Turkey: Those who make people disappear will lose in the end

[ozgurluk at xs4all.nl]

August 18, 1998

THOSE WHO MAKE PEOPLE DISAPPEAR WILL LOSE IN THE END

The Susurluk State makes peoples "disappear" and continues its
massacres. Neslihan Uslu, Metin Andas, Hasan Aydogan and Mehmet Ali
Mandal, arrested in Izmir on March 31, 1998, still count as
"disappeared". The Susurluk State, which had ceased these methods of
warfare against the people for a short period, now attacks again
without any mercy. The Susurluk trial is a trial which shows the
reality in our country. All the methods the state used against the
people during the years of its unjust war were exposed and the real
character of the state was seen by 60 million. Those who want to fool
the people with the slogan of "father State" are the ones who are
involved with all kinds of filth, the child molesters and the drug
dealers. They are the enemies of the people organised in parliament,
the army, the police and the Mafia, their hands covered in blood. They
are the perpetrators of the disappearances, the massacres and the
oppression policy. The Susurluk state was hit by the lightning of a
reality which could no longer be kept secret. It was confronted with a
serious moral problem. The government crisis deepened and
contradictions sharpened more and more, the state institutions no
longer functioned. During the phase where the MGK (National Security
Council) took things more openly into its hands, the Susurluk state
tried to gain time on the one hand, on the other hand reorganisations
were started to be able to continue the attacks. While they tried to
get the dysfunctional institution in order again, countless activities
were carried out to clean up the state. The MGK, disciplining the
system parties with debates about a "Sharia coup", invented by the MGK
itself, tried to win over several circles to its side. It was
especially seeking to close the trial about Susurluk with the least
damage possible. It tried hard to rebuild the trust in the state and
to clean it up again. The report about Susurluk, written by state
prosecutor Kutlu Savas, must be seen in this context. The emphasis on
the fact that the state had to keep its activities within the
framework of the law revealed the true aim of the state.
"Disappearances" and massacres should be carried out to secure the
existence of the state but they should be carried out within the law
and in secrecy. The state, closing the Susurluk phase in a way,
increased its attacks against the people. There isn't a segment of the
population which isn't subjected to these state attacks. Students and
pupils, civil servants, the workers and the people from the Gececondus
(slum areas), they were all subjected to different forms of state
terror. The oligarchy soon reapplied its never changing and
traditional policy within the context of these attacks. Massacres
occurred frequently again. First three revolutionaries were massacred
in Adana, later two more in Istanbul. The "disappearances", an
important element of the war against the people, appeared on the
agenda again. Neslihan, Hasan, Metin and Mehmet Ali are not the first
ones in this chain of "disappearances", nor will they be the last. The
oligarchy "lets disappear" in order to silence the entire society. But
one thing is for sure, the four disappeared revolutionaries will, like
the hundreds of our people before, speed up the end of the state and
turn into a weapon, hitting it.

The policy of "disappearances" in our country. 

The policy of "disappearances" was applied in many countries,
especially in the countries of Latin America. It was first applied in
our country in the 80's with the fascist September 12 coup. Since
1990, this policy was speeded up and applied systematically. During
the period of the military junta, the number of disappeared was still
below the 100 mark, but since 1991 the numbers increased rapidly,
going into the hundreds. For instance, in 1995 alone there were more
than 213 disappearances which can be certified. And there are dozens
more which cannot be that easily certified. From the 90's, it was
tried to force the revolutionaries into capitulation, harming the
people's trust in the revolutionary organisations, with the policy of
disappearances. Within a short time, this policy started to affect all
segments of the people. This method, developed in the laboratories of
the CIA to scare and frighten the people and to cause discourage and
pacifism among the ranks of the people, was applied on a very broad
level. 

The first disappearance: Hayrettin Eren

Hayrettin Eren was made disappeared 18 years ago, during the phase of
the military junta of September 12. After his arrest on October 20,
nothing was heard of him again. Hayrettin Eren belonged to Devrimci
Sol (Revolutionary Left) and became one of the first targets of the
policy of disappearances, not applied by the junta at that time as
much as torture, execution and hanging. Hayrettin Eren was arrested
when he was in his car in Sarachane/Istanbul. When his mother, Elmas
Eren, after the arrest, went to the police station of Gayreteppe to
ask about her son, she saw his car in front of the building. But the
police answered: "We don't know. We're looking for him as well". But
eight other persons, arrested with him at the same time, stated that
he was with them at the police station. Despite the witnesses and all
the requests, nothing was heard of Hayrettin since. He was seen last
seen in the police station on February 18, 1981, by people who were
arrested in connection with the punishment action against Mahmut
Dikler, then police chief of Istanbul. The mother, talking about the
days of searching for her son: "Starting with the police stations, we
took this case to the council, even the Red Cross. There were no real
investigations in those days. We found the witnesses, they had been in
the same cell, they had been tortured together. There were so many who
had seen him. Nobody doubts he has been held for months at the
political department. But despite all these facts, the state
prosecutor saw no reason to indict. But he knows as well as we do that
the "disappeared" are being murdered by the state. But the state tries
to get rid of its own mess and ignores dozens of witness statements."
(Zafer Yolunda Kurtulus, "Liberation on the road to victory", no. 20,
p.9)

