From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Thu Jan  4 11:41:49 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 04 Jan 1996 11:41:49
Subject: Turkish court sentences writer, pub
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199601040104.UAA11489@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Turkish court sentences writer, publisher to jail

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>From riot-l at burn.ucsd.edu Fri Dec 29 00:18:58 1995
Date: Thu, 28 Dec 95 21:14:34 -0800
Message-Id: <9512290509.AA06573 at burn.UCSD.EDU>
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From: clyde at burn.ucsd.edu (Neighborhood Queen )
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Subject: Turkish court sentences writer, publisher to jail 
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Turkish court sentences writer, publisher to jail
a0582LBY391reulb
r i BC-TURKEY-PRESS   12-27 0306
^BC-TURKEY-PRESS@
 ^Turkish court sentences writer, publisher to jail@
    ISTANBUL, Dec 27 (Reuter) - A Turkish court on Wednesday
sentenced a Turkish sociologist to five years in prison for
``separatist propaganda'' because of 15 books and one article on
the country's Kurdish minority, his publishing house said.
    Former university professor Ismail Besikci, already in jail
because of other sentences stemming from his writings, was found
guilty under article 8 of the anti-terror law in a rehearing of
some of the cases against him.
    The Turkish parliament in October amended the law and people
sentenced under the original law, like Besikci, get a retrial.
    The amendments, made shortly before the European Parliament
was to vote on a customs union with Ankara, reduced the maximum
penalty to three years from five and required courts to prove
intent.
    Human rights activists have argued the amendments were
little more than cosmetic, and say the number of people being
tried and found guilty does not appear to have diminished.
    The law, which bans ``separatist propaganda,'' is mainly
used against critics of the government's fight against
separatist Kurd rebels and those who write about Kurdish
nationalism.
    The owner of Yurt publishing, which issued Besikci's 15
books, was given a 26-month sentence by the Ankara state
security court, Yurt said in a statement.
    The chairman of the human rights association, which
published the article in its monthly bulletin two years ago, was
given a six-month suspended sentence.
    Besikci, a former university professor, has been in prison
since 1993 for his writings. He has spent much of the past 25
years behind bars for his books. His publisher is free pending
appeal.
    Besikci's interest in the Kurds began by accident when as an
undergraduate student he went to the mainly Kurdish southeast as
part of a work-study programme.
 ^REUTER@
Reut09:31 12-27-95

Reuter N:Copyright 1995, Reuters News Service


From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Thu Jan  4 12:11:49 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 04 Jan 1996 12:11:49
Subject: Kurdish rebels say Iran kills five
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199601041200.HAA20621@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Kurdish rebels say Iran kills five members in Iraq

Kurdish Rebels Say Iran Kills Five Members In Iraq

Nicosia, Cyprus (Reuter - January 3, 1996) An Iranian rebel Kurdish 
group on Wednesday accused Iran of killing five of its members and two
other Kurds in northern Iraq in the past week.
    The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, in a fax sent to
Reuters from its Paris office, gave the names of seven men it
said were killed in a mine explosion last Wednesday, and two
armed attacks by Iranian ``terrorists'' on Saturday and Monday.
    It said five of those killed were its members and the other
two were Iranian Kurdish refugees.
    It accused Tehran of ordering the raids before sending a
team to Kurdish-run north Iraq earlier this week to mediate
between rival Iraqi Kurdish groups.
    There was no independent confirmation of the incidents.
    Kurdish rebels have waged a low-intensity guerrilla struggle
against the Islamic government in Tehran since they were largely
driven into Iraq by the army and the Revolutionary Guards after
major offensives in the early 1980s.

From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Thu Jan  4 12:41:47 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 04 Jan 1996 12:41:47
Subject: Turkish Kurd party vows to overcome
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199601041227.HAA21010@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Turkish Kurd party vows to overcome poll setback

Turkish Kurd Party Vows To Overcome Poll Setback

Diyarbakir, Turkey [Kurdistan - ed.] (Reuter - December 27, 1995)
Kurdish activists in Turkey vowed to keep up their fight for Kurdish
rights despite not getting enough votes to qualify for parliament at
general elections last weekend. 
    ``Our struggle...will include efforts at the personal and
institutional levels to find a solution to the Kurdish
problem,'' Sedat Yurtdas, a candidate for the People's Democracy
Party (HADEP) in Sunday's polls, told a news conference.
    HADEP, which champions greater rights for Kurds and a
negotiated end to an 11-year Kurdish rebellion, took around 30
percent of the votes in the mainly-Kurdish southeast but failed
to pass a national threshold of 10 percent.
    The far-right Nationalist Action Party (MHP), which also
stayed under the 10 percent barrier, said a new election was
inevitable because the polls did not lay the ground for a stable
government.
    The Islamist Welfare Party (RP) came first in the polls with
21.32 percent of the vote.
    Prime Minister Tansu Ciller's True Path Party (DYP) and the
rival conservative Motherland Party (ANAP) came close behind,
with around 40 percent of the vote between them. They are trying
to set aside bitter differences to negotiate a secular alliance
with the left to block Welfare.
    Political analysts say the 10 percent barrier meant millions
of voters were disenfranchised, and warn that radical followers
of both parties could turn to violence without the moderating
factor of representatives in parliament.
    ``This system will get more damaged by keeping us out of
parliament,'' said Yurtdas, one of 13 Kurdish MPs who were
accused of separatism and thrown out of parliament last year.
    He said HADEP candidates regarded themselves as having been
elected and would behave as MPs. He did not elaborate.
    ``An early election is inevitable in a few years in Turkey,
where lots of important issues are to be solved,'' MHP leader
Alparslan Turkes told reporters.
    ``These problems can only be solved by a stable, harmonious
coalition, but these elections did not provide for a stable
government,'' he said.
    Turkes said the MHP, which has influence in state offices
beyond what its support might suggest, would continue its
activity in local government until new elections.
    MHP followers were involved in left-right street fighting in
the late 1970s in which around 5,000 people were killed. It has
since developed links to the security forces.

From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Thu Jan  4 12:42:11 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 04 Jan 1996 12:42:11
Subject: Kurd activists, far-right excluded
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199601041231.HAA21061@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Kurd activists, far-right excluded after Turk poll

Kurd Activists, Far-Right Excluded After Turk Poll

Diyarbakir, Turkey [Kurdistan - ed.] (Reuter - December 25, 1995)
Millions of Turkish voters, including Kurdish activists and 
ultra-nationalists, are disenfranchised after their parties failed to 
pass an electoral barrier at weekend general elections.
    The People's Democracy Party (HADEP) Kurdish group has no
MPs to show for a solid performance in the mainly-Kurdish
southeast as it won 4.1 percent of votes on the national level,
well short of the 10 percent needed to qualify for deputies.
    HADEP candidate Sedat Yurtdas warned that the lack of a
Kurdish activist voice in parliament would radicalise Kurds and
make solving an 11-year-old separatist rebel campaign more
difficult.
    ``People will turn to other things, in some cases this could
mean violence,'' he told Reuters. More than 18,000 people have
died in the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fight for autonomy or
independence in southeast Turkey.
    The Yeni Yuzyil daily said on Monday that rebel chief
Abdullah Ocalan had called on HADEP after the elections to take
part in a Kurdish parliament-in-exile. The assembly meets every
few months in a different European city and has close links to
the PKK.
    HADEP won around 30 percent of the vote in the 10
southeastern provinces under emergency rule, electoral officials
said. It would have sent about 20 MPs to parliament in Ankara if
it had got over the electoral barrier.
    Among the party's best results were 46 percent of the votes
in the main southeastern city, Diyarbakir, and 54 percent in
Hakkari, a rugged province on the border with Iraq where the PKK
and security forces frequently clash.
    The far-right Nationalist Action Party (MHP), on just over
eight percent, also failed to pass the barrier. The party's
followers were involved in left-right street fighting in the
late 1970s that killed around 5,000 people. It has since
developed links to the security forces.
    ``The danger is that between HADEP and MHP, you have some 12
percent of voters not represented in parliament. With MHP, for
example, there is a danger it will split now, with more radical
groups taking to the street,'' said Fevzi Argun, a senior
official of the Ankara-based Human Rights Foundation.
    Far-rightists said the party would not now go underground.
    ``No, those days are past. The MHPs' support is among the
police and soldiers. I'm also sorry for HADEP. I don't support
them but it's an injustice for them as well. This election
system doesn't reflect the public will,'' an MHP activist in the
western city of Izmir said by telephone.
    Thirteen Kurdish MPs were thrown out of parliament last year
after their party was closed by the constitutional court for
separatism.
    Six Kurdish MPs were later jailed for up to 15 years for
ties to the guerrillas in a trial criticised by the West. Two,
including HADEP candidate Yurtdas, were released in October.
    ``As HADEP we will continue our struggle but the question is
whether people will think this is valuable anymore, will they
think elections are important?'' he said.

From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Fri Jan  5 05:56:44 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 05 Jan 1996 05:56:44
Subject: Information On The KDP-Iran/RL ("Ir
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199601050544.AAA10813@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Information On The KDP-Iran/RL ("Iranian" Kurdistan)

I Do Not Believe That A People Fighting For It's Right To
Self-Determination Can Be Called "Terrorist" 

Kurdistan Report Interview With Nabi Gadery,
European Representative Of The KDP-I/RL
(Kurdistan Democratic Party-Iran/Revolutionary Leadership)

You have participated in the opening of the Kurdistan Parliament-
in-Exile in The Hague on April 12, 1995? What is your opinion about
the Kurdistan Parliament-in-Exile?

     This parliament represents the Kurds from Turkey. No doubt it
will contribute towards greater awareness of the plight of the
Kurds in Europe and the rest of the world. We should not forget
that Kurdish parliamentarians who are members of this parliament,
were legally elected by the Kurdish people in Turkey. We expect
that those parliamentarians who have already spoken for the Kurdish
people in Turkey will do the same within the framework of the
Parliament-in-Exile.

Are there any representatives from the Iranian part of Kurdistan in
this parliament?

     No, there are no Kurds from Iran represented in this
parliament. We participated as observers in the founding session of
the parliament.

Autonomy or independence for Kurds? What, in your view, are the
tasks the Parliament-in-Exile should carry out?

     Surely that is the decision of the parliament. It depends on
the concrete situation to decide which steps are necessary to take.
It must know and decide what solution it needs to work for, be that
autonomy, federation or an independent state for the Kurdish
people. Changing developments require changing decisions.
     At the same time I want to emphasize that we, the Kurds, do in
fact have the right to our own state. But it is important that this
parliament is not determined by only one party or organisation and
that it maintains its sense of reality. It must be a democratic
institution, everyone must be able to express their opinions in
order to jointly reach decisions.

There are voices in Europe who claim that there are terrorist
organisations represented in this parliament and that the Kurds
will try - in particular in Germany - to resolve the problems with
"terrorist means".

     There is a lot of talk about "terrorism". It always depends
who uses it. I believe there is it lot of confusion on this issue.
There are indeed states who act like terrorists and use dictatorial
measures in order to maintain power for a minority and to oppress
the people. But they are not called terrorists, on the contrary,
they enjoy diplomatic relations and they are recognised as economic
partners.
     I do not believe that a people fighting for its right for
self-determination can be called terrorists. I do not know anyone
in the Parliament-in-Exile who is a terrorist.

At the opening ceremony session you presented the President of the
Parliament-in-Exile, Mr. Vanley, with a gift, what was it?

     It was a book which tells about fifty years of work of the
DKP-I/RL. It reports that in our fight against oppression and
dictatorship we lost 5000 peshmergas. And in 16 years of oppression
by the Islamic regime in Iran we lost over 60,000 civilians.
     The book records the names, biographies and photos of 1000
martyrs. With this gift to the parliament we wanted to show that
the Kurdish people in its struggle for self-determination and
freedom has made a lot of sacrifices. All its efforts to achieve
its objectives must never be forgotten. On the first page of the
book is a picture of Ghazi Mohammed who was the first President of
the Republic of Kurdistan.
     With our participation in the Kurdistan Parliament-in-Exile we
wanted to make clear that we support all positive steps which serve
the good of the Kurdish people and which will bring the Kurdish
question politically and diplomatically closer to a solution. This
is our basic political principle. We will express openly and freely
our opinion about all the decisions of this parliament.

(Source: Kurdistan Report #22, September-October 1995)

Documents Concerning The KDP-Iran For A Reunification Of The Party

The following is a letter from members of both wings of the KDP-
Iran, the Kurdistan Democratic Party Of Iran (KDP-Iran) and the
Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran/Revolutionary Leadership (KDP-
Iran/RL), and the reply from the Politburo of the KDP-Iran/RL. A
similar letter was sent by Kurds living in exile in the U.S. to the
leadership of both wings of the party.

Call To The Leadership Of Both Wings Of The Kurdistan Democratic
Party Of Iran

     As evervone knows, our party has waged an unending struggle
for the last 50 years. Throughout this time, during which the
political systems of the Shah and the Islamic Republic trampled the
national rights of our people underfoot, the Kurdistan Democratic
Party of Iran (KDP-Iran), in its unending struggle, has brought
great honour to our people, despite suffering, many casualties.
Especially under the reign of terror of the Mullahs our rights have
been more brutally and seriously violated than before and the party
has become more resolute in its struggle and activities.
     Sadly, it has now been 7 years since the party, the hope of all
oppressed peoples in "Iranian" Kurdistan, split and became disunited.
Sadly, this disunity has led to a sense of hopelessness among the Kurdish
population and a sense of joy on the part of the Islamic Republic and all
enemies of our people who have exploited this opportunity. At this time,
when the struggle of our people finds itself at a difficult and also a
crucial historical phase, it is the duty of all active Kurds to do more
than ever to help our exploited people. In this sense, everyone should
view it as their revolutionary and historical duty to stand up for this
matter. That is the wish of all our people and all our friends. For this
reason, we, some former members of the KDP-Iran who live in south
Kurdistan, support the call of 180 Kurds living in exile in the United
States, and we stress the following: 
     Only unity among activists will make it possible for the long
suffering Kurdish people to reach their goal and be victorious.
That's why it is vital that the reunification of both wings of the
KDP-Iran is so historically urgent. Because of historic
responsibilities and the recognition of the current situation, we
are making these just demands to you, the leaders of both wings of
our party. We expect with good intentions and positive thoughts for
the Kurdish predicament that you will make a clear analysis of the
Kurdish situation and thereby engage yourselves to help us reach
our goal, which is the goal of all classes of Kurdish society. Long
live the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran, the party of the
immortal martyrs Qazi, Ghassemlou, and all the martyrs of
Kurdistan!
     A positive answer from you will fulfil your commitments to the
following leading martyrs: Sadegh Scharafkandi, Ali Kaschef Pour,
Abdollah Schrifi, Schapour Firouzi, Fatah Abduli, Osman Fatahi,
Abdollah Ghaderi, Raschad Hosseini, Ghafour Hamzai, and Sadegh
Firouzi.
     Signed by 112 members and sympathizers of both wings of the
Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran.

Reply From The KDP-Iran/RL

     Recently, a call was issued by 180 Kurdish patriots spread out
among the U.S. and the states of Europe. In this call, "both wings
of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran" are called on to
strengthen the Kurdish movernent in "Iranian" Kurdistan and to
resolve their differences by means of a political dialogue so as to
open the way for a reunification of the party. In addition to our
thanks, we would like to say the following to these Kurdish
patriots:
     Without a doubt, your call, for all Kurdish patriots who
deeply desire the liberation of Kurdistan, is an important step
towards the years-long hope of the long-suffering Kurdish people of
"Iranian" Kurdistan and all the friends of our people.
     Who isn't aware of the fact that the determination and unity
of all the forces of our divided people would be the most important
step towards the liberation of our people? Who isn't aware of the
fact that our disunity is the most important reason for the failure
of Kurdish movements, particularly during the past two centuries?
Who can deny that internecine wars have spilled lots of blood in
Kurdistan?
     Everyone who is patriotic knows full well where the causes of
our sorrows lie and how to heal them. If that's true, then we are
like everyone who places the welfare of the people as the highest
priority, as we have shown in our radio and newspaper announcements
and through our activities in our society and among the friends of
the Kurdish people.
     Along with our heartfelt thanks to our sisters and brothers in
the United States, who signed the call, we would like to state that
we are prepared for all forms of reconciliation, coordination, and
cooperation, and all other steps leading towards a reunification of
the party. We are certain that the reunification of both wings
would be an act which would make the enemies of our people unhappy
while causing great joy to all honourable Kurds and all the friends
of our people. By doing so we hope, for the first time in history,
to bring distress to our enemies and joy to our friends.

Signed by the Politburo of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran,
Revolutionary Leadership

(Source: Kurdistan Report #22, September-October 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 kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Fri Jan  5 05:56:53 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 05 Jan 1996 05:56:53
Subject: Communique From The DHKC (Turkey)
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199601050548.AAA10895@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>

Communique From The DHKC

Revolutionary Peoples Liberation Front Press Department
Statement Number 22 - December 6, 1995

Peoples' Justice
The State Rewarded, We Punished

     Everywhere in the world the people know that in our country,
in the mountains and in the cities, a war is going on. This is a
war from the enemies of the people against labouring people and
those who love their people and their country. In this war,
deaths, torture, banishment, burning of villages and
bombardments, are daily events.
     Certain killings and the pain caused by this war are
understandable. These phenomena are inherent to war. However,
every war has its rules and the opponents have to obey these
rules.
     During times of war you can die, kill, you can be captured
and imprisoned, military objects and bases can be destroyed etc.
etc.
     It is another thing when, in a war, people are being
tortured, ears and noses are cut off, when pictures are taken
with the heads and ears, cut off from a dead enemy, held high as
a trophy, when dead people are stripped of their clothes, tied up
behind a car and are dragged behind a vehicle, when people are
killed even if they are women, children or seniors.
     These things are not common in a war, these things apply to
no rule at all. There never was another war where these things
happened. Only the damned nazis and their successors did not
abstain from these methods.
     In our country the war is going on between the fascist
marionettes of imperialism and our peoples. It is the war from
our people for independence, liberation and socialism. The state
tries to uphold this war and tries to win it with nazi-methods.
It uses everything to extend the power of the rulers and the
imperialists.
     The educational system, politicians, laws, executing
institutions, juridicial sentences, everything is used to stop
the resistance of the people.
     Every murder, provocation, massacre and abject practice is
treated by the state as legitimate and this behaviour is even
encouraged. The person that kills and tortures more than the
rest, those who commit more violent crimes against humanity, who
serve the imperialists and the monopolists even more, are
rewarded and are placed in the highest positions.
     In the coming elections well-known murderers, executioners,
thugs, alienated persons, demand from the people that they vote
for them. This to even increase the sell-out of the country and
the people and in defence of this increase of the killings and
exploitation.

Who Are They? Why Are They Committing These Murders? Who Are They
Who Order These Murders?

     It is those who occupied the key-positions in the country.
The main responsibilities for the murders and the torturing in
the first place, are the Prime Minister, the DYP-CHP coalition
government and the MHP. This fascist behaviour is supported by
the political parties ANAP, RP, DSP, YDB, BBP and all those small
and big parties who say "We support the fight against terrorism.
We promise, when we are in the government we will even increase
this fight!"
     What is "terror"? Who is the "terrorist"? What they mean by
terror is the liberation struggle of the people. They call
fighting against imperialist occupation, against the
exploitation, against the misery of fascism, in favour of
independence, democracy and socialism, "terrorism." In their
opinion, the "terrorists" are the peoples and the revolutionary
forces who fight this struggle.
     Those parties who repeatedly state "We are against the
terror" and "We will make an end to the terror" are those parties
who try to crush the peoples' resistance. Who try to do this in
the mountains, in the cities, in the slums, at the universities
and during strikes.
     It is those parties who are accessories to the wide-spread
politics of torture, the suffering of the people. It is those
parties who try to prevent, the different nationalities in Turkey
from living in peace with each other. The only task they see for
themselves is the spilling of more blood. These parties are
enemies of the people, these are the parties who fight with
fascist means.
     The militaries and the police, as watchdogs for state,
condemn the people to unemployment and ignorance. They buy the
people, try to let them forget their culture, education, dignity,
feeling for justice and freedom. Beside of this, they use the
people as killers and as instruments for torture.
     It are our children who, believing the lies of the state,
are fighting in the mountains and in the cities against the
people they call "enemies of Turkey". Amongst the more than a
million soldiers and 200,000 police officers there are no sons of
the Prime Minister, generals, chairpersons of political parties
and monopoly-capitalists. Their sons are not there, where people
kill and get killed. Most of them are labourers, farmers and
small businesspeople.
     These armed forces are used against the people. Those people
who fight for independence and freedom are portrayed as enemies
of the country. The armed forces of the state are pushed to kill,
torture and to commit other immoral acts.
     Murat Aldemir was one of those committing these atrocities.
     Murat Aldemir, who was found dead on December 3, 1995, was a
fascist and MHP-member, who during his time serving in the army
from 1991 to 1992, committed atrocities against the people and
the guerrillas. He commited severe cruelties. He was a part of a
death squad, formed to protect this state. They were a group of
bounty-hunters who were rewarded according the number of people
they killed. To receive more money, they did not limit themselves
to guerrillas, also civilians were their victims. They murdered
and tortured innocent farmers, defenceless guerrilla-supporters
and the captured and wounded guerrillas. They burned and bombed
villages and mistreated the innocent inhabitants. To prove their
killings, they cut off ears and noses from the people they
murdered.
     Murat Aldemir was somebody out of the people but he became a
peoples' enemy, the moment he started to join the war against the
people. He became more and more dehumanised. He came to a point
where he developed a feeling of joy, while committing his crimes.
He let his fellow-killers take pictures of him while he was
committing his crimes. Collecting these pictures was his main
hobby. He received a certain amount of money for every ear or
nose he cut off his victims.
     This person who had become inhuman left the army. Thereafter
our people had to live with him and others like him in our
streets and neighbourhoods.
     When our people, as a result of his bragging about it,
became aware of what he had done and became angered with his
attitude they demanded his punishment. They investigated his
crimes and passed his address on to our organisation.
     Murat Aldemir was arrested by our fighters and his car and
his house was searched. The photos, the papers inside his house
that were confiscated by our fighters, together with his
confession proved his crimes against the people.
     Because of his murders, torturing, raping and his numerous
crimes against the people, he was sentenced to death. This
judgement was conducted on December the 3rd, by our "Ali Riza
Karagoz" Armed Propaganda Unit.

The Murderers Of Our People Must Surrender!
For A Future With Dignity, Justice And Freedom!
Do Not Defend The Bourgeois Political Parties But The DHKC!
Elections Are No Solution!
Freedom Lies In Revolution!

(For more information on the DHKC and revolutionary movements in Turkey 
and Kurdistan see the following web pages --> http://www.xs4all.nl/~ozgurluk)


 ++++ 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 kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Fri Jan  5 23:10:40 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 05 Jan 1996 23:10:40
Subject: Turkish Political Prisoners Murdere
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199601052304.SAA23019@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Turkish Political Prisoners Murdered, Uprisings Result In The Prisons

Urgent Press Release:

Another Massacre In Turkish Prisons
Massacre At Umraniye-Prison In Istanbul

5 DHKP-C Prisoners Murdered, 28 Prisoners Wounded

     Today we received news from Turkey. The Turkish police and
special units raided the E-type prison in Umraniye, Istanbul. It
was a very well prepared action of the Turkish state. There was
lots of press and very many soldiers and police. They attacked
the dormitory of the DHKP-C prisoners. We have heard so far of 5
DHKP-C who have been murdered. 3 of them were Abdulmecit Seckin,
Caferi Sadik Eroglu and Cengiz Calikoparan. 2 other DHKP-C
prisoners have also become martyrs. 28 DHKP-C prisoners were
seriously injured.
     The attack against the Umraniye-prison is still continuing.
The prison has now been blocked. We are concerned that the death
toll will rise.
     As you know the Turkish state tried to stage a massacre at
Umraniye-prison on December 13, 1995. But the revolutionary
prisoners were able to barricade the prison and they prevented
the massacre. The responsible for this massacre are the DYP-CHP
coalition, the commander of the gendarmerie in Istanbul, the
chief of police and the Anti-Terror Branch in Istanbul.
     The fascist state, which persecutes our people in every
field, attacks the people they have filled the prisons with at
every opportunity. The ongoing massacre in Umraniye-prison is the
latest link in this chain.
     We call upon all democratic movements and human rights
organisations to protest the massacre in Umraniye-prison, carried
out by the fascist Turkish state. Put pressure on the authorities
of the Republic of Turkey to bring an end to this attack on the
prison!

Stop The Massacre In Umraniye-Prison!

