ciller's domineering shadow. Baykal had based his leadership campaign on a tougher line on democracy and rights issues, and -- unlike his predecessors -- refused to budge in Wednesday's first talks with Ciller. "(The coalition) cracked long ago. At least Demirel and Inonu got on, and managed to agree on many points. With Ciller, disagreements started. It finally cracked when the CHP chose a new leader promising a policy with more character," Oymen said. Demirel, three decades in Turkish politics and a survivor of two army coups, was a pragmatist concerned with stability. But under the ambitious Ciller, the coalition tripped from crisis to crisis over Turkey's efforts to deepen democracy, an 11-year Kurdish insurgency, economic policy and Ciller's pet privatisation plans, which mainly social democrat ministers have twice had overturned in the constitutional court. The SHP-CHP wing changed leaders three times this year, and over half its 65 members took turns in ministerial posts, in a bid to find a match for Ciller's abrasive leadership. "Each time a new party boss came to office, saying he would not make any concessions from his left wing principles, in the end he made a U-turn and...Ciller got what she wanted," said Ilnur Cevik in an editorial in the English-language Turkish Daily News. Ciller said it was CHP demands that the hardline police chief of Istanbul, Necdet Menzir, be sacked that proved fatal. "The actual issue is the importance we accord to terror (of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)," she said later. In comments seen as affirming Ankara's tough, military policy on the PKK's separatist fight, Menzir last June attacked Turkey's human rights minister -- from the CHP wing -- who had talked of the country's poor rights record while abroad. Analysts then said Menzir would not have acted without backing from the military and security forces, many with ties to the DYP. As well as the Menzir affair, the CHP has been frustrated on a key demand to scrap Article 8 of the anti-terror law, which its critics see as a gross violation of the freedom of expression. In July it found changes to make the 1982 military-era constitution more democratic well short of expectations. Ciller, trying to tame inflexible, pro-Demirel conservatives in parliament and the DYP, has based her political image on tough talk about the PKK and the economy, which she vows to "sort out." Back-tracking on issues of domestic security for CHP-friendly coalition deal with Baykal is something she could ill afford to do, even amid her struggle to come up with rights improvements demanded by the European Union ahead of a customs union deal. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Turkish prime minister resigns ANKARA, Turkey (CNN) -- Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller resigned Wednesday in the wake of one of the biggest labor walkouts in Turkey's history. More than 160,000 state employees had gone on strike. However, Ms. Ciller will remain a prominent figure in Turkey's politics. A spokesman for Ms. Ciller said that she has asked to stay on as caretaker until a new government can replace her coalition. Her present coalition had drawn support from both the center and the left of the political spectrum. --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Sun Sep 24 01:38:06 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 24 Sep 1995 01:38:06 Subject: AI: TURKEY: PROMISES OF REFORM Message-ID: Subject: Re: AI: TURKEY: PROMISES OF REFORM SO FAR UNFULFILLED ---------------- Forwarded from : Amnesty_International at io.org ----------------- This News Service is posted by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International, 1 Easton Street, London WC1X 8DJ (Tel +44-71-413-5500, Fax +44-71-956-1157) Sender: Amnesty_International at io.org Precedence: bulk AMNESTY-L: ******************** News Service 177/95 AI INDEX: EUR 44/95/95 EMBARGOED UNTIL 21 SEPTEMBER 1995 TURKEY: PROMISES OF REFORM SO FAR UNFULFILLED The Turkish Government has so far failed to enact the simple and practical reforms needed to tackle its grave human rights situation, Amnesty International said in a report released today. The European Parliament will be considering Turkey~s human rights record when discussing the proposed customs union in October this year. Turkey is therefore under very intense scrutiny and under considerable pressure to enact effective reforms. Amnesty International holds no position on the question of the customs union, but hopes that the Turkish Government will take the three steps which would signal real determination to break with the past record of gross violations. "The human rights picture in Turkey has been deteriorating rapidly over the past five years," Amnesty International said. "The Turkish authorities have the power, resources and infrastructure to enact changes and make them stick -- given the political will." There are three key reforms which, if implemented, could signal the beginning of a serious change in the human rights picture in Turkey: 1. Abolition or reform of Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law (under which most prisoners of conscience are held) which punishes ~separatist propaganda~ by up to five years~ imprisonment. 2. Prompt access by all detainees in police custody to legal counsel (as a safeguard against torture). 3. Shortening of maximum police detention period so that all detainees are brought ~promptly~ before a judge (as a safeguard against torture and ~disappearance~). These simple and practical steps would help to bring Turkey in line with international human rights instruments ratified by Turkey. They would also fulfil the principal recommendations of intergovernmental organizations and expert bodies of the United Nations and Council of Europe, as well as Turkey~s own High Consultative Committee on Human Rights. In the face of bitter public criticism, some members of the government, as well as certain sectors of the business community, have begun cautiously to acknowledge the extent of torture, ~disappearance~ and extrajudicial execution. In May 1995 a report prepared by the High Commission for Human Rights (attached to the office of the Prime Minister) found that police were ~systematically~ interrogating Turkish citizens under torture. Their recommendations for halting the practice included the two key safeguards against torture recommended by Amnesty International. The organization considers these courageous first steps -- away from the traditional policy of blank denial-- to be a positive sign and sincerely hopes that these initiatives will now be supported by those with the power to effect change: the Prime Minister, the Interior Minister and parliament. A number of ministers have also roundly condemned Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law. Ninety-nine members of the country~s literary and artistic elite are currently being tried under Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law for republishing the writings of Turkey~s best-known writer Yasar Kemal in which he describes widespread human rights violations in the mainly Kurdish southeastern provinces. Several academics, journalists and human rights defenders are now serving long prison sentences under Article 8 which outlaws ~separatist~ statements. Unfortunately, government attempts to reform Article 8 are being opposed by a group of parliamentary deputies, the President, and the armed forces. In its report, Amnesty International notes that the number of deaths in custody as a result of torture, as well as those due to ~disappearances~ and political killings for the first eight months of 1995, while still very high, show some reduction. "These figures should be read with caution as it is too early to say whether there is real improvement or just lack of information," the organization said. "Turkish human rights defenders are facing brutal intimidation and foreign human rights monitors are being kept out -- Amnesty International~s researchers have been deported and banned from the country." If close observation by the European Union and other intergovernmental organizations has indeed resulted in a reduction, those bodies have a duty to maintain their vigilance. Amnesty International's new report also describes continued abuses by armed opposition groups, including alleged killings of prisoners and civilians -- among them children-- by the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) and "punishment" killings by DHKP/C (Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front). The report strongly rejects the response to an earlier Amnesty International report, by Ali Sapan, of the National Liberation Front of Kurdistan (the popular front established by the PKK), that "the number of people killed is very limited". Common Article 3 of the Geneva Convention, which the PKK claims to respect, explicitly forbids the ill- treatment or killing of prisoners. "For one civilian or prisoner to become a victim of such deliberate killing would be one too many," Amnesty International said. "In fact, the victims are numbered in their hundreds and killings continue." ENDS\ ------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------- Should you require further information please refer to Amnesty International's report: Turkey - Unfulfilled promise of reform (AI Index: EUR 44/87/95) ********** You may re-post this message onto other sources but if you do then please tell us at AINS at GN.APC.ORG so that we can keep track of what is happening to these items. If you want more information concerning this item then please contact the Amnesty International section office in your own country. You may also send email to amnesty-info at igc.apc.org, an automatic reply service. A list of section contact details is posted on the APC conference. If there is not a section of Amnesty International in your country then you should contact the International Secretariat in London.END ********** ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurdeng at aps.nl Sun Sep 24 21:39:08 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 24 Sep 1995 21:39:08 Subject: Turkey plays down possible rebe Message-ID: Subject: Re: Turkey plays down possible rebel ceasefire call id VT20172; Sun, 24 Sep 1995 20:04:36 -0800 -------------- Forwarded from : nytmx at mit.xs4all.nl (NY Transfer) -------------- Turkey plays down possible rebel ceasefire call ANKARA, Sept 20 (Reuter) - Turkey on Wednesday played down a possible ceasefire offer by the rebel leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is fighting an 11-year separatist campaign in the southeast. ``I won't comment on any PKK announcement,'' Foreign Minister Erdal Inonu told a news briefing. ``Suffice to say everyone knows our position. We want terror to end, and our security forces are working for that. ``At the same time, we are continuing to make all necessary initiatives in parliament for the development of democratic rights in our country,'' he said. The Germany-based DEM Kurdish news agency on Tuesday quoted PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan as saying he was considering calling a ceasefire, similar to one called by the rebels in 1993. ``If the Turkish state does not come against us with the intention of destroying, we want to start a new ceasefire process,'' Ocalan said. The PKK's unilateral ceasefire in 1993 held for nearly three months until the guerrillas killed 33 unarmed soldiers in a bus ambush after complaining Turkey had not reciprocated. More than 18,000 people have been killed in the PKK's fight for Kurdish autonomy or independence in southeast Turkey. Turkey, which has flatly rejected all previous calls for international mediation and a truce with ``terrorists,'' has often said it is on the brink of defeating the PKK militarily. DEM said Ocalan, believed based in Syria or the Syrian-controlled Bekaa Valley in Lebanon, was considering holding a news conference to announce a possible ceasefire ``in the following days.'' Reut05:36 09-20-95 Reuter N:Copyright 1995, Reuters News Service From kurdeng at aps.nl Mon Sep 25 06:51:58 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 25 Sep 1995 06:51:58 Subject: Mainstream news on Turkey/Kurdistan Message-ID: ANKARA, Sept 21 (Reuter) - Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller, reduced to a caretaker after collapse of her unwieldy right-left coalition, could now find her ambitious policy agenda largely hostage to early elections, political analysts said on Thursday. At stake, they say, are the key goals of her 27 months in power -- customs union with Europe, a Turkey-bound Caspian oil pipeline, privatisation and greater democratisation. Her 1994 austerity programme may also be in danger, as temptation rises to secure her True Path Party's traditional rural base with greater farm price supports and to meet fresh demands by public sector workers for pay rises. Turkish financial markets, in a possible preview of broader economic consequences, took a tumble early on Thursday. The Istanbul Stock Exchange dropped 7.24 percent in morning trade, while the Central Bank stepped in to defend the lira. ``Exactly at a time when decisiveness and action is needed in most foreign (policy) issues, domestic priorities, such as the search for a new colation or initiatives for early polls, will launch a process of indecision and inaction,'' wrote leading analyst Sami Kohen in daily Milliyet. A senior adviser to Ciller was even less diplomatic. ``What a waste. She was dealing with all these important problems, like the oil pipeline and the customs union,'' he told Reuters. Ciller's coalition with the social democrats collapsed on Wednesday, largely over her partner's demands that she sack the hardline police chief of Istanbul. Most political observers say Ciller will likely cut a coalition deal with the main opposition party, the centre-right Motherland (ANAP), sealed with a pledge for early polls. ANAP has obstructed Ciller's bid to overhaul Article 8 of the anti-terror law, seen by critics as a gross violation of freedom of expression. Members of the European Parliament have suggested Article 8 must go before any customs union. But Turkish political tradition, which demands a 90-day campaign season, and its mountainous topography, which virtually seals off whole districts in wintertime, suggests ``early'' elections could be no earlier than May. That could, say her supporters and some western analysts, give her enough time to push through some of her programme and then head into elections with a strong hand. ``In some ways she is incredibly in the cat-bird seat,'' said one Western diplomat. ``She is now free of the social democrats (as coalition partners) and can follow her own political instincts.'' A senior aide says Ciller will put the time ahead of any polls to good use. ``She will carry on the fight against terrorism. She will push for economic stability. ``There is no panic. The prime minister is mad and really determined,'' he said. Such tough talk, however, is unlikely to win over the sceptics, particularly among the business and political elite. Umit Firat, a leading member of the neo-liberal New Democracy Movement (YDH), predicted any future coalition would have its eyes too firmly on the upcoming polls, rather than on fundamental change. ``Any new government will be concerned with plans for new elections so a new government won't be able to reform anything,'' Firat, whose YDH holds some sway among westernised Turks, told Reuters. And even Ciller's well-wishers are fearful that her coalition-building zeal could throw her into the arms of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which has quietly supported her from outside the coalition. Germany Frees Up Funds for Turkish Frigates BONN, Sept 20 (Reuter) - The German government, ready to put ties with Turkey back on a normal footing, has asked parliament to release military grants it froze after Ankara sent troops into northern Iraq in March, officials said on Wednesday. A spokeswoman for parliament's budget committee said the panel would address freeing up funds to help Turkey buy German-built warships at its meeting on Thursday at the request of Chancellor Helmut Kohl's government. Angered by Turkey's push into a neighbouring country to chase Kurdish separatists, Bonn in March blocked 150 million marks ($101 million) it promised Ankara in 1993 to help with the purchase of two frigates worth 800 million marks ($540 million). It also suspended transfers of military equipment. Ankara in turn accused Germany of turning its back on a NATO partner in its hour of need and insisted it was well within its rights to use military force to quell what it described as a ``terrorist threat.'' Turkey pulled its troops out of Iraq in May after a six-week offensive that highlighted Europe's policy dilemma over how to show displeasure with Ankara's human rights record without isolating an important NATO ally. Bonn's discomfort was heightened by the fact that Ankara's decade-long battle against the Kurds has sparked increasing tension within Germany's two-million-strong Turkish community. Germany is home to some 400,000 Kurds, most of them from Turkey. Turkish Foreign Ministry Dismisses US Senate Report on Kurds ANKARA, Turkey (Reuter) - Turkey's foreign ministry Wednesday dismissed as biased a U.S. Senate report that criticizes Ankara's policy on its minority Kurds. ``The report on Turkey, which was prepared by advisers of the minority staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is seen as far away from being objective,'' ministry spokesman Omer Akbel said in a statement. ``We would have expected the two advisers who prepared the report about the so-called Kurdish problem to have placed the data, which they recently got here first hand, on a balanced perspective,'' he said. The Senate report, released Sunday, said Turkey might be contributing to the appeal of the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) because of its heavy-handed policies against Turkey's Kurds. The report said the Turkish government ``is unable -- or unwilling -- to distinguish the genuine threat posed by the PKK from the legitimate rights and aspirations of the Kurdish people.'' ``Despite claims that it regards fundamentalism as a threat to its secular heritage, the government of Turkey appears to be encouraging and even sponsoring Islamic activities in an attempt to bind the country together and defuse separatist sentiments,'' the report said. ``Such a strategy ... could backfire and inadvertently provide a foothold for Islamic extremists,'' it said. More than 18,000 people have been killed in the PKK's 11-year-old fight for autonomy or independence in southeast Turkey. Political Crisis in Ankara Bad for Customs Union By Jeremy Lovell BRUSSELS, Sept 21 (Reuter) - The resignation of Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller is a blow to the country's hopes of sealing a key customs union with the European Union by the end of the year, politicians and diplomats said on Thursday. ``I think it's not good news for...the progress we expect from Turkey in order to be able to ratify the agreement on a customs union,'' Euro-MP Willy De Clercq, who heads the parliament's external economic affairs committee, told Reuters. The European Parliament has threatened to veto the customs union deal, finally agreed by Turkey and EU foreign ministers in May after Greece lifted its Cyprus-related veto, unless Ankara cleans up its human rights act. This particularly relates to amending article eight of the country's anti-terror law. Although the parliament has a record of blustering loudly about issues but finally backing down, in this case it has made such an issue of Turkish constitutional and human rights reforms that a U-turn seems less likely. ``The resignation of Mrs Ciller is a bad thing. Her government was doing as good a job as possible considering the domestic balance of power and the great difficulties the government had in parliament in trying to put through the reforms,'' de Clerq said in Strasbourg. Ciller, prime minister for just 27 months, took her True Path Party out of a left-right coalition on Wednesday, was promptly made caretaker premier and set about forming a new coalition. Diplomats in Brussels said Ciller realistically had two options: to form a minority government or to form a coalition with the centre-right Motherland (ANAP) Party. Calling, or being forced to call early elections to get a new mandate would ensure that the January 1, 1996 target date for starting the customs union could not be met. Turkish political tradition demands a 90-day election campaign. Political observers in Turkey predict that a coalition with ANAP coupled with a pledge for early elections would be Ciller's most likely objective. But ANAP has obstructed her bid to overhaul article eight and therefore such a coalition would not go down well with the European Parliament. Similarly forming a minority government with the tacit support of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which has supported her so far outside the coalition, would also not necessarily augur well for reform. However, the Brussels-based diplomats refused to be pessimistic. ``Ciller is the only person capable of forming a government at this stage, and she has stuck her neck out quite a long way on the customs union, so it is sure that this will feature in any negotiations on forming a new government,'' one said. ``It is quite true to say that the collapse of the coalition adds to the difficulties for the customs union, but at this stage it is far too early to say now that it is out of the question.'' Turkey Downplays PKK Ceasefire Offer ANKARA, Sept 20 (Reuter) - Turkey on Wednesday played down a possible ceasefire offer by the rebel leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is fighting an 11-year separatist campaign in the southeast. ``I won't comment on any PKK announcement,'' Foreign Minister Erdal Inonu told a news briefing. ``Suffice to say everyone knows our position. We want terror to end, and our security forces are working for that. ``At the same time, we are continuing to make all necessary initiatives in parliament for the development of democratic rights in our country,'' he said. The Germany-based DEM Kurdish news agency on Tuesday quoted PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan as saying he was considering calling a ceasefire, similar to one called by the rebels in 1993. ``If the Turkish state does not come against us with the intention of destroying, we want to start a new ceasefire process,'' Ocalan said. The PKK's unilateral ceasefire in 1993 held for nearly three months until the guerrillas killed 33 unarmed soldiers in a bus ambush after complaining Turkey had not reciprocated. More than 18,000 people have been killed in the PKK's fight for Kurdish autonomy or independence in southeast Turkey. Turkey, which has flatly rejected all previous calls for international mediation and a truce with ``terrorists,'' has often said it is on the brink of defeating the PKK militarily. DEM said Ocalan, believed based in Syria or the Syrian-controlled Bekaa Valley in Lebanon, was considering holding a news conference to announce a possible ceasefire ``in the following days.'' Appeals Court to Rule on Kurdish MPs Next Month ANKARA, Sept 21 (Reuter) - Turkey's appeals court said on Thursday it would decide late next month whether to release jailed Kurdish deputies in a case that has threatened to undermine Ankara's customs union deal with the European Union. After the first appeal hearing for the eight MPs jailed in December for up to 15 years, Judge Demirel Tavil said a verdict would be given at a final session, to be held on October 26. The deputies' lawyers and two of the MPs -- released after the December trial for time served -- made defence statements, saying they were victims of a ``political action'' by the government ahead of municipal elections last March. The MPs were stripped of their parliamentary immunity in March 1994 and later convicted for up to 15 years for complicity with the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), fighting for autonomy or independence in southeast Turkey. ``We came with the votes of the people, without arms and violence...Our common aim is to find a peaceful solution to the Kurdish problem,'' said Sirri Sakik, one of the freed MPs. ``I do not want Turkey to be divided.'' Deputies from the European Parliament, which must approve the customs union deal before it can be enforced, have been calling for the release of the remaining six MPs as a condition for a ``yes'' vote. The court of appeals' chief prosecutor's office made a recommendation in June that three of the MPs be released because they were improperly charged, but that the remaining three in prison serve out their 15 year sentences. A release of any of the MPs is likely to help Turkey's case, although the deputies' lawyers say that, in a bizarre twist, the two released MPs may actually have to go back to serve another year or more due to a technical mistake in their original sentences. --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Mon Sep 25 06:52:54 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 25 Sep 1995 06:52:54 Subject: TDN on Ciller and new government Message-ID: TURKISH DAILY NEWS / 22 SEPTEMBER 1995 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Demirel reassigns Ciller to form new government Turkish Daily News ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ANKARA- Moving rapidly to ward off a threatened political crisis, President Suleyman Demirel on Thursday assigned Tansu Ciller to form the country's new government a day after she ended a four-year coalition partnership with the social democrats. The move which took Turkish political establishment by surprise, came Thursday evening after Demirel returned from a trip to Eastern Turkey. A brief statement issued from the Prime Minister's office after Ciller's meeting with Demirel said she would start the preparations to form the new government on Friday after meeting with the officials of her True Path Party (DYP). A senior source from the main opposition Motherland Party (ANAP) said Ciller had phoned party leader Mesut Yilmaz and sought an appointment for Friday, cancelling a planned visit to the southern town of Isparta along with the President. The source said senior aides of the two leaders would be present in the meeting. Shortly before her reassignment, Ciller addressed the nation on television and reaffirmed her opposition to an early election because the country's economy would not be able to survive spending on electioneering. But Yilmaz made clear he would not budge from his defense of an early poll. In an immediate reaction to Ciller's reassignment, Yilmaz said it conformed to the democratic traditions, but it would be wrong for Ciller to give priority to forming a minority government to avoid early elections. Yilmaz said Ciller should try forming a government which could secure the mandatory vote of confidence from the Parliament instead of a minority government which stands no such chance. He said he shared the views of outgoing Parliament Speaker Husamettin Cindoruk that what the country needed was a caretaker government to prepare for early elections. Yilmaz, in the past has repeatedly said he was open to a coalition partnership with Ciller's DYP or back a minority government in return for explicit guarantees for an early election. Cindoruk, a close associate of President Demirel and a critic of Ciller although he is a member of the DYP, has been advocating a broadly based "government of reconciliation" which would take in all the major parties and work only to attend to key legislation before scheduling early general