The nineties...
Systematic "disappearances" organised by the oligarchy

The 90's represent a phase of a revived revolutionary struggle,
suffering setbacks after the September 12 coup. Be it Devrimci Sol, be
it the Kurdish national movement, they all caused great fear at the
oligarchy's front. Parallel to the increasing nationalist and class
struggle, the oligarchy started to take new precautions, passing new
laws. While the "democracy" game was played on the one hand, it was
tried to dress up the entire policy of repression, torture and
massacres against the people in a legal costume with new "Anti Terror
Laws", legitimising it in this way. Against whom this attack is
directed, increasing with the measures of the "Anti Terror Law", which
is in fact a Terror Law, is described by Turgut OEzal: "...
Organisations like the PKK or the Dev-Sol are now short before their
annihilation. Until yesterday, the centre from which organisations
like the PKK or the Dev-Sol were being led has been Russia. But when
decay is ruling there, how can these organisations keep on their feet
in Turkey?... The "Law of Fighting Terror" must include severe
punishments." While the rulers in the leadership of the country were
going through a crisis, dissatisfactions was growing among the people
and the true faces of all the system parties was being revealed. The
oligarchy, applying its raging terror since then, systematically
started to apply its policy of "disappearances" during these years.
The Devrimci Sol-fighter Yusuf Eristi was one of the first
"disappeared" of that phase. 

A witness and a photography exist...
But he's "disappeared"

Yusuf Eristi was arrested in Belgradkapi/Istanbul on March 14, 1991.
Despite the permission, given to the lawyers by the State Security
Court, the "torturers" refused the lawyers to visit him. Later,
despite all the witness accounts by his friends who were arrested at
the same time, Yusuf Eristi was listed as "disappeared". The lawyers
who came to the Forensic Institute to identify the Ibrahim Ilci after
July 12 (when 12 revolutionaries of Devrimci Sol were murdered in
Istanbul and Ankara in one single night), were shown a picture by the
police, it was a picture of Yusuf Eristi's body, showing marks
torture. On the initiative of the then newly founded OEzguer-Der
(Student Association), a number of democratic associations carried out
actions after the "disappearance" of Yusuf Eristi. A campaign was
launched to find Yusuf. The "disappearances" came on the public agenda
with this campaign for the first time, unmasking the oligarchy.
Furthermore Devrimci Sol demanded justice from the murderers for Yusuf
Eristi's "disappearance". Haci Beykara, member of the team of the 1.
Department, responsible for Devrimci Sol, was punished. Together with
every new person, "made disappeared" by the state, the struggle
broadened and developed all over the country. Again and again it was
shown to those in power that it would not be that easy to make the
revolutionaries "disappear" and that these cases were being followed.

"It shouldn't have become public"

Soner Guel and Huesamettin Yaman were arrested in Istanbul on May 4,
1992, and then "disappeared". Again a campaign was launched, now to
find Huesamettin and Soner who had joined the youth struggle through
Dev-Genc (Revolutionary Youth). The lawyers went to the European Human
Rights Commission with this case. While the families pressed charges
on June 9, 1992, the members of IYOE-DER (Istanbul Faculty Association)
asked inside and outside of the university: "Where are Huesamettin
Yaman and Soner Guel?" Furthermore, a commission, consisting of members
of IYOE-DER, Tuem-OEzguer-Der, the Ortakoey Cultural Centre and members of
the "Workers in the Revolutionary Struggle" went to Ankara. They had
talks with delegates and ministers inside the TBMM (the Turkish
parliament). Mehmet Kahraman, state minister for Human Rights, who
stated "I shouldn't have become public", was answered that they would
continue to follow the trail of the "disappeared". The months of
October and November 1992 represented a new and important phase in the
struggle against the "disappearances". Caused by a struggle against a
chain of "disappearances" at that time, the "disappeared" came on the
agenda throughout the entire country and those in power were cornered
and exposed. On July 20, the police "made disappear" Hasan Gueluenay,
the same happened to Ayhan Efeoglu on October 6.

"You want blood, here it is"

Numerous actions were organised in October within the context of a new
campaign. Press conferences and panel discussions were held. Dev-Genc
carried out an armed action on October 24 in Besiktas/Akaretler.
Traffic was blocked by a fire. A fire-bomb action against a bank was
to show that Ayhan's murderers would be held accountable. On November
2, the mothers of the disappeared started a hunger strike in front of
a local office of the HEP (People's Worker's Party) in
Istanbul/Eminoenue. From November 4, this hunger strike was continued in
Ankara. On November 6, the relatives occupied the regional office of
the DYP (True Path Party) in Ankara. On November 7, they carried out a
manifestation in front of the house of the state president, Sueleyman
Demirel, accompanied by slogans. Despite all the rejections, they
succeeded in having a meeting with Demirel in the end. Demirel said:
"You think I carry them in my pocket so I can take them out just like
that?" Thereupon, the mothers and fathers grabbed him by his collar
and demanded accountability. On November 12, the mothers yelled in
front of the department: "You, the responsible for the government and
the state who cannot have enough of blood... If you want blood, here
it is", throwing bottles filled with blood. These actions, carried out
by the relatives, became news despite all the restrictions and the
censorship. For the first time, the murderers seriously got cornered.
The oligarchy could no longer keep the policy of "disappearances"
secret, despite its demagogy. There murderous face were exposed. These
actions, carried out by the mothers, were supported in many parts of
the country by solidarity hunger strikes and telegram actions. A lot
of organisations and institutions, based in Europe, called to
"increase the voices against the disappearances". Devrimci Sol carried
out bomb attacks against the election offices of the DYP and the SHP,
demanding accountability of those who were responsible for the
"disappearances". In the leaflets, published by the Revolutionary
People's Councils, titled "In Turkey, the land of the disappeared, the
mothers are searching for their children", it is said: "Now the
horror, yesterday witnessed in Nazi-Germany, in Argentina and Chile,
is alive in our country. The oligarchy thinks it will be successful
with this policy, frightening the people. But they are wrong: they
cannot terrify 60 million people, forcing them to capitulate". 

