From G.LANGE at LINK-GOE.de Thu Jul 2 08:48:00 1998 From: G.LANGE at LINK-GOE.de (G.LANGE at LINK-GOE.de) Date: 02 Jul 1998 08:48:00 Subject: IRAQ: Iraq grants asylum to thousands of Turkish Kurdish refugees Message-ID: <6x4MppNeENB@1lange.link-goe.de> Jordan Times, 7/6/1998 *Iraq grants asylum to thousands of Turkish* *Kurdish refugees* BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraq has agreed to grant asylum to some 6,800 Turkish Kurdish refugees, the U.N. refugee agency said Saturday. The Turkish Kurds have been stranded on the line dividing government-held areas from regions controlled by Iraqi Kurds in the north of the country, said Abid Mair, a representative of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. "We are very glad that the government has accepted them," he said. The UNHCR had urged the Iraqi authorities to accept the refugees on humanitarian grounds, Mr. Mair said. The Turkish Kurds fled their homeland in 1994 and first lived in a refugee camp in northern Iraq, which was closed by the UNHCR in January 1997. The agency said that activists of the Kurdish Labour Party or PKK had taken over the camp. The group is leading the fight for Kurdish autonomy in Turkey. Some of the refugees later fled to a provincial camp at Ain Sifni, within the Kurdish enclave in northern Iraq. They abandoned that camp in Febnuary and moved to a makeshift camp on the periphery of the government-held area. The U.N. humanitarian spokesman in Iraq, Eric Falt, said the U.N. World Food Programme is assisting the refugees, providing food and other essentials. Under Iraqi regulations, the Turkish Kurds are now entitled to free health care, education and social security. They will also receive free food rations of flour, rice, sugar and other essentials under the country's oil-for-food deal with the United Nations. >>>---------------------------------------------------<<< >> Further Informations about Iraq and Palestine: >> http://www.germany.net/teilnehmer/101,88843/ >>>---------------------------------------------------<<< * * * * * From dhkc at xs4all.nl Sun Jul 5 12:08:40 1998 From: dhkc at xs4all.nl (dhkc at xs4all.nl) Date: 05 Jul 1998 12:08:40 Subject: PKK Part 3 Message-ID: FROM AN INDEPENDENT KURDISTAN TO "BELONGING TO TURKEY" For a national movement to take on a revolutionary character and strengthen the common struggle of the peoples means progress for the liberation of all peoples. That is a development which strengthens the revolution in Turkey. The opposite is also the cas e. That a national movement which is dealing blows to the oligarchy is looking for compromises also has an unfavourable effect on the revolution, at least in the short term. It is here that the essence of the revolutionary movement's criticisms and warnin gs also applies. We see the search for compromises as an inevitable feature of the nationalist line. But not absolutely inevitable, a revolutionary attitude could prevent it. (IN THE BOX) SEPARATE IN TURKEY - TOGETHER IN IRAN! To understand the pragmatic and nationalist conception of the PKK in its organisation, we must examine their analysis of the other parts of Kurdistan. What the PKK, which stands for separate organisation and a separate revolution for Turkish Kurdistan, ha s to say about Iran is very interesting: "... The fundamental tasks of the Kurds in Eastern Kurdistan (Iran) are to unite their struggle for national independence and democracy with the struggles of other peoples in one front. The Kurds' fight for national independence and democracy against tre acherous major landowners, imperialism and its servant, the Shah monarchy, is in unity with the struggle of the Azerbaijanis, Persians and Baluchis. The first task is to overthrow the Shah's monarchy." ("The Road to Revolution in Kurdistan") On the one ha nd, the PKK in relation to Iran stands for common organisation, a common struggle and a common revolution and advocates uniting the peoples "in one front", but on the other hand there is no answer to the question why it favours a separate organisation, se parate struggle and separate revolution in Turkey. The result of these things is the political pragmatism and lack of consistency shown by the PKK. It is inevitable that the PKK, which is not Marxist-Leninist and tries to force the reality of the country and the Middle East into its own nationalist framew ork, is bound to fall into such inconsistencies and utter such remarks. In colonial states containing many peoples in which these peoples are exploited and subjected to national oppression, the common organisation of the peoples, the common struggle and o verthrow of the power of imperialism's collaborators is, under all conditions, the only road to liberation for the working people of all nations and nationalities. That is the road to true liberation. Of course, this is possible with a conception of class