elections. Next elections are normally due in October 1996 and Ciller, with over a year left to go, have been resisting pressures from the opposition and government partners for a premature contest. Eager to revive her party's declining popularity by taking Turkey into a profitable customs pact with the European Union later this year, Ciller tried hard to keep the coalition with the social democrat junior partners going. But after Deniz Baykal, the newly-elected leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP) declared the coalition effectively finished on Wednesday following a disagreement on new terms to extend the partnership, Ciller announced the government's resignation. Political analysts say Ciller may draw the ultra-right Nationalist Movement Party and a constellation of other fringe parties and independents in the 450-seat parliament into supporting a minority government. But they say such a government, allowing opportunistic small partners to blackmail Ciller, would not secure Ciller the desired results. At present, Ciller's DYP commands 182 seats in the Parliament, followed by ANAP which has 96. The CHP has 65, the Islamist Welfare Party, 38. MHP has 17, Democratic Left Party has 10, Grand Turkey Party, another ultra-right outfit, has 7, the New Party led by late President Turgut Ozal's brother has three and a liberal New Democracy Movement has two seats. There are six independents and 22 vacant seats in the legislature. Sources close to Ciller said she would feel ready for elections by next May. Other parties which call for elections say the poll should be held in March at the latest if it proves impossible to schedule the contest for mid-December. Cindoruk who is getting set to resign as Parliament speaker to increase pressures on Ciller for early elections, strongly objects to a minority DYP government with Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) support. He is also very much against the ethically improper recruitment of deputies from other parties, a formula Ciller may resort to in order to keep her office. "A government formed with recruited deputies will inevitably be short-lived," he said. Cindoruk has said in the past he will resign as Parliament speaker when the house returns from its summer recess at the start of October unless an early elections decision is taken. The Parliament speaker on Thursday said there was no government crisis at this point, but "we can call this the beginning of the crisis," adding he believed the crisis will be evaded when a date for early election is announced. Cindoruk said he did not want to respond to Ciller's statement about a "solution government" rather than an "election government" (one that will hold early elections) but reiterated that an early election will be the best answer and suggested December this year as the best time for it. Cindoruk in a television program also noted he would not run away from duty "as a politician who is playing in the finals" if he is called to duty for the sake of the country's and the people's interests. But he said he hoped the crisis would be resolved without the need for him to interfere. Sources close to Ciller, on the other hand, say the prime minister will play all her cards, even announcing an early election for May 1996, to form a minority government. Ciller reportedly wanted to speak with Yilmaz as soon as the coalition collapsed. Minority government Ciller's minority government formula calls for 182 DYP, 17 MHP, three New Party (YP) and some independent deputies, is not considered to be realistic. DYP and ANAP officials said that Ciller expected Yilmaz's support on the condition that early elections are held in May 1996. Yilmaz is believed to want an "election government," which will hold early elections in December 1995 or March 1996. Yilmaz had said that his party would support such a government and it would be ready to form a minority government for this purpose, if necessary. Yilmaz is also reportedly against any government formula which includes Ciller. Deniz Baykal also considers early elections a must. Baykal, who is planning to enter the elections as an opposition party, is trying to exclude his party from the new government formulas. The CHP members who are close to Baykal said that he would not take any responsibility in the new government. Cindoruk, considers the preparation of a new electoral law as the first priority. Cindoruk proposes to form an election government, which has a wide base. The Parliament speaker is against weak minority government models and thinks that it is compulsory to form a DYP-CHP-ANAP government under his prime ministry to overcome the current crisis. --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Mon Sep 25 06:54:13 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 25 Sep 1995 06:54:13 Subject: A letter to the Economist on Turkey Message-ID: Subject: A letter to the Economist on Turkey's Oppressed Media n, 25 Sep 1995 03:54:57 -0800 The Economist, September 2nd-8th 1995, page 8 Turkey's Oppressed Media Sir-Turkey's reform of its 1982 constitution does not go nearly far enough towards lifting restrictions on civil liberties ("Progress at last", July 29th). Press freedom and freedom of speech are daily casualties of the "notoriously illiberal" Article 8 of the 1991 anti-terrorism law to which you refer. Tansu Ciller, Turkey's prime minister, has reneged on repeated promises to ammend this law, which has been used to jail hundreds of journalists, writers and publishers, and to close dozens of publications. Coverage of the conflict with the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) that diverges from the army's version of events is labelled "separatist propaganda" and routinely banned. As independent journalists are thrown in jail, Turkey's press and society are growing increasingly polarised. The European Union should examine Turkey's record on press freedom very closely. Otherwise it will find that it has rushed into a customs union with a country that holds more journalist in prison than any other, including China. Avner Gidron Committee to Protect Journalists New York [Sent to TRKNWS-L by Omer Dogan ] --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Mon Sep 25 06:55:41 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 25 Sep 1995 06:55:41 Subject: Germany has ways of making foreigne Message-ID: Subject: Germany has ways of making foreigners leave Germany has ways of making foreigners leave Criminals face expulsion: Such warnings have been particularly aimed at Kurdish separatists involved in violent protestsand attacks on property. By Michael Anders AFP Staff Writer ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BONN- The phased repatriation of 40,000 Vietnamese, which began Thursday, illustrates German government determination to limit the number of foreigners in the country by a variety of means. The Vietnamese are to be gradually expelled between now and the year 2,000 under an agreement signed by the Bonn and Hanoi governments in July after more than a year of negotiations. Previously, a treaty between Germany and Romania in 1993 provided for the mass repatriation of tens of thousands of Romanians who had flooded into the country with the collapse of the stalinist regimes of eastern Europe. But such bilateral accords pre-suppose that the governments concerned are prepared to take their people back. They generally require a financial "sweetener" or incentive representing aid for the returnees and an undertaking not to prosecute the refugees for having left their own country illegally. With little prospect of being able in the near future to bring down an unemployment level approaching 10 percent of the active population, the German government is concerned not to exacerbate social problems related to the seven million foreigners among a total population today of 81 million. The sea-change came in 1993. Spurred by a terrifying wave of extreme rightwing violence against hostels for refugees and the homes of foreigners reminiscent of Nazi pogroms, members of Parliament voted a constitutional amendment restricting a hitherto liberal right to asylum. The restriction has had its desired effect, to the notable satisfaction of Interior Minister Manfred Kanther and other rightwing members of Chancellor Helmut Kohl's Christian Democratic Union (CDU): the number of asylum-seekers plummeted from 322,599 in 1993 to 127,210 in 1994. Despite the slim chances of having it granted, however, nearly 12,000 people requested asylum in Germany this August alone, about 2,500 of them from ex-Yugoslavia. Of 14,771 cases ruled upon the same month, only 9.6 percent were accepted. Kanther and Kohl have also made clear that foreigners who commit criminal offenses on German soil can expect to be expelled. Such warnings have been particularly aimed at the numerous Kurdish separatists involved in violent demonstrations or attacks on property. Of the 1.85 million Turks in Germany, about 400,000 are Kurds. Likewise for the Vietnamese in Germany: those involved in illegal activities are priority cases for expulsion under the bilateral accord, which is also aimed against any future attempts at illegal immigration. Of 1,400 Vietnamese who requested asylum in Germany in the first six months of 1995, the number granted refugee status was "nearly nil," according to the interior minister. Another discouragement for would-be immigrants is the difficulty for foreigners in obtaining German nationality. The Free Democrats and the opposition Social Democrats (SPD) have wanted the rules made easier, but the Christian Union parties have so far resisted this. The new asylum law came under the spotlight last week when Kanther ordered the repatriation of seven Sudanese immediately their final legal recourse to the Constitutional Court failed, despite an expected offer by Eritrea to accept them. Although the SPD had voted with the government to tighten the asylum law, which left wing militants and humanitarian activists at the time considered a bitter betrayal, SPD vice-president Herta Daeubler-Gmelin called at the weekend for a review of how it was working. But after Stern magazine reported that the claims of the seven Sudanese to be escaping political persecution were fake, a Green party move to put the interior minister on the spot crumbled Wednesday and the SPD was silent. The German authorities also deny closing the doors to those refugees closest to hand: they say Germany has taken in some 400,000 people fleeing the fighting in ex-Yugoslavia, more than twice that of all the other European Union countries put together. Here too, however, bilateral repatriation agreements have come into play. On September 1, it was agreed that Germany this month resume sending back Croatian refugees numbering as many as 40,000. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Germany resumes aid to Turkey Turkish Daily News ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ANKARA- Germany decided on Wednesday to resume its military aid to Turkey, which had been suspended in March in protest over Ankara's military incursions into northern Iraq trying to flush out militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The resumption was signalled by a finance commission of the Bundestag, or lower house of parliament, which voted to provide 150 million marks ($100 million) in aid to allow Turkey to buy two frigates. In addition to this, the German government will provide 100 million marks worth of military equipment as "grants," German ambassador to Ankara, Dr. Hans-Joachim Vergau, said on Wednesday in a press conference. Vergau said that the decision had long been in the pipeline, but the bureaucratic formalities had taken time. Germany had suspended its aid in response to major Turkish military incursions into Iraq to crush PKK militants. Turkey, on its side, accused Germany of turning its back on a NATO partner in its hour of need and insisted it was well within its rights to use military force to quell what it described as a "terrorist threat." "Please allow me to remind you one more time that Germany, which hosts about 2 million Turkish citizens, suffers the effects of conflicts within Turkey. For this reason, Germany, more than any other country, has the right to expect solutions that go beyond pure military measures ... Having said that, there is no doubt that we support Turkey's determined fight against terrorism," Dr. Vergau said. Wednesday's decision was expected to attract strong criticism from the opposition Social Democrats, the Green Party and the formerly communist Party of Democratic Socialism. The Greens said that the suspension should have been extended given the political instability in Turkey. The decision came on the same day that Prime Minister Tansu Ciller resigned in Ankara due to a quarrel with a junior coalition partner in her government. Ankara welcomes the release Ankara welcomed the German decision Thursday. "We consider this decision of the German Parliament and government to be a step in the right direction," Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman Nurettin Nurkan said. "We believe that this problem, which stemmed from a misunderstanding and cast a shadow on Turco-German frienship and cooperation, is solved." From IHD-ANK at INFO-IST.comlink.de Mon Sep 25 02:29:00 1995 From: IHD-ANK at INFO-IST.comlink.de (IHD-ANK at INFO-IST.comlink.de) Date: 25 Sep 1995 02:29:00 Subject: BUCACEZA Message-ID: <5uXAflNIx.B@kommagp.asco.nev.sub> ## Nachricht vom 23.09.95 weitergeleitet ## Ursprung : /INFO-IST/INSAN_HAKLARI ## Ersteller: IHD-ANK at INFO-IST.comlink.de BUCA CEZAEVI'NDE SON GELISMELERE ILISKIN TUTANAK 23.09.1995 22.09.1995 gunu saat 9.30 siralarinda Buca Kapali cezaevine gidilerek tutuklularla gorusme talebinde bulunuldu. Kapidaki gorevliler tarafindan " ikinci bir emre kadar avukat gorusunun yapilmayacagi soylendi. Bu yanitin ardindan yaralilarin durumunun ogrenilmesi amaciyla Yesilyurt devlet hastanesine gidildi. Burada Bafhekim ile gorusme talebinde bulunuldu. Bashekim vekili Dr.?rfan'?n yogun bakimda bulundugu gerekcesiyle bu talep geri cevrildi. Bunun uzerine bashekim yardimcilarindan Dr.Oya...... ile gorusulerek yarali tutuklular hakk?nda bilgi istendi.Dr.Oya ... tarafindan "bu konuda biz bilgi veremeyiz, emniyet yetkilileri acil servisteler, onlardan bilgi alin " aciklamasi yapildi. Bu s?rada Emniyet Amirleri hastane yonetimini bashekimlikte toplantiya cagirdi.Yaralilarin bulundugu Acil servis ve yogun bakim bolumlerine hastane personeli de dahil olmak uzere giris cikislarin yasaklandigi; ayrica yarali tutuklularin hastaneye getirildigi sirada da polis ve askerlerce dovuldukleri, bu duruma doktor ve hastane personelinin mudahale ettigi hatta bir hasta bakicinin bu nedenle gozaltina alinmak istendigi ogrenildi. Bu arada acil servis onunde beklemekte olan tutuklu yakinlari polis tarafindan dagitildi. Bir sure yaralilarin avukatlari ile birlikte Acil Servis onunde beklenildikten sonra yeniden cezaevine gidilerek cezaevi savcisi ve muduru ile gorusme talebinde bulunuldu. Izmir Barosu Yonetimi, bassavci, Adalet Bakanl?g? mustesari ve tutuklularla gorusmek uzere cezaevine girdi. Avukatlar ve tutuklu yakinlari cezaevi onunde gorusmenin sonuclanmasini bekledigi sirada Izm?r Demokrasi Platformu tarafindan tutuklulara yapilan saldiriyi kinayan bir basin aciklamasi yapildi. Ardindan otopsisi tamamlanan cenazelerin teslim alinmasi amaciyla Ege Universitesi Tip Fakultesi Morguna gitmek uzere cezaevi onunden hareket eden gruba ve tutuklularla gorusmek icin Izmir Barosu Yonetiminin cezaevinden cikmasini bekleyen avukatlara cevik kuvvet ekipleri tarafindan joplarla saldirildi. 