Danish Socialist MP Deported From T

[kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu]

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at locust.cic.net>
Subject: Danish Socialist MP Deported From Turkey

Danish Socialist MP Deported From Turkey

     Friday 29. November at 6.45am Soeren Soendergaard, Danish MP
of the Red-Green Alliance and member of the 4th International,
were detained in Ankara Airport while on his way to leave the
country after staying two days in the city.
 
     Soeren Soendergaard had been in Ankara to follow the third
court meeting in the case against Kemal Koc, a Danish citizen of
Kurdish origin, who was arrested in the beginning of July,
tortured and charged of supporting the Kurdish liberation
struggle. After 42 days in prison Kemal Koc was expelled to
Denmark on 16. August, but his trial is still pending.
 
     After being barred from entering the plane Soeren
Soendergaard was put in front of a judge, sentenced to pay a fine
and ordered to leave the country. He was put on a plane the same
evening at 18.05pm leaving directly from Ankara to Frankfurt in
Germany.
 
     The charge against Soeren Soendergaard was his presence in
Turkey which had violated a - secret - entrance ban not to enter
the country which was issued by the Turkish Ministry of Interior
or the Foreign Office. The ban was issued 16. August 1996 and was
based on the assumption that Soeren Soendergaard was a threat to
the security of the Turkish State.
 
     At the same time the Turkish embassador in Denmark explained
the entrance ban with Soendergaards "support of PKK-terrorists,
which among other things should have consisted of hosting a
meeting in the Danish parliament for members of the Kurdish
parliament in exile Thursday 14. March 1996.
 
     According to the embassador there is a list of Danes
unwanted in Turkey because of their support for the Kurds.
Another reason for the entrance ban could be Soendergaards
active support of Kemal Koc. Soendergaard participated in the
first court meeting in this case in Ankara on 15. August - the
day before the entrance ban was issued.
 
     The Soendergaard case made quiet a notice in Denmark. A few
hours after his detention a sharp protest was issued from the
Danish Minister of Foreing Affairs, Niels Helveg Pedersen, who
also called the Turkish embassador to a meeting in the Ministry
where he demanded that the list of unwanted Danes should be made
public.
 
     A number of political parties also protested the detentinon
and the expulsion of Soendergaard. Socialist Peoples Party (SF)
demanded the case raised in the parliaments Foreign Affairs
Committee and the Socialist Group in the European Parliament
demanded that the parliament should freeze the 375 mio. ECU,
which Turkey should have from EU as part of the Custons Union
between Turkey and EU.
 
     "After the arrest of Soeren Soendergaard and the expulsion
of him plus the information that Turkey has a list of unwanted
European politicians there is no doubt: Turkey should not have a
penny," said Kirsten Jensen, chairman of the Danish Social
Democratic members of the EU-Parliament.
 
     After arriving back in Denmark Saturday 30. November Soeren
Soendergaard told radio and TV that he encouraged the
continuation and strengtning of the fight for human rights in
Turkey.
 
     "Even though it makes you wonder the expulsion of my is only
a little thing. The real problem is all those people who are
still detained og who daily must live with human rights abuses,
random jailings and torture. It is them our solidarity should
concern," said Soeren Soendergaard.
 
(Source: Antifa Info Bulletin Supplement #95)  

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Arm The Spirit is an autonomist/anti-imperialist information
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
ATS-L Archives: http://burn.ucsd.edu/~archive/ats-l
-----------------------------------------------------------------

++++ 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 ++++