Revolutionary People's Liberation Front
London Information Bureau
January 4, 1996

Protest Fax:

Attorney-General of Istanbul +0090-212-5166809
Director of Prisons, Zeki Gungor +0090-312-4524066
Minister of Justice +0090-312-4173954


DHKC Information Bureau
20 Compton Terrace
London N1 2UN
England
Tel: 0171-359 7497
Fax: 0171-359 8468

For more information on recent state-murders on political
prisoners in Turkey also see:

http://www.xs4all/nl/~ozgurluk/pub/buca2.html
http://www.xs4all.nl/pub/umreng1.html

Latest Information:

Amsterdam, January 5 1996

The Resistance Of The Political Prisoners In Turkey Is Rising!

	After the recent fascist attack at the political prisoners in the
Umraniye-prison in Istanbul which costed five lives and whereby dozens of
people were seriously injured, poliical prisoners all over the country
rose up. In the following prisons political prisoners rose up and occupied
prisonwigs, builded barricades etc: Buca-prison in Izmir, Merkez
Kapali-prison in Ankara, the prison in Yozgat and the Sagmalcilar-prison
in Istanbul.
	In the Merkez Kapali-prison in Ankara, the prisoners took 15 guards
and three high prison-official hostage. Their demands: News about the
situation in Umraniye.
	In the Buca-prison in Izmir, 21 guards are held hostage.
	Involved are political prisoners of the following organisations:
DHKP/C, TKP/ML, TIKB, TDKP, HDP, TKEP-L, TDP,  DY, Direnis Hare Keti,
MLKP and HKG.
	Also in the city of Istanbul, hundreds of people went on the streets.
They builded barricades and threw molotov-coctails to the police. The
6 o'clock news said that untill that time more than 300 persons have
been arrested.
	We call again on all revolutionary, democratic and human-rights
organisations and individuals to voice their protest against the
murdering politics of the Turkish state regarding the more than
10,000 political prisoners.

Protest Fax:

Attorney-General of Istanbul          0090-212-5166809
Director of Prisons, Zeki Gungor    0090-312-4524066
Minister of Justice                          0090-312-4173954
umraniye-prison :                           00-90--2164432523

Portable telephone of director of prison, Zeki Guengoer:
0090-532-2110807 
Portable telephone of replacing Minister of Justice
,Jusuf Kenan Dogan: 0090-312-4191342

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Please be so kind and check out the URL
http://www.xs4all.nl/~ozgurluk/dhkc1.html
For regular information regarding the 
Peoples Liberation Struggle in Turkey
->email: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl
----------------------------------------------------------------------


 ++++ 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 kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Sat Jan  6 12:40:08 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 06 Jan 1996 12:40:08
Subject: Protests Against The Banning Of The
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199601061233.HAA06115@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Protests Against The Banning Of The PKK In Germany

Protests Against The Banning Of The PKK In Germany

(Sorry for this old news but we have a hard time getting Kurdistan 
Rundbrief from which this translated. - ATS)

         On November 25, 1995, Kurds in various cities held protest
actions to rally against the November 1993 banning of the Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK) by Germany's interior ministry. About 1,000
Kurds marched through Hamburg and were joined by German leftists. In
Saarbrucken, 3,000 Kurds took to the streets. In the city of Essen,
where 500 Kurds gathered for a demonstration, police intervened. The
demonstrators then blocked the main road outside of the train
station. Riot police surrounded the entire group and tried to
disperse the Kurds, thereby touching off a confrontation. About 100
Kurds were arrested. Despite a ban on Kurdish gatherings, several
hundred Kurds gathered in downtown Ulm. Slogans were chanted as
several police gathered. Eventually 70 Kurds were arrested.
         In The Hague, Netherlands, about 300 Kurds gathered outside the
German embassy and protested against the banning of the PKK. Several
Dutch supporters also joined in. Kurds also laid a black cross
outside the German embassy in Vienna and called for the ban against
the PKK to be lifted. These demonstrations ended peacefully.
         In Kurdistan, in honor of the November 27, 1978 founding of the
PKK, an urban unit of the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan
(ARGK) claimed responsibility for the bombing of four Turkish banks
in the province of Antep. One policeman died in the blasts. Another
policeman, a bomb disposal expert who attempted to defuse one of the
devices, was wounded and died on the way to the hospital. Several
other buildings near the banks were damaged by the bombings.

(Translated by Arm The Spirit from Kurdistan Rundbrief #25/1995)


 ++++ 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 kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Sat Jan  6 21:29:57 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 06 Jan 1996 21:29:57
Subject: Mainstream News On Uprisings In Tur
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199601061919.OAA10589@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Mainstream News On Uprisings In Turkish Prisons

At Least Three Dead, 35 Wounded In Turkish Prison Riot

Istanbul, Turkey (Reuter - January 4, 1996) At least three
Turkish prisoners were killed and 35 injured on Thursday in
rioting in an Istanbul prison, the Anatolian news agency said.
     But a lawyer who went to the Haydarpasa hospital where the
dead and wounded were taken said told Reuters at least five
prisoners were killed in the clash at Umraniye prison.
    "Police did not let us into the hospital but we were told by
health workers that the number of dead had risen to five", said
Levent Tuzel, who represents many of the prisoners.
     The prison commission said the prisoners involved in the
clash were accused leftist militants or Kurds allegedly from the
separatist Kurdish rebel group fighting for self-rule in
southeast Turkey. Not all have been tried yet.
     The Human Rights Association of Turkey said the clashes in
Umraniye prison, located on the Asian side of the Bosphorus,
broke out when authorities tried to relocate some of the inmates
to other jails.
     The association's prison commission and Tuzel accused
soldiers of attacking the prisoners.
     A police spokesman said he did not yet have any information
to release.
     Last month about 70 prisoners, guards and soldiers were
wounded in Umraniye jail when leftist and Kurdish prisoners
rioted to protest against poor conditions.
     Tension has remained high in the prison since then with
prisoners demanding better treatment such as an end to searches
of lawyers entering the jail and an increase in personal visits.

Leftist Riots Spread At Turkish Prisons

Istanbul, Turkey (Reuter - January 5, 1996) Militant leftist
Turkish prisoners held more than 30 guards hostage on Friday in
riots at five jails in which at least three people have died,
Anatolian news agency said.
     Inmates at Istanbul's Bayrampasa jail became the latest
prisoners to join the unrest when they seized 12 wardens on
Friday afternoon, it said.
     Prisoners at jails in Ankara, the coastal city of Izmir and
Yozgat in central Turkey were also holding hostages or had
barricaded themselves in their cells to protest at the killing of
three prisoners at Istanbul's high-security Umraniye jail on
Thursday, the agency said.
     Most of the prisoners involved in Izmir and Umraniye were
either found guilty or are on trial for membership in the
Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C), a
militant leftist group blamed for a series of bombings and
killings in Istanbul.
     Anatolian said about 60 prisoners barricaded in their cells
at Umraniye had demanded via lawyers that jail and military
officials be sacked for their part in Thursday's clash.
     "They say their other demands can only be discussed once
these conditions are met", it quoted lawyer Levent Tuzel as
saying.
     Prison authorities and police were unavailable for comment
on any of the incidents.
     Istanbul's Umraniye prison, which was opened last July, was
the site in December of two days of rioting in which about 70
prisoners and security force members were wounded. Prisoners said
they were protesting at poor prison conditions.
     Tensions have been running high since then with some of the
prisoners refusing to allow guards and others into their cells.
     Prisoners in a jail in the capital Ankara held seven guards
while inmates in the western coastal city of Izmir took 17
wardens hostage.
     Four former Kurdish MPs found guilty of ties with separatist
Kurd rebels are being held at the Ankara jail but it was unclear
which prisoners were involved in the incident.

Turkish Targets Attacked In Germany And Greece

Bonn, Germany (Reuter - January 5, 1995) Arsonists attacked
Turkish targets in the Cologne and Hamburg areas overnight in
incidents German police said on Friday were likely to be linked
to a wave of violent prison revolts in Turkey.
     The deaths of three prison rioters at an Istanbul prison on
Thursday also sparked protests in Greece, as 14 Kurds were
arrested in Athens after they hurled rocks at Turkish Airlines
offices in protest at the action of Turkish police, a Greek
police spokesman said.
     He said a group of 50 Kurds smashed the windows of the
offices in the centre of the Greek capital with rocks and other
objects on Friday before they were chased away by police. There
were no injuries.
     At the heart of the German city of Cologne, firebombs were
thrown at two Turkish banks and a travel agency, while a travel
agency in the nearby suburban town of Bruehl was also hit, police
said.
     They found a flag of "Revolutionary Path", a militant group
banned in Germany, near one of the banks.
     In Hamburg, the window of a Turkish travel agency was broken
and the premises set on fire.
    Investigators have blamed the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK) for a series of firebombings of Turkish properties in
Germany in the past few years.
    The PKK is fighting a guerrilla war against the Turkish
government for independence or autonomy in southeastern Turkey.   
 Police said they suspected all five of the German attacks were
an attempt to draw attention to revolts at Turkish prisons,
including one where Kurdish politicians found guilty of ties to
separatist Kurd rebels were being held.
     Prisoners in a jail in Ankara took nine guards hostage on
Friday while prisoners in a western coastal city, Buca, held 18
guards seized in an uprising on Thursday.
     Three prisoners died and another 35 were injured in the
prison unrest in Instanbul. The Human Rights Association of
Turkey said the rioters at the Umraniye prison were leftist
militant prisoners or Kurds from the PKK.

From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Sat Jan  6 21:30:09 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 06 Jan 1996 21:30:09
Subject: Statement From Turkish Revolutionar
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199601061921.OAA10633@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Statement From Turkish Revolutionaries In Austria On Prison Uprisings

Statement From Turkish Platform Of Revolutionary Forces In
Austria About The Attack On Umraniye-Prison In Istanbul

The fascist Turkish state murdered 5 prisoners and wounded 30
prisoners seriously on January 4, 1995.

     The prison system in Turkey is designed to rob the prisoners
of their identity and personality. With different measures of
repression they want to achieve that the prisoners, especially
the political prisoners, betray and forget their ideals and
everything they have strived for. The history of Turkish prisons
is the history of torture, terror and repression. However, it is
also the history of resistance, especially after the military
coup of 1980 when there were more than 100,000 political
prisoners. The prisoners defended their dignity by means of
boycotts, hungerstrikes, and fasting till death. They succeeded
in ending isolation, torture and systematic attacks. The last
victories by the prisoners are not from a distant past: on
September 21, 1995, 3 prisoners were murdered and 63 were wounded
in an armed attack by the police, army, and anti-terror units
against the political prisoners in Buca (Izmir). Thereupon
revolutionary prisoners in the whole country went on
hungerstrike. Their demands, met after 52 days, were: complying
with the human rights in the prisons, prosecution of those who
were responsible for the massacre in Buca, and the closing of the
special prison in Umraniye. The prison in Umraniye is a
"European" prison. In Turkey it is known and notorious as the
"coffin prison". Contrary to the other Turkish prisons, the
prisoners are kept in individual cells. The prison board tries,
over and over again, to take away the prisoners' rights.
Arbitrary bans on visits by lawyers and relatives, attacks
against prisoners on their way to court, bans on legal books and
magazines, the hindering of medical treatment... they occur on a
daily basis. On December 13, 1995, the police, army and
anti-terror units of the fascist Turkish state attacked the
prisoners with weapons, helicopters and gas bombs. One prisoner
was killed, and more than 40 prisoners were, in part, seriously
wounded. The revolutionary prisoners succeeded in halting the
attack by barricades and resistance. The state forces had to
abort their action, also because of the pressure from the public.
Until now the barricades of the prisoners have not been broken.
The fascist Turkish state could not accept this defeat and on
January 4, 1995, they attacked Umraniye again. In the following
fights probably 5 DHKP-C prisoners were murdered: Caferi Sadik
Eroglu, Cengiz Calikoparan, Abdnlmecit Seckin, Orhan Ozen and
Riza Baybas (the last three names have been affirmed). 30 heavily
wounded prisoners were taken to the Haydarpasa-hospital.
     It is obvious that this massacre was planned long
beforehand. The Turkish press has pursued a campaign of
incitement again the political prisoners for months. Already
during the attack of December 13, 1995, pictures of the
prisoners' representative Caferi Sadik Eroglu were given to the
state forces with the order to kill him. The actual attack
against the prisoners was led by Resat Altay, chief of the
Anti-Terror Department in Istanbul. Resat Altay is not only
responsible for this massacre: in the past years he has taken
part in all the massacres by the state. He was repeatedly
arraigned for this. The contra-guerrilla is responsible for this
massacre: the DYP-CHP government, the Commander of the
Gendarmerie in Istanbul, the Chiefs of Police in Istanbul, and
the chiefs of the Anti-Terror Department in Istanbul. Our people
will make all responsible people and the ones who take the orders
accountable. All bourgeois parties, the army and the police, all
those who represent this state are guilty and responsible. The
main ones responsible for the crimes of fascism in Turkey are in
parliament and in the state institutions.
     We will not sit and watch these fascist massacres in Turkey.
It is not only a legitimate right, it is a duty of all who call
themselves human beings, to stand up against such a system of
oppression. It is also the duty of all progressive and
antifascist people in Europe to raise their voice against this
system and not sit idly by to watch the terror against our
people. We call upon all revolutionary, progressive and
democratic people to support the resistance of the resistance in
Umraniye with solidarity.

We Will Make Those Responsible For The Massacre In Umraniye Pay!
Long Live The Resistance In Umraniye!
Unite Against Fascism And Strengthen The Struggle!

Platform of Revolutionary Forces - DHKC, TKP(ML), MLKP - Austria
Supported by: Kampagne T.B.A Chaovali, Widerstandskollektiv,
Antifa 10, Internationales Zentrum Graz.

-----------------------------------------
Please be so kind and check out the URL
http://www.xs4all.nl/~ozgurluk/dhkc1.html
For regular information regarding the
Peoples Liberation Struggle in Turkey
->email: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl
-----------------------------------------

From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Wed Jan 10 00:45:38 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 10 Jan 1996 00:45:38
Subject: Kurdish News And Information: Septe
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199601100029.TAA12580@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Kurdish News And Information: September-December 1995

Kurdish News And Information: September-December 1995

UNHCR Condemns Turkey's Asylum Practices

         The UNHCR is "deeply concerned" about the way Turkey is dealing
with refugees and is demanding immediate changes. In particular
refugees from Iran are affected by the restrictive asylum practices.
Just recently, two of those sent back to Iran were reported to have
been executed. (Ozgur Politika, October 26, 1995)

New Award For Leyla Zana

         Leyla Zana was awarded the annual Bruno-Kreisky Human Rights
Award which was received on her behalf by lawyers for the Democracy
Party (DEP). In the past year, Leyla Zana has received the Aachen
Peace Prize and the Rose Peace Prize. (Ozgur Politika, October 1,
1995)

Turkey Protests

         Turkey said yesterday that the European Parliament's decision
to give its 1995 Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought to a jailed
Kurdish MP did not do credit to the award. Leyla Zana, awarded the
prize in Thursday, is serving a 15-year term for involvement with
the Kurdistan Workers Party. (The Guardian, November 11, 1995)


Police Close Kurdish Publishing House In Germany

         Two special branch officers closed the Kurdish publishing house
'Mesopotamia' today apparently for publishing material by the
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which is banned in Germany. According
to an employee, the two officers raided the offices without a search
warrant and confiscated several books. (DEM News Agency, October 7,
1995)

Turkish State Security Court Banned A Peace Call

         Turkey's independent Human Rights Association (IHD) said a
state security court banned a "peace call" the group made demanding
an end to the 11-year war between the Turkish army and the Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK). The Ankara court ordered the group's bulletin
confiscated earlier this week on grounds of "separatist propaganda",
Nazim Gur, an association official, told Reuters. (Reuters,
September 22, 1995)

Iran Executed Six Kurdish Militants

         An Iranian Kurdish opposition group said that Iran had executed
six of its supporters. The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan
(KDPA) said the six, residents of two villages near the Turkish
border, had been arrested last year on suspicion of cooperating with
the armed opposition group. The party, in a statement faxed to
Reuters from its Paris office, said the men were executed by a
firing squad at a prison in northwestern Iran. Kurdish militants
have waged a guerrilla struggle against the-Islarnic government
since they were largely driven across the border into Iraq by the
army and Revolutionary Guards after offensives in the early 1980s.
(Reuters, September 27, 1995)

America Arms Turkey's Repression

         Turkey lags behind only Israel and Egypt in receipt of American
military aid. Washington has approved $7.8 billion in military sales
to Turkey in the last decade, and has provided grants or loans to
cover most of it. This year, unless dramatic events take place in
the current House-Senate conference, Turkey will get $320 million in
American credits to finish production - in Turkey - of F16 fighters
planes. Washington now provides 85% of Turkey's arms imports and 90%
of its military aid. Despite the efforts of Senator Patrick Leahy,
Democrat of Vermont, and Rep. John Porter, Republican of Illinois,
to curtail aid, Congress has not yet managed to block or place
conditions on substantial amounts of Turkish military aid. (The New
York Times, October 17, 1995)

Turkey-Syria Relations Set To Worsen

         There have been indications that Turkey is preparing to take a
tougher line with Syria over the support given by Damascus for the
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). On October 12, the Turkish foreign
minister charged that PKK fighters have been stepping up attacks
into Turkey's Hatay province from across the border in Syria. It is
highly significant that the PKK has become active in Hatay as this
is the former Syrian province of Alexandreta which was given by
France to Turkey in 1940 in order to ensure Turkey did not join the
war on Germany's side. PKK activity in Hatay is a new phenomenon.
The province, which Syria still claims, has an Arab population, but
the neighboring Turkish province of Adana is home to many Kurds who
have fled the fighting in the Kurdish southeast of Turkey. (Foreign
Report, October 13, 1995)

Turkey Border Plan

         U.S. officials announced a joint plan to help Turkey improve
security along its border with Iraq. A network of heat sensors and
observation posts will be erected to stem the flow of Kurdish rebels
from Iraq. (Jane's Defence Weekly, November 11, 1995)

HADEP Won't Boycott Elections

         Turkey's biggest pro-Kurdish party said on Tuesday it would
take part in an impending general election despite fears the early
December timetable and pressure from security forces will blunt its
chances for success. "Despite the anti-democratic nature of these
elections, and the pressure our party has faced from the state, we
realized our constituents wanted us to take part", Ismail Aslan,
assistant head of the People's Democracy Party (HADEP), told
Reuters. HADEP's decision to contest the December 24 election means
the return to Turkish politics of nationalist Kurds for the first
time since MPs from a predecessor party were ousted from parliament
in 1994. Six were later jailed for "separatism". The party's
platform revolves around an open call for Kurdish cultural and
political rights in a country where writing a book about Kurdish
history can mean a jail sentence for "separatism" and where Kurdish-
language broadcasts are banned. (Reuters, October 21, 1995)

October 26 Demonstration To Free Kani Yilmaz

         On October 26, the anniversary of his arrest, about 700 Kurds
gathered outside No. 10 Downing Street in London to demand the
release of ERNK European Representative Kani Yilmaz. John Austin-
Walker MP, Nejdet Buldan, member of the Kurdistan Parliament-in-
Exile, and Halkevi chairman Nafiz Bostanci delivered a protest
letter from the Kurdish community in London to Prime Minister John
Major. Here we also print Kani Yilmaz's message on the occasion of
the first anniversary of his arrest:

"As you are already familiar with my case you will be aware of the
way in which political interests have directed the course of events.
The clearest expression of this is the way Britain detained me
without any justification and Germany demanded that I be put on
trial without any evidence. In the German indictment it clearly
states that I have no connection with the incidents mentioned but
wants me tried on account of my membership in the PKK and ERNK,
something which I am proud of. The brutal Turkish army, police,
special forces, and paramilitary gangs have ruined my country.
President Abdullah Ocalan and the Kurdistan Workers Party seek peace
and have issued calls for dialogue and a political solution in order
to prevent further bloodshed. Turkey's response has been to destroy
villages, depopulate the country, and resort to killing and torture.
I am being held in the most restrictive conditions and I expect this
situation to come to an end even if it costs me my life. I shall
continue to defend the legitimate demand for freedom of my people,
who are experiencing such pain. You are friends of my people and
humanity, I hope you will step up your efforts on our behalf."
(Kurdistan Information Centre, October 26, 1995)

The European Human Rights Commission Has Agreed To Hear The Case By
The Pro-Kurdish Daily Ozgur Gundem

         The European Human Rights Commission has agreed to hear the
case by the pro-Kurdish daily Ozgur Gundem. The commission has
accepted the case by Ozgur Gundem newspaper against Turkey, "which
has acted in a biased manner against the paper to block its freedom
of expression and right to information", attorney Osman Ergin, the
paper's lawyer, told Reuters. Gundem's successors Ozgur Ulke and
Yeni Politika were also shut down. Ozgur Politika is now published
in western Europe. Ankara denounced the decision to hear the case,
calling it a misuse of European human rights laws. A Reuters
correspondent, Aliza Marcus, has been charged by an Istanbul state
security court under Turkey's laws on the freedom of expression for
an article that appeared in Ozgur Ulke under her byline. She faces
up to three years in jail. (Reuters, October 25, 1995)

Turkish Human Rights Monitors And Lawyers Slam Changes To Article 8

         Turkish human rights monitors and lawyers have slammed changes
to the restrictive law on freedom of expression, Article 8, charging
the reforms will not stop people from going to jail for things they
say or write. "This is just a trick, a type of cosmetic change that
will not protect us from being punished for our thoughts", said Akin
Birdal, head of the independent Human Rights Association (IHD) in
Turkey. "The changes are nonsense, a joke, it's like make-up that
doesn't fit", said Mehmet Ali Birand, host of an influential public
affairs television program. The changes also will not affect the
estimated 100 additional people human rights groups say are in
prison for stating their views, such as Turkish sociologist Ismail
Besikci, sentenced to a total of 103 years in prison for books and
articles on the Kurds. (Reuters, October 29, 1995)

The Kurdistan Parliament In Exile Met In Moscow

         The Kurdistan Parliament-in-Exile met in Moscow for a three-day
session organized by a Russian parliamentary committee, its third
session since its inauguration on April 12, 1995. "We are guests of
the Russian parliament", Darwich Hasso, a KPE member, said. A
committee of the state Duma (Russian lower house) had organized the
session at their request. "No one can exercise pressure on us here.
In addition, Russians and Kurds have historically been very close",
Hasso said. The parliament last met for a four-day session in
Vienna, Austria, in August. The elected 65-seat assembly draws its
members from all exiled Kurds. Turkey protested to Russia about the
meeting. "This development has cast a shadow over Turkish-Russian
relations and we see this as something injurious", foreign ministry
spokesman Omer Akbel said in a statement. (Reuters, October 31,
1995)

PKK Initiative To Establish A Kurdistan Democratic Federal Front

         As operations by the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan
(ARGK) against the KDP in South Kurdistan continue, high-ranking
members of seven South Kurdistan organizations have met to discuss
a PKK initiative to establish the "Kurdistan Democratic Federal
Front". The seven organizations declared their solidarity with the
PKK and stated that they would support the PKK in its operations
against the KDP. The Kurdistan Democratic Federal Front will be
comprised of the following organizations: Partiya Kesen Serbuxa,
Hizbullah u Soresger, Yekitiya Nistimane Demokrata Kurdistan,
Biziknave Rizgari Nistimane Kurdistan, Partiya Parezger, Partiya
Koministiya Kurdistan, and the Partiya Zahmetkesan. The PUK has not
yet decided if it will participate in the Front. (Ozgur Politika,
September 20, 1995)

Deserter Substaniates Allegations Against Turkey

         New evidence has arisen which suggests that German weapons are
being used by Turkey in its fight against the Kurds: a Kurdish
asylum-seeker in Bremen claims he was in a special unit of the
Turkish army in 1991/92 and that he rode in a former East German
panzer when deployed against Kurds. The federal government has
denied that panzers supplied as part of a military agreement with
Turkey were ever used against Kurds. Hans-Eberhard Schultz, lawyer
for the 28-year-old Kurd, said in an interview with the Frankfurter
Rundschau that his client was a soldier stationed in Mardin at the
time. With an East German BTR-60 panzer, he fired at the mountains
when shots from alleged rebels were heard. He said BTR-60 panzers
were also used during attacks on Kurdish villages. In 1992, the man
deserted from the army while on vacation so that he would no longer
have to fire upon his own people. (Frankfurter Rundschau, September
22, 1995)