37 tutuklu yakini ve IDP uyeleri ile 14 avukat gozaltina alinarak Buca ?lce Emniyet Amirligine goturuldu. Gozaltina alinanlardan bazilarinin isimleri sunlardir; Dervis Altun ( IHD Izmir Sb. Sekreteri ) Zeynep Baran ( IHD Istanbul Sb. Sekreteri ) Av.Gulk?reckaya ( IHD Izmir Sb. Yonetim Kurulu uyesi ) Caner Canli ( Egitim Sen 5 nolu Sb. Baskani-IDP donem sozcusu) ?brahim Cakaloglu ( Tum Saglik Sen Sb. Sekreteri ) Erdinc Beceren ( Tum Haber Sen YK Uyesi ) Sukriye Totak ( Tum Maliye Sen YK Uyesi ) Av. Betul Duran, Av.Sengul Gultekin, Av.Fehmi Cam, Av.Irfan Guler, Av.Ercan Demir, Av.Ibrahim Ergun, Av. Kemal Bilgic, Av.Mustafa Iseri, Av. Ismail Kavak, Av.Ismail Hanoglu, Av. Sema Pektas, Av.Turkan Aslan, Av. Sevgi Binbir, Saniye Guler, Faysal Ozcift, Mesut Cakici, Aynur Ermis, Sevilay Akyol,Ali Asker Cansiz. Gozaltina alinan avukatlardan Irfan Guler agir yaralanarak hastaneye sevk edildi. Basina 8 dikis atildi, kirikler nedeniyle sag kol ve parmaklari alciya alindi, boyun bolgesindeki zedelenme nedeniyle boyun kask? takildi. Yine avukatlardan Gul Kireckaya ve Sengul Gultekin hastaneye sevk edilerek rapor aldiler. Gozaltinde bulunanlar saat 17:00 siralerinde sucustu savciligina cikarilarak 2911 sayili yasaya muhalefet iddasi ile sorgulari yapildi.Savcilik tarafinden 14 avukat ve avukatlarin girisimleri ile ag?r yaralilardan 4 kifi saliverildiler. Diger 33 kisi 23.09.1995 guenue saat 09:00da mahkemeye c?karilmek uzere tekrar Emniyet Mudurlugu'ne goturuldular. Buca Cezaev?ndek? tutuklu tems?lc?lar? ve Yesilyurt Devlet Hastanes?nde bulunan yaral?lar ile gorusen Izmir Baro Baskan? ve Yonetim Kurulu uyeleri adliyeye donerek gelismeler hakk?nda bilgi verdiler. Buna gore : Sald?r?n?n 6.kogusta gerceklestigi, diger bes kogusta barikatlar?n halen devam ettigi, yaralar? arkadaslar? hakk?nda hemen bilgi verilmesi, sevkler s?ras?nda onur k?r?c? sald?r?lara son verilmesi, avukat gorusune iliskin s?n?rlamalar?n kald?r?lmas? ve surgun yap?lmamas? gibi temel taleplerin kabul edilmesini istedikleri, Tutuklular?n istemi uzerine hastaneye gidildigi ve baro baskan? taraf?ndan yap?lan gorusme sonucunda hastanede bulunan yaral?lar?n tumunun isim listesi ile sagl?k durumlar?na iliskin bilgi al?nd?g?, yaral?lar?ndan Mehmet Kurnaz'?n halen bilinci kapal? oldugu ve yogun bak?mda bulundugu, halen hastanede tedavi alt?nda bulunanlar?n isimlerinin; Yusuf Karatas, Murat Becerikli,Sahin Y?lmaz, Inan Coban, Murat Candar, Enis Aras, Dogan Unal, Mehmet Buyukimdat, Ali Dogru, Metin Bozoglu, Ahmet Kurban, Hasan Toraman, Ismet Avc?, Mehmet Goecekli, Bar?s Y?ld?r?m, Murat Karaoglan, Umit Kanl?, Esin Kurt, Murat Kus, Mustafa Tokur, R?za Dogru, Savas Kocabas, Sami Gultekin, Halil Bozkurt, Nevzat Kalayc?, Serdar Karabulut, Sinan Guler, Ozden Oz, Mesut Ors, A.Gedik Osmanogullar?, Bernar Satar, Bar?s Kaya, Ibrahim Sertel, Mesut Avc?, Kaan Toksoy, Devrim Demir, Yusuf Sak ve Erdal Ar?kan oldugu, Turan K?l?c, Ugur Sar?aslan ve Yusuf Bag'?n yasam?n? yitirdikleri ve bunlar?n otopsilerinin tamamland?g?, otopsi tutanaklar?na gore olumlerinin kafa travmas? ve akciger parcalanmas? sonucunda meydana geldigi oegrenildi. IHD Ankara Subesi Yonetim Kurulu Uyeleri Av.Oya Ersoy ve Av.Meryem Erdal?## CrossPoint v3.02 ## From IHD-IST at INFO-IST.comlink.de Mon Sep 25 02:29:00 1995 From: IHD-IST at INFO-IST.comlink.de (IHD-IST at INFO-IST.comlink.de) Date: 25 Sep 1995 02:29:00 Subject: TOMRIS OeZDEN Message-ID: <5uXAg8SYx.B@kommagp.asco.nev.sub> ## Nachricht vom 23.09.95 weitergeleitet ## Ursprung : /INFO-IST/INSAN_HAKLARI ## Ersteller: IHD-IST at INFO-IST.comlink.de 15.09.1995 TOMR?S OeZDENLER YALNIZ DE??LD?R Kuert sorununu, demokratik yolla ?oezmemek i?in inatla devam ettirilen savaf?n vahfeti i?inde, ?at?fmada oelen albay?n efi Tomris Oezden, bar?f? savundu?u i?in buguen afaroz edilmek isteniyor. Tomris Oezden'in 'su?u'; silahlar?n susmas?n? istemesi, halklar?n kardefli?ini savunmas?, devletin izledi?i savaf yolunun ??kmaz bir yol oldu?unu belirtmesi. Bu bar?f??l sese, ?rk?? ve militarist soezde koefe yazarlar?, Milli Guevenlik Kurulu'ndan ald?klar? talimat gere?i, hemen sald?rmaya baflad?lar. Bas?n ahlak ilkelerini ?i?neyerek, seviyesizleferek. ?uenkue telaf i?indeler. Telaflar? ve korkular?, Tomris Oezdenlerin ?o?almas?. Biliyorlarki, devlete ra?men silahlar sussun diyenler, bizzat zorla savafa suerueklenenlerin aras?nda da ?o?alarak, binlerce, onbinlerce Tomris Oezdenler, Emine Dumanlar kucaklafacak. ?fte o zaman, savafc? generallere ve ?rk??lara ra?men bu savaf bitecek. ?nsanca, hak?a, efit?e bir yafam bu topraklarda baflayacak. Bar?f muecadelesinde Tomris Oezdenler yaln?z de?ildir. Irk??lar ve militaristler yar?n yaln?z kalacaklard?r. Bar?f?n ayak sesleri art?k bu alanda filiz vermeye baflam?ft?r. Savaf??lar fimdi de vicdanlarda mahkum olmuftur. Ercan KANAR ?HD Genel Bafkan Yard?mc?s? ?ukurlu ?efme Sokak, Bayman Apt. No 10/1, Taksim - ?STANBUL, Telefon (0212) 2519646, Fax (0212) 2514155 ## CrossPoint v3.02 ## From IHD-IST at INFO-IST.comlink.de Mon Sep 25 02:29:00 1995 From: IHD-IST at INFO-IST.comlink.de (IHD-IST at INFO-IST.comlink.de) Date: 25 Sep 1995 02:29:00 Subject: VAL LERE OLA ANUeSTUe YETK Message-ID: <5uXAgNKIx.B@kommagp.asco.nev.sub> ## Nachricht vom 23.09.95 weitergeleitet ## Ursprung : /INFO-IST/INSAN_HAKLARI ## Ersteller: IHD-IST at INFO-IST.comlink.de 19.09. 1995 VAL?LERE OLA?ANUeSTUe YETK?, ?NSAN HAKLARINA TOPYEKUeN SALDIRIDIR MGK, toplumumuzun, insanlar?m?z?n hak ve oezguerlueklerine el atmaya devam ediyor. Y?llard?r milyonlarca Kuerde uygulanan zuluem idaresi, Ola?anuestue rejim idaresi fimdi de; valilere verilmesi duefuenuelen yetkilerle tuem co?rafyaya yay?lmak isteniyor. Uestelik kamuoyuna da "?fte Ola?anuestue Hal'i kald?r?yoruz" yalan? soeylenerek. E?er bu tasarlanan duezenleme yasalaf?rsa: ?lan edilmemif bir s?k?yoenetim valiler taraf?ndan demir oek?e gibi istenildi?i an guendeme getirilebilecek. Askeri yarg? kapsam? genifletilecek. Bu duezenleme ile yarg?s?z infazlar daha da tefvik edilmif olacak. Duefuenuelen yetkilerle guevenlik gue?leri daha da serbest ve rahat fekilde insan oelduermeye devam edecekler. Bu duezenleme ile sivil toplum oerguetlerinin faaliyeti tamamen valinin keyfine b?rak?lmaktad?r. Valilere adeta padifahl?k doeneminde oldu?u gibi fehre girif-??k?f yasa??, belli yerlere girememe yasa?? yetkisi verilmektedir. Bu tasar? a??k bir fafizmin sahneye konulmas?d?r. Ola?anuestue Hal Boelgesi'nde suerdueruelen savaf halinin tuem co?rafyaya yay?lmas? plan?d?r. Demokrasi ve oezguerluek muecadelesi, Milli Guevenlik Kurulu'nun savaf politikalar? ile bo?ulmak istenmektedir. Milli Guevenlik Kurulu, asker ve polis iradesini bize oeluem tehditi ile dayatmaktad?r. ?nsanlar?m?z?n gereksinimi, Milli Guevenlik Kurulu'nun da yapt??? fafizm de?il, demokrasinin tuem kurumlar? ile iflemesi, budanmam?f temel hak ve oezguerlueklere kavufmas?d?r. Sivil toplum iradesinin belirleyici olmas?d?r. Bu tehlikeli planlara karf?, Milli Guevenlik Kurulu'nun demir oek?esine karf? herkesi hay?r demeye ?a??r?yoruz. Savafc? gue?lerin ellerini oezguerlueklerin uezerinden ?ektirtelim. Ercan KANAR ?nsan Haklar? Derne?i ?stanbul Pubesi Bafkan? ?ukurlu ?efme Sokak, Bayman Apt. No 10/1, Taksim - ?STANBUL, Telefon (0212) 2519646, Fax (0212) 2514155 ## CrossPoint v3.02 ## From IHD-IST at INFO-IST.comlink.de Mon Sep 25 02:29:00 1995 From: IHD-IST at INFO-IST.comlink.de (IHD-IST at INFO-IST.comlink.de) Date: 25 Sep 1995 02:29:00 Subject: BUCA CEZAEV NDE KATL AM Message-ID: <5uXAga0Yx.B@kommagp.asco.nev.sub> ## Nachricht vom 23.09.95 weitergeleitet ## Ursprung : /INFO-IST/INSAN_HAKLARI ## Ersteller: IHD-IST at INFO-IST.comlink.de ?stanbul,22.09.1995 BUCA CEZAEV?NDE YAPILANLAR DEVLET?N YEN? B?R KATL?AMIDIR. Pu ana kadar al?nan bilgilere goere , 3 kifinin oeluemue ?ok say?da insan?n yaralanmas?na, belki de yeni oeluemlere neden olan guevenlik gue?lerinin sald?r?s?: Devletin intikamc? infaz anlay?f?n? bir kez daha ortaya koymuftur. Al?nan bilgilere goere, guevenlik gue?leri hunharca sald?rm?f, doktorlar?n yaral?lara erken muedahalesi dahi oenlenmiftir. Oezellikle son guenlerde, bizzat idareler taraf?ndan bir ?ok cezaevinde tertipler haz?rland???, provokatif bask?lar?n art?r?ld??? goezlemlenmektedir. Buca'daki son olayla bu husus had safhaya ??km?ft?r.Katliamdan ?l Alay Jandarma Komutanl???,Savc?l?k, esas olarak da ??ifleri Bakanl??? ve seyirci kalan Adalet Bakanl??? sorumludur. Jandarmalar, verilen emirlerle tutuklu ve huekuemluelere cihad mant???yla, savaf naralar?yla sald?rt?lm?ft?r. Cezaevinde yafama hakk?n? devlet bizzat tehdit etmektedir. ??ifleri Bakanl???, elini cezaevlerinden ?ekmelidir. Cezaevlerinin idaresi, her a??dan Adalet Bakanl???'n?n yetki kapsam?na al?nmal?d?r. Ve bu yetkinin kullan?l?f? ve infazla ilgili her tuerlue tasarruf da yarg? denetimine tabi olmal?d?r. Tutuklu ve huekuemlueler uezerindeki eza ve tecrit politikalar?na son verilerek, insan haklar?na uygun normlar tuem cezaevlerinde yafama ge?irilmelidir. Son olay?n katilleri yarg? oenuene ??kart?lmal?d?r. Yaral?lar?n tedavisine oezen goesterilmeli, Tabib Odas?'n?n sorumlulu?unda tedaviler yap?lmal?d?r. Buca Cezaevin'deki sorumlular?n ortaya ??kart?lmas? i?in ?HD, Baro ve ?HD'nin cezaevinde araft?rma yapmas? kabul edilmelidir. Ercan KANAR ?NSAN HAKLARI DERNE?? ?STANBUL PUBE BAPKANI ?ukurlu ?efme Sokak, Bayman Apt. No 10/1, Taksim - ?STANBUL, Telefon (0212) 2519646, Fax (0212) 2514155 ## CrossPoint v3.02 ## From IHD-ANK at INFO-IST.comlink.de Mon Sep 25 02:30:00 1995 From: IHD-ANK at INFO-IST.comlink.de (IHD-ANK at INFO-IST.comlink.de) Date: 25 Sep 1995 02:30:00 Subject: ANKARA'DA FA ST SALDIRI VE B R OeL Message-ID: <5uXAgzGnx.B@kommagp.asco.nev.sub> ## Nachricht vom 31.08.95 weitergeleitet ## Ursprung : /INFO-IST/INSAN_HAKLARI ## Ersteller: IHD-ANK at INFO-IST.comlink.de DUeNYA BARIP GUeNUeNE B?R GUeN KALA ANKARA'DA KATL?AM! Ke?ioeren halk? uezerinde oezellikle son yerel se?imlerden sonra boelgede uestlenen ve MHP'li belediyelerce desteklenen ve kendilerini "A TAKIMI" olarak adland?ran gerici fafist gue?lerin boelge halk?n? sindirmeye ve il?eden goe?ettirmeye yoenelik bask? ve sald?r?lar?, duenya bar?f guenuene bir guen kala katliam boyutuna ulaft?. Boelge halk?ndan Erdal Y?ld?r?m ( 20 ) bu sald?r? da yafam?n? yitirdi. "A Tak?m?" diye adland?r?lan fafist gue?lerce, 30.08.1995 guenue Ankara Ke?ioeren il?esinde daha oenceki Belediye Yoenetimi taraf?ndan da??t?lan arsalar uezerinde ev yap?p oturan insanlara yoenelik hedef goezetmeksizin ger?ekleftirilen silahl? sald?r? sadece Ke?ioeren Halk?na de?il, tuem demokrasi gue?lerine yoenelik sald?r?d?r. Cenaze toereni 1 Eyluel 1995 tarihinde yap?lacakt?r. ## CrossPoint v3.02 ## From IHD-ANK at INFO-IST.comlink.de Mon Sep 25 02:31:00 1995 From: IHD-ANK at INFO-IST.comlink.de (IHD-ANK at INFO-IST.comlink.de) Date: 25 Sep 1995 02:31:00 Subject: SORUSTUR Message-ID: <5uXAh5v2x.B@kommagp.asco.nev.sub> ## Nachricht vom 08.09.95 weitergeleitet ## Ursprung : /INFO-IST/INSAN_HAKLARI ## Ersteller: IHD-ANK at INFO-IST.comlink.de Kecioren'de bir kisinin MHP'li Belediye gorevlileri taraf?ndan oldurulmesi ve sonras?nda gelisen olaylar hakk?nda yaptigi basin aciklamasi nedeniyle IHD Ankara Subesi Baskan? Naciye Erkol'un "halki kiskirttigi" gerekcesiyle polis tarafindan ifadesi alindi. Ifade alirken polisin " ama sen kendi adini kullanmissin " demesi ve dernege karsi bir sorusturma baslatmak i?in cabalamasi ilginctir.Cunku yonetim kurulu uyelerinin kendi adini ve dernekteki sifatini kullanarak yaptigi aciklamalardan dernek tuzel kisiligi degil, kisinin kendisi sorumludur. Soz konusu basin aciklamasi soyle; " BASINA VE KAMUOYUNA Kecioren Ovacik'ta 30.8.1995 gecesi Kecioren Belediyesinde calisan ve "A Takimi" olarak adlandirilan MHP'li grubun sivil halka ates acmasi sonucu site sakinlerinden Erdal Yildirim yasamini yitirmistir. Belediye'ye ait resmi otolarla ("06 EBT 08""06 K 5147" "06 EBT 23" ) geceyarisi 23.30'da siteye gelen saldirganlar, once kooperatif yonetiminde olan Erdal Yildirim'in babasinin uzerine arabalarini surerek ayagindan yaralanmasina neden olmuslar, daha sonra pompali silahlarla ates etmisler ve Erdal Yildirim'i oldurmuslerdir. MHP'li Kecioren belediyesinin is basina geldigi 27 Mart 1994 secimlerinden bu gune kadar yore halkina, belediye iscisine, memuruna, semt esnafina uyguladigi baski ve siddet uygulamalari herkes tarafindan bilinmektedir. Bu konuda ozellikle esnaflardan dernegimize yapilmis onlarca basvuru mevcuttur. Bu basvurularin ortak ozelligi bizzat zabitalar tarafindan Ulku Ocaklari Dernegine bagis olarak toplanan parayi odemedikleri icin isyerlerinin kapatilmis olmasidir. 