A massacre, a disappearance

On August 13, 1994, five people were massacred in Perpa. While the
oligarchy was not only murdering revolutionaries but unorganised
people as well, Erdogan Sakar, arrested in Perpa on that same day, was
made "disappeared". The relatives of the martyrs and the prisoners
went on their way to Ankara to have meetings with ministers and
delegates. They wanted Erdogan Sakar's murderer. Despite all the
security measures, accountability was demanded with an attack against
the central meeting of SHP (Social Democratic People's Party) party
leader Murat Karayalcin. The hunger strike, continuing till then, was
ended. 

With every new  "disappearance", the struggle against the
disappearances grew

Ali Efeoglu, whose brother Ayhan Efeoglu "disappeared" before, was
arrested on January 5, 1994. He "disappeared" as well. All inquiries
into his whereabouts were in vain. The responsible state prosecutor of
the DGM (State Security Court) in Istanbul stated: "Maybe he went to
his brother". The attempt to make Ali Efeoglu disappear made the
relatives of the disappeared and the prisoners, and the youth, come
into action once again. The students of IYOE-DER (Istanbul Faculty
Association) organised several penal meetings at the universities at
the end of January. On January 31, they carried out an occupation of
the Istanbul office of the SHP in Taksim. At that same time, the
Devrimci Sol prisoners gave strength to the campaign with their
actions and statements in court. In April 1996, Devrimci Sol member
Recep Gueler was made "disappeared". There has been no news from him
since his arrest on April 24. All inquiries were answered with "He
isn't with us"... Luetfiye Kacar from Devrimci Sol was made
"disappeared" as well after her arrest in October 1994. During that
same period, a member from the TDKP (Revolutionary Communist Party of
Turkey), Kenan Bilgin, was made disappeared while he was in police
custody in the DAL (Deep Investigation Laboratory), despite many
witnesses. On October 26, the Platform for Rights and Freedom started
a hunger strike inside the regional SHP-office in Istanbul against the
disappearances, the massacres and the burning down of villages. On
December 24, Ismail Bahceci was arrested and made disappeared. A broad
campaign was launched for Ismael Bahceci. Press conferences and panel
meetings were organised, numerous actions were carried out, in Turkey
as well as abroad. The "Committee `No against disappearances'" did a
lot in Ankara. A speech was held at a civil servants meeting on
January 21, 1995, in Ankara. The "Revolutionary People's Forces"
entered the Istanbul office of the SHP in Esenler, accusing the party
of accomplicity. Actions for the disappeared were carried out in many
neighbourhoods, roads were set on fire. Attacks with bombs and
fire-bombs were carried out against state institutions from Istanbul
to Trabzon and Adana, actions like painting slogans and hanging
banners were carried out everywhere. Delegations for Ismail Bahceci
were organised in Europe. The delegation from Austria, the Netherlands
and Greece tried to have several meetings in Ankara and Istanbul.
Those in power, cornered again, tried to avoid meetings with the
delegates everywhere. The campaign for Ismail Bahceci met a lot of
response inside the country and abroad, a sensitivity for the
disappeared was created. This campaign showed that the disappeared
would not be given up, under no circumstances. 

"DISAPPEARANCES" THROUGHOUT THE WORLD

Those in power have used all kinds of inhuman methods against the
oppressed throughout history to be able to continue their injust
system. To secure their power, it was necessary to prevent the people
from organising and fighting. Therefore there here has always been
pressure from the rulers against the oppressed. That has been the aim
of the torture, the massacres and the dungeons, used against those who
fought against injustice, against the resisting peoples. The methods
which were used against the poor changed with the development of
societies, and with an unchanging aim and substance in its form,
methods were developed which were adopted to the specifics of certain
periods. To have people tore apart by animals, putting them on top of
stakes, burning or stoning them to death, and all kinds of torture
methods created space for others. During the phase of imperialism, the
last stage of capitalism, even more "scientific" and "specific"
methods were applied in the struggle the peoples that fought for
independence, democracy and freedom, all in line with the demagogy
about "human rights", coming up after the II. War of Partition. It was
begun to lead the attacks against the peoples of the world from the
imperialist centres and monopolies. The USA, becoming the leader of
imperialism during this phase, designed new attack policies against
the peoples, learning from the liberation struggles in the past. They
used their newly developed physical and psychological methods in
practice. One of these methods was the policy of DISAPPEARANCES, used
by the imperialists and their local collaborators against the
revolutionaries. 

The first order to "make disappear" 
NIGHT AND HAZE

The policy of "making disappear" was for the first time applied
systematically by the Nazi-regime during the II. Imperialist War of
Partition against the people that were occupied by Hitler fascism.
Confronted with the increasing anti-fascist resistance, Hitler stated:
"Executions create heroes", and the Nazi's started to apply more
differentiated methods to "prevent heroes". And so the "Night and
Haze" decree was published in February 1942. Prisoners in custody were
to be transported to Germany in the night. Tens of thousands of people
were sent into uncertainty. The taken measures were defended as
follows: "These measures will ensure definite results because: a)There
will be no trail of the prisoners, b)There will be no information
about their whereabouts or fate". In this way, tens of thousands of
people, pushed into train wagons in the night, were sent to the ovens
to be executed and for the first time mass disappearances entered
history. This policy, for the first time applied by the Nazi's, was
used by the imperialist USA in a further developed form after the II.
War of Partition, this time against the class specific and national
liberation struggles of the neo-colonial countries. 