Turkish Human Rights Activist Honored

         The German Judges' Union (DRB) sharply criticuzed mistreatment
and torture in Turkish prisons as well as the suppression of freedom
of expression in Turkey while handing out its 1995 Human Rights
Award. Union chief Rainer Voss criticized the excessive use of
charges of "separatism" and "separatist propaganda" by state
security courts in Turkey. This year's DRB Human Rights Award was
given to Turkish lawyer Husnu Ondul. Ondul is a lawyer in Ankara and
was one of the founders of the Human Rights Association (IHD) and
the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, which operates centers for
victims of torture. A total of seven political indictments have been
filed against Ondul; during one visit to the Kurdish regions, his
delegation was even fired upon. In his acceptance speech, Ondul
mentioned his murdered colleagues: Metin Can, head of the Human
Rights Association in Elazig, and Serket Epozdemir, head of the
Human Rights Association in Tatvan. He accepted the prize in the
name of all those people in prison in Turkey because of their work
on behalf of the Human Rights Association. (Suddeutsche Zeitung,
September 26, 1995)

HADEP Rally In Istanbul

         Around 20,000 people attended a peace celebration organized by
HADEP in Abdi Ipeki sports hall in Istanbul on December 9. The first
speaker Kemal Parlak, HADEP's Istanbul chair and candidate in
Istanbul's constituency No. 3, said: "Our martyrs and Leyla Zana,
Hatip Dicle, and Orhan Dogan have made a major contribution to our
reaching the level we have acheived today. The revolutionary
democratic struggle since 1965 has also made a significant
contribution. The Turkish, Kurdish, and other peoples are bearing
the brunt of this war. We want to turn the system around and
establish a system that sides with those who work, a system in which
people do not disappear, a system which ensures freedom and where
there are no death squads killings, a Turkey where mothers do not
lose their children and women are not widowed." Abdul Melik Firat MP
announced he had resigned from parliament, saying: "I don't need the
protection of parliament to oppose tyranny. We are extending the
hand of friendship. We want a country in which we can all live. Let
us end the bloodshed." The mother of murdered journalist Ferhat
Tepe, Zbeyde Tepe, recited a poem in Kurdish and expressed her
support for HADEP. SIP (Party for Socialist Power) President Aydin
Gler stressed that the block was not solely for the elections. He
addressed the Kurdish people in the hall, saying: "You have been
forced to leave your homes and villages, but you are not amongst
strangers. The Turkish working class is opening its arms to you."
(Ozgur Politika, December 10, 1995)

Excerpts From An Letter By Yashar Kaya (President Of The Kurdistan
Parliament-in-Exile) To The European Parliament

         The Turkish lobby is working furiously in the European
Parliament. We have spoken to many MEPs. Some of them say: "Our
governments are putting pressure on us to admit Turkey to the
Customs Union. Our companies are exerting pressure on both our
governments and us. We cannot resist this pressure." The Kurdish
position is this: "Your companies will not be able to operate
comfortably in the Middle East, Turkey, and Kurdistan without a
resolution of the Kurdish question. If a solution is found and peace
is secured, then these companies will be able to carry on their
activities in these regions, otherwise the Kurds will intensify
their struggle and the balance of power will break down entirely. We
wish you to be aware of this." Secondly, the Kurds are not pleading
for a solution saying: "We are being killed, being forced to leave
our homes, we are in an awful predicament, please solve our
problem." Certainly we need everyone's friendship, but we will
resolve our political problem ourselves, because we are now a
serious force in the region. This should also be appreciated.
Thirdly, if the European Parliament ratifies the Customs Union
treaty then it will become clear how fraudulent European claims of
adherence to democratic values and human rights really are, and you
will have poured petrol onto the bonfire in the genocide being
perpetrated against the Kurdish people. For us it makes no
difference. We are a people in struggle and we are continuing our
struggle despite all hardships. If you take this decision you will
lose all credibility. Turkey may gain a few dollars but this will
not even finance its war for a single year. Europe is faced with an
historic test. It will vote on December 13 to prove how honest it is
and how bound to the conditions it stipulated concerning Article 8
and the release of the DEP MPs. (Ozgur Politika, December 5, 1995)

"No Solution Without The PKK"

         On the second day of the Democracy Conference in Diyarbakir on
December 2, various speakers debated the Kurdish question. The first
speaker Refik Baydur, the president of the Turkish Confederation of
Employers Organizations, said. "We must resolve the Kurdish
question, otherwise if foreign powers come to resolve it this will
not be good." Baydur alleged that the PKK was involved in drug
smuggling and that they killed women and children. He also accused
Leyla Zana of chauvinism and ignorance for swearing the
parliamentary oath in Kurdish. Writer Ismail Nacar began by claiming
that the Kurds did not want an independent state and said the people
of Diyarbakir needed concrete initiatives, not words. Former leader
of the Petrol-Is union, Munir Ceylan, said. "Democracy cannot be
discussed in a country where villages are burnt down, death squads
operate, and the Kurdish identity is not recognized." Ceylan pointed
out that no one took to the mountains out of sheer boredom, and
stressed that no resolution of the Kurdish question would be
possible without the PKK. The last speaker Ragip Zarakolu criticized
the logic of power in Turkey, saying: "This logic legitimizes
everything, from the offense of insulting the president to the
execution of prime ministers." Zarakolu added that the Treaty of
Sevres had been intensely debated in recent months, saying: "The
terms of this treaty gave the Kurds a small piece of territory
around Hakkari. The Kurds themselves rejected Sevres. The ruling
circles in Turkey are obsessed with Sevres and what they perceive as
an existing threat from it." Former DEP MP's Hatip Dicle, Leyla
Zana, Orhan Dogan, and Selim Sadak, as well as Kemal Okutan, Mehdi
Zana, and Ibrahim Aksoy sent a joint message to the conference from
prison. (Ozgur Politika, December 4, 1995)

Where Did The Millions Go To?

         According to a report published in the United States by the
Congressional Research Service (CRS), the USA spent 1.2 billion
dollars in aid to South Kurdistan between 1991 and 1995, In the
"Northern Iraq" report prepared by the CRS, developments in the
region since the Gulf War are covered in a detailed way. U.S.
relations with the KDP and PUK are dwelt upon, and both parties are
considered to be potential allies against the threat of Saddam
Hussein. Details of where the 1.2 billion dollars went are not given
in the report, but it is clear what the KDP and other groups that
terrorize the people rely on. (Ozgur Politika, December 7, 1995)

Watch The Turkish Press And MIT (Turkish Intelligence) In Germany

         In a recent column, Ferhat Yilmaz drew attention to the fact
that the Turkish press have once again begun to concentrate on
provocative articles based on falsehoods. "This is occurring in a
period when, following the visit of CDU MP Lummer to Abdullah
Ocalan, efforts are intensifying to create a moderate climate in
Germany. It is clear that the Turkish press will become more
provocative still and that MIT will organize attacks on Turks and
try to put the blame on the PKK (...) Germany and its police should
realize what the MIT is doing, the warmongering of the Turkish press
and the TRT-INT television channel and the deeds of the fascist
gangs following the orders of the MIT, and abandon its one-sided
Kurdish and PKK paranoia... The Kurds in Germany, the Kurdistan
Parliament-in-Exile, and the Kurdish press must be alert to the
provocations of the Turkish press and make public statements when
necessary. We cannot expect the Turkish press to change its tune...
Therefore we must be on our guard against the Turkish press and MIT
in Germany. (Ozgur Politika, December 6, 1995)

"Solidarity Committee With Kurdish Political Prisoners" Founded In
Germany

         A committee aiming to provide solidarity, visits, legal
assistance, and other needs to Kurdish political prisoners in
Germany has been set up in Stuttgart. The committee issued a press
release stating that in the last two years close to 100 Kurds had
been remanded in custody, 41 still being in prison, 7 of whom have
been charged under Paragraph 129(a) of the German Penal Code for
alleged membership of a terrorist organization. (Ozgur Politika,
December 6, 1995)

Racist Measure Against Kani Yilmaz

         Kani Yilmaz, who was arrested during a visit to Britain on
October 26, 1994, has been told he will have to speak English during
social visits at Belmarsh prison from December 11 onwards. Prison
officials cited the cost of translating the tapes of Kani Yilmaz's
visits as a reason for the new rule. A statement by the Kurdistan
Information Centre in London condemned the measure, pointing out
that "even Saddam Hussein did not make British hostages speak
Arabic". (Ozgur Politika, December 11, 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 kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Wed Jan 10 01:00:22 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 10 Jan 1996 01:00:22
Subject: Update On Turkish Prison Uprisings
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199601100049.TAA13090@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>

Statement From The DHKC Information Bureau, Amsterdam

To the press and the public:

Massacre In Umraniye

     3 prisoners from the DHKP-C murdered, more than 36 wounded. 29
guards and prison directors held hostage by prisoners. Protests in
Turkey and abroad continue.
     The repression of the last months by the Turkish state against
the prisoners continues. In an attack by the state forces against
the revolutionary prisoners in Umraniye (Istanbul) on January 4,
1996, 3 prisoners from the DHKP-C (Riza Baybas, Abdulmecit and
Orhan Ozen) were killed and more than 36 prisoners were wounded.
The attack was especially targeted against the block of the DHKP-C
(Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front) prisoners.
     There already had been an attack by the state forces against
the prisoners in the Buca-prison in Izmir. In this attack, on
September 21, 1996, there were also 3 prisoners from the DHKP-C
killed and 63 prisoners were seriously wounded.
     In protest against this massacre, thousands of revolutionary
prisoners in the whole of Turkey went on hungerstrike for a
indefinite time. The prisoners on hungerstrike demanded:

- respect for the human rights in the prisons;
- prosecution of those who are responsible for the massacre in
Buca;
- the closure of the special type prison in Umraniye.

     The Umraniye-prison is a European type prison. It is known and
notorious in Turkey as a coffin-prison. Contrary to other Turkish
prisons the prisoners are kept in solitary confinement. Over and
over again the prison board tries to take away the prisoners'
rights. Arbitrary bans on visits by lawyers and relatives, attacks
on prisoners during their way to court, bans on legal papers and
books, denying medical treatment... that is the order of the day.
The last attack against the Umraniye-prison occurred on December
13, 1995. While they were careful enough not to kill any prisoners
during this attack, because of the coming elections, the violence
they used in the attack after the elections was exceedingly brutal.
     The stories to the "Demokrasi" paper from the physicians and
the nurses of the Numune-hospital, where the wounded prisoners were
brought to, published on January 6, are witness to this:
     "The attacks were meant to kill. The prisoners had serious
wounds all over their bodies, caused by blows with heavy objects."
One nurse tells, with tears in her eyes: "Many prisoners had their
head and liver crushed. I was afraid to touch them. When I carried
the prisoners I was afraid to touch their head. I feared my fingers
would penetrate their brain. These people hadn't even had the
opportunity to move their head, and yet they were beaten so
brutally. While we tried to nurse the wounded, the soldiers
constantly tried to prevent this. They yelled: "Let them starve, we
have given them enough already." They cursed the prisoners. To
curse at people who are so badly wounded, one must have lost all
human feelings." Another nurse told "Demokrasi": "It is a lie that
there were also wounded soldiers were brought to the hospital. We
don't have any soldiers here. The prison board is probably
spreading these stories to justify the attack on the prison."
     It is obvious that this massacre has been prepared for a long
time. For months the Turkish press has waged a smear campaign
against the political prisoners. During the attack of December 13,
1995, pictures of Caferi Sadik Eroglu, the prisoners'
representative, were spread among the state forces. With that they
gave the order to kill him. The order to attack the prison came
from the chief of the Anti-Terror Department in Istanbul, Resat
Altay. Zeki Gungor, responsible for all prisons in Turkey, told the
press that this attack happened because the prisoners had refused
to co-operate in the countings. However, in their conversation with
"Demokrasi" the prisoners stated that these countings were executed
normally. Gungor also said that the Justice Department knew about
the coming attack and that they would give a statement to the
press.
     After the attack on the Umraniye-prison, in which three people
were killed, there were protests in several parts of Istanbul and
in three prisons in Turkey. The prisoners in Ankara,
Istanbul-Bayrampasa and Istanbul-Umraniye took several guards and
one, respectively two, directors hostage. In front of the prisons,
the hospital in Numunu, the prison hospital in Bayrampasa, as well
as in Sultanahmet where the relatives of the disappeared and the
prisoners gather every week to remind people of the disappeared,
relatives of the prisoners and other people gathered to protest the
massacre. There they waited the whole day for news about the
situation of the prisoners and on January 6 they gathered in front
of the Justice Department building to lodge a complaint against
those who are responsible for the massacre. Next, the police
attacked the people who protested the massacre in a brutal manner.
Elderly women and women with children on their arm were thrown
against the ground. The press wasn't spared either in this attack
by the police.
     At the same time there were several actions abroad by the
DHKP-C and solidary organisations, protesting the massacre. A few
examples: 

- On January 4, 1996, the office of the THY (Turkish airline
company), owned by the Turkish state, was destroyed in Hamburg
(Germany).

- On January 4, 1996, banners were put up against the building of
the Ziraat Bankasi in Duisburg (Germany). It read: "The fallen in
Umraniye are immortal". On January 5, the DHKP-C and the MLKP
organised a rally in which 100 people took part. The police, who
didn't want to tolerate this action, attacked the People's Culture
House in Duisburg.

- In Berlin (Germany), the DHKP-C, MLKP and MLSPB organised a
demonstration on January 5 to draw attention to the massacre.

- On January 5 the consulate of the Turkish Republic in Mainz
(Germany) was occupied by 15 people from the DHKC.

- In Bremen (Germany), the studio from Radio Bremen was occupied on
January 5 by sympathisers of the TIKB and the DHKC. They published
a statement to show solidarity with the prisoners in Umraniye.

- In Cologne (Germany), a building from the THY (Turkish airline
company) and two banks were attacked with molotov-cocktails.

- In France, the office from the THY was attacked with bricks and
sticks.

- In Greece, the office from the THY was pelted with red paint,
symbolising blood. Some banners were put up also, and pamphlets
were spread.

- In Vienna (Austria) and London (England) statements were spread
by the DHKC-Information offices, protesting the massacre in
Umraniye.

     We call upon the public to protest the fascist actions of the
Turkish government and to show solidarity with the prisoners in the
Umraniye-prison. Each letter of protest, each action can prevent a
further massacre in the prisons.

DHKC Information Bureau, Amsterdam
January 7, 1996

----

Rioters Hold At Least 29 Hostages In Turkish Jails

Istanbul, Turkey (Reuter - January 6, 1996) Protests in Turkish jails 
entered a third day on Saturday as leftist militant prisoners held a
director and at least 28 other officials and wardens hostage in
two prisons.
    The rioters at Istanbul's Bayrampasa prison had barricaded
themselves inside their wards and refused to negotiate with the
authorities, Anatolian Agency said.
    A prison director and 11 wardens were being held hostage at
Batrampasa while at Buca jail in the Aegean port city of Izmir,
two prison officials and 15 wardens remained in the hands of the
prisoners.
    Police controlled the streets outside Istanbul's Bayrampasa
jail.
    Leftist prisoners in Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir and Yozgat had
rioted after three inmates were killed in a clash with troops at
Istanbul's high-security Umraniye jail on Thursday.
    On Friday, inmates at Ankara Closed Prison released six
guards and a prison official they had taken hostage earlier in
the day, ending the protest action.
    Most of the prisoners involved in Izmir and Umraniye were
either found guilty or are on trial for links to the
Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C), a
leftist group blamed for a series of attacks in Istanbul.
    Anatolian said rioters at Umraniye were also demanding legal
action against prison authorities for their part in Thursday's
clash.
    Prison authorities and police were unavailable for comment
on any of the incidents.
    Umraniye prison, which was opened last July, was the site in
December of two days of rioting in which about 70 prisoners and
security force members were wounded. Prisoners said they were
protesting at poor prison conditions.

Turkish Travel Agency In Germany Attacked

Bonn, Germany (Reuter - January 6, 1996) Attackers tried to
set fire to a Turkish travel agency in Berlin overnight and
Turkish left-wingers ended their occupation of a consular office
on Saturday, police said.
    Both incidents appeared to be linked to unrest in Turkey's
prisons. About two million Turks live in Germany, the largest
community in western Europe.
    The travel agency fire was put out before it caused much
damage and a police statement said a note was found nearby
linking it to the Turkish prison protests.
    In Mainz, police persuaded 13 members of the militant
left-wing Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C)
to end their occupation, begun 10 hours earlier, of the labour
attache's office at the Turkish consulate. All 13 were detained.
    In the northern city of Bremen, vandals threw petrol bombs
into a Turkish social club on Saturday but they failed to go
off.
    It was not clear whether this attack was linked to the jail
protests in Turkey, which entered a third day on Saturday.
    At Istanbul's Bayrampasa prison, a prison director and 11
wardens were being held hostage and at Buca jail in the Aegean
port of Izmir two prison officials and 15 wardens were in the
hands of the prisoners.
    Many of the inmates involved had been found guilty of, or
were accused of, belonging to the DHKP-C which has been blamed
for a series of bombings and killings in Istanbul.
    Riots broke out in a number of Turkish prisons after three
inmates were killed in a clash with troops at Istanbul's
high-security Umraniye jail on Thursday.
    On Thursday, arsonists attacked five Turkish targets in the
Cologne and Hamburg areas, causing minor damage. Police said
those attacks appeared to be designed to draw attention to the
prison revolts.

----

DHKC (Revolutionary People's Liberation Front) European
Representation Statement

On January 4, 1996, Fascism Executed An Attack On The
Umraniye-Prison (Istanbul/Turkey)

     In this attack 3 DHKP-C prisoners were murdered and about 50
people were wounded, some seriously. At present there are several
actions against this massacre in Turkey, actions in Turkey itself
and abroad, inside and outside the prisons. In one of these
actions 20 guards and the prison director of Bayrampasa-prison
were taken hostage by the prisoners.
     The demands of the DHKC-P (Revolutionary People's Liberation
Front-Party): Those who are responsible for the disappearances,
the massacres, the tortures and the murderers of Umraniye must be
tried in a open court, whose independence is without doubt.
     The joint demands of the prisoners who are in resistance:

1. The demands of the prisoners in Umraniye must be met.
2. The wounded must be treated and brought back to the community
cell. The prisoners must be allowed to meet their lawyers.
3. The attacks in the prisons must be stopped.
4. The deportation and transports to other prisons must be
stopped.
5. The people who were arrested during the protest against the
massacre in Umraniye must be released.

DHKC (Revolutionary People's Liberation Front)
European Representation
January 7, 1996

-----------------------------------------
Please be so kind and check out the URL
http://www.xs4all.nl/~ozgurluk/dhkc1.html
For regular information regarding the 
Peoples Liberation Struggle in Turkey
->email: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl
-----------------------------------------


 ++++ 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 WRI-AG.FOEGA at OLN.comlink.apc.org  Thu Jan 11 10:45:00 1996
From: WRI-AG.FOEGA at OLN.comlink.apc.org (WRI-AG.FOEGA at OLN.comlink.apc.org)
Date: 11 Jan 1996 10:45:00
Subject: International Nonviolent Training i
Message-ID: <60daUanh.TB@oln-68.oln.comlink.apc.org>

!--------------------------------------------------------------!
!                       WRI-AG der FoGA                        !
!                        Brahmweg  178                         !
!                     D- 26135 Oldenburg                       !
!                    Tel.: +49-441-203864                      !
!                    Fax:   +49-441-81077                      !
!          email: WRI-AG.FOEGA at OLN.comlink.apc.org             !
!--------------------------------------------------------------!

---------------------------------------------------------------
            Violence in a "Culture of Violence" *
      Study Trip and International Training on Non-Violence
         April, 15th - 28th, 1996 Izmir and Foca, Turkey

           DFG-VK Bildungswerk NRW, Dortmund, Germany,
          ISKD Izmir Savas Karsitlari Dernegi, Turkey
                  Die Kurve, Wustrow, Germany
---------------------------------------------------------------
"Culture of Violence":
During his stay in Germany in autumn 1995 a member of ISKD
spoke about the situation in Turkey in the words of a "Culture of
Violence". This meant the patriarchal society of his home country,
that in opposition to those of Western Europe does openly declare
that violence in public and private life is not only in its
structural but also in its physical form accepted and legal as a
means of rule and power: such as persecution, torture and murder,
military service and warfare.
The words of a "Culture of Violence" does also discribe the
relations between European states and Turkey. All of them being
members of Nato they do have a lot of military, economic and
political connections and cooperations that create structural and
physical violence, that simply are violence.


Our program on Non-Violence:

In cooperation between the DFG-VK Bildungswerk NRW (Education
Section of the German Peace Society DFG-VK), the "Kurve" (Training
Centre for Non-Violence and Direct Action) and the ISKD (Izmir
War Resisters Association) we will hold this two weeks
international training on non-voiolence in Turkey.
The seminar will have two parts, each of 7 days: a training
on non-violence at the smal town of Fota near by Izmir and a
study trip at Izmir itself.
The training will on the one hand deal with basic methods of
non-violence and direct action. On the other hand we will have
a look at the situation in Turkey and its implementations to
non-violence and international work of solidarity between war
resisters and pacifists. Therefore we would like to have the
same number of participants from Europe and from Turkey.
During the study trip to Izmir we will have the possibility to
learn to know the organisation, the work and the people of ISKD.
Besides this we will have meetings and talks with political
groups and persons in order to get a deeper view on the
circumstances of political work and peace activities in Turkey.


Topics of the training on non-violence:

- Non-violence and direct actions
- Analysing conflicts and developing strategies
- Dealing with conflicts
- Dealing with emotions (fear, sadness, anger, hate)
- Dealing with autorities (police, tortur/ers, military)
- Organising goups and making decisions (consensus)
- Cooperating internationaly
- ...

Topics of the study trip:

- Non-violence against the "Culture of Violence": The anti-mili-
  tarist work of the war resisters in Turkey
- Every day life under the "rule of military"
- Kurdish people in Western Turkey
- Statements of parties and other groups towards war and violence
- ..


Trainers at Foca:

The non-violent training will be hold by 4 persons, two of each
country, Turkey and Germany:
Huelya Uecimar and Fatih Oezakoglu are activists of ISKD and are
educated trainers on non-violence.
Eva Maria Willkomm and Joerg Rohwedder are educated trainers of
the "Kurve"'s taining collektive. Joerg also works at the working
group on "CO and antimilitarism in Turkey" of the DFG-VK.


Teamers at Izmir:

Also at Izmir we will have an internatinal team:
Osman Murat Uelke works at ISKD. Jan Brauns is member of the
working group on "International Peace Exchange" of the DFG-VK
Bildungswerk NRW.


Organisaton and delegation office:

Christiane Moecker works at DFG-VK Bildungswerk, Dortmund. Also
during the travel she will be our partner for all questions and
problems coming up.


Participants:

We hope to have the same number of participants from Turkey and
Europe; in total there will be about 20 persons.
To join the training you do not need to have knowledge on non-
violence or experiences with international work on solidarity,
although it could give good contributions to these two weeks.
Also you do not need to know details about the political
situation in Turkey; but it seems to be necessary to have an
"own picture" about this that bases on following the news on
the media about on Turkey and Kurdistan. Condition to join us
is, as you see, being interested in the topics of our training
and in the work of the organisations involved.


Languages:

The training will be hold both in Turkish and English.


Literature:

Inorder to prepare we will make a collection of articles on
non-violance, direct action and about the political situation in
Turkey.


Preparation meeting:

For participants from Germany and the countries around we will
have a meeting to prepare.


Other cooperation partners:

To get the money for this project we are cooperating with
Heinrich-Boell-Stiftung, Stiftung Gewaltfreies Leben, International
Solidaritaets-Fonds of Green Party Germany and Ausschuss fuer
entwicklungsbezogene Bildung und Publizistik.


Fees and application:

The fees for participants from Europe will be about 1000,- to
1500,- DM. This includes flight, accomodation, food and
training-fees. If you want to fly on your own let us know.
Cost without flight will be about 300,- to 800,- DM. If you
retreat from joining the training after March, 1st, you will
at least have to pay the costs of the flight - if an other
person cannot be found to go instead of you.
Please give your application using the application-form of
this leaflet to: DFG-VK Bildungswerk NRW, Braunschweiger Str. 22,
D-44145 Dortmund. Please transfer the fees until March, 1st, to
our account 001059181 at Sparkasse Dortmund (Bank-number 44050199).


Last date of application:

Last date of application will be March, 1st, 1996.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Application - Form:

By this I do apply to the Study Trip and International Training
on Non-Violence from April, 15th to 28th, 1996, at Izmir and
Foca, Turkey.

I will tansfer the participants fees until March, 1st, 1996, with
the specification "Study Trip to Turkey" to the account
no 001059181 hold by the DFG-VK Bildungswerk at the bank "Spar-
kasse Dortmund" (national bank no 44050199).

I hereby agree to the regulations of retreat, i.e. paying the
costs of flight in case of retreat after March, 1st.

"_"  Please, make a flight reservation for me.

"_"  I do not need a flight reservation, because I will organise
     it on own.