27 Mart'tan bu yana uygulanan baski ve sindirme eylemlerine karsi Ovacik Kendin Yap Yapi Kooperatifi sakinleri tarafindan Kaymakamliga, Valilik ve Icisleri Bakanligina yapilan basvurulardan bir sonuc alinamamistir. Cocuklari dahi oldurulen site sakinlerinin artik kaybedecekleri hic bir sey kalmamistir. 4 Eylul 1995 gunu site sakinleri tarafindan savciliga suc duyurusunda bulunulmus, savci valilige sevk etmis, Ankara Valiligi tarafindan da emniyete gonderilmesi uzerine de dilekceler Erdal Yildirim'in kardesi tarafindan emniyete goturulmustur. Burada ise kendisine, emniyet yetkilileri tarafindan; bu isin pesini birakmasi, abisi Hasan Yildirim'in da cevrede tanindigindan kendisine dikkat etmesi gerektiginin soylenmesi ilginctir. Katillerinde savciliga cikarildiklari dun ogleden sonra ticari bir taksi ile Erdal Yildirim'in evinin onune gelen uc kisi tarafindan ikinci bir saldiri daha gerceklestirilmis olmasi ve MHP'li belediyenin bu gune kadar ki uygulamalari, bu olaylarin basit bir adli vakia olmadiginin, karsimizda orgutlu bir silahli cetenin bulundugunun gostergesidir. Boyle bir cetenin varligini gozardi ederek olaylardan tek kisinin sorumlu tutulmasi kaygi vericidir ve cete mensuplarina cesaret vermekten ote bir anlam tasimayacaktir. Tum bu nedenlerle sorusturmanin genisletilmesi gerekmektedir. Kecioren Belediye Baskani Turgut Altinok'un milliyetci ve ayrimci uygulamalari Kecioren'e tehlike tohumlari ekmektedir. Belediye baskani olmasinin verdigi yetkileri kullanarak kendisi gibi dusunmeyen halka zulum uygulamaktadir. Bu ayirimci uygulamalar yasam hakkini tehdit eden boyutlara ulasm?st?r. Kecioren'de can guvenligi ve huzurun saglanmasi icin yetkilileri Turgut Altinok'u gorevden almaya ve emri altindaki cetenin dagitilmasi icin gerekeni yapmaya cagiriyoruz. 5.09.1995 Insan Haklari Dernegi Ankara Subesi Baskani NACIYE ERKOL "?## CrossPoint v3.02 ## From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Tue Sep 26 01:28:37 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 26 Sep 1995 01:28:37 Subject: The National Identity Of Kurdish Im Message-ID: From: Arm The Spirit Subject: The National Identity Of Kurdish Immigrants In Germany The National Identity Of Kurdish Immigrants In Germany The Kurdish people, ever since their existence as a nation, have been subjected to massive repression. The Turkish Republic, since its founding, has used all the means at its disposal to bring about the non-existence of the Kurdish people. By banning Kurdish language and culture, it sought to forcibly assimilate the Kurds. Despite this ban, Kurdish continued to be spoken in certain villages and within families. But the policies of repression prevented any further development of Kurdish culture and language. In the 1960s, the number of Kurds living in Germany increased. These people were from the poorest class of the Kurdish population. The first generation of immigrant workers denied their national background, made their Kurdish culture a private matter, and depoliticized their social status. (Blaschke, 1992) So this generation ignored its identity, not only because of the official policy of non-existence in Turkey, but also because international diplomacy refused to recognize this identity. The second generation of Kurds living in Germany were raised with three languages. Kurdish was spoken at home or with other Kurds. Turkish was used where it counts as the official language, such as when reading Turkish newspapers, watching Turkish movies, or learning Turkish as the mother-language in German schools. Even in their primary social stations, it's clear that this second generation began to see Turkish and Kurdish culture as one and the same, albeit with Turkish as the dominant language. Because no conscious differentiation was made between the two cultures, the identity consciousness of the Kurds became associated with that of the Turks. The children of Kurdish immigrant workers learned German as their third language. In German schools, it was largely German norms and a German world-view which was transmitted to these children, since they were expected to serve the interests of German society. It was here that problems began arising with respect to the differentiation of cultures which are very different. The educational style of their parents were seen by children as authoritarian and outmoded. The cause of this conflict was that the immigrant workers had spent their primary and secondary social stations in their homeland, Kurdistan. As was stated above, most of these immigrant workers were from the lower class, and where they were from Kurdish was spoken in the family and in the surrounding areas. Naturally, therefore, they also took on the norms and world-view of Kurdish culture. But it's also obvious that this Kurdish culture could not further develop the norms and world-view of the population since all of its institutions had been taken over or destroyed. For children who were educated in the "rather democratic" school system in Germany, the schooling measures of their parents seemed like something from the Middle Ages. The outlook and habits of parents and children came into almost daily conflict. At the same time, the children would not accept the authoritarian conduct of their parents. (Gozlu, 1986) This clash of the many contradictions between German culture and the culture of their homeland gave rise to cultural disharmony, which in psychological terms led to a state of "psychological division". (Hoffman, 1981) After the start of the armed resistance by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northwest Kurdistan, which continues to grow even stronger all the time, a new period of clarification began for the Kurds. This hindered the assimilation process. In the major cities of western Europe, several independent political, social, and cultural institutions were founded. Their members were students, immigrant workers, refugees, and others. (Blaschke, 1980) Kurds who have grown up in Germany know, because of the resistance struggle, that Turkey is not their homeland, and that they are no longer wanted there. The Turkish government likes to claim that "the Kurds are our brothers; that which lives together grows together". One proof of this "brotherhood" was the March 1995 invasion of south Kurdistan, the largest and most brutal military operation since the founding of the Turkish state 70 years ago. These are sufficient points for Kurds to think about their own identity. Translated from Ronahi #4, magazine of the Association of Students from Kurdistan (YXK). From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Tue Sep 26 01:28:54 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 26 Sep 1995 01:28:54 Subject: YAJK: Kurdish Women Want Freedom Message-ID: From: Arm The Spirit Kurdish Women Want Freedom Interview With Helin Ates Of The Free Women's Union Of Kurdistan (YAJK) Could you tell us something about your recent conference? On March 8, 1995, the 1st National Women's Congress was held in Kurdistan. We centralized and gave structure to organized women's work. One of the decisions of this conference was to organize a women's conference in Europe in order to convey the results of the women's congress and to transform these into an organization. Around 130 delegates took part in the YAJK conference in Europe. Most of these were YAJK activists, both other sympathizers took part as well. We broke through many taboos at this conference. We created a climate which allowed the closed, shy personality of women to be transformed into a one with more self-confidence, one which can express itself and its feelings. We had deep discussions about the correct way to solve the women's problem. We also discussed problems related to the organization of women. We also made urgent decisions which make the significance and urgency of this question clear. What kind of decisions were made at the conference? As you know, the Kurdish people live in a primitive reality. We made decisions regarding education for women. We planned seminars, gatherings, and special educational events which will help politicize and socialize women, things which will take root in their daily lives. We also made decisions regarding the continuation of our joint activities with other women all around the world. Moreover, we made decisions related to the effects of the war, concerning sick and wounded people in Kurdistan, and against the spread of disease. Another decision dealt with our responsibility to implement all of the decisions of the Kurdistan Parliament in Exile among women. We also made preparations for stabilizing our organization and in general we have begun to take on our role as a revolutionary-militant vanguard. Why did the women's organization change its name? In the past, it was not possible to centralize women's work. With the TAJK, we tried to create a basis for this. With the centralization of activities and the development of an organizational structure, we founded a military and political women's army. The highest organ of this organization is the women's congress. This year, during the 1st Women's Congress, we took on the name YAJK. Our branch in Europe also adopted the central decision and changed to the name YAJK. Why did you, as women, form your own women's army? "Where there is equality, there can be no army." In any case, there are contradictions and inequalities. In Kurdistan, where these things are especially strong, armies are necessary to fight for equality. As women, we must for equality and freedom in all areas. The same is true in the army. It may seem crude, but the reality is that in a society where all the weapons are in the hands of the men, inequality will develop to the detriment of the women. There are other countries where women have fought in revolutionary armies but have failed to gain their freedom. In order to gain freedom, we need equality in all political, social, economic, and even military fields so that no room is left for oppression. That's why, in addition to the regular guerrilla army, we also began to organize independently. If we wish to achieve equality during the liberation and seizure of power, then we will have to do this with our own will, consciousness, and self-confidence. That is our goal, and we will firmly defend this in our praxis. What are relationships between women and men in the family like today? There are very great contradictions within Kurdish families. The more the women become conscious and start to organize, the stronger they also begin to seek a new family life. The struggle has developed and this means that it is now spreading to all aspects of the society. Now, the women have something to say in the society and they no longer accept the old patriarchal ways, and the men have seen that domination over women no longer means that they themselves are free. These developments have pulled apart the reactionary family relationships and is forcing them to change. Of course, that doesn't mean that we have already achieved a free society. Social change has to take place over the long term. But our people, thanks to the presence of its vanguard, has made important progress in this area. What does the women's organization think about love? As a people, we have been robbed of our love for centuries. That's even more true for the women. In their spiritual world, the women have been made blunt and deprived of their will. That which is sold under the name "love" today has nothing at all to do with what love really is. We reject and condemn this lie. Our struggle for women's liberation has as its goal to put a human character in the foreground once again, to connect this to our nation, to spread this in good faith, and to see it reach a universal dimension. We can see this today in the practical results of our struggle. We are changing the viewpoint of blinding orientalism and the old feelings by uniting love with the people and the revolution by means of free and equal will. This is how we analyze love between men and women. Couples must have an attitude which allows them to strengthen and develop one another. Our principle is a relationship in which the individual is freed from the domination of impulse and reaches a certain level of consciousness and strength. But sadly, this is not the case with families today. Relationships which come together quickly based on primitive influences and soon become a web of contradictions. The main reason for this is that such love is merely formal, developed on the basis of impulse without regard for human character. Such families quickly become trapped and fall apart. In such a family, neither the woman nor the man finds what they seek. We are convinced that we can eventually put love between both genders on its correct foundations on the basis of the type of social life which we are striving towards. In our society, there will be love for the homeland and for humanity. As long as this doesn't exist, there can't be a correct form of love between both genders. We don't reject love between genders, but neither do we accept relationships as they exist today under the current system. Women are the people most affected by war. What does the women's organization do with regards to this? First we need to ask ourselves why it is that women are the ones most affected by war. Because the enemy tries out all the possible methods of its special war on women. The notion of honor manifests itself among the Kurdish people in the woman. The enemy sees the woman as the weak point in Kurdish society, so they torture and rape her. They use the woman as a