relationships and struggle,but not if one possesses a nationalist mentality. But since it came into being, the PKK has been very far from having the former conception. If we examine history we see that the rulers have always employed the technique of "di vide and rule", to stir up the peoples against each other on religious and national lines, and thus keep themselves in power. If one puts forward the theory of the "colony" and the demand for "separate states", the only way is organising a common struggle for an anti-imperialist, anti-oligarchic people's revolution. "Colony" or not, under no circumstances can we see as legitimate the separation of the peoples' struggles and the elevation of national interests over the common interests of the peoples, leas t of all by those who call themselves Marxist-Leninist. Marxist-Leninists do not restrict themselves to the national question. Their struggle proceeds from the common interests of the peoples. In this sense, the only obtacle to liberation is not national oppression but imperialism and the oligarchy. For both the Turkish and the Kurdish people, the obstacle is the same. (In Box) "BELONGING TO TURKEY" AND THE TURKISH AND KURDISH LEFT Designating the left as "Kurdish" and "Turkish" is not new. The Kurdish nationalists have coined such concepts. From their viewpoint it is logical to use concepts like that. Those who restrict themselves to the liberation of the Kurdish people and who hav e founded Kurdish associations and Kurdish parties and have turned their backs on the revolution and people of Turkey have naturally seen themselves as the "Kurdish" left. Since they are only interested in Kurdistan and the Kurds and have organised on the basis of nationalism and not on the basis of class, this designation is also understandable. According to their logic, the Turkish people and revolutionaries are superfluous. They are also the "Turkish" left. A narrow nationalist viewpoint is what nourishes this conception. If this is taken as the starting point it is also possible to talk of con cepts like "the Laz left", "the Arab left", the "Georgian", "Cherkess" and "Bosnian" left. This would be quite in keeping with the PKK's logic. That is reflected in the mentality of petit bourgeois nationalism, which talks of separating working people by nationality, proposing "every nation should have its own party", and thus seeking to legitimise propaganda for separate organisations and a sepa rate revolution. But the Marxist-Leninist conception of organisation in a multinational state is not based on nationalities. One attempts to organise the working people of all nationalities and unite them under one roof. Marxist-Leninists reject separate organising which splits people along national lines. Concepts like "the Turkish left" are essentially the products of conceptions that Marxist-Leninists reject. Nationalist conceptions. By holding such conceptions, the PKK proceeds from the need to keep secret the existence of organisations that reject orga nising on the basis of nationality and achieve joint organisation of the peoples. But today, this concept presents a contradiction from the viewpoint of the PKK. For if one favours "belonging to Turkey", what does that mean to the "Kurdish left"? For example, are we now talking of a "Kurdish left which belongs to Turkey?" But what we have seen so far is that the demands posed by "belonging to Turkey" are not even properly fulfilled as far as defining concepts is concerned. The same old concepts ar e being used. What does the PKK understand by belonging to Turkey"? >From all declarations and writings by the PKK, we can glean the following: >From the beginning, the revolution in Kurdistan was the aim. This revolution has a nationalist character and aims to achieve national liberation. The PKK views revolution in its history as the revolution in Turkey and restricts the question to the liberat ion of Kurdistan. Everything is formulated correspondingly. The cause of all problems confronting them can be found here first of all. The basis is the nationalist viewpoint. How will those who say: "We owe Turkey a revolution" be able to "lead" a revolution in Turkey while holding a nationalist viewpoint? Undoub tedly it is impossible. For the PKK's ideological and strategic line does not correspond to reality in Turkey. The PKK, which arose as a national liberation movement, also concretised this goal with the aim of an "independent Kurdistan". After years of fighting for this goal, it was put to one side and not mentioned anymore. Instead they began to speak of a federa tion, autonomy, peace and political solutions. Most recently the catchphrase of the moment has been "revolution in Turkey". IS "BELONGING TO TURKEY" A POLITICAL LINE OF ACTION? "... Moreover, one must stress here that since 1997 the PKK has been a party of Turkey. That means we exist