Name:           _______________________________________________

Street:         _______________________________________________

Town:           _______________________________________________

Country:        _______________________________________________

Telephone:      _______________________________________________

Town, Date, Signature: ________________________________________


DFG-VK Bildungswerk NRW:
Education Section of German Peace Society DFG-VK, Braunschweiger
Str. 22, 44145 Dortmund, Germany, Tel. 0049-0231-818032, Fax 818031

Die Kurve:
Training Centre for Non-Violence and Direct Action, Kirchstr. 14,
29462 Wustrow, Germany, Tel. 0049-5843-507, Fax 1405

Izmir Savas Karsitlari Dernegi:
Izmir War Resisters Association, 1468 Sokak No. 14, Alsancak, Izmir,
Turkey, Tel. 0090-232-4642492, Fax 0090-232-4640843
----------------------------------------------------------------
## CrossPoint v3.0 ##

From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Fri Jan 12 17:14:23 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 12 Jan 1996 17:14:23
Subject: Turkey asks U.S. to pressure Syria
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199601121447.JAA07144@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Turkey asks U.S. to pressure Syria on Kurd rebels

Turkey Asks U.S. To Pressure Syria On Kurd Rebels

Ankara, Turkey (Reuter - January 8, 1996) Turkey asked the
United States on Monday to press Syria during the Middle East
peace process to end its support for Kurdish rebels fighting
the Ankara government, Anatolian news agency said.
    The foreign ministry held a meeting with U.S. ambassador
Marc Grossman to ask for support from Washington against
Damascus, it said.
    ``Turkey is continuing to use the historic opportunity
created by the Middle East peace process to have Syria brought
into line,'' the state-run agency said.
    Turkey has long accused Syria of backing the Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK) guerrilla group whose leader Abdullah Ocalan
is believed to be based in Damascus or the Syrian-controlled
Bekaa Valley in Lebanon. Syria denies the charges.
    Anatolian, quoting unnamed Turkish officials, said the
foreign ministry had told Grossman of Turkey's ``annoyance at
Syria's support for terrorism.''
    More than 18,000 people have been killed in the PKK's
10-year fight for independence or autonomy in southeast Turkey.
    The two neighbours have been locked in a running dispute
over water, with Syria condemning Ankara's multi-billion-dollar
plan for building dams on the Euphrates.
    Damascus says this has led to a sharp decline in the flow of
water to Syria which uses it for drinking and irrigation. Turkey
denies the allegations.
    Israeli and Syrian negotiators have been meeting over the
last two weeks at a remote location outside Washington, the
latest in a four-year cycle of talks.
    Syria is also host to radical Palestinian groups that have
carried out attacks against Israeli targets.

From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Fri Jan 12 19:58:10 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 12 Jan 1996 19:58:10
Subject: Kurdish refugee children ask U.N. t
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199601121935.OAA12097@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Kurdish refugee children ask U.N. to resettle them

Kurdish Refugee Children Ask U.N. To Resettle Them

Islambad, Pakistan (Reuter - January 8, 1996) Several dozen
children of Kurdish refugees in Pakistan protested outside
the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) in Islamabad on Monday, demanding resettlement elsewhere.
    ``Stop discriminating, send us to a safe country,'' said one
placard held by the children. ``We demand justice,'' read
another.
    ``Our future is not certain and we have become victims of a
discriminatory policy of the UNHCR, which it has applied for
(the) last seven years,'' said a letter from the Kurdish
refugees to the UNHCR chief of mission.
    Ali Abdullah, a refugee spokesman, said the children were
protesting against alleged police harassment of Kurdish
refugees, 16 of whom have been on hunger strike for a month.
    He said the hunger strikers had been coming daily to protest
outside the UNHCR office, but were regularly removed by police.
    He said Pakistan was not sympathetic to Kurds because of its
good relations with Iraq, Turkey and Syria, whose Kurdish
minorities he said faced persecution.
    A Pakistani police official said police had to remove
Kurdish refugees who persisted in breaking the law by gathering
outside the UNHCR office, but he said none had been arrested.
    About 1,500 Iraqi Kurds fled to Pakistan via Iran during the
1990-91 Gulf crisis. Some have returned to Kurdish-controlled
northern Iraq.
    The UNHCR says Iraqi Kurds have ``enjoyed asylum, security
and hospitality'' in Pakistan for the past seven years, and that
they receive monthly subsistence allowances from the UNHCR.


From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Fri Jan 12 20:12:56 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 12 Jan 1996 20:12:56
Subject: Kurdish Militia (Village Guards) Fl
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199601121953.OAA12689@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Kurdish Militia (Village Guards) Flee Villages

Kurdish Militia Flee Villages

By Aliza Marcus

Van, Turkey (Reuter - January 9, 1996) Ramazan Duman once carried
a Kalashnikov and was counted among 55,000 Kurdish militiamen
armed and paid by the Turkish government to protect their
villages from attacks by separatist Kurdish rebels.
     Then last summer militia from Duman's village of Uzundere in
southeast Turkey - where the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) is
battling for self-rule - were ordered by soldiers to stand guard
on a mountain ridge.
     The PKK's attack that night was brutal and long. When the
fighting stopped, almost half the 45 Kurdish guards were either
dead or wounded. It was then the villagers decided to pack up
their belongings, turn in their guns and move out, Duman said.
     The village guard system in Turkey is promoted by Ankara as
a way for people in the mainly Kurdish region to protect
themselves from the PKK, which often raids the settlements for
food and shelter and threatens or kills those who refuse.
     But a decade after its inception, the programme is under
attack: by PKK rebels who target the militia and their families;
by human rights monitors who say villagers are forced to take up
arms; and by some guards themselves.
     International human rights monitors like the New York-based
Human Rights Watch and some Turkish political parties have called
for an end to arming villagers, arguing the system is open to
abuse.
     Kurds say security forces use the system to distinguish
between supposedly pro-government and pro-PKK Kurds, forcibly
evacuating villages that do not join the militia.
     "When we became village guards they said it was to protect
our village, because otherwise the guerrillas would take food and
steal our children", said Duman, 40, who in October moved to a
makeshift refugee camp in the nearby city of Van.
     But that was not the way it turned out, he said.
     "They used us as a special team, taking us everywhere with
them, even across the border into northern Iraq, sending us to
the mountains", complained Duman, standing among grubby children
and women cooking potatoes over open fires.
     A top Turkish official in the region denied village guards
in the area were abused by soldiers.
     Ahmet Erturk, the Ankara-appointed deputy governor for 10
southeastern provinces under emergency rule, said Kurds were
flocking to join the militia - which pays the equivalent of $200
a month, considered a princely sum in the region.
     "Why would soldiers put pressure on village guards? This is
not something soldiers would do", said Erturk in his office in
the region's main city of Diyarbakir.
     He suggested the some guards might actually have been
working with the PKK, and when this was discovered by soldiers a
conflict broke out.
     But former village guards interviewed in three refugee sites
in and around Van denied ties to the PKK, which they said often
targeted them in the bitter 11-year-long guerrilla war which has
claimed more than 18,000 lives.
     They said they also had trouble with Turkish security
forces, alleging they were forced to take part in cross-border
operations, collect firewood for soldiers and were subjected to
verbal and physical abuse.
     "The PKK would kill the soldiers, the soldiers would kill
them and we were in the middle", said 45-year-old Cemal Dayan,
who with 185 others moved into a row of empty shops in Van.
     Some Kurds have also blamed village guards for various
abuses, such as aiding in forced evacuations. The guards
interviewed in Van denied taking part in such acts.
     Government officials have blamed evacuation and burning of
villages on PKK rebels or said people are leaving on their own
accord. About 2,500 settlements in the region are empty.
     But the village guard system as a test of Kurdish loyalties
may be falling apart, as illustrated by Uzundere, a settlement of
some 6,000 people right up against Turkey's border with Iraq.
     These Uzundere villagers willingly joined the militia in
1989, but found that as the PKK's campaign grew stronger the
military trusted them less.
     "The army would still say to us - 'you are feeding them, you
are Kurds' - even as the mortars were falling on our children",
said 36-year-old Said Dayan.
     By this summer, almost all the local militia in the some 50
settlements abutting the Iraqi border had turned in their guns
and fled their villages with their families, leaving the area a
virtual no man's land.
     Those former village guards interviewed say they probably
will never return to their homes, at least not while the PKK
keeps up its fight for independence.

From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Fri Jan 12 20:13:17 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 12 Jan 1996 20:13:17
Subject: Updated News (Mainstream) On Turkis
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199601121952.OAA12641@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Updated News (Mainstream) On Turkish Prison Resistance

Turkish Bank In Zurich Briefly Occupied

Zurich, Switzerland (Reuter - January 9, 1995) Turkish leftists
briefly occupied a Turkish bank in Zurich on Tuesday to protest
over the deaths of three prisoners at a high-security jail in
Turkey last week.
     A spokesman for Zurich police said the bank was occupied for
about 1 1/2 hours. A group of half-a-dozen men left the building
peacefully when the police arrived.
     The spokesman added that neither the bank nor the police
would file criminal charges.
     Earlier on Tuesday a statement faxed to an international
news agency from a group named Devrimci Sol Cuecler said the bank
Turkiye is Bankasi AS had been occupied in the protest.
     The bank's offices are located on the square in front of
Zurich's main railway station.
     Several Turkish prisons erupted in violence last week and
inmates took prison officials as hostage.
     But earlier on Tuesday inmates released the last hostages
and returned to their cells.
     The protests were triggered by the deaths of three prisoners
in a fight with troops at Istanbul's high-security Umraniye jail.
     The Turkish Justice Ministry on Monday sacked the director
and prosecutor at Umraniye jail, meeting one of the demands by
the prisoners.
     Most of the prisoners involved in the protests are on trial
or serving time for links to the Revolutionary People's
Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C), a leftist group blamed for a
series of attacks in Istanbul.

Turkish Jail Officials Dismissed After Deaths

Ankara, Turkey (Reuter - January 9, 1996) Turkey's Justice
Ministry has sacked two officials at an Istanbul prison hit by
unrest last week, meeting one of the demands by leftist prisoners
holding hostages at other jails, Anatolian news agency said.
     The director and prosecutor at Umraniye jail were dismissed
on Monday night following the death of three left-wing militant
inmates in clashes with troops there, the agency said.
     Prisoners holding 28 wardens and officials hostage at
Istanbul's Bayrampasa jail, Buca prison in the western city of
Izmir, and Bartin in eastern Turkey had demanded the sacking of
prison officials at Umraniye.
     Leftist prisoners in Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir and Yozgat had
rioted to protest against the Umraniye clash.
     Most of the prisoners involved in the protests are on trial
or serving time for links to left-wing urban guerrilla groups.
     Justice Ministry officials and lawyers for the prisoners on
Monday held talks to end the stand-off in the Istanbul and Izmir
jails.
     Officials and lawyers reached agreement on most of the
demands by prisoners, human rights officials said, but
negotiations were stuck on two points - that inmates in different
wards be allowed to visit during the day and an end to nightly
security checks for tunnels dug in prison wards.

Journalist Found Dead In Istanbul, Police Blamed

Istanbul, Turkey (Reuter - January 9, 1996) A Turkish journalist
for the left-wing Evrensel daily has been found dead in Istanbul,
and the newspaper and human rights lawyers blamed police on
Tuesday for the death.
     The body of Metin Goktepe, 27, was found near a gymnasium in
Istanbul on Monday night.
     Anatolian news agency said an examination by the
prosecutor's office found no sign of violence on the body.
     But lawyers from Human Rights Association, who saw the body
at the morgue, said they believed Goktepe was beaten to death.
     Evrensel said Goktepe was detained by police on Monday as he
was covering the funeral of two leftist prisoners killed during a
riot last week and beaten to death by officers in the gymnasium
where he was taken with other detainees.
     Turkish journalists associations have protested against the
alleged murder and accused police of stepping up attacks on
journalists.

Negotiations Underway To End Turkish Prison Riots

By Aliza Marcus

Istanbul, Turkey (Reuter - January 8, 1996) Negotiations are
underway to free 23 hostages held by Turkish inmates in prison
riots sparked by last week's death of three leftist prisoners,
human rights officials said on Monday.
    Justice Ministry officials and lawyers for the prisoners were
holding talks to end the four-day stand-off in the Istanbul and
Izmir jails where prisoners are holding officials hostage, the
independent Human Rights Association of Turkey (HRA) said.
     "Lawyers are negotiating now with Justice Ministry officials
in Istanbul's Umraniye prison", Mukaddes Alatas, an official with
the HRA's prison commission, told Reuters.
     Justice Ministry officials could not be reached for comment.
     Leftist militants in Istanbul's Bayrampasa prison are still
holding six prison officials while in the Aegean port of Izmir,
inmates are holding two prison officials and 15 wardens.
     The HRA's prison commission said that in two days of talks
in various locations, officials and lawyers reached agreement on
most of the 36 demands by prisoners to end the unrest, but
negotiations were stuck on two points.
     The talks had reached an impasse over the demand that
inmates in different wards be allowed to visit during the day and
an end to nightly security checks for tunnels being dug in prison
wards, Alatas said.
     The hostage-taking started after three militant leftists
were killed last Thursday in a clash between prisoners and
security forces in the Umraniye jail.
     The prison tension soon spread to jails around the country
while supporters of the prisoners and police clashed over the
weekend in Istanbul.
     Leftist prisoners in Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir and Yozgat had
rioted to protest at the clash and in some prisons hunger strikes
or other protests were still taking place, Alatas said.
     A Reuters Television cameramen at Monday's funeral of two
militant leftists said police lined the road leading to the
cemetery on the city's outskirts and only allowed close relatives
to attend.
     A Turkish police spokesman said 34 people in the area near
the cemetary were detained while the HRA said hundreds of poeple
had been held for identity checks.
     Most of the prisoners involved in the protests are on trial
or serving time for links to the Revolutionary People's
Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C), a leftist group blamed for a
series of bombing attacks and murders in Istanbul.
     Kurdish prisoners linked with separatist rebels fighting for
self-rule in southeast Turkey were not taking part in the riots
because of the unilateral ceasefire called last month by the
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), sources said.
     Umraniye prison, which was opened last July, was the site in
December of two days of rioting in which about 70 prisoners and
security force members were wounded. Prisoners said they were
protesting at poor prison conditions.

Firebombs Again Hit Turkish Targets In Germany

Stuttgart, Germany (Reuter - January 8, 1996) Arsonists
apparently protesting against conditions in Turkey's prisons hit
Turkish targets in Germany for the fourth consecutive night,
police said on Monday.
     One firebomb gutted a storey of a house containing a Turkish
youth group in Singen, on Lake Constance in southern Germany.
Another burned out a Turkish travel agency in the central German
city of Darmstadt.
     The fires caused property damage but no injuries.
     Militant Turkish prisoners on Sunday released six prison
officials they had taken hostage in Istanbul last week, but
rioters were still holding other people they seized on Friday.
     Most of the prisoners involved in the protests are on trial
or serving time for links to the Revolutionary People's
Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C), a leftist group blamed for a
series of attacks in Istanbul.
     Supporters of the Marxist prisoners ran riot in Istanbul and
clashed with police on Sunday.
     Cem Oezdemir, a member of Germany's parliament whose parents
are Turkish, singled out supporters of the banned left-wing
extremist group "Dev Sol" for attacks in Germany.
     "I think that one can neither allow this kind of war by
proxy in Germany nor express understanding for it", he told
German radio.
     But he also called for turning up the pressure on Ankara to
improve conditions in prisons by reducing massive overcrowding
and replacing security officials.
     Some two million Turks live in Germany, the largest
community outside Turkey itself.

Turkish Prisoners Release Six Hostages; Hold Others

Ankara, Turkey (Reuter - January 7, 1996) Militant Turkish
prisoners Sunday released six prison officials they had taken
hostage in Istanbul last week, Anatolian news agency said.
     The agency said rioters at Bayrampasa prison who freed the
six wardens were still holding a prison director and five other
wardens.
     Officials say efforts continue to persuade rioters to
release other hostages in the hands of the prisoners since
Friday.
     Most of the prisoners involved in the protests are on trial
or serving time for links to the Revolutionary People's
Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C), a leftist group blamed for a
series of attacks in Istanbul.
     Supporters of the Marxist prisoners ran riot in Istanbul and
clashed with police Sunday.
     A group of 30 demonstrators shot a policeman in Istanbul's
residential district of Eyup district in violence which broke out
after they set fire to a public bus.
     The policeman was taken to a state hospital.
     The agency said a group of about 200 people shouting slogans
in support of the prisoners hurled gasoline bombs at buses and
police cars in Eyup Saturday night. Nobody was hurt.
     Police arrested 21 demonstrators.
     In the Aegean port of Izmir, inmates are still holding two
prison officials and 15 wardens taken hostage last week at Buca
jail.
     Police tightened security measures around the prisons.
     The prisoners demand legal action against authorities of
another prison in Istanbul's Umraniye district over a clash last
week, lawyers said.
     Three prisoners were killed and dozens wounded Thursday in a
fight with troops at the high-security Umraniye jail. Leftist
prisoners in Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir and Yozgat had rioted to
protest the clash.
     Umraniye prison, which was opened last July, was the site in
December of two days of rioting in which about 70 prisoners and
security force members were wounded. Prisoners said they were
protesting poor prison conditions.

Turkish Premises Firebombed in Hamburg

Bonn, Germany (Reuter - January 7, 1996) Arsonists attacked a
Turkish travel agency and a community association in the German
city of Hamburg overnight, leaving behind leaflets protesting at
the Turkish government's treatment of its prisoners, police said
on Sunday.
     It was the third successive day that Turkish premises had
been targeted in what appeared to be a campaign to draw attention
to unrest in Turkey's prisons. Some two million Turks live in
Germany, the largest community outside Turkey itself.
     Petrol bombs were thrown into both offices but police said
the fires were put out quickly and the damage was slight.
     Imprisoned leftists in Turkey were holding 29 people hostage
on Sunday on the fourth day of a country-wide protest.
     Many have been accused or convicted of membership of the
militant Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C)
which has been blamed for a series of bombings and killings in
Istanbul.
     Lawyers said they were demanding the release of people
detained in street demonstrations, and action against officials
of Istanbul's Umraniye jail, where three prisoners were killed
and dozens wounded on Thursday in a clash with troops.
     On Saturday vandals threw petrol bombs into a Turkish social
club in the German city of Bremen but they failed to go off.
     On Friday night members of the DHKP-C occupied the labour
attache's office at the Turkish consulate in Mainz for 10 hours
before giving themselves up to police.
     On Thursday, arsonists attacked five Turkish targets in the
Cologne and Hamburg areas, causing minor damage.

Unrest Flares In Istanbul In Support Of Prisoners

Ankara, Turkey (Reuter - January 7, 1996) Supporters of
protesting Turkish prisoners ran riot in Istanbul on Saturday
night, hurling petrol bombs at buses, police cars and shops.
     The prisoners kept up their demonstrations for a fourth day
on Sunday and were still holding hostage 29 prison officials and
warders in two jails.
     Anatolian news agency said a group of about 200 people
shouting slogans in support of the prisoners hurled petrol bombs
at buses and police cars in Istanbul's residential district of
Eyup on Saturday night. Nobody was hurt.
     Police arrested 21 demonstrators.
     In four other distrcits small groups of about 20 people
staged similiar demonstrations and attacks. They fled before
police intervened.
     A shop-owner was wounded when unidentified people threw a
petrol bomb into a grocery shop in Sariyer, Anantolian said.
     Most of the prisoners involved in the protests are on trial
or serving time for links to the Revolutionary People's
Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C), a leftist group blamed for a
series of attacks in Istanbul.
     Rioters at Istanbul's Bayrampasa prison have barricaded
themselves inside their wards and are holding a prison director
and 11 wardens.
     In the Aegean port of Izmir, inmates are still holding two
prison officials and 15 wardens taken hostage last week at Buca
jail.
     Police tightened security measures around the prisons and
officials say efforts continue to persuade rioters to end their
actions.
     The prisoners demand legal action against authorities of
another prison in Istanbul's Umraniye district over a clash last
week, lawyers said.
     Three prisoners were killed and dozens wounded on Thursday
in a fight with troops at the high-security Umraniye jail.
Leftist prisoners in Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir and Yozgat had
rioted to protest the clash.
     Umraniye prison, which was opened last July, was the site in
December of two days of rioting in which about 70 prisoners and
security force members were wounded. Prisoners said they were
protesting at poor prison conditions.


From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Fri Jan 12 20:13:51 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 12 Jan 1996 20:13:51
Subject: Mainstream News On DHKC Assassinati
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199601121955.OAA12765@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Mainstream News On DHKC Assassination Of Turkish Industrialist

Leftists Kill Turkish Industrialist

By Aliza Marcus

Istanbul, Turkey (Reuter - January 9, 1996) Left-wing guerrillas
Tuesday murdered two Turkish businessmen, including the scion of
one of the country's most powerful industrial dynasties, in a
daring daytime raid on the family's corporate headquarters.
     Gunmen breached security at the twin towers of Sabanci
Center in Istanbul and shot and killed Ozdemir Sabanci, head of
the Toyotasa car joint venture with Japan, and Haluk Gorgun, the
firm's general manager, a Toyotasa spokesman said.
     A secretary was also murdered, the spokesman said.
     A left-wing urban guerrilla group immediately claimed
responsibility for the killings, saying it was to avenge the
deaths of three comrades in a prison riot last week.
     Business groups condemned the attack, the first political
killing in years of a major business executive. They said it
reflected the uncertainty gripping the nation since collapse of
the ruling coalition in September.
     "We warn the politicians that the political vacuum in Turkey
provokes such kinds of attacks", said Refik Baydur, head of the
Turkish Union of Employers.
     The Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C),
a spin-off of Turkey's most deadly urban leftist guerrilla group
Dev-Sol (Revolutionary Left), took responsibility in a phone call
to the leftist weekly Kurtulus.
     "We will continue to take revenge on blood that is spilled
by fascism", DHKP/C said, according to a statement issued by
Kurtulus.
     Special Steel Force police, armed with pistols and automatic
rifles, ringed off the Sabanci headquarters in Istanbul's
fashionable Levent district.
     No one was allowed to leave as teams of investigators
searched the building for the assailants.
     "It's virtually impossible for anyone to get in, let alone
leave the building", said a police commander at the scene. Three
ambulances were parked just inside the compound's big security
walls.
     The DHKP/C group was blamed last year for the killing of at
least three policemen in Istanbul and numerous small bombings.
     "In retaliation for the murder of Revolutionary People's
fighters we raided the building connected with Sabanci and
punished them with death", their statement said.
     Last week three alleged DHKP/C prisoners died during a clash
in Istanbul's Umraniye prison. The incident set off five days of
rioting during which about 30 prison guards and officials were
held hostage at jails throughout the country.
     The last of the hostages were released Tuesday morning after
prison authorities and the justice ministry agreed to meet
demands for better conditions.
     "I am very sorry to hear about this murder which I
thoroughly condemn", President Suleyman Demirel told reporters.
     The Sabanci family is one of Turkey's two most powerful
industrial dynasties, with interests ranging from automobiles to
textiles and processed foods.
     Ozdemir Sabanci, 54, was the youngest of five brothers and
chairman of Toyotosa in which Sabanci Holding has 50 percent
stake, Toyota 40 percent and Japan's Mitsui 10 percent. He was
also a member of the Sabanci Holding executive board chaired by
his eldest brother, Sakip.
     A London-based fund manager with large holdings in Turkey
said the killings were unlikely to shake the markets, which are
more worried about the lack of a government than murder.
     A new government is still not in sight more than two weeks
after general elections at which the Islamist Welfare Party (RP)
came first. The party did not win an absolute majority.