means of blackmailing Kurdish society. This has negative social, psychological, and biological effects on women. That's why we seek to organize the masses of women against this and to reach a point where women can defend themselves and give them consciousness so as to weaken the special war in this respect. The leader of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan, recently made a new offer for a political solution in an interview with Reuters. What do you think of this? We support this, especially because woman are the group most affected by this war. We don't want people to die. The reason why we women are also waging an armed struggle today is because we want people, especially women, to have equality and to live free and independent lives. But the Turkish Republic doesn't seem to understand that concept. It does what its militarist and fascist character tells it to. That's so many people are suffering. That's why we aren't only happy to support a political solution, but rather we are also actively engaged in calling on the international public to do something towards this end. ---- During the 3rd Party Congress of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in 1986, the Union of Patriotic Women of Kurdistan (YJWK) was formed. During the Kurdistan National Women's Conference held from March 5-8, 1994, the name changed to the Free Women's Movement of Kurdistan (TAJK). Following the 5th Party Congress of the PKK, the 1st Women's Congress of Kurdistan was held. It was during this congress that the TAJK changed its name to the Free Women's Union of Kurdistan (YAJK). The YAJK is not only organized in Kurdistan, but also in Turkey, the Middle East, and Europe. Since 1992, an independent women's publication called 'Jina Serblind' has been published. ---- (Translated from Kurdistan Report #75, July/August 1995) From kurdeng at aps.nl Tue Sep 26 06:44:21 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 26 Sep 1995 06:44:21 Subject: YAJK: Kurdish Women Want Freedom References: Message-ID: Subject: Re: YAJK: Kurdish Women Want Freedom ------------------------ Forwarded from : ats at etext.org ------------------------ Kurdish Women Want Freedom Interview With Helin Ates Of The Free Women's Union Of Kurdistan (YAJK) Could you tell us something about your recent conference? On March 8, 1995, the 1st National Women's Congress was held in Kurdistan. We centralized and gave structure to organized women's work. One of the decisions of this conference was to organize a women's conference in Europe in order to convey the results of the women's congress and to transform these into an organization. Around 130 delegates took part in the YAJK conference in Europe. Most of these were YAJK activists, both other sympathizers took part as well. We broke through many taboos at this conference. We created a climate which allowed the closed, shy personality of women to be transformed into a one with more self-confidence, one which can express itself and its feelings. We had deep discussions about the correct way to solve the women's problem. We also discussed problems related to the organization of women. We also made urgent decisions which make the significance and urgency of this question clear. What kind of decisions were made at the conference? As you know, the Kurdish people live in a primitive reality. We made decisions regarding education for women. We planned seminars, gatherings, and special educational events which will help politicize and socialize women, things which will take root in their daily lives. We also made decisions regarding the continuation of our joint activities with other women all around the world. Moreover, we made decisions related to the effects of the war, concerning sick and wounded people in Kurdistan, and against the spread of disease. Another decision dealt with our responsibility to implement all of the decisions of the Kurdistan Parliament in Exile among women. We also made preparations for stabilizing our organization and in general we have begun to take on our role as a revolutionary-militant vanguard. Why did the women's organization change its name? In the past, it was not possible to centralize women's work. With the TAJK, we tried to create a basis for this. With the centralization of activities and the development of an organizational structure, we founded a military and political women's army. The highest organ of this organization is the women's congress. This year, during the 1st Women's Congress, we took on the name YAJK. Our branch in Europe also adopted the central decision and changed to the name YAJK. Why did you, as women, form your own women's army? "Where there is equality, there can be no army." In any case, there are contradictions and inequalities. In Kurdistan, where these things are especially strong, armies are necessary to fight for equality. As women, we must for equality and freedom in all areas. The same is true in the army. It may seem crude, but the reality is that in a society where all the weapons are in the hands of the men, inequality will develop to the detriment of the women. There are other countries where women have fought in revolutionary armies but have failed to gain their freedom. In order to gain freedom, we need equality in all political, social, economic, and even military fields so that no room is left for oppression. That's why, in addition to the regular guerrilla army, we also began to organize independently. If we wish to achieve equality during the liberation and seizure of power, then we will have to do this with our own will, consciousness, and self-confidence. That is our goal, and we will firmly defend this in our praxis. What are relationships between women and men in the family like today? There are very great contradictions within Kurdish families. The more the women become conscious and start to organize, the stronger they also begin to seek a new family life. The struggle has developed and this means that it is now spreading to all aspects of the society. Now, the women have something to say in the society and they no longer accept the old patriarchal ways, and the men have seen that domination over women no longer means that they themselves are free. These developments have pulled apart the reactionary family relationships and is forcing them to change. Of course, that doesn't mean that we have already achieved a free society. Social change has to take place over the long term. But our people, thanks to the presence of its vanguard, has made important progress in this area. What does the women's organization think about love? As a people, we have been robbed of our love for centuries. That's even more true for the women. In their spiritual world, the women have been made blunt and deprived of their will. That which is sold under the name "love" today has nothing at all to do with what love really is. We reject and condemn this lie. Our struggle for women's liberation has as its goal to put a human character in the foreground once again, to connect this to our nation, to spread this in good faith, and to see it reach a universal dimension. We can see this today in the practical results of our struggle. We are changing the viewpoint of blinding orientalism and the old feelings by uniting love with the people and the revolution by means of free and equal will. This is how we analyze love between men and women. Couples must have an attitude which allows them to strengthen and develop one another. Our principle is a relationship in which the individual is freed from the domination of impulse and reaches a certain level of consciousness and strength. But sadly, this is not the case with families today. Relationships which come together quickly based on primitive influences and soon become a web of contradictions. The main reason for this is that such love is merely formal, developed on the basis of impulse without regard for human character. Such families quickly become trapped and fall apart. In such a family, neither the woman nor the man finds what they seek. We are convinced that we can eventually put love between both genders on its correct foundations on the basis of the type of social life which we are striving towards. In our society, there will be love for the homeland and for humanity. As long as this doesn't exist, there can't be a correct form of love between both genders. We don't reject love between genders, but neither do we accept relationships as they exist today under the current system. Women are the people most affected by war. What does the women's organization do with regards to this? First we need to ask ourselves why it is that women are the ones most affected by war. Because the enemy tries out all the possible methods of its special war on women. The notion of honor manifests itself among the Kurdish people in the woman. The enemy sees the woman as the weak point in Kurdish society, so they torture and rape her. They use the woman as a means of blackmailing Kurdish society. This has negative social, psychological, and biological effects on women. That's why we seek to organize the masses of women against this and to reach a point where women can defend themselves and give them consciousness so as to weaken the special war in this respect. The leader of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan, recently made a new offer for a political solution in an interview with Reuters. What do you think of this? We support this, especially because woman are the group most affected by this war. We don't want people to die. The reason why we women are also waging an armed struggle today is because we want people, especially women, to have equality and to live free and independent lives. But the Turkish Republic doesn't seem to understand that concept. It does what its militarist and fascist character tells it to. That's so many people are suffering. That's why we aren't only happy to support a political solution, but rather we are also actively engaged in calling on the international public to do something towards this end. ---- During the 3rd Party Congress of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in 1986, the Union of Patriotic Women of Kurdistan (YJWK) was formed. During the Kurdistan National Women's Conference held from March 5-8, 1994, the name changed to the Free Women's Movement of Kurdistan (TAJK). Following the 5th Party Congress of the PKK, the 1st Women's Congress of Kurdistan was held. It was during this congress that the TAJK changed its name to the Free Women's Union of Kurdistan (YAJK). The YAJK is not only organized in Kurdistan, but also in Turkey, the Middle East, and Europe. Since 1992, an independent women's publication called 'Jina Serblind' has been published. ---- (Translated from Kurdistan Report #75, July/August 1995) ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurdeng at aps.nl Tue Sep 26 06:45:30 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 26 Sep 1995 06:45:30 Subject: Mo, 25.09.1995 18:00 MEZ Message-ID: ue, 26 Sep 1995 03:09:55 -0800 - Buendnis 90/Die Gruenen fordern weltweites Verbot von Landminen Buendnis 90/Die Gruenen haben die Bundesregierung aufgefordert, sich fuer ein weltweites Verbot von Landminen einzusetzen. Anlaesslich der Wiener UNO-Konferenz ueber diese Waffenart kritisierte die verteidigungspolitische Sprecherin der Partei Baehr, die deutsche Delegation wolle lediglich ein Verbot von veralteten Antipersonenminen ohne Selbstzerstoerungsmechanismus erreichen. Demgegenueber veranschlage Bonn rund 233 Millionen DM fuer die Entwicklung neuer Minen-Technologien, sagte Frau Baehr. Der Staatsminister im Auswaertigen Amt Schaefer warf Entwicklungslaendern wie Indien und Pakistan vor, zu einer schnellen Abschaffung von Landminen nicht bereit zu sein. Ziel der Konferenz in Wien sei es, psychologischen Druck auf jene Laender auszuueben, die sich einer Ueberarbeitung der UNO-Minenkonvention verweigerten oder dieser noch gar nicht beigetreten seien. Nach Angaben der Vereinten Nationen werden jaehrlich 20000 Zivilisten durch explodierende Sprengkoerper getoetet oder verstuemmelt. In Wien wollen Regierungsvertreter der Unterzeichnerstaaten darueber beraten, wie die Minenkonvention aus dem Jahr 1983 verschaerft werden kann. - Menschenrechtspreis des deutschen Richterbundes Mainz. Der tuerkische Rechtsanwalt und Menschenrechtler Huesnue Oenduel (sp?) ist mit dem Menschenrechtspreis des deutschen Richterbundes ausgezeichnet worden. Verbandsvorsitzender Voss betonte in seiner Laudatio, mit dieser Ehrung solle der Anwalt auch Schutz vor Bedrohungen wegen seines Engagements erhalten. ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- ----------------------------------------------- \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ aps at aps.nl [ \\\ [ [ \\\ [ [ \\\\[ Activists Press Service [ \\\ [ [ \\\\[ [\\\\ [ BBS: ##-31-206842147 [\[ [\[ [\[ [\\\\\[ info: info at aps.nl From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Wed Sep 27 01:58:35 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 27 Sep 1995 01:58:35 Subject: Turkey: Three Dead In Izmir Prison Message-ID: From: Arm The Spirit Subject: Turkey: Three Dead In Izmir Prison Riot Three Dead In Izmir Prison Riot ISTANBUL, Sept 22 (Reuter) - A Turkish prisoner injured in a riot in an Izmir prison died in hospital on Friday, raising the number of inmates killed in the clashes to three, police said. Turkish state television reported that four people were killed as a result of Thursday's rioting in Buca prison, but a police spokesman said he could only confirm three deaths. ``The number of those killed in the riot has risen to three, but hospital police cannot confirm reports of four dead,'' the spokesman told Reuters by telephone. Two prisoners were reported killed on Thursday. Police told the state-controlled Anatolian news agency that a leftist urban guerrilla died of his wounds in hospital on Friday. Anatolian said 40 prisoners and 15 gendarmes were injured in clashes that broke out when gendarmes were sent in to take control of cells where leftist and Kurdish prisoners had set up barricades to stop guards from counting them. The prisoners, who set their beds on fire when the gendarmes entered the cells, had refused for three days to be counted by guards in protest against poor conditions, . The Istanbul branch of the independent Human Rights Association issued a statement accusing gendarmes of using excessive force to quell the riots. Buca prison has been the site of numerous riots, most recently in July when 20 prisoners and guards were wounded in a riot by left-wing urban guerrilla prisoners. From invi at nodo50.gn.apc.org Wed Sep 27 02:04:15 1995 From: invi at nodo50.gn.apc.org (invi at nodo50.gn.apc.org) Date: 27 Sep 1995 02:04:15 Subject: Aclaraci˘n historica del conflicto Message-ID: <0Lu2BD6w165w@nodo50.gn.apc.org> Tras la desintegraci?n del Imperio Otomano y despu?s de la 1? Guerra Mundial, en 1920, en Sevres fue firmado un tratado que conced?a la independencia al pueblo armenio y que brindaba la autonom?a al pueblo kurdo con la posibilidad a largo plazo de independencia en la parte turca del Kurdistan. Los Estados mandatarios de aquella ?poca -Gran Breta?a, Francia y la reci?n constituida Turqu?a de Atat?rk- , en 1923 en Lausanne, decidieron dejar de tomar en consideraci?n al Kurdistan y repartirlo en 5 partes. Esta claro que con este reparto solo se persegu?an intereses colonialistas e imperialistas. As?, el Kurdistan fue colocado sobre una mesa de operaciones para ser anexionado a la creaci?n de Ir?n, Iraq, Turqu?a, Siria y la URSS. La colonizaci?n fue afianzada mediante contratos entre los diferentes beneficiarios con el principio b?sico de no intromisi?n con lo que el genocidio que acall? las protestas no tuvo repercusi?n. As?, a pesar de la aniquilaci?n f?sica del 30% de la poblaci?n kurda de aquel entonces, de la expulsi?n, la deportaci?n y asimilaci?n forzosa, no hubo ni indignaci?n ni criticas por parte de la opini?n publica -la Guerra del Golfo fue claro ejemplo de esto-; la continuidad de esta "pol?tica de silencio" perdura hasta hoy en d?a. La Rep?blica Turca, que desde sus comienzos se esforz? en no reconocer la existencia del pueblo kurdo, emplea los mismos m?todos con los que anteriormente ya hab?a "borrado" a otros pueblos (por ejemplo, el genocidio de l at s armeni at s, primer asesinato de masas de este siglo y que a?n hoy sigue siedo negado por Turqu?a).A trav?s de m?ltiples decretos y leyes, el Gobierno turco pretende legitimar su proceder para eliminar la identidad kurda con medios como la deportaci?n, la expulsi?n, traslados, encarcelamientos, masacres -la ?ltima ocurri? en Dersim: 100.000 muert at s e innumerables deportad- at s-, asimilaci?n forzosa e incluso el uso de gases letales. Desde hace ya 70 a?os existe, mediante estos decretos, el estado de excepci?n en la zona. A partir de agosto de 1984, cuando el Partido de los Trabajadores Kurdos (PKK) asume la resistencia armada en el noroeste del Kurdistan y el fortalecimiento del desarrollo de la lucha de liberaci?n, la Rep?blica Turca se enfrenta a una situaci?n cualitativamente muy diferente a la del pasado. Desde los Serhildans (levantamientos populares similares a la Intifada palestina), que se vienen produciendo desde 1989, la respuesta militar del regimen colonial-fascista turco ha aumentado. Desde el Consejo Nacional de Seguridad (DGM), un gremio instaurado por golpistas en 1980, se promulgaron las leyes llamadas SS (Sans?r= censura ; S?rg?n= deportaci?n) que se introdujeron sin poner en conocimiento del Parlamento. El "supergobernador" de esta regi?n fue provisto de todos los derechos de un Emperador absoluto. Desde entonces puede decidir y llevar a cabo deportaciones, cierres de peri?dicos, persecuci?n de jueces y diputados, etc. A pesar de haber firmado los convenios referentes a los derechos humanos de la ONU y de la OSZE del Consejo Europeo y haberlos ratificado, el noroeste del Kurdistan fue declarado zona prohibida: lejos de la vista de la opini?n publica se violaba, asesinaba, torturaba y expulsaba, a la vez que se despoblaban regiones enteras quemando bosques y campos. Al pueblo kurdo, sin duda arrasado por esta pol?tica, no le quedaba m?s alternativa que huir a las metr?polis. Refugiad at s en chabolas de suburbios hiperpoblados, aislad at s, observad at s y dicriminad at s, al pueblo kurdo segu?an sin quedarle perspectivas para la paz. Los ?ltimos sucesos de Gazi (un barrio de Estambul), en los que hubo centenares de detenid at s, m?s de 30 muert at s y 43 desaparecid at s nos muestran claramente el fracaso que supon?a para el estado esta "alternativa del refugio". Una persona que ha perdido sus bienes, cuyo hogar, campos y bosques fueron incendiados, que haya perdido a sus familiares por esa sucia guerra, seguramente no tenga nada que perder. Ha de ser considerada como una bomba de relojer?a que puede estallar en cualquier momento y que, como hemos visto realmente lo es. La pol?tica del estado turco, que es la de "desecar el mar para coger el pez", est? consiguiendo sus frutos. Ahora su violencia se traslada a las ciudades. A causa de la falta de soluciones (ruina econ?mica, caos pol?tico), el estado turco pretende jugar su ?ltima carta. 19 de marzo de 1995, el ej?rcito turco traspasa la frontera del sur del Kurdistan (Irak) apoyado por 35.000 soldados. Su meta: destruir el PKK y sus posiciones. Provistos de la tecnolog?a b?lica m?s moderna y del apoyo y la congratulaci?n de los pa?ses imperialistas esta llevando acabo una masacre entre la poblaci?n civil kurda. Tras asediar pueblos y ciudades fronterizas, la poblaci?n masculina fue detenida y desarmada. Kurd at s que huyeron por miedo a la represi?n del estado turco al sur del Kurdistan y que se asentaron el los campamentos de refugiados de la ONU fueron detenidos por el ej?rcito turco, mujeres y ni?@s fueron devueltos a Turqu?a y los hombres fueron detenidos como rehenes. El ej?rcito turco habla de unas 200 muertes entre los kurdos y de una veintena de soldados turcos. Existen denuncias de que el ej?rcito turco usa la poblaci?n civil como detectores humanos de minas y se ha constatado que los aviones AWAC de los que dispone la ONU para hacer su trabajo de seguimiento del flujo de refugiad at s en la zona fueron utilizad at s por las fuerzas armadas turcas para localizar campamentos de la guerrilla kurda que despu?s eran bombardeados. De las respuestas por parte de la guerrilla hay m?s bien poca informaci?n. S?lo se habla de varios ataques a la retaguardia de esta ofensiva que seg?n fuentes kurdas ha errado totalmente los fines que persegu?a. From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Wed Sep 27 02:27:53 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 27 Sep 1995 02:27:53 Subject: KCC account down Message-ID: From: Arm The Spirit Dear friends, Sadly, both the e-mail address (kcc at magi.com) and the web page (http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc) of the Kurdistan Committee of Canada are no longer in operation. But, their office does still receive snail-mail! ATS, listserv admin From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Thu Sep 28 04:26:48 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 28 Sep 1995 04:26:48 Subject: Turkish paper investigated over reb Message-ID: From: Arm The Spirit Subject: Turkish paper investigated over rebel Kurd quotes Turkish paper investigated over rebel Kurd quotes ANKARA, Sept 26 (Reuter) - An Istanbul court has begun an investigation of a Turkish newspaper for publishing quotes by a Kurdish rebel leader, its editor said on Tuesday. ``An investigation was begun in Istanbul's state security court about our story yesterday -- which had Abdullah Ocalan's words published in quotation marks -- against me, the owner of the newspaper and the author of the story,'' the editor of the daily Yeni Yuzyil, Ismet Berkan, told Reuters. 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 had heard of the investigation from the state-controlled Anatolian news agency. ``There are seven or eight prosecutors in the state security court, each one has two or three dailies to inspect. After we heard the news from Anatolian, we called the prosecutor who is responsible from our daily, and he confirmed the investigation,'' Berkan said. He said he also 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. The European Parliament is expected to vote on the customs pact in December. Reuter N:Copyright 1995, Reuters News Service From kurdeng at aps.nl Thu Sep 28 18:14:51 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 28 Sep 1995 18:14:51 Subject: Turkish paper investigated over reb References: Message-ID: Subject: Re: Turkish paper investigated over rebel Kurd quotes 869; Thu, 28 Sep 1995 15:51:43 -0800 ------------------------ Forwarded from : ats at etext.org ------------------------ Turkish paper investigated over rebel Kurd quotes ANKARA, Sept 26 (Reuter) - An Istanbul court has begun an investigation of a Turkish newspaper for publishing quotes by a Kurdish rebel leader, its editor said on Tuesday. ``An investigation was begun in Istanbul's state security court about our story yesterday -- which had Abdullah Ocalan's words published in quotation marks -- against me, the owner of the newspaper and the author of the story,'' the editor of the daily Yeni Yuzyil, Ismet Berkan, told Reuters. 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 had heard of the investigation from the state-controlled Anatolian news agency. ``There are seven or eight prosecutors in the state security court, each one has two or three dailies to inspect. After we heard the news from Anatolian, we called the prosecutor who is responsible from our daily, and he confirmed the investigation,'' Berkan said. He said he also 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. The European Parliament is expected to vote on the customs pact in December. Reuter N:Copyright 1995, Reuters News Service ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Thu Sep 28 04:27:02 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 28 Sep 1995 04:27:02 Subject: Reuter correspondent in Turkish cou Message-ID: From: Arm The Spirit Subject: Reuter correspondent in Turkish court case Reuter correspondent in Turkish court case LONDON (Reuter) - Reuters said Tuesday one of its correspondents in Turkey would appear in a security court in Istanbul Oct. 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. Editor-in-chief Mark Wood said: ``We stand by our correspondent and her reporting. The charge against Marcus is wholly unjustified and we want to see this issue resolved as soon as possible.'' 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 Reuter 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. Reuter N:Copyright 1995, Reuters News Service From KOMMAG at ASCO.comlink.apc.org Thu Sep 28 13:04:00 1995 From: KOMMAG at ASCO.comlink.apc.org (KOMMAG at ASCO.comlink.apc.org) Date: 28 Sep 1995 13:04:00 Subject: Demo-Aufruf:bundesweite Kurdistan-D Message-ID: <5uiF1zSYx.B@kommagp.asco.nev.sub> ahoi Wir bitten dringend um Spenden und Solidarit?tsunterzeichnungen f?r die geplante bundesweite Demo zu Kurdistan. (Kontonummer werde ich n?chste Woche posten!) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Infostelle Kurdistan e.V. Maxstr. 50 53111 Bonn Tel./Fax: 0228-656127 *Demonstrationsaufruf f?r den 18.November 1995 in K?ln* (vorl?ufig) F?R EINE POLITISCHE L?SUNG IN KURDISTAN Seit 1993 gilt in der BRD das sog. "PKK-Verbot". Anl??lich des 2.Jahrestages gehen wir auf die Stra?e. Wir fordern das Recht der freien politischen T?tigkeit f?r Kurden und Kurdinnen in Deutschland, wir fordern eine politische L?sung in Kurdistan. Es ist offensichtlich: Gemeinsam mit der T?rkei bestreibt die Bundesregierung die politisch-milit?rische Eskalation gegen die Freiheitsbestrebungen des kurdischen Volkes. Deutsche Waffen werden geliefert, deutsches Geld sichert das ?berleben der t?rkischen Wirtschaft unter den Bedingungen des B?rgerkrieges, deutsche Diplomatie und Einflu? h?lt der T?rkei auf internationaler Ebene den R?cken frei. Mit dem Verbot der PKK, der ERNK und 35 kurdischen Vereinen vor zwei Jahren ist dieser Kurs gegen die M?glichkeit einer politischen L?sung auch innenpolitisch eskaliert. Damals wie heute betrachtet die T?rkische Republik die kurdischen Gebiete als Kolonie, deren Bodensch?tze (?l, Chrom, Wasser) und Menschen ausgebeutet werden. F?r die NATO - insbesondere die Bundesrepublik Deutschland - ist Kurdistan nicht nur Rohstoffreservoir, sondern zugleich Aufmarschgebiet im Mittleren Osten und Durchgang zum Kaukasus und den neuen zentralasiatischen GUS-Staaten. Der NATO-Partner T?rkei als regionale Ordnungsmacht sichert das. In den expansionistischen Pl?nen westlicher Kontrolle und Sicherung existiert kein Kurdistan. S?mtliche Versuche der kurdischen Bev?lkerung, die eigenen Interesse mit friedlichen und legalen Mitteln durchzusetzen, wurden mit Gewalt bis hin zum V?lkermord unterdr?ckt. Deutschland leistet aktive Beihilfe. Der t?rkische Krieg gegen Kurdinnen und Kurden wird umfangreich finanziert und gesichert. Die BRD ist nicht nur der wichtigste Handelspartner der T?rkei, sondern - gleich hinter den USA - auch der gr??te Waffenlieferant. Im Wert von 6,311 Mrd. Mark wurden in den letzten 30 Jahren Waffen an die T?rkei geliefert, ein gro?er Teil davon wurde geschenkt. Drei Mal putschte in dieser Zeit das Milit?r, dreimal wurden nach kurzer Unterbrechung die Lieferungen fortgesetzt. Umfangreiche polizeiliche Ausbildungs-, Ausstattungs-, und Amtshilfe sichern die Effektivit?t des t?rkischen Repressionsapparates. (Ein Kasten wird eingef?gt, in dem die Verfolgung und Vernichtung kurdischer Menschen, D?rfer, legaler Opposition, Landschaften usw. dokumentiert werden.) F?R DIE SOFORTIGE AUFHEBUNG DES VERBOTS DER PKK, ERNK UND ALLER