as a party of Turkey and will fufil all corresponding requirements." (Abdullah ?calan, MED TV, December 23, 1996.) One and a half years have passed since this statement was made. We want to cast a glance at what is steps have been taken towards "belonging to Turkey", whether the PKK has altered its views, what it has done at all to comprehend what "belonging to Turkey " means within this framework. First of all, "belonging to Turkey" means deviating from the PKK's own line. In short, today life and the reality of the war is pushing the PKK to accept common organisation and a common struggle of the peoples. But this is not openly said and so the requirements for it are not fulfilled. Instead as always they claim, not looking at results and ignoring the mistakes of the past, that they have "produced a good analysis of the situation". In some writings they spell out what they mean by "belonging to Turkey". "The greatest source of income for Turkey is tourism, above all in the A manos and Akduiz areas (in southern Turkey). We cannot remain silent while they reap these sources of income without any problems." (?. "Yurtsever Genclik", page 7, 1997) Efforts to make a strategic entry into Turkey and what is said here are fundamentally different from one another. What the PKK is doing in southern Turkey is much more like military action which seeks to strike blows against the tourist trade. At this poi nt, the politics of "belonging to Turkey" are reduced to a military line of action. It is obvious that the requirements of "belonging to Turkey" cannot be fulfilled. BECAUSE THE TURKISH LEFT "HAS NOT FULFILLED ITS TASKS", THEY WANT TO BELONG TO TURKEY One of the reasons given for the policy of "belonging to Turkey", according to the PKK, is that "the Turkish left has not fulfilled its tasks". "...These leaders (Mahir Cayan and the others) had already established that the national question had to be dea lt with seriously. But they did not live long enough to do it. The ones who were left behind did not have enough consciousness and remained partly in the grip of the official ideology. We were able to observe this close up. Therefore, solving the national question remained an important task for us. The PKK was founded to fulfil this task. For us the Turkish left remained in the background. We though that the very strong Turkish revolutionary movement could fulfil this task. The revolutionary movement in T urkey in our view was very strong with regard to cadres and possibilities." (Abdullah ?calan, "Selected Works Number 6"). First of all we must say that these statements are themselves a product of nationalistic conceptions. Secondly, we canot take serious ly the following declaration: " We left this task to the Turkish left: we wanted them to do it, since they were not able to do it, it became inevitable for us to take on the task." This contradicts the logic of developing the revolution. At this point it has become clear that the patriotic movement could not remove its handicaps by seeking the reasons for them externally. The PKK went from claims about colonialism and demanding an independent Kurdistan to claiming to "belong to Turkey" a nd being a "party of Turkey". The dead end of nationalist politics and its solutions which are far removed from life brought the PKK to this point. All theories which are nurtured by nationalism obviously carry within themselves handicaps which are all to o visible. According to the PKK, the Turkish left is a "destroyed structure", "ideologically and politically at an end", it has "no personality", it is "terrorist", "thieving", "deceiving" etc, and all that is political is monopolised by the PKK. They do not believe that any developments can arise without them being responsible for them. If something comes into being, the PKK was responsible. So according to this logic, developing the revolution in Turkey is also the PKK's responsibility. The first step in this dire ction was the PKK's founding of the DHP (Revolutionary People's Party). Abdullah ?calan said the following about this in the magazine Serxwebun of December 1991: "We wish the revolutionaries in Turkey would do it. But it seems that they are not able to. They are in crisis, theoretically and practically. So it is inevitable that we must contribute and move into Turkey with a Revolutionary People's Party." Who was moving into what? It is also not correct to say that the PKK waited for the "revolutionaries of Turkey" to be successful. The PKK, which from the beginning sought to organise separately, spoke from time to time about the strength of the revolutionaries in Turkey in order t o legitimise its own politics. But a revolutionary movement under all circumstances seeks to defend the unity and the common struggle of the peoples. In this phase the PKK cannot overcome its political crisis, so it makes the "Turkish