The Nazi's extend "NIGHT AND HAZE" to the neo-colonies, ordered by
imperialism

At the end of the II. Imperialist War of Partition, the fascist
Hitler-generals, aware that there would be a regeneration, secretly
sought contact with the USA. As a result of the negotiations with the
USA, some of these generals sought refuge in the USA, others in
Latin-America. Among them was general Gehlim, specialist in fascist
underground organising. The fascist generals, giving their entire
knowledge and experience to US-imperialism, laid the basis for
contra-guerrilla organisations in the entire world, aimed against
class specific and national liberation struggles. After the II.
Imperialist War of Partition, the lessons learned from the "Night and
Hazel" decree against the people who resisted fascism in Europe and
Germany, and the lessons learned by the USA till then from the wars
against the peoples, were all put together. They started to apply the
policy of "making disappear" in a more specific way, especially
directed against the people of the Latin-American countries. This
policy was extended to all neo-colonial countries in the world. The
result of this barbaric inhuman policy was that countries like
Argentina, Chile, El Salvador, Brazil, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru,
Columbia, Burundi, Morocco, Cambodia, the Philippines, Ecuador, Haiti,
Indonesia, Zimbabwe, India, Kuwait, Rwanda, Namibia, Papua-New Guinea
and Turkey have become countries of the "disappeared". 

Guatemala covered in "haze"
40.0000 DISAPPEARED

In 1954, Albay Castillo Armas took power in Guatemala. Albay Castillo
Armas was an officer, trained by CIA-experts in the USA. And thus
started an untamed terror against the ethnic people. During the phase
of the junta, the influence of the monopoly `United Fruit' increased
and the  land which had been expropriated by the former government was
given back to the large landowners. The wave of terror against the
people, reached its top in 1966 when the entire country was sold off
to imperialism for a mere song. In 1967, after the "search and
destroy" operations against the guerrilla movements, roads had become
unpassable because of the many corpses. Water wells and rivers were
full of corpses, corpses who could not be identified because of the
torture, corpses which had been skinned, severed heads, body parts,
arms and legs... This sight more or less became normality. Together
with the "Glorious Army of Guatemala", during this phase completely
collaborating with the USA, the NOA (New Anti-Communist Organisation)
cut off the left hands of their enemies, and tongues were torn out.
The contra-guerrilla organisation, called MANO (Organised National
Anti-Communist Movement) marked opposition members by painting black
crosses on their doors. Besides the overt and covert massacres, daily
mass mortality continued, caused by poverty. From the 70.000 people
who died in Guatemala in 1968, 30.000 were children. Child mortality
rates were forty times higher than in the USA. As a result of the
hopelessness of the rulers, confronted with the struggle of the
peoples, the method of "disappearances" was applied frequently for the
first time in Guatemala during this years, in time it developed into
one of the most basic forms of attack. From 1966 till now, some 40.000
people were "made disappeared" in Guatemala. 

1973...
Uruguay and Chile

The increasing poverty and need, caused by the beginning of the
economic-political crisis of 1968 in Uruguay (the production is based
on farming and cattle breeding), led to one strike after the other.
The influence of the armed movement Tupamaru, fighting a liberation
struggle, grew in time, and the number of armed actions against the
rulers increased. To keep down the growing struggle of the people, the
fascist junta took power in July 1973. With the fascist junta, Uruguay
changed into a large concentration camp. Besides torture and massacre,
"disappearances" became daily events. The murdered and "disappeared"
were not only Tupamaros. Intellectuals, pupils, opponents of the
system, all segments of the people became the target of the relentless
terror of the fascist junta. The people who were heavily tortured in
the "Libertad" dungeons of Montevideo for weeks and months, later
"disappeared". The corpses were left to rot in ditches, the irrigation
canals, the woods. The bodies of some of the disappeared were later
found in lonely places. During the phase of the military junta,
thousands of Uruguayans "disappeared".

The socialist Allende-government, coming to power after the elections
of 1973, wanted to end the exploitation by the international copper
monopolies, which largest reserves are in Chile. The mining industries
were to be nationalised. The imperialists, seeing their profits
endangered, opened war against Allende. Chile was economically
completely strangled. The people were incited against the government
and in the end the military junta, backed by the USA, came to power,
led by the fascist Pinochet. Allende was murdered, the country was
changed into a blood-bath. The national stadium in Santiago was
re-functioned into a torture centre. Tens of thousands of Chileans
were made "disappeared" after they had been tortured and murdered in
this stadium. During this phase, not only Chileans "disappeared", the
junta didn't shriek back to make disappear many democratic and
intellectualist foreigners as well. Pinochet, who transformed Chile
into a country of the "disappeared" and a country of massacres,
entered history as one of the most bloody dictatorships with these
methods. The torture methods of the intelligence organisation of that
time, DINA, and the fate of the "disappeared" were revealed to the
entire world later with the confessions of DINA-employees who were
responsible for the countless massacres and who had gone through a
crisis. 