KURDISCHEN VEREINE IN DEUTSCHLAND Das Verbot vom 26. November 1993 setzte f?r Ankara ein klares politisches Signal: mit der Ausl?schung des "kurdischen Terrorismus", wie der kurdische Freiheitskampf vom Nationalen Sicherheitsrat der T?rkei bezeichnet wird, ist fortzufahren. Die au?enpolitische Unterst?tzung des t?rkischen Regimes durch die BRD findet ihre Entsprechung in der Kriminalisierungs- und Verfolgungspolitik gegen die Nationale Befreiungsfront Kurdistans, ERNK, die Arbeiterpartei Kurdistans, PKK sowie 35 weitere kurdische Organisationen und Vereine in der BRD; ausgegrenzt und kriminalisiert werden diejenigen, die den nationalen Befreiungskampf in Kurdistan unterst?tzen und ?ber die deutsche Mitt?terschaft nicht schweigen. Auch am Ende des 20. Jahrhunderts wird Kurdinnen und Kurden das Recht auf Selbstbestimmung verweigert. Die Aufnahme des bewaffneten Kampfes durch die PKK 1984 war das Ergebnis einer brutalen jahrzehntelangen Unterdr?ckung und Diskriminierung des t?rkischen Regimes. Die PKK wird heute von der Mehrheit der kurdischen Bev?lkerung im t?rkisch besetzten Teil Kurdistans als legitime Vertretung ihrer Interessen anerkannt. Ohne die PKK kann es daher keine L?sung f?r Kurdistan geben. Ihr langj?hriger Kampf und Widerstand hat die "kurdische Frage" auf die Tagesordnung internationaler Politik gesetzt. Seit den Verboten 1993 werden in der BRD Veranstaltungen und Demonstrationen, bei denen Kurden und Kurdinnen ihre politische Unterst?tzung f?r den nationalen Befreiungskampf und die PKK zum Ausdruck bringen wollen, verboten und pauschal kriminalisiert. Dadurch soll die Solidarit?t und kritische Debatte um die Ziele und Realit?t des kurdisches Befreiungskampfes unm?glich gemacht werden. Fundamentale Menschenrechte, wie das der Meinungs?u?erung, werden ihnen damit aberkannt. (Hier wird ein Kasten mit einer Chronologie der Angriffe auf Vereine, Verhaftungen etc. eingef?gt.) Eine ganze Bev?lkerungsgruppe soll mundtot gemacht werden. Ca. 500.000 Kurdinnen und Kurden leben in Deutschland. Die Verbote kurdischer Vereine und Organisationen sind ein Angriff auf das grunds?tzliche Recht der Menschen auf politische Organisierung, auf das Recht der Presse- und Versammlungsfreiheit. KEINE ABSCHIEBUNGEN IN DEN FOLTERSTAAT T?RKEI Zahlreiche Menschenrechtsorganisationen aus der T?rkei und anderen europ?ischen L?ndern haben nachgewiesen: die kurdischen Bev?lkerung wird in allen Regionen der T?rkei verfolgt. Aber das Bundesinnenministerium dr?ngt auf die weitere Abschiebung von Kurden und Kurdinnen, die hier ihr Recht zur Demonstration wahrnehmen und politisch aktiv den nationalen Befreiungskampf unterst?tzen. Bewu?t wird von Bonn in Kauf genommen, da? die Abgeschobenen in der T?rkei Haft und Folter zu erwarten haben. Die deutsche Innenpolitik entspricht nicht nur den neuen deutschen Macht- und Expansionssinteressen, sondern auch einer weit verbreiteten rassistischen Haltung: die Folklore fremder L?nder ist in diesem Staat zwar willkommen, die politische Bet?tigung ist aber unerw?nscht. Dar?ber hinaus ermuntert die deutsche Innenpolitik auch t?rkische Faschisten, immer brutaler gegen Kurden und Kurdinnen vorzugehen. Wir erinnern an die Ermordung von Seyfettin Kalan in Neum?nster. OB IN DIYARBAKIR, ISTANBUL ODER ANKARA OB IN M?NCHEN, BERLIN ODER BONN: FREIHEIT F?R KURDISTAN Es gibt Wege f?r eine Beendigung des Krieges in Kurdistan auf dem Verhandlungsweg. Die Arbeiterpartei Kurdistans, PKK, hat ihre Bereitschaft daf?r mehrfach ge?u?ert: auf der Internationalen Nordwest-Kurdistan-Konferenz im M?rz 1994 in Br?ssel wurde von der PKK ihre Verhandlungsbereitschaft vorgetragen. Abdullah ?calan, der Generalsekret?r der PKK, erneuerte dieses Angebot im April 1995 in einem Brief an die bundesdeutsche Regierung. Er forderte Bonn auf, sich direkt bei der t?rkischen Regierung und im Rahmen der zust?ndigen internationalen Gremien f?r politische Verhandlungen unter Einbeziehung der PKK einzusetzen. Eine Voraussetzung daf?r wird sein, da? die bundesdeutsche Diffamierung der PKK als "terroristische Organisation" beendet und die Verbote gegen die PKK, ERNK und kurdische Vereine aufgehoben werden. Ohne die R?cknahme dieser Verbote, ohne massiven Druck aus Europa wird es keine Verhandlungsl?sung geben. Wir unterst?tzen die Forderung des kurdischen Parlaments im Exil, als Verhandlungspartner anerkannt zu werden. Wir stellen uns solidarisch an die Seite der verfolgten und kriminalisierten Kurden und Kurdinnen. Wir widersprechen dem offiziellen Kurs der Bonner Regierung und sagen: Kurdistan mu? frei sein! STOP DER DEUTSCHEN WAFFENLIEFERUNGEN UND DER MILIT?RISCH-LOGISTISCHEN ZUSAMMENARBEIT MIT DEM T?RKISCHEN REGIME AUFHEBUNG DES VERBOTS DER PKK, ERNK UND ALLER KURDISCHEN VEREINE SCHLU? MIT DER KRIMINALISIERUNG VON KURDINNEN UND KURDEN IN DEUTSCHLAND - FREILASSUNG DER KURDISCHEN POLITISCHEN GEFANGENEN KEINE ABSCHIEBUNG IN DEN FOLTERSTAAT T?RKEI ANERKENNUNG EINES BEOBACHTERSTATUS F?R DAS KURDISTAN-PARLAMENT IM EXIL BEI DEN VEREINTEN NATIONEN FREIHEIT F?R KURDISTAN - SOLIDARIT?T MIT DEM KURDISCHEN BEFREIUNGSKAMPF HOCH DIE INTERNATIONALE SOLIDARIT?T Erstunterzeichnende Gruppen, Organisationen und Einzelpersonen: Freundinnen und Freunde des kurdischen Volkes Gie?en; Kurdistan-AG am AStA der Uni Gie?en; Kurdistan Solidarit?tsb?ndnis Marburg: Kurdistan-Solidarit?t N?rnberg-Erlangen; Freundinnen und Freunde des kurdischen Volkes Mainz; Deutsch-Kurdischer Freundschaftsverein Mainz; Informationsstelle Kurdistan Bonn; Fl?chtlingsplenum Aachen; StudentInnengruppe Kurdistan Kassel; Gruppe gegen die KurdInnenprozesse Bremen; Dritte-Welt-Laden Schw?bisch-Hall; Aktion 3.Welt, Saar; Initiativkreis Kurdistan Saarbr?cken; Kurdistan- Solidarit?tskomitee M?nchen; YEK-KOM F?rderation der kurdischen Vereine in der BRD; Kurdistan Komitee Karslruhe; S?ddeutsches Regionalplenum der Kurdistan-Solidarit?tsgruppen; Demonstrationsvorbereitungsplenum Frankfurt; Antifa St. Augustin; AK "rechtsfreie" Uni Bonn; -- pgp-key als EB >> Willkommen im GLOBALEN dOrFFrIedhOf! ## CrossPoint v3.1 R ## From kurdeng at aps.nl Fri Sep 29 00:23:40 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 29 Sep 1995 00:23:40 Subject: warnews from Kurdistan (Mainstream) Message-ID: VT20930; Thu, 28 Sep 1995 23:29:31 -0800 DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Sept 23 (Reuter) - Rebel Kurds killed six state-paid village guards and suffered three dead in an overnight village raid in southeast Turkey, security officials said on Saturday. The emergency rule governor's office said guerrillas of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) attacked a village near Silvan township in Siirt province late on Friday, killing six village guards, armed and paid by the state in its fight with the PKK. Three PKK rebels were killed in the ensuing fighting, the governor's office said. Three village guards were injured. There was no independent confirmation of the casualties. In a separate Friday night attack, PKK militants kidnapped a senior prison official from Mazgirt district in the eastern province of Tunceli, security officials said. More than 18,000 people have been killed in the PKK's 11-year fight for autonomy or independence in southeast Turkey. (9) ISTANBUL, Sept 24 (Reuter) - Kurdish rebels killed a non-commisioned officer and four civilians and wounded another at a roadblock in central Turkey, Anatolian Agency reported on Sunday. It said an unknown number of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels stopped a car after the nightfall on Saturday night near Zara town on the main highway between between Sivas and Erzincan provinces. It said they killed the five people in the car and sprayed another car with automatic guns when the driver refused to stop at the roadblock. One passenger in the car which escaped was wounded. More than 18,000 people have been killed in the PKK's 11-year fight for autonomy or independence in southeast Turkey. In clashes reported since Friday, six PKK rebels have been killed and six village guards armed by the Turkish government, and PKK rebels have kidnapped a senior prison official. --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Fri Sep 29 00:24:28 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 29 Sep 1995 00:24:28 Subject: Apo's brother released Message-ID: 995 23:29:35 -0800 ANKARA, Turkey (Reuter) - A Turkish court has released the brother of the head of the rebel Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) who was detained at the weekend for trying to travel to Greece illegally, police said Monday. A security court in the western city of Izmir freed Mehmet Ocalan Sunday night without charges, a police spokesman told Reuters. Two suspected PKK guerrillas detained with him were remanded in custody, he said. Ocalan, his six children and the two suspected guerrillas were caught trying to board a privately-hired boat for Greece Saturday. Anatolian news agency quoted Ocalan, the brother of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, as admitting he had attempted to leave the country without a passport and visa but only because he needed medical treatment abroad. He apparently believed it would be difficult for him to obtain the correct documents. Abdullah Ocalan's other brother Osman is a top PKK military commander. --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Fri Sep 29 00:25:05 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 29 Sep 1995 00:25:05 Subject: General strike in Turkey Message-ID: 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 salary 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. By Jim Bodgener Knight-Ridder Istanbul--Sep 26--Turkey neared closer to a potential sugar crisis today as a political stand-off deepened over a sugar workers' strike against a government pay offer. Turkey's Trade and Industry Minister Hasan Akyol claimed authority to settle the workers' claim against attempts by the country's Prime Minister Tansu Ciller to suspend the strike by decree, reported the semi-official Anatolia newsagency. The stoppage is at the cutting edge of a widespread strike by public sector workers starting Sep 20, the day that the conservative Ciller's weak coalition government collapsed. Akyol is from the social democrat Republican Peoples Party (CHP), whose newly elected leader Deniz Baykal withdrew its junior partnership from the coalition over deep economic and social policy divisions with the premier, including workers' conditions. At the weekend, Akyol claimed the country had only around 4 days of sugar stocks left, which might necessitate more imports. Today he said state Turkiye Seker Fabrikalari (Turkseker) had stocks of 35,000 tonnes, but this could not be sold because of the strike, reported Anatolia. He also said this year's sugar beet crop with a potential yield of 1.2 million tonnes of sugar would rot in the fields if not harvested, Anatolia said. The loss to Turkey from imports replacing domestic output would amount to 480 million US dlrs, rising to TL 77 trillion (1,604 million dlrs) overall, including lost production and value-added, Akyol claimed. Private processors could produce 3,000 tonnes daily, but this would not meet the country's daily consumption of 6,000 tonnes, Akyol claimed. The private processors took advantage yesterday by raising prices, he alleged. Black market prices have already risen by around 50 pct above official tariffs, he added, reported the newsagency. Within 30 days, the cost to Turkish consumers would be more than meeting the annual pay increase of 37.5 pct demanded by the 32,500 sugar industry workers, on strike against the government's offer of 5.4 pct, the Minister noted. One answer would be to completely lift import duties on sugar, a private trader said. The government should not restore a 400-US-dlr per-tonne tax from Oct 1 as planned, he added. To deter domestic price inflation arising from fears of shortages, the tax was reduced to 100 dlrs per tonne in the summer to encourage private sector imports. --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Fri Sep 29 00:25:50 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 29 Sep 1995 00:25:50 Subject: Turkey urges Iraqi Kurds to stick t Message-ID: Subject: Turkey urges Iraqi Kurds to stick to ceasefire ; Thu, 28 Sep 1995 23:29:46 -0800 ANKARA, Sept 27 (Reuter) - Turkey has urged rival Iraqi Kurdish groups to stick with a ceasefire called last month to end fighting that killed 3,000 people in northern Iraq, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. A delegation from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) arrived in Turkey on Monday on the way back from U.S.-mediated talks in Dublin and held a meeting with Turkish officials, ministry spokesman Nurettin Nurkan said. "We impressed upon the delegation the importance we give to the ceasefire being made permanent and to the protection of the peace and stability in northern Iraq," he said. The KDP and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), with a history of rivalry going back to the 1960s, agreed to a ceasefire and exchange of prisoners at U.S.-brokered talks in the town of Drogheda, near Dublin, last month. In a second meeting in Dublin two weeks ago, the Iraqi Kurds expressed continued commitment to the ceasefire but failed to reach agreement on other issues. Nurkan said Turkish officials had asked the KDP to prevent the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels, fighting a separatist insurgency in Turkey, from building bases in northern Iraq and also to ensure the protection of Iraq's territorial integrity. Ankara, which says the Iraqi Kurds' infighting allows PKK to operate from northern Iraq, is closely following the talks in Ireland. About 3,000 people have been killed in fighting between the Kurdish groups in northern Iraq in the last year, mainly over 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 PUK. --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)