Turkish Business Blames Killings on Political Turmoil

By Servet Yildirim

Ankara, Turkey (Reuter - January 9, 1996) Turkish businessmen,
angered by the murder of two leading industrialists on Tuesday,
urged party leaders to end more than three months of political
turmoil which they say has set the stage for leftist guerrilla
attacks.
     Ozdemir Sabanci, board member of Sabanci Holding and head of
Japanese-Turkish joint venture Toyotasa, Haluk Gorgun, Toyotasa
general manager, and a secretary were shot dead on Tuesday by
gunmen who burst into their offices at the company's Istanbul
headquarters.
     State-run Anatolian news agency said a leftist urban
guerrilla group had claimed responsibility.
     However, bankers said the attack was unlikely to shake
financial markets, which shrugged off the attack.
     "This should be taken as an individual incident and nobody
should expect the economy to suffer in the short run. But the
timing of the attack is very interesting", industrialist Sozer
Ozel, chairman of Ankara's Chamber of Industry, told Reuters.
     "It took place when Turkey and its economy are under
pressure from political uncertainty. Their target is to
destabilise Turkey and the economy", Ozel said.
     Brokers say the news has had little impact on the shares of
the Sabanci firms on the Istanbul stock exchange. They say it
sparked a slight wave of selling trend in early trading, but the
trend did not last long. Shares closed up on Tuesday although
trading remained cautious because of political uncertainty.
     "We warn the politicians that the political vacuum in Turkey
provokes such kinds of attacks. Political reconciliation should
be achieved as soon as possible and the political vacuum should
be filled", Refik Baydur, head of the Turkish Employers Union,
said.
     Hours after the killings, President Suleyman Demirel gave
Islamist leader Necmettin Erbakan the task of forming a new
government after inconclusive general elections last month,
Anatolian news agency said.
     No party won an absolute majority in the elections and talks
among the five political parties represented at parliament have
failed to yield a concrete outcome.
     Murat Bekdik, head of Turkey's Young Businessmen
Association, said: "Turkey cannot meet the year 2000 with hatred
and polarisation. The only target... must be to form a serious
government which can bring solutions to major problems".
     Turkey's Union of Chambers and Bourses (TOBB) fears other
attacks on businessmen unless the turmoil is resolved.
     "The Turkish community of free entreprise has always met
with such attacks when the political and administrative
authorities weakened and governments were not set up", TOBB
chairman Fuat Miras said.
     Ozdemir Sabanci, 54, headed the automotive group of Sabanci
Holding, one of Turkey's two biggest industrial dynasties.
     The group owns a range of companies from textiles to banking
and set up joint ventures with leading western and Japanese
companies such as Toyota, Mitsubishi, Hilton, Dresdner Bank, BNP,
Philip Morris, Kraft Jacobs and Bridgestone.
     Toyotasa, owned 40 percent by Sabanci Holding and 50 percent
by Toyota and 10 percent by Mitsui, produced 21,458 passenger
cars in 1995.

Turkish Leftists Still Active After Reaching Zenith in 1970's

Istanbul, Turkey (Reuter - January 9, 1996) Leftist guerrillas
Tuesday killed two leading members of Turkey's business world,
adding to the scores of Turkish and foreign businessmen and
military figures they have killed in recent decades.
     Urban guerrilla groups have their roots in the left-right
street fighting of the late 1970s in which about 5,000 people
died.
     A 1980 military coup curbed the violence but leftist
militants have remained active, mostly in Istanbul.
     The following gives a chronology of leftist attacks which
have resulted in killings since the beginning of 1994:

* January 9, 1996: Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front
(DHKP/C), an offshoot of the urban guerrilla group Dev Sol
(Revolutionary Left), claimed responsibility for the killing of
prominent businessman Ozdemir Sabanci, cheif executive of car
producer Toyotasa, its general manager Haluk Gorgun and a
secretary in the company's central Istanbul head office.

* December 9, 1995: DHKP/C killed two paramilitary gendarmes at a
sentry post in Istanbul.

* September 27, 1995: DHKP/C guerrillas killed a police officer
in suburban Istanbul.

* August 3, 1995: Turkish Revolutionary Communist Union (TIKB)
claimed the killing of two high school students in Istanbul.

* July 27, 1995: A police officer was killed by DHKP/C militants
at an Istanbul hospital.

* July 16, 1995: DHKP/C militants killed a policeman in Istanbul.

* June 28, 1995: DHKP/C inmates of Ankara prison killed one of
the group's members in the jail for being a "confessor."

* June 9, 1995: DHKP/C claimed the killing of a policeman
guarding a political party building in Istanbul.

* December 15, 1994: Dev-Sol militants killed an army major in
city of Elazig in a rare attack in Turkey's east.

* September 29, 1994: Former Justice Minister Mehmet Topac was
killed by Revolutionary People's Forces (DHG), another offshoot
of Dev Sol, in Ankara.

     Dev Sol claimed responsibility for the killing in 1991 and
1992 of several Turkish and U.S. businessmen as well as military
personnel in Istanbul, Ankara, Adana and Izmir.
     The hardline Maoist group Turkish and Workers Peasants
Liberation Army (TIKKO) have targeted soldiers, policemen and
village guards in Turkey's eastern regions since the 1970s but
their attacks have been limited in recent years because of an
internal feud and the deaths of leaders in clashes.

Maoists Terrorists Kill Two Soldiers in Eastern Turkey

Tunceli, Turkey, Jan 9 (Reuter) - Maoist mountain guerrillas in
eastern Turkey have killed two soldiers and wounded two others in
an outbreak of extreme-left violence, security officials said on
Tuesday.
     Members of the Turkish Workers and Peasants Liberation Army
(TIKKO) firing rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons
killed the troops in the rugged eastern province of Tunceli on
Monday night, they said.
     The attack was apparently in revenge for the killing of
three militant leftist prisoners in a clash with troops at an
Istanbul jail last week, the officials said.
     The hardline Maoist group has been targeting soldiers,
policemen and village chiefs in Tunceli since the 1970s but its
attacks have been limited in recent years because of internal
feuds and the deaths of leaders in clashes.
     TIKKO sometimes stages joint operations with Kurdish
separatist guerrillas in the province.
     Another militant leftist group took responsibility for the
killing of two leading Turkish industrialists in Istanbul on
Tuesday, hours after left-wing inmates released dozens of
hostages they had held at jails throughout the country.

From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Fri Jan 12 20:14:48 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 12 Jan 1996 20:14:48
Subject: 96/01/11 - DHKC Information Bureau
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199601122004.PAA13029@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: 96/01/11 - DHKC Information Bureau (Amsterdam) Statement

Statement From DHKC Information Bureau (Amsterdam)
January 11, 1996

The Umraniye Massacre Still Has Its Consequences: Another Comrade
Has Died

     The fascist regime in our country launched an attack in the
Umraniye-prison on January 4, 1996 and murdered three of our
comrades. Orhan Sozen, Abulmecit Seckin and Riza Boybas who died
in this attack are only a part of chain. Already on September 21,
1995, a similar attack on the prisoners was started in the
Buca-prison and three comrades were murdered. Today our comrade
Gultekin Beyhan, who was brought to the hospital of
Bayrampasa-prison, has fallen. Nowadays the government carries
its policy of the massacres and disappearances also into the
prisons: the imprisoned people are murdered. This policy is so
cruel that it can not be described in appropriate terms. The post
mortem reports of our comrades who were slaughtered while they
were defenceless, are testimony to this. All our comrades died
because of broken skulls and the resulting cerebral haemorrhages.
They were beaten in a most brutal way. The soldiers and the
special units of the state attacked with the intention to kill.
Their targets were the prisoners, stuck between the four walls of
the prison and with no other weapons except their bodies to
defend themselves. The leader and those responsible for the
attack on the prisons is the contra-guerrilla itself. The attack
on the Umraniye-prison was directly executed by the deputy leader
of the Anti-Terror Department in Istanbul, Resat Altay. In this
attack more than 50 prisoners were wounded, 28 of them seriously.
And as if this was not enough already, the police occupied the
whole of Istanbul during the funeral of our comrades, 4,000
people were arrested and the bodies were, despite the strong
protest of the family, kidnapped by the police. Also on that day,
a reporter from the daily "Evrensel", Metin Goektepe, was beaten
brutally to death by the police and his body was thrown into a
tea-house. Our comrade Gultekin Beyhan, who was treated in the
hospital of the Bayrampasa-prison, fell today. His skull was
broken in several places and his body was covered with deep
wounds and internal bleedings. Beyhan fought against death for
one week. Beyhan has lost the fight against death, but the true
loser will be fascism. The fascist regimes in the past could not
save themselves by their massacres, torture and executions. And
they will not save themselves in the future.
     Call to the public: Let us not be bystanders and just watch
the fascist regime in Turkey. Let's expose the fascist regime,
let us remember the massacred.

-----------------------------------------
Please be so kind and check out the URL
http://www.xs4all.nl/~ozgurluk/dhkc1.html
For regular information regarding the 
Peoples Liberation Struggle in Turkey
->email: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl
-----------------------------------------


 ++++ 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 kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Fri Jan 12 20:14:50 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 12 Jan 1996 20:14:50
Subject: 96/01/09 - DHKC Information Bureau
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199601122007.PAA13124@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: 96/01/09 - DHKC Information Bureau (Amsterdam) Statement

DHKC Information Bureau (Amsterdam) Statement On Umraniye And
It's Aftermath

This Is Fascism
This Is Istanbul
These Were The People Who Were Massacred But Who Were Never
Defeated

     The police arrested 4,000 people. They kidnapped the bodies
of the murdered DHKP-C prisoners. On January 4, 1996, 3 DHKP-C
prisoners were killed in Umraniye-prison. Two of them, Riza
Boybas and Orhan Ozen, were supposed to be buried on January 8,
1996. However, the fascist government showed their disgusting
face again: the police forces blocked the streets in Istanbul and
arrested 4,000 people to prevent them from attending the funeral
of the DHKP-C prisoners. The funeral procession was supposed to
start from Alibeykoey/Istanbul, but the police blocked all the
streets and began to arrest the people who wanted to join the
ceremony. The police used brutal force against the people:
elderly people, women and children were beaten by them. The
normal police stations were not big enough to keep all of the
arrested people: they took a lot of people to the sports arena in
the Eyup-neighbourhood. These circumstances remind us of the
situation in Chile under the regime of Pinochet, the military
coup of March 12, 1970 and the junta of September 12, 1980, in
Turkey. Emin Goktepe, a journalist from "Evrensel" paper, was
also held in this hall. His tortured body was later found just
outside of this building.
     Orhan Tasanlar, the chief of police in Istanbul, stated on
his first day of office: "I came to Istanbul to chop off the
heads". He is a headhunter, chief of the contra-guerrilla. This
is all his doing. The fascist horde even were scared of the dead
bodies of our comrades Boybas and Ozen. The police told the
families that they could only have a funeral with the relatives
and lawyers. The families refused this idea. Thereupon the
families and the lawyers were attacked by the police and another
group of policemen kidnapped the bodies and buried them. They
didn't even respect the right of the families to have their own
ceremony. This is the real and disgusting face of fascism, on
January 8, 1996. They were the losers, they were desperate.

"You will see the hope will rise and go on!
Your fear will get to your throat, you'll see!
And you're scared of us"

     The martyrs of Umraniye already found a warm place in the
hearts of our people. Do not be happy, you can not oppress the
people, you can not silence their voice with torture, massacres
and disappearances. You can not force 60 million people to
surrender.

Note: According to our information 3 DHKP-C comrades were killed
and more than 50 prisoners were wounded. 4 of them are still in
intensive care: their lives are in danger. In other prisons the
revolutionary prisoners acted in solidarity and showed their
support with the people in Umraniye-prison: tens of guards and a
couple of directors were taken hostage. After negotiations
between representatives of the prisoners, lawyers from the
People's Justice Bureau, the Progressive Lawyers Association,
human rights organisations and the government, all the demands
from the prisoners were conceded. According to this deal, there
will be no more attacks on the prisons, no transfer of prisoners
to other prisons, the wounded prisoners will receive proper
medical treatment, and the prisoners are allowed to see their
relatives and lawyers again. During the events in the prisons,
there was a lot of protest outside the prisons, in Turkey and
abroad. These actions are still going on.

DHKC Information Bureau Amsterdam
January 9, 1996

-----------------------------------------
Please be so kind and check out the URL
http://www.xs4all.nl/~ozgurluk/dhkc1.html
For regular information regarding the 
Peoples Liberation Struggle in Turkey
->email: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl
-----------------------------------------


 ++++ 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 kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Sun Jan 14 03:41:38 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 14 Jan 1996 03:41:38
Subject: Watch "60 Minutes" this Sunday!
Message-ID: <bac1c849.QQzyki01587.199601140104@alterdi>

From: akin at kurdish.org (American Kurdish Information Network (AKIN))

Sunday - January 13, 1996 - 7:00pm on CBS

The program "60 Minutes" will be airing a piece this Sunday about
the use of American weapons by the Turkish military. The show will
document the wanton destruction of Kurdish villages by the Turkish
military, often with American-made arms. Be sure to watch CBS
this Sunday!



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

Tel: (202) 483-6444
Fax: (202) 483-6476

E-mail: akin at kurdish.org
http://burn.ucsd.edu/~akin
----




From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Sun Jan 14 16:57:05 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 14 Jan 1996 16:57:05
Subject: FOCUS Interview With PKK Leader Abd
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199601141648.LAA23078@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: FOCUS Interview With PKK Leader Abdullah Ocalan

"You All Can Be Glad..."

Despite His Claims Of Halting Violence, PKK Leader Abdullah Ocalan 
Threatens Germans Once Again

FOCUS: Your meeting with the director of the Federal Office for the 
Protection of the Constitution (Verfassungsschutz) and with the CDU 
parliamentarian Heinrich Lummer caused quite a stir in Germany and 
greatly angered our NATO partner Turkey. How did these contacts come about?

Ocalan: In both cases, the impetus for the talks came from the Germans. I 
welcomed these, because it gave me a chance to comment on German policies 
which are unclear in their treatment of the Kurds.

FOCUS: Did the Verfassungsschutz and the MP listen well?

Ocalan: In both cases, I think, the Germans were given quite new impressions.

FOCUS: How so?

Ocalan: They seemed to have thought before that Apo is dumb and doesn't 
understand anything. Now they no longer think this. Both visitors 
understood in the end that Germany's position with respect to the PKK is 
too narrow.

FOCUS: But you didn't exactly become close friends either.

Ocalan: No, but they used to think I was some sort of anarchist who is 
opposed to the rule of law in Germany. But then they were surprised when 
they heard that I, too, can admit mistakes.

FOCUS: Such as?

Ocalan: I regret that some of our actions have caused problems with 
respect to the law in Germany.

FOCUS: You mean like autobahn blockades and arson attacks. Did the 
director of the Verfassungsschutz chastise you for this?

Ocalan: The representative from Germany's interior ministry wanted to 
explain Germany's legal system to me. He seemed to think I didn't know 
anything about this. But I tried to make him understand that I cannot be 
held accountable for everything which happens in Germany.

FOCUS: Who is responsible then?

Ocalan: I tried to point out how the Turkish intelligence agency MIT has 
been in Germany since 1984, trying to defame us as a dangerous group. 
They have tried to blame everything on us, like the attempted 
assassination of the Pope and the murder of [Swedish prime minister] Palme.

FOCUS: What, in your opinion, is the Turkish intelligence service trying 
to achieve by doing this?

Ocalan: We were sure that our national liberation struggle would find 
great popular support in Europe. The tactics of the MIT are designed to 
undercut this support.

FOCUS: Were you able to get along with the director of the 
Verfassungsschutz, considering that he always has your people under 
observation in Germany?

Ocalan: (laughing) Maybe he himself would admit, that banning the PKK was 
a bad idea, that things need to be improved now.

FOCUS: Please, just tell us how this meeting came about!

Ocalan: He called our people in Europe. I didn't have any objections to 
meeting with him. I knew that the German position of banning us was wrong 
from the start. Perhaps this mistake will be corrected. I really trust 
the director.

FOCUS: He alone cannot lift the ban against the PKK.

Ocalan: I told him that it's important to get to know the PKK. It's wrong 
to view the PKK in Germany as a domestic problem. The PKK must be viewed 
in conjunction with foreign policy.

FOCUS: Let's stick to domestic politics for right now. In Germany, 17 
high-ranking PKK functionaries are in prison, because...

Ocalan: The detention of our friends had no legal basis whatsoever.

FOCUS: Your people were arrested duly convicted on charges of murder, 
extortion, and assault.

Ocalan: Wrong. My people in German prisons are political hostages. They 
are using this method to put pressure on us. That is a mistake.

FOCUS: That sounds like a threat.

Ocalan: In Turkey, ten thousand of our friends are in prison. Hundreds 
received death sentences. But that has not affected my struggle. I can 
say the same thing for the arrests in Germany. These will not alter our 
policies. The arrests are just an act of revenge. And the confiscation of 
books, as has happened to us, has a dirty history in Europe.

FOCUS: How will you exert influence over your followers if 17 regional 
PKK leaders are in prison in Germany?

Ocalan: In Germany, we have dozens of functionaries. It would be nearly 
impossible to stop our friends and their activities there (laughs). We 
have hundreds of cadre in Germany...

FOCUS: You sound aggressive, and yet you recently pledged non-violence.

Ocalan: And we will honor that pledge. There was a massive demonstration 
this year in Bonn with tens of thousands of people. There were no 
disturbances there.

FOCUS: And will things remain that way?

Ocalan: I don't think there will be any negative developments. Why should 
we want to create any more problems? We will not tolerate any violence on 
German soil. We cannot win any sort of war against Germany with such 
methods. In order to struggle against Germany, it's important to choose 
the right time and place.

FOCUS: That sounds like a battle plan.

Ocalan: That isn't meant as a threat, but if there does need to be a 
struggle, then one needs to plan for it and choose the right terrain. I 
will need to analyze this much further in the future. I would like to 
understand Germany more deeply. I will consider to what degree Germany 
wishes to be a friend or foe to the Kurds.

FOCUS: In your talks with Heinrich Lummer, you offered to work together 
with German police in order to fight the drug trade. But they, in turn, 
accuse you of financing your guerrilla war with narcotics sales.

Ocalan: Listen, I'm an open person. You may not believe me when it comes 
to other things, but you can trust me in this instance: The Turkish 
intelligence services have constructed a drug plot against the PKK. In 
reality, the drug maffias are comprised of Turkish right-wing extremists. 
The Turkish police are also heavily involved. They finance their dirty 
war against the Kurds with their drug trade.

FOCUS: But the PKK are totally clean?

Ocalan: Like I told you! The Turkish intelligence service draws young 
fighters away from the PKK by means of drugs. In Hamburg, hundreds of 
young Kurds are in prison. That isn't normal criminality, that's systematic.

FOCUS: Very practical - so how do you propose to aid the German police?

Ocalan: One PKK representative and one German police representative can 
exchange places. First proposal: Ask the Kurdish youths in German prisons 
who the real people are behind the drug trade.

FOCUS: So you all aren't the infamous big dealers.

Ocalan: Absolutely not. If someone from the PKK engages in drug 
trafficking, they are immediately expelled from the party.

FOCUS: Your arch enemy Turkey is very angry about the secret contacts 
which were made between the Bonn government and the PKK.

Ocalan: I found that quite amusing.

FOCUS: Over the past few weeks, there have been several attacks on 
Turkish establishments. Who was responsible?

Ocalan: We had nothing to do with these attacks. Looks for those 
responsible in the ranks of the Turkish secret police, the MIT. The MIT 
does such things to harm the PKK.

FOCUS: Many Germans are presently planning their summer vacations. Can 
they travel to Turkey without any fears?

Ocalan: Let me think about that one.

FOCUS: What do you need to think about?

Ocalan: I need to study Germany's position with respect to the Kurds some 
more first. If the German position is dangerous for us, we will turn 
against Germany's interests. Not in Germany itself, but abroad - in 
Turkey, for example.

FOCUS: That doesn't sound good.

Ocalan: Germany gives many weapons free of charge to Turkey. A German 
government which supports the Turkish military and secret police is, of 
course, a danger to us. Germany is partly responsible for the destruction 
of 3,000 Kurdish villages. We have every right to ask, why does Germany 
give so much support to Turkey? Could it be because we are too weak?

FOCUS: What's your own opinion?

Ocalan: Like I said, I need to analyze that some more and then I'll come 
to a conclusion.

FOCUS: Well at least tell us what direction your thoughts are headed in!

Ocalan: It could affect tourism, it could also entail other, political 
targets. In any case, it doesn't make sense to turn the Kurdish 
resistance movement against Germany. I am looking for a good relationship 
with your country. The German government ought  to finally comprehend that.

FOCUS: Are you still patient?

Ocalan: If the very serious Kurdish issue is not finally taken seriously, 
it will be to Germany's detriment. You all can be glad that there haven't 
been any extreme reactions up to this point.

FOCUS: Now you really sound angry.

Ocalan: We expected that there would not be any more banning of Kurdish 
associations. And yet it has happened again, on several occasions. The 
German authorities did not honor their promises to me.

(Interview: C. Erck and J. Huffelschulte, FOCUS #52/1995)

Translated by Arm The Spirit


 ++++ 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 kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Mon Jan 15 14:10:53 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 15 Jan 1996 14:10:53
Subject: ARGK Preliminary Balance For 1995
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199601151401.JAA14083@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>

ARGK Preliminary Balance For 1995

	According to the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK), 
the military balance of the war in Kurdistan from January 1, 1995 until 
the unilateral PKK cease-fire which began on December 14, 1995 once again 
reflected negative losses on the side of the Turkish military, although 
guerrilla losses were also high. The following preliminary balance does 
not include totals of villages destroyed by the Turkish military, 
death-squad murders, or deaths in prisons.
	Here is the preliminary ARGK balance sheet for 1995:

Total ARGK actions				3,361
Soldiers killed					6,643
Village guards and spies killed			  421
Police and special forces killed		   76
ARGK guerrillas killed				1,386
Kurdish civilians killed by Turkish military	  122

(Source: Kurdistan Rundbrief, Nr. 1/96)


 ++++ 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 kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Tue Jan 16 08:29:12 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 16 Jan 1996 08:29:12
Subject: MLNQ: Right-Wing Quebecois National
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199601160532.AAA01260@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: MLNQ: Right-Wing Quebecois Nationalists

Raymond Zhirinovsky: The MLNQ's National Socialism

By Chris Sheridan

(While the following article tends to exaggerate in places it nonetheless 
gives a glimpse into the growing right-wing and xenophobic currents 
within the Quebecois independence movement. Though, in our opinion, most 
of the progressive content in the nationalist movement in Quebec was long 
gone by the late 70's and the independent and socialist Quebec  
fought for by the FLQ a dead and buried dream. - ATS)

     In the world according to ultranationalist Raymond
Villeneuve, Jacques Parizeau's referendum-night comment about
ethnic votes isn't just the beginning. It's the end, too.
Restoring pride in the descendants of New France is the be-all
and end-all of Villeneuve's newly formed Mouvement de Liberation
Nationale du Quebec (MLNQ), which held its first public meeting
last Sunday.
     But this isn't the ideological reincarnation of the Front de
Liberation du Quebec (FLQ), as some journalists would have us
believe. Although a former Felquiste himself, Villeneuve is more
like Russian nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky than former FLQ
ideologue Pierre Vallieres.
     In a smoke-filled room in a church basement on St-Hubert
Street, the beady-eyed Villenueve welcomes his "comrades" to the
meeting. The room is filled with grumpy middle-aged and elderly
men, with a handful of women sprinkled throughout. The only
people of colour at the meeting are two journalists covering the
event. The Quebec flag rests behind the aging Villeneuve, who is
flanked by two tricolour Patriote flags. It's hard to believe
this is a movement for "change." For those, like myself, too
young to have experienced the underground days of the Quiet
Revolution, this is probably the closest to it I'll ever come.
It's like someone has staged a reenactment of a never-before-seen
FLQ meeting by those who were actually there in the '60s. But
unlike the independantistes' social revolution - the "societe
ouverte sur le monde" envisioned by the Rose brothers and
company-the Quebec imagined by the MLNQ is not for everybody.
These are the national socialists, after all, not the democratic
socialists.
     There are hints in the MLNQ's manifesto of the class-based
approach to Quebec the FLQ's left once pressed for: vague
platitudes to equal employment and jobs for young people (white,
French-speaking people, of course) and a call for the economic,
socio-cultural and judicial equality of women-white women, of
course. But these ideas are lost in the more retrograde issues
that dominate the MLNQ's manifesto and its first public meeting,
like strengthening language laws, eliminating rights for
English-speaking peoples in Quebec and most notably, calling for
a moratorium on immigration.
     Canadians and "neo-Canadians" inside Quebec are the real
enemies and should be made to feel as such, Villeneuve points out
to rousing applause. "We think that, for the first time, if they
think they are enemies, maybe they will think [twice]",
Villeneuve tells reporters later on. Think twice about voting
Non, that is. It's a strategy that is so status quo it's almost
passe. After all, aren't alienation and isolation part and parcel
of racist tracts? Make "them" feel like they're the outsiders.
     But it's the central tenet on immigration that most
resembles the white power ultranationalist rhetoric of a
Zhirinovsky. As Villeneuve reads the article on immigration
aloud, a guy in the back of the room screams, "Raciste!" It's a
very tense moment. His outburst is met with angry stares. A
stupid move on the dissident's part? Maybe. But afterwards, the
guy, who didn't want his name used, explained to the Mirror he
had no intention of yelling anything. As a local anarchist
involved with the "abstentionist movement" during the Oct. 30
referendum campaign, he disagreed with the MLNQ's intentions from
the outset and had only come to listen to what Villeneuve had to
say. He simply couldn't tolerate their anti-immigration position.
"The only reason I didn't get jumped on was because of all those
cameras", he told the Mirror after he'd left the building. He's
right. In a room filled with hockey goons and barroom scrappers,
he was lucky not to have left the packed basement with his teeth
in his pocket. The guy made the wise choice of splitting well
before the meeting was over.
     Villeneuve's persistent response to charges of racism are
about as innovative as Reform Party leader Preston Manning's.
Villeneuve is obsessed throughout his two-and-a-half hour meeting
with name-dropping and impressing upon his comrades how many
liberation movements he's been associated with in places like
Algeria and France. He speaks a bit of Portuguese, so there's no
way he could be racist, or so his logic goes. Then, taking a page
from the Pierre Bourgault school of reasoning, Villeneuve accuses
the Greek community of being racist on the basis of its petition
last week denouncing his group. "Who are the racists now?" he
asks indignantly. "Who are the fascists?"
     It's hard to respect a political movement that's built on
such moral conservatism - a point readily acknowledged by some of
the FLQ's most recognizable former members. Pierre Vallieres,
longtime nationalist and former Felquiste, known for his book
White Niggers of America, calls the MLNQ, "xenophobic and
racist." Vallieres certainly doesn't think the MLNQ bears any
resemblance to the movement he was so involved with years ago.
"It [FLQ] was for a social revolution", says Vallieres. "It
wasn't for ethnic nationalism. There is no future in that."
     Vallieres may be right. Like the waning popularity of
Zhirinovsky's hard-assed ethnic nationalism, there are already
signs Villeneuve's pure-laine politics isn't winning much support
within the Parti Quebecois. The same weekend as Villeneuve's
meeting, the PQ, during a national council, passed a resolution
recognizing the need for "reconciliation" between the PQ and
ethnic minorities.