The "disappearances" became systematic state policy

The "disappeared" became part of the war reality in our country. With
the beginning of 1994, the state continued the "making disappear", and
the revolutionaries continued their struggle for the sake  of the
"disappeared". In most cases, the disappeared were never found again.
However, during that phase it was sometimes possible to recover the
bodies. Only in a few cases was it possible to free those were
disappear from the hands of the state. 

A "lucky case" of disappearance

With the intensification of the policy of disappearances, the
sensibility and the fighting spirit of the people's segments began to
develop as well. The mothers, despite all the hindrances, demanded
accountability from the murderers of their children and with numerous
actions they created a tradition of struggle for the disappeared.
Ayhan Uzala, kidnapped by the contra-guerrilla on November 29, 1994,
was the first who was to escape the state policy of disappearances.
When he left his house in Kadikoey/Istanbul he was taken away by 7-8
persons. This was not a normal arrest, as the leader of the unit
declared, "illegal methods" were  used. Because of the increasing
publicity in- and outside the country, the murder of Ayhan Uzala, who
was interrogated for 20 days in the neighbourhood of Izmit/Kandira,
could be prevented. Ayhan Uzala described the incident as follows:
"After my kidnapping, I was interrogated for a long time. During the
interrogations, they repeatedly showed me pictures of press
conferences, held by my family and several democratic mass
organisations who wanted to find me again. (...) In the night of the
20th. day, they came again. The usual questions were repeated for a
while. A short time later the leader of the team asked upset, "why
haven't you told us you're a Dutch citizen". But then he said: "Well,
you've passed your first visitor's phase, but we'll hand you over to
another team. You'll stay there for 3 months and they will try new
methods." The wallet and the items they had taken from me on the first
day were given back to me. Then they put me in a van. After more or
less three hours, the van stopped in a wooded area and I was taken
out. The noise of dry leaves we stepped on and the silence around made
me realise we were in a wood. At first they wanted to tie me to a
tree. I resisted. Then they leaned me against it. The leader of the
team said: "Well, this is the end of it, we'll kill you". The same
voice yelled: "Kneel down!" I said "No, I will not kneel down, no
way". (Ayhan Azala, OEzguer UElke, December 25, 1994) While the story of
Ayhan Uzala, "released" in the woods, shows the disappearance policy
of the state and the massacres during the arrest, it as also an
example that the arrested can be freed from the hands of the
murderers. 

The State Security Court agreed, the police let "disappear"

Cueneyt Aydinlar, a third year student at the Faculty for Communication
Sciences of the Istanbul University, was arrested on February 22,
1995, together with 13 friends. The State Security Court decided
police custody for 15 days. The state prosecutor in this case was
Aytac Tolay. Looking at the situation in Turkey, this wasn't unusual
so far. The real developments only showed at the end of these 15 days.
When the people who were arrested together with Cueneyt Aydinlar were
brought to the State Security Court again, Cueneyt Aydinlar, whose
arrest had been acknowledged by the prosecutor, wasn't present. The
police stated Cueneyt Aydinlar had escaped from the station and the
state prosecution issued an warrant against her for escaping. Despite
many witnesses and the official recognition of her arrest, Cueneyt
Aydinlar was made disappeared while in police custody.

Aysenur, Hasan and Ridvan

Aysenur Simsek was arrested in January 1995. Despite all the efforts
and a lot of requests, there has been no news from her. The official
institutions didn't acknowledge her arrest. On April 12, the state
prosecutor of Kirikkale called Aysenur's family and told them the
place where Aysenur had been buried. Aysenur was kidnapped by the
contra-guerrilla, then tortured and murdered. Aysenur body, which
showed gun shots in the head, the chest and the chin, represented a
new level of the policy of disappearances and massacres. Hasan Ocak
was kidnapped by the contra-guerrilla on March 21, 1995. Despite
activities for months, no result could be achieved. While Hasan's name
was added to the list of the disappeared, one day farmers found a dead
body in a wood in Beykoz, showing signs of torture. Hasan Ocak was
arrested on March 21, tortured in several ways and then strangled.
After the body, found in the village of Bozhane/Beykoz, had been kept
for 28 days in the Forensic Institute, it was buried on the cemetery
for the "unknown" in Altinsehir. His brother, who went to the Forensic
Institute on May 16, was able to identify Hasan from a picture. Hasan
was kidnapped, like Aysenur, then murdered and his body was left
behind in a remote area. The body of Ridvan Karakoc, covered with
torture signs, who had been made disappeared at the end of February,
was also found in March in the woods near Beykoz. He was later buried
on the cemetery for the "unknown". The state prosecutor of Beykoz
stated that the family of Ridvan Karakoc had been contacted after his
identity was established with fingerprints. However, his body was
found on March 3 and was kept in the Forensic Institute till March 26.
Then he was buried on the cemetery for the "unknown". Only after Hasan
Ocak's body had been identified by his brother, could the whereabouts
of Ridvan Karakoc be found out. The oligarchy covered the people with
terror be leaving the bodies of the people who had been murdered after
their arrest at places where they would be easily found. The
oligarchy, aiming at terrifying the people and forcing the
revolutionaries to give up, used this method to increase fear and
passivity, saying "I am the state, I can let disappear, I can let
murder". The oligarchy extended its psychological attack against the
people.