left" responsible fo r it by reproaching it for not having fulfilled its tasks. Has it discovered that just now? What are the criteria for saying that the revolutionaries of Turkey have not fulfilled their tasks? Is fulfilling this task remaining silent when imperialism in th e Gulf War attacked the peoples of the Middle East, or is it fighting against imperialism? INSTEAD OF "SHOPPING CENTRES", THE "AMANOS MOUNTAINS" OR THE "BLACK SEA MOUNTAINS" If one remembers earlier actions outside Kurdistan, for the PKK they were much more than a means of "making a threat". They said: "We will also spread the war to the major cities of Turkey." They threatened the oligarchy, saying they would carry out actio ns against shopping centres. Apart from the fact that this kind of action is wrong, it illustrated what the PKK means when it talks about action in Turkey. It was a tactic supposed to force the enemy to stop certain actions or force him into "dialogue". The same also applies to the PKK spreading to the Black Sea Region or the Mediterranean (southern Turkey). As long as the question of "belonging to Turkey" was not seen as strategic, it is possible at any time to go towards this or that area of land and carry out military actions. Guerrillas can also target the economy. That is a requirement of guerrilla warfa re, nobody can say anything against it. But if all this is simply to bring the oligarchy to the negotiating table, this may have something to do with "belonging to Turkey" but has nothing to do with the perspective of liberating Kurdistan. As long as the guerrillas are used as a means of pressure to bring about dialogue, it will not be possible to achieve a result. Certainly there are guerrillas in the mountains. But with what programme and what conceptions are they there? And are they in t he mountains because they have a perspective of seizing power, or are they just there as part of negotiations with the oligarchy? Practice has shown that we are mainly talking about a military line rather than a change in essentials. It is clear that what "belonging to Turkey" means is not a common organising and struggle of the peoples leading to revolution. The PKK restricts "belo nging to Turkey" to its military line as a consequence of its need to extend militarily beyond the boundaries of Kurdistan. One of these is to save the guerrillas who have been driven into a corner in Kurdistan, even if they do not want to say this. They say all this is the result of a strategy. If this is so, where were they for the previous 19 years? The PKK talks in terms like "narrowing" and "expansion" when it talks about the war in Kurdistan, the situation of the guerrillas and the tactics of t he state. The enemy of the peoples of our land is the same and liberation from the enemy is in the hands of people's power. On the other hand, peace and negotiations will lead to a swamp. As a result of its experiences the PKK has seen that it is not poss ible to liberate the Kurdish people without smashing the state apparatus. So they have come to the point where they want to "belong to Turkey". But on the other hand, Kurdish nationalism is the reason why they exist. They think they will not exist any mor e as a force if they let this slip from their hands. Consequently they are unable to fulfil the requirements of belonging to Turkey in the political sense. These political requirements can be concretised around two points: Firstly, the common liberation of the peoples must be the aim. But that means a common form of organisation and a common struggle. Secondly, a common solution and common liberation cannot be achieved within the system. An imperialist solution, having a co nception of armed struggle as a subject for negotiations and trusting in proposals from the employers and entrepreneurs' federation T?SIAD (on democratising the constitution) cannot bring liberation to the peoples. THE "ALTERNATIVE" THE TURKISH PEOPLE ARE HAVING FOISTED ON THEM If the PKK calls itself a ''party of Turkey'' today, this is a declaration that fundamentally it is acting for revolution in Turkey. What programme will it use to realise this? How will it lead the revolution? With what demands will it bring it about? Wha t form of organisation does it propose and what concrete steps is it taking in order to win? These are the questions which must now be answered by those acting for revolution. But apart from that, the PKK previously had itself founded the DHP (Revolutiona ry People's Party) so that this could lead the revolution in Turkey. But now it seems that the DHP cannot lead the revolution in Turkey. Now the PKK wants to take over the leadership of the revolution itself. So why did the DHP fail? The reason the PKK is disappointed by the DHP experience and wants to replace it today to lead the revolution in Turkey is again a manifestation of the nationalist line. As with "belonging to Turkey", their approach here is distorted. Thr claim to lead th e revolution of the peoples in our land is stillborn, like the DHP itself. "... While they call those they could not subdue 'henchmen of the colonialists and the contra-guerillas', they gave an organisation like the DHP, an organisation they themselves had formed, as if from a test tube, the permission to represent the left in T urkey. This concept and the attempts made such as this are the results of a lack of principle and the dominance of pragmatism, both features of nationalism." (DHKP, Founding Congress Resolutions). The DHP is an experience which contributed nothing to the struggle. Why did the PKK undergo such a negative experience? We can answer some of these questions. Who is the DHP? What role does it play in the struggle? What has it done? Where does it stand in the struggle? What traditions has it created?Above all, o ne must point to the fact that the DHP has no political identity and personality that can be defined. Its existence is like a co-worker on a periodical who has no other role than to act as a PKK spokesman. It defends the PKK's views more than the PKK does itself. How was the DHP formed? How did it arise? These questions have no meaning at all. For the PKK founded this party on the drawing board through orders and instructions and created an alternative to the left in Turkey. That is, the DHP is an organisation the PKK set up for the "Western Front". No political party, no serious revolutionary party can be formed in such a way. A party can exist through its identity, its personality and independence with a serious programme, traditions and struggle, and develop i tself through these. Otherwise it would be possible to form dozens of such parties. The DHP is the attempt of the PKK to lead the revolution in Turkey. They wanted to do it through the DHP rather than openly through the PKK itself. With its nationalist me ntality, the PKK wanted to organise the Kurds and the DHP was supposed to organise the Turks and other peoples. With them coming together, the unity in struggle of the Turkish and Kurdish people is achieved. That is the plan but it was not fulfilled. For the basis of the plan is nationalism. Firstly, organising by nationality and then the attempt to artificially create unity. The PKK thought that creating the DHP would achieve this so easily. With the DHP it sought to win the Turkish people, carry out act ions in the west and support the guerrillas. According to the PKK, that means the project of common organisation is also the expansion of the guerrillas. THE ALTERNATIVE THEY TRIED TO FOIST DID NOT EVEN SUCCEED IN BECOMING A FORCE They thought that with the DHP they could organise the Turkish people more easily and with fewer problems. That was what the PKK thought - the DHP could carry out actions and the masses would join it. Everything was supposed to function easily and smoothl y. But it did not. An organisation could not even be created that could carry out military actions. It could send no concrete message to the Turkish people and the activities it said it would do beforehand were not carried out. The things that made the PK K found the DHP yesterday, and those that make it today propagate "belonging to Turkey", are in reality its handicaps. It gave the DHP the task of "leading" the revolution in Turkey. The same reasons which stopped the DHP from functioning are also those t hat will render fruitless the PKK's claims to lead the revolution in Turkey. As long as the PKK does not accept common organisation and a common struggle as a strategy and does not fulfil the requirements that will lead our peoples to revolution, efforts such as this will not meet with success. The reason the PKK came up with the line of "an alliance with the Turkish people", "extending the war to Turkey" and "forming common opposition organisations" is the objective reality of the war. When its own experiences made the PKK recognise this realit y, it turned to artificial solutions like the DHP. Now it sees that the DHP does not correspond to the objective reality of the war. Consequently it now proclaims that the PKK is a party of Turkey. So the PKK began to recognise reality, even if too late. But it drew back from this reality even while pushing its own aims and objectives to one side. Its aims are now acceptable to the forces inside the regime. For with a nationalist line and a war restricted to Kurdistan, it is not possible to achieve Kurdis tan's independence, this is what the PKK sees from its own experiences. In such a situation, either the strategic line will be altered or the demands and aims will be narrowed down in such a way that the oligarchy can find them acceptable. So one persists because of the obstacles in the way of achieving peace. The PKK wants to send the following message to the oligarchy: "If you don't sit down with me at the negotiating table, I will spread the war to the west." One of the missions, a false and distorted one, that the PKK entrusted the DHP with was to use military actions to "frighten" the oligarchy. Another reason why the PKK preferred the DHP was that it always does what the PKK desires and can practice no independent politics. On the basis of its chara cter, petit bourgeois nationalism is against independent politics, the nationalist line can tolerate no independent force and politics. For the PKK wants to win and use other forces for its policy of seeking peace. Of course the forces that resist this po licy will be confronted with all kinds of smear campaigns. The DHP was finally founded by the PKK, received its mission from it and and is seen as its partner in discussions. Its mission was said to be the "leadership" of revolution in Turkey. But the DHP could not and cannot be the alternative for the left in Tu rkey. The DHP went into history as an unsuccessful attempt by those who call themselves the "Kurdish left" to create a "Turkish left". As long as this mentality and the dilemma resulting from it persists, "belonging to Turkey" will achieve nothing. Despit e all "pressure" from the PKK, the DHP did not suit the reality of our country and our peoples. It was stillborn. The DHP, founded by PKK militants of Turkish ancestry, could not become a serious force, for all that it is called the "vanguard party of the revolution in Turkey". All it did was praise the PKK and insult revolutionary movements. Meral Kider said the following in the name of the DHP: "All who do not stand on the same platform as the PKK, however anti-imperialist and socialist they claim to be, are elements in the counterrevolutionary front and serve no other aim than to act as servants and agents of imperialism and colonialism." (?zg? r Halk, September 1997, Issue 80) This ideological and political line, which so shamelessly insults revolutionary movements, has no other mission than to defend the PKK in a rough and coarse way. It has no personality and identity. And despite all that, it still could not fulfil the PKK's expectations of it. The PKK can also not conceal this failure. In the resolutions of the 5th Congress, the following was said about the DHP: "The DHP, which in the past suffered setbacks because of various mistakes, is being supported by receiving the necessary strengthening to create a correct ideological, political, organisational and activist line and having its practical activities directed..." Although the PKK failed with the DHP, it is saying here that its efforts will continue in this direction. For the DHP forms an element of the policy of "belonging to Turkey". The expansion to the Black Sea Region, which has recently been advocated, is als o a part of this politics. "There are guerrillas who will soon come to Kizildere. There are also guerrillas who will come from Nurhak to Antalya. Now the youth and the revolutionary forces of Turkey should wake up and support these steps." ("?. Yurtsever Genclik", Issue 4, October 1997, interview with Abdullah ?calan) The PKK's expansion to the Black Sea Region is, as Abdullah ?calan indicates, merely symbolic. Despite everything that has been said, under the pretext of "belonging to Turkey" the purpose is to put pressure to create a peace policy. However, to realise the current claim of the PKK about the "revolution in Turkey", the PKK has not adopted a ideological-political line that corresponds to it. The PKK, which restricts itself to the national struggle as a consequence of its narrow nationa list viewpoint, never had the aim of conducting a struggle in the whole of Turkey, in order to take power. And in the current phase the PKK never talks about overthrowing the state, but about concluding an agreement with it under certain conditions. While for years the PKK was standing for separate organisation, the revolutionary movement held the view that power would be won through the joint struggle of the peoples. Now the question must be asked, who is responsible for the PKK's present dilemma? Is it the "left in Turkey which did not fulfil its tasks" or the nationalist viewpoint which prevents the common struggle of the peoples?... If the PKK wants to "belong to Turkey", it must above all acknowledge its own ideological mistakes. Apart from the fact that the PKK policies carried out up to now have not served the development of a joint struggle by our peoples, its false line of actio n and policies have also done damage to the peoples' unity in struggle. Without condemning the petit bourgeois viewpoint it is not possible to talk of "belonging to Turkey". What the PKK now says about "belonging to Turkey", even if is only propaganda, is a confirmation of the views the revolutionary movement has held for years. The PKK now has a choice: either