(Source: Montreal Mirror, December 14, 1995)

From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Tue Jan 16 08:29:16 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 16 Jan 1996 08:29:16
Subject: Info On the MHP (Turkish Fascists)
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199601160519.AAA01000@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Info On the MHP (Turkish Fascists) By The DHKP-C

The MHP - Turkish Fascists

(The following is the text of a pamphlet, distributed during a
picket-line because of a meeting of the MHP in the Netherlands.)

What Is The MHP? Who's Interest Does It Serve?

     Over the last few years the MHP has become stronger and more
organized. Also in Europe they have become more active. Their
relation with the forces in the Turkish state who have the real
power are to such an extent that we can speak of a close
cooperation. How is this possible, and what are the reasons? Why
is it important to fight this organisation in a militant manner?
We want to deal with these questions and start a discussion about
this subject.

The Fundamental Political Opinion Of The MHP-Fascists

     For understanding what the MHP means, it is necessary to
look at the political ideas of the MHP.
     Their ideology is called Turanism. The adherents of this
ideology see "their own people" (just like the Nazis), the
Turkish people as a superior race. "The whole world" belongs "to
them". They dream of world domination. The MHP-fascists want a
"Greater Turkey", just like the Nazis wanted a "Greater German
Empire".
     Concretely this means they want to subject all people and
countries, from the Caucasus to the Balkans and from the Balkans
through to Middle Asia to their slavery and put them under
Turkish rule. Their active support and propagandistic
contributions for the fascist and racist Turkish state is best
proof of this.
     Their ideology does not allow any national rights to the
Kurds, Armenians, Laz, Arabs, Syrians, etc. who live in Turkey
(speaking freely in their native tongue, learning this language
or publishing in it, etc.). The MHP does not even recognize these
peoples and threatens to "cleanse" society from non-Turkish
"elements" and it tries to put this threat into practice. A
slogan, used by the MHP, goes: "Either you become Turks and
become proud to be a Turk, or you'll have to reckon with your
extermination."
     Of course there are differences between the policy of the
Nazis and the policy of the MHP. However, these differences are
marginal and arise from the differing circumstances in Germany
and Turkey. Anyway, both groups have the following similarities:
They both serve the ones in power, both serve oppression till its
most bloody form, one serves German imperialism, the other serves
Turkish fascism.

The Connection Between The MHP And The Turkish State

     We will now try to show how the MHP supports the ruling
state in Turkey and what connections there are with the
present-day Turkish state. 
     The first important point is that we cannot approach the MHP
separated from the Turkish state. The MHP is integrated in the
present-day fascist regime and performs certain tasks for this
state. In other words, if you want to understand the terror and
the dictatorship in Turkey, you'll have to examine and understand
the MHP.

a) The education system.

     The education system is completely at the service of
Turanism. From the primary school up to the universities it is
taught that Turkey is a superior nation and this is supposed to
be proven with the formation of the Osman Empire. One tries to
prove that the Osman empire has a glorious and honourable
tradition which is respected by all countries. In this way the
pupils must be made proud of the fact it is to be an Osman.
Suffice it to point anyone who believes this propaganda to the
mass murders on, e.g. the Armenians. This was a genocide which is
denied by the present-day Turkish state and the MHP as well, like
the Holocaust is denied in some fascist circles. As the Kurdish
people nowadays, the Armenians were exterminated by the Turkish
nationalist forces when they began to formulate demands
concerning equal rights and independence.

b) The slogans of the MHP are used by the government and the
Turkish state policy.

     The slogan from the MHP-banner: "One Turkish world, from the
Adriatic Sea until the Chinese Wall" is also constantly used by
the government parties and other parties in conformity with the
system. Lies like "keeping together and being together", as well
as racist and chauvinist slogans like "PKK: descendants of the
Armenians" and "In the East and the West, Turkey is everywhere
and indivisible" are nowadays used daily by the Turkish state.
     However, it is not confined to common slogans. The fascist
and racist projects, once demanded by the MHP, like the creation
of a "elite army" and the expulsion from, mostly Kurdish, people
from the country to round them up artificially in the cities in
order that they can be controlled more easily, are nowadays put
into practice by the Turkish state. 
     The state does not stop at realizing the projects which are
demanded by the MHP, she goes so far to install MHP-cadres in
positions which are very important to the state. For example, a
lot of governors in the Kurdish areas are members of the MHP.
     Furthermore the MHP has a special role to play in the "elite
army".

The Special Role Of The MHP In The "Elite Army"

a) The training, building up and tasks of the "elite army".

     The "elite army" is subordinated to the general staff of the
Turkish armed forces. The personnel from this "special army"
consists of experienced and especially selected personnel from
the Turkish armed forces. This "elite army" receives special
training, given by especially experienced members of the Turkish
armed forces. The training personnel is partly trained by the
German GSG-9.
     The following facts are admitted by the Turkish papers
themselves who support the present-day regime: The members of
this special army are preferably choosen among members of the
murderous, fascist MHP.
     The task of this "elite army" is in fact attacking the
national liberation struggle of the Kurds and other revolutionary
organisations and the execution of pogroms. In the areas,
inhabited by Kurds, the "elite-units" set fire to the villages,
oppresses the people by all conceivable means, and murder the
villagers.
     This "elite army', which officially has to fight
"terrorism", was created last year. Earlier the creation of a
such-like unit was demanded for a long time by the chairman of
the MHP, A. Turkes. One can postulate that the creation of this
special army was put on the political agenda by the MHP.
     Some pensioned generals report that a such-like unit existed
already for a longer time. The difference with earlier days would
be that in the present-day situation preferably MHP-members are
taken in. Thus the MHP is given the opportunity to, within legal
boundaries and led by the state, to attack the Kurdish, the
democratic and the revolutionary movements. The "work", earlier
done by the MHP with its own resources, is now done under the
protection and with support of the state and the military. Of
course, in earlier days there has been a form of division of
labour between the Turkish state and the MHP. However, this
division of labour was never admitted, or this cooperation was
concealed. Now we have to speak of a new phase concerning the
problems of the fascist Turkish state. The political crisis has
risen to a level, similar to the time prior to 1980. The
opposition inside the country is growing to enormous proportions.
Furthermore, the army is not capable of defeating the Kurdish
liberation movement militarily. The build up of the Turkish army
is not suited for guerrilla warfare and a large part of the
soldiers do not want this war - it is forced upon them. The MHP
constitutes a reservoir of Turkish nationalists, prepared to kill
and not shunning any means.

b) The past role of the MHP within the "contra-guerrilla" and the
earlier forms of cooperation with the MIT (Turkish Secret
Service). 

     It's not a new phenomenon that the MHP attacks and murders
revolutionaries, democrats and non-Turkish patriots. A few
examples from the past of joint actions from the MHP, MIT and the
Contra-guerrilla.

Bloody May Day, 1977 (Istanbul): 39 workers are shot by fascists
and driven over by armoured cars, more than 200 workers are
wounded.

March 10, 1978: MHP-fascists and agents from the contra-guerrilla
throw bombs at the exit of the University of Istanbul and open
fire upon the people with machineguns. 6 democrats die and 50
students are wounded.

Maras: This mass murder, jointly organised by the MHP, MIT and
the contra-guerrilla, cost the lives of almost a thousand people.
During the pogroms - which lasted for three days - women,
children and the elderly are murdered at random. Shops and houses
were set on fire.

The Daily Murders For The Protection Of The Present-Day Turkish
And The MHP's Role In This

     Almost every day people get murdered in Turkey by so-called
"unknown forces". These death-squads only target individuals who
are not highly agreeable to the state. The perpetrators of these
murders are never arrested, let alone convicted. It is plausible
that these death-squads for the main part consist of members from
the MHP.
     One of the most recent acts of terror where the MHP can be
suspected of having their hands in it, was the vile and cowardly
assault on a cafe in Istanbul. This resulted in a three day long
uprising from the people in the Gazi-neighbourhood against the
police and the army. The government tried to convince the
international opinion that it had been a religious conflict.
However, during the uprising Alevites and Sunnites fought side by
side against the armed forces of the state. The way this action
was executed: At first a taxi-driver is kidnapped, his throat is
cut and he is thrown in the back of his own car which is then
used in a vile attack where the murderers use machineguns against
unsuspecting citizens. The way this attack was carried out leads
to the suspicion that the MHP, led by the MIT, must have played
an important role. Gazi is a neighbourhood with a lot of people
where left has traditionally been strong.

The MHP Abroad

     The "Hollanda Turk Federasyon" which organised a congress
here today, is one of the many cover-organisations of the MHP
abroad. It was founded three months ago and this foundation fits
exactly, once again, in the policy of the Turkish state. The
Turkish state has made it its goal to estrange the European
population from the Kurdish national liberation struggle and the
democratic forces of Turkey. Hundreds of thousands Turkish and
Kurdish democrats live all over Europe and they try to put in
their best for human rights, democracy, and self-determination in
their homeland. This is a thorn in the flesh of the Turkish
state. It was also recently decided that people with the Turkish
nationality who live abroad may vote for the elections in Turkey.
So the European platform has become very important to the Turkish
state. The MHP acts, more than willingly, as agent of the Turkish
state.
     The last action of the MHP in Europe was organizing the big
demonstration as a protest against the founding of the Kurdish
parliament-in-exile in The Hague. Everyone could see on Dutch
television how thousands of Turkish nationalists made the sign of
the Grey Wolves. The ring-finger and the middle finger against
the thumb, and the pink and forefinger up, representing the head
of a wolf.

Conclusion

     The political crisis in Turkey - the present-day regime can
only keep up by using the most gruesome means -, the importance
of the European platform for Turkish policy and the strengthening
organisation of the MHP, signify that this congress will not be
the last provocation of Turkish fascism. Alas, it is to be
expected that the anti-fascist, the democratic and the solidarity
movement will be confronted more often with meetings like this in
the future, with demonstrations like the one in the days of the
founding of the Kurdish parliament, and even with manifestations
of violence from the side of the MHP.
     Therefore, and for the fight for human rights, democracy and
self-determination in Turkey, it is necessary to watch the MHP
very carefully, to investigate her cover-organisations, and to
make sure a movement arises which can effectively fight her.


 ++++ 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 kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Tue Jan 16 08:32:34 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 16 Jan 1996 08:32:34
Subject: Turkey warns foreign media on Kurd
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199601160815.DAA05246@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Turkey warns foreign media on Kurd rebel reports

Turkey Warns Foreign Media On Kurd Rebel Reports

Ankara, Turkey (Reuter - January 15, 1996) Turkey on Monday
warned it might take legal action against the foreign media for its 
reporting of a Kurdish rebel campaign in the country's southeast.
    Turkey's officials and media are outraged at a photograph
published last week in the London-based The European weekly that
allegedly showed Turkish troops posing with the heads of
decapitated Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas.
    ``Necessary steps are being taken for a possible legal
action against those foreign media institutions who, by playing
into the hands of the terrorist organisations, publish or
broadcast reports that will damage Turkey's image and prestige
abroad,'' foreign ministry spokesman Nurettin Nurkan said.
    ``It is understood that allegations so far are nothing but
psychological struggle by the terrorist organisations and their
supporters to smear Turkey,'' he told a briefing for foreign
journalists.
    ``I am first referring to the article in The European,''
Nurkan said.
    More than 18,500 people have been killed in the Kurdish
guerrillas' 11-year-old fight for independence or autonomy in
southeast Turkey. Allegations of human rights abuses by both
sides are widespread.
    The European said the photograph was taken in the
mountainous province of Hakkari last April and had been
forwarded to it by a Kurdish information centre in London.
    Nurkan denied a recent story in a Scottish daily that
alleged Turkish diplomats were involved in drug smuggling to
Britain.
    He also criticised reporting of the murder last week of a
Turkish left-wing journalist whose paper says he was killed by
police.


From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Thu Jan 18 08:54:56 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 18 Jan 1996 08:54:56
Subject: Turkey says rebel Kurds kill 11, br
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199601171116.GAA12688@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Turkey says rebel Kurds kill 11, break ceasefire

Turkey Says Rebel Kurds Kill 11, Break Ceasefire

By Alistair Bell

Taskonak, Turkey (Reuter - January 16, 1996) Turkish army 
officials said on Tuesday separatist rebel Kurds killed 11 people,
including state-paid village guards, in a ravine ambush to break
their five-week-old unilateral ceasefire.
    ``It was an ambush prepared in advance,'' military spokesman
Colonel Oguz Kalelioglu told foreign reporters taken by military
plane to the scene of the attack in Taskonak village.
    Rebels from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fired rockets
at the bus from the top of a ravine on the banks of the river
Tigris in Sirnak province, burning the minibus with its driver
and 10 passengers, including nine village guards, he said.
    But a Germany-based news agency close to the PKK denied the
report, blaming Turkish security forces for the killings and the
burning of the bus on Monday evening.
    The DEM agency, in a telefax to news agencies, said Turkish
forces carried out the attack to punish the villagers for aiding
the PKK and voting for the Kurdish People's Democracy Party
(HADEP) in Turkey's December general elections.
    ``The Turkish state carried out this massacre in order to
accuse PKK guerrilla,'' said DEM, which often carries PKK
statements. It said two of the victims were former village
guards, who are paid and armed by the state to fight the PKK.
    The PKK often targets village guards and their families.
    The victims' bodies -- charred beyond recognition -- were
still at the scene of the attack, which was littered with the
casings of rocket propelled grenades used in the ambush and four
Kalashnikov rifles carried by the village guards.
    DEM said Turkey, which has lashed out at the foreign press
recently because of reports of human rights abuses by Turkish
soldiers fighting the PKK, was angry at apparent Western
sympathy for the country's Kurdish minority.
    The incident was the first report of a PKK attack since the
group announced a unilateral ceasefire in December to press
Turkey to open negotiations with the rebels fighting for
self-rule in the mainly-Kurdish southeast.
    Almost three years ago the PKK broke another unilateral
ceasefire after two months when guerrillas killed 33 unarmed
soldiers in a roadblock after complaining Turkish forces had
maintained their offensive against the rebels.
    Ankara on Tuesday asked for clarification of U.S. policy on
Turkey after U.S. diplomats commented on Turkey's treatment of
its Kurdish minority in a programme broadcast on a major
television network.
    Foreign Ministry Under-secretary Onur Oymen told reporters
Ankara would also take legal action against the CBS television
network, which broadcast their remarks alongside an interview
with Kurdish guerrilla leader Abdullah Ocalan.
    Turkey had on Monday warned it might take legal action
against the foreign media for its reporting of the PKK's rebel
campaign after a photograph published last week in the
London-based The European weekly allegedly showed Turkish troops
posing with the heads of decapitated PKK guerrillas.
    More than 18,500 people have died in the PKK's 11-year war.

From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Sat Jan 20 10:11:20 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 20 Jan 1996 10:11:20
Subject: Iranian Agents Shot Kurd Politician
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199601200809.DAA11073@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Iranian Agents Shot Kurd Politicians - German Lawyer

Iranian Agents Shot Kurd Politicians - German Lawyer
  	  	
Berlin, Germany (Reuter - January 11, 1995) The Iranian secret 
service was directly involved in the murder of Kurdish opposition 
politicians from Iran and not contract killers, a German lawyer 
told a Berlin court Thursday.  
	 A lawyer for the victims' families Hans-Joachim Ehrig said 
that, according to documents from the Federal Office for 
Protection of the Constitution (BfV), agents had been ordered by 
Tehran to carry out the gangland-style killings.  
	 Three leaders of the Iranian Democratic Party of Kurdistan 
(DPK-I) and their translator were shot and killed in a hail of 
gunfire in a Berlin restaurant in September 1992. An Iranian and 
four Lebanese are accused of carrying out the attack.  
	 The killing had been ``carried out directly by agents of the 
Iranian secret service, we are therefore dealing with an act of 
state terrorism,'' Ehrig said.  
	 In the trial the four accused have admitted in part to 
charges they were working for Iranian intelligence and that they 
were involved in the shooting.  
	 Ehrig said that the German BfV counter-espionage agency's 
documents show that a team from the Iranian Intelligence 
Ministry had been visiting Berlin at the time of the crime and 
were liaising with Berlin-based Iranian agents.  
	 One member of the hit-squad was in contact with the Kurdish 
politicians. ``The traitor was actually sitting with them at the 
table,'' said Ehrig, adding that after the killing the assassins 
were spirited back to Iran.  
	 According to Ehrig one Iranian agent under the cover name of 
``Sharif'' fired 24 bullets at the Kurds with an automatic 
pistol in the attack which also critically injured the owner of 
the restaurant. The trial has been going on for over two years.  
	 Tehran denies any involvement and says that the killings 
were a result of Kurdish infighting.  

From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Sat Jan 20 10:11:54 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 20 Jan 1996 10:11:54
Subject: News From AP/RN On Turkey And Kurdi
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199601200834.DAA13052@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: News From AP/RN On Turkey And Kurdistan

An Phoblacht/Republican News - Thursday, January 18, 1995

Excerpt from World View section:

     On January 4, 1996, a `disturbance' in Turkey's Umraniye
prison (Istambul), resulted in the death of four inmates. All
four were members of left-wing groupings and are believed to have
been killed by prison authorities. The deaths resulted in a
series of prison occupations throughout the country.
     On January 9, members of the Revolutionary People's
Liberation Front - whose members were involved in the protests -
shot dead two leading Turkish businessmen, and a company
secretary, in Istambul. One of the dead was Ozdemir Sabanci, the
chief executive of Toyota in Turkey. Three days previously, on 6
January, a key member of Turkey's security forces, Orhan
Tasanlar, is said to have publicly named 10 prisoners who, he
said, would be held responsible for the outbreak of riots and
occupations.
     Meanwhile, Amnesty International has called for an
"immediate ban" on helicopter sales to the Turkish military.
According to the human-rights group, Turkey has used the
helicopters in attacks upon civilians, as part of its 11-year old
campaign against Kurdish separatists. France, Germany, Italy,
Russia and the U.S. have provided the regime with helicopters in
the past.

----

     Despite being cited by the U.S. State Department for its
continual use of torture and abuse of human rights, Turkey
continues to be the third largest recipient of U.S.
economic/military aid in the world.
     In addition, as post-election stress disorder continues in
Turkey (they can't form a government) there has as yet been no
response to the December 14, 1995, announcement by Kurdish rebel
group, the PKK, of a unilateral cease-fire. The PKK have again
called for talks, and say they will observe the cease-fire as
long as the Turkish army does not mount "offensive military
operations." That presumably includes operations of the type so
graphically depicted in The European newspaper, on January 16,
1996, when the paper published photos of Turkish soldiers holding
the severed heads of Kurdish separatists.


 ++++ 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 kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Sat Jan 20 10:11:56 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 20 Jan 1996 10:11:56
Subject: Interview With ERNK European Repres
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199601200830.DAA11406@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Interview With ERNK European Representative

Will The War In Kurdistan Spread To Western Turkey?

Interview With Dogan Roj, ERNK European Representative

In the province of Sivas in central Turkey, 450km east of Ankara,
there has been intense fighting over the past few days between
units of the ARGK, the armed wing of the PKK, and the Turkish
army. Up until now, most of the fighting had been limited to the
southeast. Which side started this offensive in Sivas province?

     First, let me remind people that PKK chairman Abdullah
Ocalan announced a unilateral ceasefire on behalf of the PKK on
December 15, 1995. In his statement, he said that the ceasefire
would last until a new government is formed after the elections,
provided that army units do not continue with their destruction
strategy. Tansu Ciller, the Turkish prime minister, immediately
declared that there would be no negotiations with terrorists. She
therefore proved that the offer of a ceasefire would not be
seriously considered. But despite that, we have kept our word.
     When the ceasefire was announced, however, we made it clear
that we would be forced to defend ourselves if operations were
launched against us. The recent clashes were brought about by the
Turkish state, which is seeking to press forward with its
operations. The Kurdish guerrilla units are simply defending
themselves. In addition to Sivas, the Turkish government has also
launched operations in other regions. But there is a new
strategy, namely to carry out these operations in the name of the
state governor. There have been some clashes, and 50 soldiers
have been killed.

According to press reports, the ARGK didn't previously have any
units stationed in the Sivas region. Were units simply
concentrated there in order to react to the army offensive?

     No, the ARGK already had units in this regions. In his
ceasefire declaration, Abdullah Ocalan stressed that we are
prepared to accept peace, if the Turkish state is willing. But if
not, then the war won't simply continue in Kurdistan, rather it
will advance even more forcefully all over.

Sivas is a stronghold of the Islamic Welfare Party (Refah), which
received about 22% of the vote and was thereby the winner in the
recent early general election. Do you think there's a connection
between Refah's strength and the Turkish army's operation there?

     I don't think so. In Sivas, many people are loyal to the
Turkish state. The Turkish state purposely made lots of
propaganda on behalf of Refah in the cities. Many Kurds and Turks
are religious and follow Islam. Refah made use of this, in that
they went to people's homes with the Koran and said, either you
vote for Refah or Allah will punish you. But throughout all of
Kurdistan, it was plain to see that, despite all of the
repression, the people's choice was HADEP, which was the
strongest party in Kurdistan with more than 35% of the vote.
Refah only won 18% in Kurdistan.

Following Refah's election victory, will the PKK now take on more
Islamic aspects in order to increase their acceptance in the
population?

     No. The Kurdish population faces a certain reality.
Contemporary Islam is not true Islam, that which was originally
preached by Mohamed. Contemporary Islam cannot account for the
oppression of people as we know it. People who call themselves
"faithful to Islam" do nothing to stop the murderous war which is
being waged against the Kurdish people. They are contradicting
Islam.

Are there, in your opinion, liberating elements within Islam?

     It's hard to say that exactly. We are not fighting for an
Islamic society, rather for a socialist society. That allows us
to recognize the reality of the Kurdish people. Even if there are
principles in Islam which do not contradict the socialist
principles of the PKK, the PKK will nonetheless continue with the
class struggle. Certain human goals, which cannot necessarily be
connected to Islam or other religions, are in line with our
goals, for example our right to existence and the right to have
our own state.

(Interview by Charlotte Spielmann. Published in Junge Welt Nr.2,
January 3, 1996. Translated by Arm The Spirit.)