"Turkey will not become another Argentina"

Despite the terror by the oligarchy, become more and more relentless,
the people did not remain silent. The attacks were damned with
numerous actions. During a campaign, led by the DHKC (Revolutionary
People's Liberation Front), the people demanded accountability from
its enemies. In this phase of numerous actions, new traditions were
created in the struggle for the disappeared. On May 12, members of
TIYAD (Support and Human Rights Association of the Prisoner's
Relatives) blocked the Bogaz Bridge, stopping the traffic and shouting
slogans like "Turkey will not become another Argentina!" On May 19,
more than 10.000 people from the population and several revolutionary
organisations joined Hasan Ocak's funeral in the Gazi neighbourhood
(Istanbul) With countless panel meeting at the universities,
commemorations in the neighbourhoods, distributing posters and hanging
banners, the issue of the disappearances was made known to the broad
public. The DHKC held the enemies of the people responsible by
carrying out bomb attacks and punishment actions. There were numerous
occupation actions abroad as well. In Cologne, meetings and a
demonstration were held. A signature campaign, started by the
Information Centre for Free Peoples was joined by countless people and
institutions in Europe. In the Middle East, many organisations showed
their support in the struggle against the disappearances as well. Many
statements, coming from organisations in Iraq, Syria, Palestine and
Tunisia, condemned fascism. On June 9, 1995, the Armed Propaganda Unit
Ibrahim Yalcin (belonging to the DHKC), led by Sibel Yalcin, carried
out an action against policemen who guarded the entrance of the
regional DYP office in Istanbul. One policeman was killed, another
severely wounded. The DHKC claimed the action, in which Sibel Yalcin
died in the end, with this statement: "Aysenur Simsek's murderer is
the state. It's his contra-guerrilla, his police, his MIT (National
Intelligence Service), his army. The people cannot live without
justice. It cannot remain a bystander, watching injustice and
oppression in a country without any sign of justice. It cannot bend
for the tyrants, the oppression and dishonour. It cannot capitulate.
We will not capitulate. We will apply the people's justice."

"Where are our 300 disappeared people?"

In July, the DHKC carried out a campaign called "Where are our 300
disappeared people?". At the beginning of this campaign, a torturer
was punished in Okmeydani on July 9. The most effective actions of the
campaign were the occupations. On July 13, the "Revolutionary People's
Forces" occupied the head office of the "New Democratic Movement" in
Istanbul, their demand: "We want the murderers of Aysenur, Hasan and
Ridvan". On July 14, the Galata Tower was occupied. The Barristers
Guild in Istanbul was occupied on July 28 as well. 

The occupations, aimed at informing the entire public about the issue
of the disappearances, among others, expressed the question "Where are
our 300 disappeared people?" On July 16 and 17, fighters of the DHKC
held the torturing enemies of the people responsible. Attacks against
police units were carried out in Beyazit and Alibeykoey. Besides
Istanbul, actions were also carried out in numerous cities of
Anatolia, as well as in Europe.

Disappearing in Kurdistan

This is where the "OHAL" is declared, the state of emergency.
Everything has been a little different there. The Kurdish people,
subjected to oppression and massacres for decades, was one of the
segments in the nineties which had to endure state terror the most.
Houses, entire villages, were burned down. Mass torturing was carried
out village squares and in police stations. Because it defended its
national honour, all kinds of oppression were seen as appropriate.
Hundreds, thousands were massacred. The policy of disappearances were
applied to the Kurdish people as well, relentlessly. Hundreds of
people "disappeared". It's even impossible now to determine the exact
figure. Hundreds were added to the list of the disappeared as
"nameless disappeared".

"We will find Duezguen"

On October 21, 1995, Duezguen Tekin, while leaving the house of a
relative in the Evren-neighbourhood (Istanbul) to go to work, was
kidnapped by plain-clothed policemen. He "disappeared". Shortly before
his disappearance, Duezguen had told his family that he had been
constantly followed the week before by plain-clothed policemen. He
mentioned the plates of the car, 34F6676, which was following him.
Despite all the efforts of his relatives and the lawyers, the police
denied Duezguen's arrest. Duezguen was a worker and he belonged to the
Revolutionary Workers' Movement. His mother, Elif Tekin, who stated:
"I want my son back from the state. We went everywhere, they say `He
isn't here'. We vowed, we will find Duezguen", has become a determined
and persistent "relative of the disappeared". A campaign, taking on
international dimensions, was organised to find Duezguen Tekin. Numerous
manifestations for Duezguen were held in November and December.
Furthermore there were several bomb attacks against fascist
institutions. On December 1, an armed attack was carried out against a
police car in Firuezkoey. On December 19, the mothers occupied the
election office of the former state minister Algan Hacaloglu. Despite
all the actions during that time, nothing could be found out about
Duezguen Tekin. In May 1996, new developments occurred regarding
Duezguen's disappearance. Kasim Acik, interrogated in the Gebze prison
and later punished by the MLKP, mentioned in his confession that
Duezguen had been buried in Cadirkent. Thereupon a search action was
started in Cadirkent. The action, in which Elif Tekin participated in
the first ranks, was supported by other mothers and several democratic
mass organisations. 

The CHP regional office in Fatih was attacked by the DHKC on July 31.
An attack against the police station in OErnektepe occurred on August
20. While the DHKC showed that the murderers would not get away
unpunished during this important phase of the struggle, a broad
publicity was created with countless actions. Although 1995 was one of
the years with the highest figure of disappearances, a strengthening
tradition of struggle could be seen in the following phase. 