to strive for a correct line, condemn its mistakes and pursue a r evolutionary line, or to say "that won't work" and enter into compromises with imperialism and the oligarchy... "BELONGING TO TURKEY" AND ALLIANCES The PKK, which today talks of "belonging to Turkey", of common struggle, of the "unity in struggle of the peoples", claims to have held these viewpoints since its foundation, but at that time there was no sign of attempts to form the alliances it talks ab out. "The secondary alliances of the revolution in Kurdistan consist of three branches. Firstly, the alliance with patriotic movements in other parts of Kurdistan, secondly, alliances with the revolutionary movements in the country which colonise Kurdistan, th irdly, the socialist countries, national liberation movements, the workers' movement in the imperialist lands and the whole of progressive humanity." ("The Road To Revolution in Kurdistan") There is a big difference between the alliance policies the PKK has defined over years and the current "belonging to Turkey" phase. The revolutionary movement they call the Turkish left is seen as a secondary branch of the secondary alliances, less signif icant than the nationalist organisations in other parts of Kurdistan, that is, even the collaborationist Kurdish national movements like Barzani and Talabani are more important than the revolutionary movements in Turkey. If the PKK today claims that the r evolutions in Turkey and Kurdistan are connected, their policy of alliances and practice stands in contradiction to that. One could say that this was all said years ago and is no longer important. But firstly, this was all laid down in a basic document, secondly it shows that they did not think of "belonging to Turkey" from the start, as they claim, and thirdly, the policy o f "belonging to Turkey" has not brought with it any corrections or changes. The "belonging to Turkey" policy springs from the handicaps they have experienced. In reality, the PKK's viewpoint, of seeing the revolutionaries who want a common struggle as "Ke malists" and "supporters of the Misak-i-Milli" (an agreement of the 1920s fixing Turkey's borders), has not changed. "BELONGING TO TURKEY" IS ONLY POSSIBLE ON A CLASS BASIS The theoretical conceptions of the PKK are shot through with a thoroughly nationalist approach. This is concretised in the expression "Turkish colonialism", then in "separate organisation and revolution". Since the PKK defined itself at its foundation as a Marxist-Leninist party, it could not openly defend organising on a nationalist basis. Only in later years did it start to defend nationalist modes of organisation: "I would just like to point out that when modern society arose, classes came into being based on their interests, and parties came about as a consequence. That is not a distorted development, but a correct one. Essentially it is right for a party to be a class organisation... We can even say the following: parties arose as class organisations, moreover they bear national colours. A side of every party is to play a national role, and to defend national interests. If the interests of nations are tied to eac h other, and in a state of chaos the rights of some nations are infringed, the parties of this nation will take appropriate positions." ("4th National Congress of the PKK, Political Report", Abdullah ?calan, page 70) Here, in the name of the Leninist conception of the party, an unclear definition of nationalism and national organisation is defended. In multinational states, Marxism-Leninism rejects organising on the basis of nationalities. If somebody wants to do that it should at least not be done under the name of Marxism-Leninism. For on this subject, leaders of Marxism-Leninism have been very open and clear and have not permitted any misunderstandings: "We must still decide how the proletariat of different nations should be organised in a party common to them all. According to one plan, the workers should be organised by nationality: so many nations, so many parties. This plan was rejected by social dem ocracy. Practice has shown that organising the proletariat of a particular state by nationality only leads to the undermining of the idea of class solidarity. All proletarians of all nations in a given state organise themselves in an indivisible proletari an collective. Our standpoint on the national question is thus summarised in the following sentences: ... for the proletariat of all nations in a given state - a unitary, indivisible proletarian collective, a unitary party." (Stalin, "Marxism and the Colo nial and National Question") The nationalist organisations which support the "colonialism theory" do not want to acknowledge the fact that the Turkish and Kurdish nations and the other minorities live under the power of the same state. It is obvious that in a multinational state, def ending