 ++++ 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 kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Sat Jan 20 10:12:19 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 20 Jan 1996 10:12:19
Subject: Balance Of Human Rights Abuses In T
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199601200858.DAA13386@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Balance Of Human Rights Abuses In Turkey From IHD

Human Rights Association (IHD) Of Turkey:
Balance For The First 11 Months Of 1995

Arrests: 12,033
Cases of torture: 225
Deaths from torture: 92
"Disappeared" in custody: 199
Press workers arrested: 421
Persons jailed: 1,637
Civilians killed in the war: 188
Civilians wounded: 291
Attacks by "unknown persons": 98
Number of casualties in these attacks: 1,078
Villages depopulated and burned: 208
Publications, associations, unions closed: 98
Publications confiscated: 269
Raids on publications, associations, unions: 169
Persons imprisoned for thought crimes: 125
Total sentences: 161 years, 10 months
Total fines: 15,782,000,000,000 Turkish lira

(Source: Kurdistan Rundbrief #1/96)

 ++++ 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 kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Sat Jan 20 10:12:59 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 20 Jan 1996 10:12:59
Subject: German Leftist Sentenced For Acting
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199601200828.DAA11354@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: German Leftist Sentenced For Acting In Solidarity With Kurds

Autonomist Jailed For Kurdish Hungerstrike Solidarity

     On November 7, 1995, a court in Berlin sentenced 25-year-old
Martin Mersch to 2 1/2 years in prison without parole on charges
of riot and unlawful assembly. Martin had taken part in a
hungerstrike by Kurds in Berlin which started on July 20, 1995.
The hungerstrike had been taking place on a city square in a
fashionable shopping district, until riot police brutally
dispersed the hungerstrikers. During a march to the Kurdish
Cultural Center in Kreuzberg where the strike was to continue, a
Kurdish woman named Gulnaz Baghistani died. On August 11, riot
police raided the center in order to forcibly end the
hungerstrike. As they attempted to smash in the metal doors,
Kurds responded with a barrage of stones and molotovs. According
to police, Martin participated in the violence and also displayed
a flag of the banned National Liberation Front of Kurdistan
(ERNK).
     [Sadly, very few German leftists and even fewer autonomists
gave any concrete solidarity to the Kurdish hungerstrike last
summer. In jails across Turkey and Kurdistan, 10,000 political
prisoners and prisoners of war went on hungerstrike on July 14
and solidarity hungerstrikes started across Europe on July 20. In
many cities - London, Frankfurt, Paris, Berlin - police attacks
on the hungerstrikes provoked violent clashes. - ATS]
     Martin received very little support at his trial, where he
delivered a political statement to the judge calling for the
release of all Kurdish political prisoners and an end to the
banning of the PKK.

Solidarity With The Kurdish Liberation Struggle!!

Write to Martin:

Martin Mersch
JVA, Gartenstrasse 26
48143 Munster
Germany

(Translated and condensed by Arm The Spirit from an article in
Interim #354)


 ++++ 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 kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Thu Jan 18 08:54:00 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 18 Jan 1996 08:54:00
Subject: Turkey says rebel Kurds kill 11, br
Message-ID: <199601171116.GAA12688@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Turkey says rebel Kurds kill 11, break ceasefire

Turkey Says Rebel Kurds Kill 11, Break Ceasefire

By Alistair Bell

Taskonak, Turkey (Reuter - January 16, 1996) Turkish army 
officials said on Tuesday separatist rebel Kurds killed 11 people,
including state-paid village guards, in a ravine ambush to break
their five-week-old unilateral ceasefire.
    ``It was an ambush prepared in advance,'' military spokesman
Colonel Oguz Kalelioglu told foreign reporters taken by military
plane to the scene of the attack in Taskonak village.
    Rebels from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fired rockets
at the bus from the top of a ravine on the banks of the river
Tigris in Sirnak province, burning the minibus with its driver
and 10 passengers, including nine village guards, he said.
    But a Germany-based news agency close to the PKK denied the
report, blaming Turkish security forces for the killings and the
burning of the bus on Monday evening.
    The DEM agency, in a telefax to news agencies, said Turkish
forces carried out the attack to punish the villagers for aiding
the PKK and voting for the Kurdish People's Democracy Party
(HADEP) in Turkey's December general elections.
    ``The Turkish state carried out this massacre in order to
accuse PKK guerrilla,'' said DEM, which often carries PKK
statements. It said two of the victims were former village
guards, who are paid and armed by the state to fight the PKK.
    The PKK often targets village guards and their families.
    The victims' bodies -- charred beyond recognition -- were
still at the scene of the attack, which was littered with the
casings of rocket propelled grenades used in the ambush and four
Kalashnikov rifles carried by the village guards.
    DEM said Turkey, which has lashed out at the foreign press
recently because of reports of human rights abuses by Turkish
soldiers fighting the PKK, was angry at apparent Western
sympathy for the country's Kurdish minority.
    The incident was the first report of a PKK attack since the
group announced a unilateral ceasefire in December to press
Turkey to open negotiations with the rebels fighting for
self-rule in the mainly-Kurdish southeast.
    Almost three years ago the PKK broke another unilateral
ceasefire after two months when guerrillas killed 33 unarmed
soldiers in a roadblock after complaining Turkish forces had
maintained their offensive against the rebels.
    Ankara on Tuesday asked for clarification of U.S. policy on
Turkey after U.S. diplomats commented on Turkey's treatment of
its Kurdish minority in a programme broadcast on a major
television network.
    Foreign Ministry Under-secretary Onur Oymen told reporters
Ankara would also take legal action against the CBS television
network, which broadcast their remarks alongside an interview
with Kurdish guerrilla leader Abdullah Ocalan.
    Turkey had on Monday warned it might take legal action
against the foreign media for its reporting of the PKK's rebel
campaign after a photograph published last week in the
London-based The European weekly allegedly showed Turkish troops
posing with the heads of decapitated PKK guerrillas.
    More than 18,500 people have died in the PKK's 11-year war.

From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Sat Jan 20 10:11:00 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 20 Jan 1996 10:11:00
Subject: Iranian Agents Shot Kurd Politician
Message-ID: <199601200809.DAA11073@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Iranian Agents Shot Kurd Politicians - German Lawyer

Iranian Agents Shot Kurd Politicians - German Lawyer
  	  	
Berlin, Germany (Reuter - January 11, 1995) The Iranian secret 
service was directly involved in the murder of Kurdish opposition 
politicians from Iran and not contract killers, a German lawyer 
told a Berlin court Thursday.  
	 A lawyer for the victims' families Hans-Joachim Ehrig said 
that, according to documents from the Federal Office for 
Protection of the Constitution (BfV), agents had been ordered by 
Tehran to carry out the gangland-style killings.  
	 Three leaders of the Iranian Democratic Party of Kurdistan 
(DPK-I) and their translator were shot and killed in a hail of 
gunfire in a Berlin restaurant in September 1992. An Iranian and 
four Lebanese are accused of carrying out the attack.  
	 The killing had been ``carried out directly by agents of the 
Iranian secret service, we are therefore dealing with an act of 
state terrorism,'' Ehrig said.  
	 In the trial the four accused have admitted in part to 
charges they were working for Iranian intelligence and that they 
were involved in the shooting.  
	 Ehrig said that the German BfV counter-espionage agency's 
documents show that a team from the Iranian Intelligence 
Ministry had been visiting Berlin at the time of the crime and 
were liaising with Berlin-based Iranian agents.  
	 One member of the hit-squad was in contact with the Kurdish 
politicians. ``The traitor was actually sitting with them at the 
table,'' said Ehrig, adding that after the killing the assassins 
were spirited back to Iran.  
	 According to Ehrig one Iranian agent under the cover name of 
``Sharif'' fired 24 bullets at the Kurds with an automatic 
pistol in the attack which also critically injured the owner of 
the restaurant. The trial has been going on for over two years.  
	 Tehran denies any involvement and says that the killings 
were a result of Kurdish infighting.  

From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Sat Jan 20 10:11:00 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 20 Jan 1996 10:11:00
Subject: News From AP/RN On Turkey And Kurdi
Message-ID: <199601200834.DAA13052@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: News From AP/RN On Turkey And Kurdistan

An Phoblacht/Republican News - Thursday, January 18, 1995

Excerpt from World View section:

     On January 4, 1996, a `disturbance' in Turkey's Umraniye
prison (Istambul), resulted in the death of four inmates. All
four were members of left-wing groupings and are believed to have
been killed by prison authorities. The deaths resulted in a
series of prison occupations throughout the country.
     On January 9, members of the Revolutionary People's
Liberation Front - whose members were involved in the protests -
shot dead two leading Turkish businessmen, and a company
secretary, in Istambul. One of the dead was Ozdemir Sabanci, the
chief executive of Toyota in Turkey. Three days previously, on 6
January, a key member of Turkey's security forces, Orhan
Tasanlar, is said to have publicly named 10 prisoners who, he
said, would be held responsible for the outbreak of riots and
occupations.
     Meanwhile, Amnesty International has called for an
"immediate ban" on helicopter sales to the Turkish military.
According to the human-rights group, Turkey has used the
helicopters in attacks upon civilians, as part of its 11-year old
campaign against Kurdish separatists. France, Germany, Italy,
Russia and the U.S. have provided the regime with helicopters in
the past.

----

     Despite being cited by the U.S. State Department for its
continual use of torture and abuse of human rights, Turkey
continues to be the third largest recipient of U.S.
economic/military aid in the world.
     In addition, as post-election stress disorder continues in
Turkey (they can't form a government) there has as yet been no
response to the December 14, 1995, announcement by Kurdish rebel
group, the PKK, of a unilateral cease-fire. The PKK have again
called for talks, and say they will observe the cease-fire as
long as the Turkish army does not mount "offensive military
operations." That presumably includes operations of the type so
graphically depicted in The European newspaper, on January 16,
1996, when the paper published photos of Turkish soldiers holding
the severed heads of Kurdish separatists.


 ++++ 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 kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Sat Jan 20 10:11:00 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 20 Jan 1996 10:11:00
Subject: Interview With ERNK European Repres
Message-ID: <199601200830.DAA11406@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Interview With ERNK European Representative

Will The War In Kurdistan Spread To Western Turkey?

Interview With Dogan Roj, ERNK European Representative

In the province of Sivas in central Turkey, 450km east of Ankara,
there has been intense fighting over the past few days between
units of the ARGK, the armed wing of the PKK, and the Turkish
army. Up until now, most of the fighting had been limited to the
southeast. Which side started this offensive in Sivas province?

     First, let me remind people that PKK chairman Abdullah
Ocalan announced a unilateral ceasefire on behalf of the PKK on
December 15, 1995. In his statement, he said that the ceasefire
would last until a new government is formed after the elections,
provided that army units do not continue with their destruction
strategy. Tansu Ciller, the Turkish prime minister, immediately
declared that there would be no negotiations with terrorists. She
therefore proved that the offer of a ceasefire would not be
seriously considered. But despite that, we have kept our word.
     When the ceasefire was announced, however, we made it clear
that we would be forced to defend ourselves if operations were
launched against us. The recent clashes were brought about by the
Turkish state, which is seeking to press forward with its
operations. The Kurdish guerrilla units are simply defending
themselves. In addition to Sivas, the Turkish government has also
launched operations in other regions. But there is a new
strategy, namely to carry out these operations in the name of the
state governor. There have been some clashes, and 50 soldiers
have been killed.

According to press reports, the ARGK didn't previously have any
units stationed in the Sivas region. Were units simply
concentrated there in order to react to the army offensive?

     No, the ARGK already had units in this regions. In his
ceasefire declaration, Abdullah Ocalan stressed that we are
prepared to accept peace, if the Turkish state is willing. But if
not, then the war won't simply continue in Kurdistan, rather it
will advance even more forcefully all over.

Sivas is a stronghold of the Islamic Welfare Party (Refah), which
received about 22% of the vote and was thereby the winner in the
recent early general election. Do you think there's a connection
between Refah's strength and the Turkish army's operation there?

     I don't think so. In Sivas, many people are loyal to the
Turkish state. The Turkish state purposely made lots of
propaganda on behalf of Refah in the cities. Many Kurds and Turks
are religious and follow Islam. Refah made use of this, in that
they went to people's homes with the Koran and said, either you
vote for Refah or Allah will punish you. But throughout all of
Kurdistan, it was plain to see that, despite all of the
repression, the people's choice was HADEP, which was the
strongest party in Kurdistan with more than 35% of the vote.
Refah only won 18% in Kurdistan.

Following Refah's election victory, will the PKK now take on more
Islamic aspects in order to increase their acceptance in the
population?

     No. The Kurdish population faces a certain reality.
Contemporary Islam is not true Islam, that which was originally
preached by Mohamed. Contemporary Islam cannot account for the
oppression of people as we know it. People who call themselves
"faithful to Islam" do nothing to stop the murderous war which is
being waged against the Kurdish people. They are contradicting
Islam.

Are there, in your opinion, liberating elements within Islam?

     It's hard to say that exactly. We are not fighting for an
Islamic society, rather for a socialist society. That allows us
to recognize the reality of the Kurdish people. Even if there are
principles in Islam which do not contradict the socialist
principles of the PKK, the PKK will nonetheless continue with the
class struggle. Certain human goals, which cannot necessarily be
connected to Islam or other religions, are in line with our
goals, for example our right to existence and the right to have
our own state.

(Interview by Charlotte Spielmann. Published in Junge Welt Nr.2,
January 3, 1996. Translated by Arm The Spirit.)


 ++++ 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 kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Sat Jan 20 10:12:00 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 20 Jan 1996 10:12:00
Subject: Balance Of Human Rights Abuses In T
Message-ID: <199601200858.DAA13386@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Balance Of Human Rights Abuses In Turkey From IHD

Human Rights Association (IHD) Of Turkey:
Balance For The First 11 Months Of 1995

Arrests: 12,033
Cases of torture: 225
Deaths from torture: 92
"Disappeared" in custody: 199
Press workers arrested: 421
Persons jailed: 1,637
Civilians killed in the war: 188
Civilians wounded: 291
Attacks by "unknown persons": 98
Number of casualties in these attacks: 1,078
Villages depopulated and burned: 208
Publications, associations, unions closed: 98
Publications confiscated: 269
Raids on publications, associations, unions: 169
Persons imprisoned for thought crimes: 125
Total sentences: 161 years, 10 months
Total fines: 15,782,000,000,000 Turkish lira

(Source: Kurdistan Rundbrief #1/96)

 ++++ 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 kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Sat Jan 20 10:12:00 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 20 Jan 1996 10:12:00
Subject: German Leftist Sentenced For Acting
Message-ID: <199601200828.DAA11354@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: German Leftist Sentenced For Acting In Solidarity With Kurds

Autonomist Jailed For Kurdish Hungerstrike Solidarity

     On November 7, 1995, a court in Berlin sentenced 25-year-old
Martin Mersch to 2 1/2 years in prison without parole on charges
of riot and unlawful assembly. Martin had taken part in a
hungerstrike by Kurds in Berlin which started on July 20, 1995.
The hungerstrike had been taking place on a city square in a
fashionable shopping district, until riot police brutally
dispersed the hungerstrikers. During a march to the Kurdish
Cultural Center in Kreuzberg where the strike was to continue, a
Kurdish woman named Gulnaz Baghistani died. On August 11, riot
police raided the center in order to forcibly end the
hungerstrike. As they attempted to smash in the metal doors,
Kurds responded with a barrage of stones and molotovs. According
to police, Martin participated in the violence and also displayed
a flag of the banned National Liberation Front of Kurdistan
(ERNK).
     [Sadly, very few German leftists and even fewer autonomists
gave any concrete solidarity to the Kurdish hungerstrike last
summer. In jails across Turkey and Kurdistan, 10,000 political
prisoners and prisoners of war went on hungerstrike on July 14
and solidarity hungerstrikes started across Europe on July 20. In
many cities - London, Frankfurt, Paris, Berlin - police attacks
on the hungerstrikes provoked violent clashes. - ATS]
     Martin received very little support at his trial, where he
delivered a political statement to the judge calling for the
release of all Kurdish political prisoners and an end to the
banning of the PKK.

Solidarity With The Kurdish Liberation Struggle!!

Write to Martin:

Martin Mersch
JVA, Gartenstrasse 26
48143 Munster
Germany

(Translated and condensed by Arm The Spirit from an article in
Interim #354)


 ++++ 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 kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Mon Jan 22 00:00:09 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 22 Jan 1996 00:00:09
Subject: Controversy surrounds Kurdish MP's
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199601212337.SAA25232@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Controversy surrounds Kurdish MP's Sakharov award

Controversy Surrounds Kurdish MP's Sakharov Award

Strasbourg, France (Reuter - January 17, 1996) Jailed Kurdish MP
Leyla Zana received the European Parliament's prestigious
Sakharov prize on Wednesday amid bitterness over the assembly's
motives for making the award.
    ``We honour in the person of Leyla Zana a woman of courage,
energy, intelligence and extraordinary self-denial,'' European
Parliament President Klaus Haensch said before handing the prize
to the jailed Kurd's husband, Mehdi Zana.
    ``Leyla Zana was elected for the first time to the Turkish
parliament in October 1991, as the first Kurdish women and
bringing with her a huge majority. She is today in a prison in
central Ankara, her mandate withdrawn,'' Haensch said.
    He rejected the idea of any contradiction in the parliament
lauding Zana's work on behalf of Turkey's Kurdish population a
month after it approved an EU customs union with Ankara.
    ``The majority in the European Parliament who voted in
favour of the customs union knew full well that they were not
going to bring about any major changes in Turkey from one day to
the next,'' he told a later news conference.
    ``If we had said no to the customs union we realised nothing
would change,'' Haensch said, adding that the ``yes'' vote would
leave the 15-country EU in a better position to influence
democratic reforms in Turkey.
    But Danielle Mitterrand, widow of the late French president
Francois Mitterrand and a long-time champion of Kurdish rights,
told the same news conference the prize was no more than a sop
to the parliament's conscience.
    ``When I heard that the Sakharov prize was to be given to
Zana I said...that I hope that this is not the sugar coating of
the parliament and I very much fear that that is what it is --
to help the medicine go down,'' she said.
    Zana, born in 1961, is serving a 15-year jail term over
alleged involvement with terrorist activites.
    Her arrest along with five other Turkish members of
parliament led to an outcry from European parliamentarians.
    Zana won the award, named after the former Soviet dissident
Andrei Sakharov, on a nomination by the parliament's 217-strong
socialist group, the assembly's largest political grouping.

From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Wed Jan 24 06:29:01 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 24 Jan 1996 06:29:01
Subject: Resource List Of Information O Irel
Message-ID: <bac1c849.199601240621.BAA18866@locust.cic>

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Resource List Of Information O Ireland On The 'Net

Information On Ireland On The Internet

(ATS Note: This list is from Jackie Dana who has very impressive web site 
for Irish political prisoners/pow's. We highly recommend it!)


        Looking for some juicy Irish web sites and discussion lists?

                              Look no further!


--------------------
Email discussion list:

IRL-Discussion: An unmoderated discussion list to discuss all things
pertaining to Ireland (with a healthy dose of politics). To subscribe
please send an email to listproc at mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu with the message:

Subscribe IRL-Discussion your first name your last name

(Please make sure your subject line is blank. Also, after subscribing
please disregard info asking you to change your password).

--------------------

Web Sites:

Irish Republican Socialist Committee (brand new page--you heard it here first!):
http://www.serve.com/IRSCNA/irscna.html
(note: 1st IRSCNA must be all caps).

AOH Home page (Upcoming): http://www.serve.com/AOH/
(Note: AOH must be in all caps)

Irish History on the Web: http://wwwvms.utexas.edu/~jdana/irehist.html

Irish POW Information: http://wwwvms.utexas.edu/~jdana/ipow.html

Sinn Fein: http://www.serve.com/rm/sinnfein/index.html

An Phoblacht/Republican News:
http://www.serve.com/rm/aprn/current/news/index.html
The Captive Voice/An Glor Gafa: http://wwwvms.utexas.edu/~jdana/glorgafa.html

Troops Out! Movement: http://www.serve.com/tom/

Irish National Caucus: http://www.knight-hub.com/inc/

Irish-American Foundation: http://www.serve.com/iaf/

Focal an Lae (the Word of the Day in Irish): http://www.lincolnu.edu/~focal/

These pages may be reached by visiting the Irish Internet Hub at:
http://wwwvms.utexas.edu/~jdana/otherlinks.html

--------------------

Questions, comments? Email me at Jadana at jeeves.la.utexas.edu. And feel free
to forward this message to your friends and fellow lists/newsgroups.

--Jackie Dana
"Life's just a really long web page"


 ++++ 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 sot at vd.antenna.nl  Fri Jan 19 15:52:28 1996
From: sot at vd.antenna.nl (sot at vd.antenna.nl)
Date: 19 Jan 1996 15:52:28
Subject: Info on  Turkey
Message-ID: <62eyHD1w165w@vd.antenna.nl>



From sot at vd.antenna.nl  Fri Jan 19 16:01:09 1996
From: sot at vd.antenna.nl (sot at vd.antenna.nl)
Date: 19 Jan 1996 16:01:09
Subject: Info on Turkey
Message-ID: <mgFyHD1w165w@vd.antenna.nl>

Information on Turkey; no. 1

Published by 'Stop the war in Turkey' (`Stop de oorlog in Turkije') Postbus 94802, 1090
GV Amsterdam, Netherlands. January 1996. Tel. 020 - 6680999, fax 020 - 6652422.
E-mail: sot at vd.antenna.nl

* Introduction 

This is a specimen copy of "Information on Turkey" on e-mail. It is published by Stop de
oorlog in Turkije (Stop the war in Turkey) and will appear irregularly. "Information on
Turkey" is presented to journalists, politicians and all those who are interested in develop-
ments in Turkey and Kurdistan. In Dutch it is published in printed form. In English it is
available through Internet.

Stop the war in Turkey (`Stop de oorlog in Turkije') wants to contribute to a peaceful soluti-
on of the war in Turkish Kurdistan. Not only will peace initiatives in Turkey and Western
Europa be supported, but non-violent action in Turkey against the war as well. 
The campaign advocates an arms boycott against Turkey by the European Union in coheren-
ce with the demand to the Turkish government to start negiotiating with Kurdish representa-
tives. The campaign supports conscientious objectors in Turkey itself and Turkish CO's in
Western Europe. The campaign aims for recognition of the right to resist conscription in
Turkey; recogniton of refugees because of political or conscientious objections against Tur-
kish conscription; exemption of Turkish conscription for Turkish men living in Western
Europe. 

* Participating organizations (main adress above): 

AMOK-Utrecht; Esdoornstraat 14; 3551 AJ Utrecht; (t)030-2442122 / (f)030-2441783; (e-
mail)
Azad?; Burgtstraat 3; 6701 DA Wageningen; 0317-423588
Vereniging Dienstweigeraars (VD); Postbus 94802; 1090 GV Amsterdam; (t)020-6680999 /
(f)020-6652422; (e-mail)vd at vd.aps.nl

Our group focusses on arms trade, the war against the Kurds in Turkey and Irak, objections
and resistance against conscription, international support for the Turkish regime and on Tur-
kish politics concerning these matters in general. If you have any questions or information
on these topics please contact us.

* Report
"Stop the war in Turkey" will publish a report on the war in december in Dutch. In a few
months we hope to translate it in English. Bestellen kan door overmaken van ? 13,- (icl.
portokosten) op girono. 6846311 t.n.v. Stop de oorlog in Turkije in Amsterdam.

* Items of this bulletin:

A General
B Arms trade and production
C Resistance against conscription
D War against the Kurds
E Turkey and the region (Middle East, Balkans, Caucasus)

A  GENERAL

* Turkish elections

   The elections of 24 december have been a victory for the islamic Welfare party (Refah
partisi). Because of their islamic ideology they have been outsider in the Turkish politic
scene. The main right and left wing parties are trying to exclude them from government. 
   None of the main political parties in Turkish politics make the impression of searching
for a political solution in the war against the Kurds. The main interest of the general election
is to be found in the undisturbed participation and the result of the pro-Kurdish HADEP-
party. The HADEP has scored 4% of the total vote. In Turkish Kurdistan it has despite
severe government harassment reached a significant percentage of the vote (35%). In Diyar-
bakir it took 47%, in Hakkari 54%, in Van 28%, in Batman 37%. Its main competitor there
was the Welfare party. Still it will not be represented in the parliament and this is a bad
thing. It appears that in the large cities of western Turkey, in Istanbul, Izmir and in Ankara
the Kurds voted for the Refah party or the Left-wing parties or could not vote. In Turkish
Kurdistan and in the western cities there are millions of Kurdish refugees.  They have fled
from their villages under the impact of the war. They could not vote because they were not
registered. According to the 'Kurdistan Rundbrief' 1995, no.25, there are almost five milli-
on refugees in Turkey, not counting Istanbul and Ankara. Other sources speak more often of
three million refugees (the chairman of the OVSE, Christopher Smith in a letter to the US
government). Those people were not able to vote, but still one has to take the Kurdish sup-
port for the Refah party seriously. HADEP did not convince all Kurds of their case. For
what reasons not (lack of a social program and a good party apparatus, difference in religi-
ous affilation) one can only guess at the moment.