The struggle against the "disappearances" and the taken position

The struggle, waged against the disappearances, was significant in as
far as it was meant to break through the psychological effect which
the state sought to spread, rendering the policy of disappearances
futile. The state thought society would withdraw more with each new
disappearance. It tried to make people get used to disappearances. But
this has not been the case. With the efforts of the mothers for their
children, the helplessness and the lack of perspective of the state
became apparent. The struggle against the disappearances spread across
the borders of the country, across the whole world. New traditions
were created in this field. Especially the Mothers of the Disappeared,
with their sit-down-action in front of the Galatasaray Gymnasium each
Saturday, represent an important part of the struggle for the
disappeared. Without doubt, this position was not won easily, was not
easy to keep. The mothers were clubbed down, dragged from the square,
but they did not give in. Despite all the terror, spread by the state,
despite the retreat of several reformist circles, the Mothers of the
Disappeared won. This time the state tried to hide its exposed face
with "Disappeared Information Busses" and "Disappearance Offices".
Putting the reality of the disappearances in our country on the
agenda, it has been the Party-Front who fought for that under all
circumstances. Whether with actions on the democratic level, or with
actions with which people were held accountable, the Party-Front
didn't give up the disappeared. This struggle followed a line which
crossed the policy of the oligarchy, demanding accountability. At
present as well, the struggle against the "disappearances" is a task
of all who regard themselves as humans. Although a serious sensitivity
has been created regarding this issue, this in itself isn't enough.
Those who do not want to be the next tomorrow have to act for the
disappeared today. If we want to render the state policy of
disappearances futile, if we want to end the disappearances, this is
inevitable.

"DISAPPEARANCES " IN THE WORLD

When we think of disappearances, one country springs to mind:
Argentina. In the years between 1976 and 1983, when the military junta
was in power to crush the growing liberation struggle of the people,
between 30 and 40 thousand people "disappeared" in Argentina. The
policy of "disappearances", quite common in the Latin-American
countries since the sixties, later spreading to the other neo-colonial
countries of the world, was most intensely applied in Argentina. The
executors of this policy were the army and the co-operating
contra-guerrilla organisation AAA (Anti-Communist Alliance of
Argentina). The Argentine Aliciay Partnoy who could be rescued before
his disappearance, describes the co-operation between the army and the
AAA as follows: "One day I was arrested in front of my house by
uniformed soldiers. In the five months I was their hands I learned a
lot regarding "disappearances". My hands tied, my eyes covered, I was
put in a military vehicle. I was in the hands of the Anti-Communist
Alliance of Argentina of which the army claims it has no ties with."
All those who were in the concentration centres and camps, all those
who wanted the independence of Argentina, were kept their as hostages.
The life of these people, subjected to torture and oppression,
depended on coincidence. The cruelty, applied at that time in
Argentina, was described in a confession of the petty officer Victor
Armanda Ibarez, member of the Guard Regiment of the Armed Forces of
Argentina, albeit not very comprehensively. It was published in the
paper "La Prensa", published in Buenos Aires on April 24, 1995. Petty
officer Ibanez declared in these confessions to have savagely killed
about 2.000 people between 1976 and 1978, carrying tasks in El
Compito. Petty officer Ibanez stated that the "disappeared" people, of
whom the state claimed they were not in its hands, were thrown out of
planes into the ocean, after being drugged with the so-called
Pananoval. The cruelties, carried out with Phantoms from the Air
Force, were a feast for the sharks. The sharks, digesting the people
who were thrown off the planes with appetite really began to become
fat. I do not want to go into these gruesome details. Regarding these
massacres I witnessed, I'm ashamed to be a human being." (Cumhuriyet,
January 5, 1997, p. 6)

Petty officer Ibanez wasn't the only one who made confessions
regarding the massacres which were carried out. The pensioned colonel
Adolfo Francisco Scilingo made similar statements. General Martin Balz
said on television: "Besides the violations of the right to life,
numerous illegal methods were applied against the arrested. The horror
they went through can no longer be denied. We will not repeat the
mistakes we've made. I give you my word". (Yeni Politika, May 14,
1995, p. 4)

The methods which were used were extremely cruel and inhuman, for
instance, pregnant women were subjected to severe torture until they
gave birth, chained together they had to await there time. After
giving birth, the mothers were murdered and made "disappeared". The
babies  were given to the torturers who had murdered their mothers, to
soldiers, state prosecutors and judges. Nowadays there are tens of
thousands of grandmothers in Argentina who are searching for their
grandchildren, whose mothers and fathers have been murdered.
"Identifying Commissions" were set up and 56 trials to find the
grandchildren were concluded. It weren't just socialists and
revolutionaries who were hit by the terror which ruled Argentina, who
"disappeared". All those who opposed the junta, even  "people like you
and me" were subjected to the most severe torture and to
"disappearance". 

An example from Africa: the Western Sahara

The policy of disappearances of US-imperialism, taken over from
Hitler-fascism, further developed and applied in Latin-America, was
soon practised by the collaborating rulers of all neo-colonial
countries. 

The Moroccan leadership, which occupied the Western Sahara, also
grabbed for the weapon of "disappearances". The West-Saharan El Khadir
Daoud, whom they wanted to make "disappear" at that time but who
surfaced 16 years later in good health, reports: "The beginning of our
war lies 30 years back. Our country, Sahara, a country in Africa, was
split up between Spain, Morocco, Algeria and Mauritania. Our country,
colonialised by Spain in November 1975, was later given to Morocco and
Mauritania. After Morocco occupied the Western Sahara, the Moroccan
government launched attacks against relatives of the members of
POLISARIO (People's Liberation Front of El Hamra and Rio de Ora),
which resisted the occupation. According to Amnesty International,
more than 260 people disappeared. In the morning of March 17, 1976,
when I wanted to go to my training as a high school teacher, I was
arrested by plain-clothed policemen. First, they cut off my hair and
my beard. Our own clothes were taken from us and in stead we were
given trousers and a shirt. Then they gave us orders. `You are now in
a school, forget your name no. 82. When you have to go to the toilet,
when you want water, when you want to wash or to pray, then call (EL
Hajj)'. I was never addressed with my name again. Questions were asked
regarding the POLISARIO. We calculated the days to be able to endure
the torture, using the meals we were forced to eat. The interrogations
and the torture lasted for 7 months. (...) Our contact with the
outside world was completely broken off. For 16 years, I haven't heard
a radio or music. I never saw a book, nor a pencil. For 5 years we
didn't shave. We shortened our growing beards and moustaches with a
cigarette. Our clothes bleached and started to fall apart. In 1991,
the local security forces in the centre we were in, brought a
television set, a video recorder and a cassette. They delivered us a
message, something like `the King of Morocco., Hassan II., has
forgiven the people from Sahara who are in prison'. Then, in July
1992, I was put in a military vehicle, together with 60 other
`disappeared', and we were brought to an empty hotel in Quarzazate.
Later I also came to my hometown Tan-Tan. After my release I was
officially under police custody for another two days." (Demokrasi, May
18, 1996)

Daoud, released after 16 years, and officially held for two days,
stated that more than 60 people had been murdered in the secret
detention centres. 

The struggle against the "disappearances" world-wide

The struggle against the "disappearances" first got world-wide
publicity in 1977 with the actions of the mothers of the "disappeared"
on the Plaza de Mayo in Argentina, just a 100 meters from the
headquarters of the junta. The "Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo", named
after the place of their action, started with their action on a
Thursday when they came together, led by the mother of one the
disappeared, Azucina Villaflor de Vicente. The number of participants
grew larger and larger in time. They always wore white headbands, they
wrote petitions, lighted candles, chained themselves to the entrances
of state institutions, put appeals in the papers... In 1978, during
the World Championships football, held in Argentina, they made
themselves heard to the entire world. The fascist junta in Argentina,
its bloody face exposed to the entire world, started to attack the
mothers of the "Plaza de Mayo" even harder, confronted with their
helplessness. Many lawyers, functioning as a mouth-piece for the
mothers, disappeared, as well as senora Vicente herself. However, the
"disappearances", the threats and the attacks by the state never made
them give up their justified struggle. In 1971, the 81 year old Mrs.
Pargament, after "losing" her son, addressed all her friends and
acquaintances, even the "Disappearances Office" which was set up by
the junta, but it was all in vain. Mrs. Pargamant states: "Villaflor
de Vicente, at that time in vain looking for her child, like us, one
day said: `We're walking around without any sense. This way we will
never achieve something. Why don't we go to the Plaza de Mayo to carry
out a sit-down-action. We can tell the people about our worries there,
and we can write letters to the proper institutions.' That day was
April 30, 1977. A Saturday. The next Thursday we were on the square.
Our numbers grew every Thursday. The police asked us what we wanted.
We told them: `We want our children back. And we will write a letter
regarding this matter.' They said: `If that's the case you'll have to
move. There is no other way.' We started to move. Lined up, we walked
into an area of state institutions. We marched and wrote letters at
the same time. As you can imagine, the police immediately tried to
prevent that. But we, mothers, weren't afraid of anything."
(Cumhuriyet, January 5, 1997, p. 7)

The fascist junta called the mothers, whose struggle it wanted to
smudge and humiliate, "Las Locas", (Crazy Women), or the "Crazy Ones
from Thursday". But the state terror, like torture, massacre and
disappearances, intended to keep down the struggle of the mothers of
the Plaza de Mayo proved t	o be futile. In the end the state tried to
bribe the mothers, using new laws. To no effect. The mothers rejected
the money, covered with the blood of their children. At the end of the
struggle, waged by the Argentinean people against the junta, wishing
for justice, the civic government, coming to power in 1983, started
show-trials against the junta leaders. In these trials, only junta
chief general Jorge Videla and admiral Emilio Massera were sentenced
to life. However, even these were released after a while, when an
amnesty was decreed. The present situation is described by Mrs.
Pargament as follows: "Now our state minister is saying that 1 million
dollar is to be given for each "disappeared". But we are not
interested in the bloody money from the state. We very well know that,
when we take the money, we will have to keep quiet. We will have no
more rights to make demands. These people do not know us. We will not
sell the blood of our children. We will not forgive the murderers, we
will not forget. We will continue our struggle till the last drop of
blood. The struggle of the mothers is of a political nature. We want
all families to have a roof over their heads, we want the fathers to
have work, we want the children to have the possibility to go to
school. We want a country where it is possible to live. That is what
our children wanted as well, and that's the only reason they have
gone. 30.000 disappeared children have fought for a better world. But
we mothers only understood that after we lost our children. Our
children have shown us the right way." (Cumhuriyet, January 5, 1997,
p. 7)

-- 
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For justice, democracy and human rights in Turkey and Kurdistan!
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