* Dutch minister of Home Affairs visits Turkey

After the row over the first meeting of the Kurdish parliament in exile in The Hague, Ne-
therlands in april 1995 the Dutch minister of Foreign Affairs visited Turkey. Relations were
strained because of the furious reaction of Turkey, but after the visit things eased. There
was no new meeting of the Kurdish parliament in the Netherlands and a Kurdish cultural
festival was forbidden on the ground that it might be a threat to public order. Still, the
Netherlands refuses to outlaw the PKK or affiliations. To ease the relations further the Mi-
nister of Home Affairs went to Turkey to discuss cooperation between Dutch and Turkish
police and secret services. The Dutch intelligence organisation, BVD, already has an repre-
sentative in Turkey. The minister also stated again Dutch principles regarding democracy
and freedom. Although the cooperation between Turkey and the Netherlands will be limited,
one can ask why the Netherlands should cooperate with a secret service with shows such a
blatant disregard for human rights and dignity. In the Netherlands Kurds have been arrested
for "blackmail". In these cases they have been accused of collecting money for the PKK.
Some of these accusations might be the work of the Dutch intelligence service in cooperation
with their Turkish colleages. There have been other accusations against the PKK concerning
their involvment in drugs transport. This is probably just a glimpse of what the Turkish
secret service would like to do be done in the Netherlands.

* Report of visit to Turkey by Dutch minister of Home Affairs, Dijkstal, who visited Tur-
key from October 8th till 11th. 

Summary of his letter to the Tweede Kamer, the lower house in Dutch parliament. 

"The aim of Turkey was to sign a concept agreement concerning international drugstraffic-
king, international terrorism, and organised crime. The concept has been presented too to
other European countries. Except Austria which signed a short version, no other state has
signed yet. After careful examination the Netherlands concluded that the agreement could
not be signed. Minister Dijkstal stated that the connection between the PKK, terrorism, and
drugstrafficking and that the definition of terrorism was too loose for the Dutch government.
(.....)
As an alternative for the Turkish proposal a concept of a Memorandum of Understanding is
presented to the Turkish secret service. The Turkish counterparts agreed to consult monthly
on the progress in cooperation of the secret services. "

Annex

Memorandum of Understanding 
(considering cooperation of Dutch and Turkish secret services. This Memoranum of Under-
standing is not yet agreed, as far as we know.)

"Considering that the development and intensification of the friendly relation that has already
been established is of importance for the cultivation of mutual respect, trust and security,
Considering that al legal basis and democratic control are prerequisites for the proper functi-
oning of our services,
Considering that our organizations occupy themselves with risks and threats that are basical-
ly of the same character,
Considering that cooperation between our services is legitimate and may be useful and fruit-
ful,
Considering that the coperation indicated above can only be estabablished with political
consent on borh sides,
Considering that this implies infroming our respective governments about our cooperation,
Aware of differences in history and culture, recognizing and accepting that - as a result of
these diffences - different opinions on and appreciation of developments, situations and/or
facts my occur, and the exchange of information  on specific issues may be complicated,

We declare
a) That we will encourage intensifications of mutual relations if and where poosible
b) That cooperation will be (primarily) aimed at combatting illegal, surrepticious and/or
violent attempts to disrupt the security in our respective countries
c) That our organisations will pay specific attention to help competent authorities saveguard
national intersts inn our respective countries
d) That the following restrictions will be respected:
Information exchanged between our organizations will not
- be used in legal investigations
- be used for the purposed of prosecution
- be formwarded to other coutnries and/or other organizations without prior (written) consent
of the organization which provided the information.
Our organizations will not direct operational activities neither on each other's territory not
aimed at eachother's interests.
This `Memorandum of Understanding' will and can only come into force if and when it is
accepted by the responsible political authorities."

Source: Letter by the Dutch minister of Home Affairs to the Dutch Lower House, stuk 24
459 no 1. and it's Annex to 24459-1.



B  ARMS TRADE AND PRODUCTION 

* Turkey: world arms importer number one

In 1994 Turkey was the largest importer of arms in the world. This is the conclusion of an
investigation of the Monterey Institute of International Studies in cooperation with SIPRI
from Stockholm. With the aid of the United Nations arms trade register and other public
sources they have compared sixty countries in seven categories. Armed personel vehicles,
tanks, warships, aircraft, helicopters, heavy artillery, and missiles and rocket launch sys-
tems.
   It appears that Turkey has imported 1229 weapons- and weapon systems and on top of
that has bought 402 through licence production.

Source: Arms Control Today, may 1995


* Financing the Turkish arms budget

The Turkish government has decreted by law that 5% of the excise on tabacco, alcohol en
cigarettes will go to the undersecretariat SSM of the department of defence, which is respon-
sible for the organisation and financing of the Turkish arms industry. High inflation and the
devaluation of the Turkish Lira have caused severe financial problems for the SSM because
it has to pay its producers in dollars. It had a shortage of 180 million dollars. The new law
must yield $ 100 million. SSM has also been awarded $ 185 million of credits by the Tur-
kish banks.
   Earlier that year SSM had lost its power to lead some important modernisation projects
(among them the modernisation of F-16's). This was part of a conflict in the Turkish army
between SSM and the air force.
   A result of the crisis was that SSM could not pay its orders to the FNSS, a armed vehicle
producer. The company has time up to the year 2000 to deliver 1698 armed vehicles. A
project worth 1,3 milliard dollar. It got into trouble because SSM wasn't able to pay $ 400
million of arrears. 

Source: Defense News, 9 sep. 1995; Turkish Defence and Aerospace Update (TDAU) juli -
aug. 1995; Jane's Defence Weekly (JDW) 30-9-'95.


* Turkey's new plans

During the arms sales fair IDEF 1995 in Istanbul in september the Turkish government has
made public its new weapons program for the coming ten years. The last ten years moderni-
sation program will end soon. It had a value of $ 10 milliard and covered F-16's, 1698
armed vehicles of FNSS, 52 CN-235 light transport aircraft and 100 modern helicopters.
The new plans include 200 helicopters (of which 106 fighters, 84 armed scoutplatforms, and
16 rotary-wing aircraft for heavy-lift transport purposes. On 21 september it became public
that Turkey wants to make the M1A1 tank in cooperation with General Dynamics. The aim
is to build 50 tanks a year over ten years. We will come back on these plans. Below we give
some examples of them.

Source: Defense News, 25 sep. - 1 oct. 1995


* Turkey shortlists contenders for rifle contest.

Turkey has shortlisted four wapons for the 10-year modernizations programme to replace the
armed forces' 7.62 mm G3 rifles with a 5.56 mm weapon.
- Heckler 7 Koch HK33E (Germany)
- FN Herstal FNC (Belgium)
- Giat Famas G2 (France)
- TAAS (Galil)
The programma wil begin next year with intitial funds of $95 million - 350.000 rifles are
planned. A separate international bid will be opeend for produciotn of ammunition.
The selected weapon will be licenced-built in Turkey. 

Source: Jane's Defence Weekly, 16 December 1995

* Turkey plans major tank acquisition

The Turkish defense ministry plans to order an initial batch of 500-600 tanks armed with
120mm canon and has an eventual requirement for up to 2,000. The program has yet to be
funded, but is one of two. The other involves the acquisition of 106 attack, 84 armed scout
and 16 transporthelicopters - selected from implementation as a follow-on to the present 10-
year build up launched in 1986. This includes the co-production of F-16 fighters, AIFV
infantry fighting vehicles.
A presentation of Kraus Maffei-build Leopard 2 tanks has already been visited by Turkish
officials. Leopard 2 is, apart from the American company General Dynamic, M1 tank,
considered as the major contender. Germany, nevertheless, has not enough spare Leopard 2
to meet the Turkish need. It is promoting upgunned Leopard 1s as an alternative. Turkey
considers this as unsufficient because of T-80s/ and/or T-90' probably bought from Russia
by a country like Iran.
If the M1 tank is choosen, US Congress has to vote additional credits to cover the program-
me. Turkey will probably require a substantial amount and is also likely to seek rights to
supply the tanks to third-party countries. These could include former Soviet republics, nota-
bly Kazachstan, which do not want to rely on their traditional sources of supply.

Source: International Defense Review, November 1995

* Encouragement of Turkish military industry

The U.S. House of Representatives has supported a motion in favour of the reduction of
military aid to Turkey. The loan of 450 million dollars has been reduced to 320 million
dollars. 39 million dollars (against 26.3 for last year) is scheduled for the IMET program
(International Military and Education Training).
   Due to these and other reductions of aid (from Germany for instance) Turkey has taken
measures to boost its own military industry. One of these is to make use of private civil
industry for arms production. Another is that State-enterprises (like the shipyards G?lc?k
and Taskizak) and other military industries will be placed under civilian management. The
defense industry will have to work more efficient and more self-supporting in the long term.
The whole operation will have to lead to the entrance of private companies on the defence
market and the privatization of state enterprises in the future. These aims are part of Turkey
liberalising economic restructuring program. 
   The increase of private companies on the defence market would encourage foreign enter-
prises to make joint-ventures. In this way the ten existing private naval shipyards could take
naval docks on lease so that they will be able to take up naval orders.

Sources: Defense News, 3 - 9 juli 1995; JDW, 12 aug. 1995

   
C  RESISTANCE AGAINST CONSCRIPTION 


* The situation of Turks and Kurds in the Netherlands regarding conscription

Turkey has no laws for conscientious objection against military service although this has
been recognized as a human right by the United Nations. Many young man evade conscripti-
on in Turkey. Outright refusal of conscription is a limited affair. Antimilitarists can count on
strong repression. 
At this moment their are two antimilitarist groups in Turkey. They are small, but they repre-
sent a feeling that is widespread. In Instanbul there is the SKD who propagate against the
war in Kurdistan. They publish a magazine which is called Savasa Karsi Baris, War against
Peace. In Izimir there is a group active, called ISKD. It fights against militarism and violen-
ce in general. It wants to form a grassroots movement in Turkey.

The army in Turkey is a very authoritarian institution. The military drill is harsh. There is a
fair chance that a conscript will be serving in the war against the PKK and the repression of
the Kurds. In 1994 the Turkish ministry of defence estimated that there were 250.000 eva-
ders of conscription and deserters. Antimilitarists speak about 400.000. Many want to escape
the war or the military service as such (there are many deaths because of maltreatment and
an increasing number of suicides). The group of evaders is divers. There are people that
hide in the cities or in the countryside, some bribe officials and others join the PKK. 

Turkish men that live outside Turkey have to turn up for military service too. Every season
a list of names is published in the Turkish newspapers of those called up. In the Netherlands
live at present 228.414 people of Turkish origin or nationality. 64.000 of them were born in
the Netherlands. In general military service in the Turkish army is not a preferred choice for
those who have lived in the Netherlands: going to Turkey for 16 months will cost them their
job and probably their permit of stay; people don't want to risk being caught up in the war
in Turkish Kurdistan. There are several ways to evade or postpone conscription for those
living in the Netherlands (and this goes for those living in Germany too). 

1) If you went to the Netherlands before your 18th or was born there and also posess the
Dutch nationality you are allowed to choose for Dutch military service. After a new law in
the Netherlands in 1993 made it possible for Turks to have two nationalities (Turkish and
Dutch) many people have taken on Dutch nationality too. At present there are approximately
52.000 Turks with the Dutch nationality. There remains a problem for those people because
in april 1996 Dutch conscription will be abolished and Turkish law gives only freedom of
conscription to those who have actually been called up and have served in the Dutch ar-
my.(In Germany this problem does not exist for between this country and Turkey there is a
treaty that frees those with double nationality from military service even if they have not
come up (if they objected to military service for instance). So at present and in the future
enlisting in the Dutch army as a professional soldier doesn't set Turkish men free from mili-
tary service in Turkey. Since june 1995 there is the possibility for those who are living in
the Netherlands (or elswhere) before their 18th year of giving up their Turkish nationality.
That is not a fair option for people who want to keep their ties with their mother country.

2) There is another option for many people. Until their 38th year Turkish people living
abroad can postpone their military service. Many hope that after not turning up they will
scrapped off the list afer their 42nd year. But this means that going back to Turkey is im-
possible or at least fraught with the danger of being arrested in Turkey. So, many people
make use of the possibility to buy off their military service. Those that live or work for at
least three years abroad have the option to buy off their military service. This costs 10.000
DM. Still one has to go to Turkey for a month to a baracks in Burdur where all the people
from abroad are gathered and undergo some military training and much government propa-
ganda. In one year about 5000 Turks make use of this possibility. This means a contribution
of 50 million DM a year to the Turkish defence budget.

Refugees and illegals form a special problem. Since september 1995 this category will come
up for expulsion in the Netherlands. Deserters and evaders of concsription have sometimes
won their cases in court. One judge allowed for the possibility of a Kurd having to fight his
own people if he entered mlitary service and therefore he saw reason not to expel him. Un-
fortunately this case was lost in appeal in a higher court.

According to our information Turks and Kurds living in the Netherlands then do not choose
for outright refusal of conscription. The information above shows that they have options to
evade conscription and that they will not readily choose for refusal because they still have
ties to Turkey or want to return their one day. One of these ways out will be closed when
the Netherlands abolishes its conscription in 1996. It also appears that Turks and Kurds have
different ideas about resistance than West-europeans. They consider individual acts like refu-
sal of conscription not as valuable resistance. Besides, for many Turkish and Kurdish men
military service is still an act that proves manhood.

The campaign "Stop the war in Turkey" makes several demands to the governments in Euro-
pe and Turkey:
1. Recognition of conscientious objection to military service by the Turkish government;
2. Abolishment of military service for Turks and Kurds living abroad;
3. Recognition of desertion from the Turkish army and refusal of military service as grounds
for asylum in Europe, because of the war in Turkey and the abscence of a law for conscien-
tious objection.

We call upon all people who have information concerning Turkish military service (conditi-
ons, training, laws) and the special service in Burdur to send it to us.

* Turkish Kurds refuse conscription in Hamburg

For the second time in some months a group of Turkish Kurds have come out and declared
their objection to the Turkish draft. On 1 december (1995) four Kurdish refugees gave a
declaration in front of the Turkish consulate in Hamburg:

" We, the signers of de ondertekenaars, refuse cooperation with the Turkish military and the
Turkish draft. In Turkey there is a war going on in which the army is suppressing the Kur-
dish people for years now. We cannot support the role of the military apparatus as people
and as Kurds. We hope to be an example with this action for others. We call on others not
to join the army and to support objectors to conscription."

These four already live for a long time abroad and declare they want to give up their Tur-
kish nationality for political reasons.

Source: Grazwurzelrevolution no 204, januari 1996


D WAR AGAINST THE KURDS

* Food embargo brings hardship to villagers

Since july 1994 a food, medicine and tools embargo in Turkish Kurdistan is in force. The
results have been dissappointing and therefore the government has taken stronger measures:
shops and supermarkets in the villages have been closed. These measures apply to the coun-
tryside of the provincies Bing?l and Hakkari, but foremost to the province of T?nceli.
   The amount of food per family is regulated by the goverment. A family of three is allo-
wed to take five kilos of sugar, five kilos of butter and fourty kilo of flour per month, pro-
vided that there is permission of troops in the area. It is forbiddeb to go to the countryside
in these areas. The pressure on the population grows and it gets increasingly difficult to
prepare for the winter. As a result more people are migrating to the towns. 
   In some villages of Bing?l the roads are closed in winter. Representatives of the army
have promised to bring food with helicopters. 
   In Dersim (named T?nceli in Turkish) people have to bring their food to the closest mili-
tary barracks for the winter. Once every month they can take out their rations of food.

Source: Ozg?r Politika, 10-11-1995.


* United States helps Turkey with invasion in Irak

According to the American magazine RAIDS, which is specialized in special military opera-
tions, the US has had the supervision over the operation "Steel", as the Turkish invasion in
Irak is called. The magazine noticed that a small, unobtrusive building on the airbase of
Diyarbakir was functioning as a relay station from where Turkish civilians and American
military personnel were maintaining contact between the base Incirlik near Adana and the
operational headquarters in Zakho (in Irak). American military and defence industry person-
nel were maintaining aircraft at Diyarbakir and Incirlik bases and in Zakho. RAIDS conclu-
ded that the Americans had the supervision over the entire operation from the beginning to
the end. 
   RAIDS states that Turkey's aim to destroy supplies of food and weapons of the PKK has
succeeded for about 90%. They talk about 55 destroyed bases and tons of weapons.
   In one village near Silwan PKK fighters had brought in a wounded comrade and asked the
inhabitants for medical aid. At first the elders of the village refused because they didn't want
to get into trouble, but in some way the PKK persuaded them to give help. The PKK left
and some hours later came the Jandarma with helicopters. The wounded fighter was arrested
and the male population was taken away and accused of helping the PKK.

Source: RAIDS, 1995, sep. no. 46.


* Use of German arms against Kurds 

A kurdish refugee in Germany alleges the use of of German tanks (ex-DDR) by Turkish
special forces (?zel Tim) against kurdish civilians in the period 1991/92. The refugee, a 28
year old Kurd, has been a professional soldier in the region of Mardin and says to have
participated himself in the operations. He joined in 1986 by a contract for 15 years. He
deserted during holidays in the summer of 1992 and fled to Germany.
He has been shooting with his BTR 60 tank on supposed guerillaforces in the mountains, if
shots were heard from there, and was on duty in his tank in attacks on kurdish villages. A
testimony on that matter was only given with great reluctancy.
Answering the question of the judge in Bremen who had to decide about his permittance to
stay in Germany, why so reluctant he said that he was fearing reprisals by Turkish agents.
The man is sure he didn't mixed Russian and Eastgerman tanks of the same type. The Ger-
man government in Bonn has denied allegations of the use of German weaponry against the
kurds since years.

Source: Kirik T?fek, Das Zerbrochene Gewehr, Rundbrief zur t?rkisch/kurdisch-antimilita-
ristischen Bewegung. From: Frankfurter Rundschau 22 september 1995. 

* Civilian administration in disarray in Turkish Kurdistan

The World Bank has made investigations into the functioning of civil administration and
authority in Turkish Kurdistan and found out that a stable institutional framework is lacking.
Especially local authority is not functioning. There are also severe financial difficulties for
them. Essentials tasks like sewage, refuse collection and the slaughtering of animals have to
be performed by private organisations. The war has probably made a big mess of govern-
ment. This doesn't make it likely that economic aid is doing Kurdistan any good. That is
probably the reason why the World Bank has looked into the matter.

Source: Ozg?r Politika, 29-09-1995.


E  TURKEY AND THE REGION

* Turks Fight Soviet Hold on Republics

Turkey is intensifying efforts to weaken Russian control over the predominatly Turkic repu-
blics of the former Soviet Union, with senior leaders in Ankara urging a break in the politi-
cal, economic and strategic monopoly Moscow holds over kin states in Central Asia and
Transcaucasia.
   On August 28 visit to Kyrgyztan Demirel called on the Azerbaijan, Kazakstan, Kyr-
gyztan, Turkmenistan ans Uzbekistan to rid themselves of their dependency on Russia.
"To sell their goods freely, our brother countries, the Turkic republics must have direct
access to the world markets without obstacles. It is to their strategic political and economic
to get rid of dependency on any country."..."Should we not embrace those countries with
whom we have shared a common history of 2,000 years, only because the Russians will feed
offended?" At stake are the valuable resources of these countries. Azerbeidzjan and Kazach-
stan have oil, Kirgizistan and Turkmenistan possess natural gas and Uzbekistan supplies gold
and cotton.
   According tot Helmut Sonnenfeldt, scholar at the Washingotn based Brookings Insttution:
"If Turkye as a NATO member were to attempt to establish some special security relations-
hip with these states, it problably would arouse a lot of Russian anxieties and counteracti-
ons."
Turkey's investments in the five newly independent countries have reached $4,5 billion, with
Turkish Eximbank loans totalling $866 million since 1992. At present Turkey is training 856
officers from these five republics. It has also send military advisors to Azerbeidjan, which is
at war with Armenia, a country that is supported by Russia.

Source: Defense news, 4-10 oct. 1995.

* Turkey and the Balkans

Macedonia and Turkey have agreed to close military ties. Turkey has already made military
pacts with Albania and Bulgaria. Romanian RAIMIL and Turkish Nurol have together pro-
duced the RN-94, a six wheeled, amphibic personnel car. Turkey and Bosnia-Hercegowina
have signed an agreement in which Turkey promises to train Bosnian officers. It als includes
technical cooperation. In february 1995 Turkey already signed a friendship and cooperation
agreement with Bosnia. Now that the arms embargo has been lifted the cooperation can be
extended. At present they include: military training, organisation and infrastructure of the
defence industry, military technology, research and development and military medicine.

Source: JDW, 29 juli 1995; JDW, 26 aug. 1995; JDW, 7 okt. 1995 







From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu  Tue Jan 30 01:53:57 1996
From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu)
Date: 30 Jan 1996 01:53:57
Subject: Turkey's War Crimes
Message-ID: <bac1c849.QQaark00610.199601300102@alterdi>

From: akin at kurdish.org (American Kurdish Information Network (AKIN))

"Turkey's War Crimes"

Just a few weeks ago, "The European", a weekly newspaper published in
London, England, had a picture with a warning on its front page.  It showed
a Turkish soldier holding the decapitated heads of two Kurds.  The caption
read: "Pictures that will shock the world."

A closer look at the pictures and the story which accompanies them reveals
that these photographs depict the triumph of five Turkish soldiers over the
dead bodies of four Kurdish rebels.  In one picture, two of the naked Kurds
are headless, one lying on his back and the other on his stomach. The first
has a rope tied to his ankles and the second has a rope tied around his
trunk, betraying the not uncommon practice of dragging dead bodies behind
armored vehicles in Turkey's southeast. Historians tell us that the
warriors of Ghengis Khan did the same to their victims, only with horses
rather than army vehicles.

In another picture, a soldier in his twenties is holding the two severed
heads while smiling at the camera and his comrade in the background is
smirking.  There are other pictures and other depravities.  Suffice it to
note that one is uglier than the other and each alone is enough to make
Kurds and their friends sick for days.

For days now, I have been staring at these pictures.  I have been telling
myself: "One of the decapitated heads is yours."  It is an eerie feeling.
Just stop and think of it: somebody staring at you holding your decapitated
head.  I have made a point of looking at the reactions of Kurds who
confront these pictures for the first time.  They feel utterly numb.  Think
of a people without faith, without love, without hope and with lots of
pain.  That is what the Kurds of Turkey have become.

These pictures and the heinous crimes they show are not aberrations.  These
scenes are repeated often in southeastern Turkey, the historical land of
the Kurds.  Armed with East German rifles, West German armored vehicles and
sophisticated American weapons, Turkish soldiers are creating the largest
moonscape on the face the earth, raining death and destruction on the Kurds
and their land.  House Concurrent Resolution 136 of the 104th Congress
notes that more than 2,650 Kurdish villages have been destroyed in this
most recent Turkish assault on the Kurds.

The French philosopher Voltaire wrote that the worst kind of death is to be
obscurely hanged.  The slaughter of the Turkish Kurds is a good example of
that.  Ask the Kurds for the name of a people that supports their cause for
civil rights and there is not an answer.

In Turkey, where the majority of an estimated 25 to 30 million Kurds live,
resistance is costly; as the pictures show, even your dead body is not
immune from abuse and degradation.  Public office is costly, too, as is
proven by the case of 13 duly elected Kurdish deputies who lost their seats
in the Turkish Parliament. Four were sentenced to 15 years in prison for
advocating the legitimate rights of their people.

Ankara has tried everything in its power to discourage the Kurds from
demanding their rights.  It has tried force.  Nothing has come of it.  It
has tried the "village guard" system in which poor Kurds are armed to teeth
and inculcated with hatred for their kin.  The upshot has been a disaster:
Kurds killing Kurds to the chagrin of their friends.  It has tried
religion, the opium of masses in the words of Karl Marx, and again the
policy has not worked.   But something quite unexpected has taken root in
Turkey because of the heavy emphasis on religion.

The Islamic Welfare Party scored the highest number of votes in Turkey's
latest parliamentary elections.  This was the result of an unscrupulous
campaign by Turkey's leaders, first to undermine the rising tide of Kurdish
national consciousness by inculcating a universalistic Islamic ideology
which they considered less dangerous than the Kurds, second by using the
rising tide of Islamic threat in order to manipulate opinions in the
European Union and the United States so as to secure closer military and
economic ties.

The late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat encouraged Islamic fundamentalist
organizations like the Muslim Brotherhood in order to use them against
alienated Egyptian youth who were increasingly turning to Marxism.  But he
himself became the victim of the forces to which he gave a free reign.
Members of the Muslim Brotherhood within the Egyptian military gunned him
down.

Maybe there is something called poetic justice in the world.  Maybe we
Kurds will get our civil rights after Turkey travels the same road taken by
Iran.  Maybe then the State Department will recognize our sacrifices of
pain and blood and let us have our due.

American Kurdish Information Network



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American Kurdish Information Network (AKIN)
2309 Calvert Street NW, Suite #3
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Tel: (202) 483-6444
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E-mail: akin at kurdish.org
http://burn.ucsd.edu/~akin
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