separate organisation means defending nationalism under the pretext of Marxism (however, the PKK no longer has need of that). At this point one may ask, hasn't every nation the right to organise separately? Yes, but that is not the subject of our discussion. In connection with that, one may not claim that every right is being claimed. The question is how far the use of these rig hts accords with objective reality and the final interests of the peoples, or not. Which of these rights strengthens the workers and the people? In conclusion we would like to quote a few words from Lenin: "On the other hand, socialists in oppressed nations particularly insist on the complete, unconditional and organisational unity of the workers of the oppressed nation with those of the oppressing nation and turn this into a living reality. Without this it is impossible to insist on an independent policy for the proletariat or upon class solidarity with the proletariat of other lands amid the tricks, betrayals and criminality of the bourgeoisie." (Lenin, Selected Works, 4, "The Proletarian, Revolutionary W ay of Posing the Right of Nations to Self-Detemination", page 174) Defending separate organisation means dividing the workers of all nations in every area, city, firm, in every area of life according to nationality. This viewpoint means creating artificial barriers among the masses of the people, and causing deep splits. From this, bourgeois ideology objectively creates a monopoly for itself. Here we come upon another "peculiarity". As a logical result of it, the PKK could not create the same nationalist mode of organisation among the workers and government employees. Not because it did not want to but because conditions made this impossible. Here the nationalist mode of organising came up against objective limitations and handicaps. List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From dhkc at xs4all.nl Fri Jul 10 09:39:36 1998 From: dhkc at xs4all.nl (dhkc at xs4all.nl) Date: 10 Jul 1998 09:39:36 Subject: Kurtulus no 87, June 27, 1998 Message-ID: Kurtulus, no 87, June 27, 1998 We w?ll overcome oppression Five years ago at the start of July (1993), tens, hundreds of thousands of us were on the streets. The streets and squares echoed with the sound of our anger. We were very angry because the fire lit by the oppressors in Sivas had taken 36 people from us, in a low and treacherous way. Sivas was not the first time. Before the September 12 putsch, we experienced massacres such as that. Can one forget May 1, 1977, or Maras, or Corum? Or March 16, 1978, Bahcelievler or Piyangotepe? (1) Nor was Sivas the last time. The demonstrations on May 1, and in Gazi and ?mraniye were the target of new massacres. (2) Fascism has attacked the people for decades with contra-guerrillas, police, the military, secret services and civil fascists. Sometimes the masses are the target of these attacks, sometimes individual revolutionaries, democrats and intellectuals. Sometime s, like after 1991, the entire revolutionary movement is made the target of a policy of annihilation. With July 12, 1991 and April 16-17, 1992, (3) in the mountains and the cities we experienced numerous executions. Hundreds of us fell, offering valiant r esistance. But that was not enough, for disappearances and the "murders by persons unknown" were added to this. And even that did not suffice, for prisoners were massacred in their jails in Buca (September 1995), ?mraniye (January 1996) and Diyarbakir (Se ptember 1996). There has never been a lack of torture in this land, or the terror spread by arrests. Our women and young girls were raped. We were thrown into jails by the thousand. Our most fearless people died as martyrs in the mountains of Anatolia. Ou r villages were bombarded, burned to the ground, destroyed. We were driven into exile. In our own homeland, we had no house or home or place to call our own. We were expelled from school, or fired from work. Or we could never go to school or find a proper job. We were condemned to hunger and unemployment, unable to find work to fill our bellies. All this to uphold the system of exploitation and oppression by imperialism and a handful of collaborators like Koc, Sabanci and Eczacibasi. (4) They wanted nobody to raise their voice against exploitation and oppression, but everybody should bow down to it. But they could not make us surrender for all their terror, torture and massacres. Our convictions are strong, our will is firm not to bow our heads, not to surrender, but the enemy is also firm in his intentions. He does not dispense with using repres sion and terror. While we take care of our people, seek people's justice, organise and come out against oppression, the enemy steps up his attacks. Civil fascists and armed bands surround our schools, city neighbourhoods and workplaces. Our houses, our ne ighbourhoods are stormed, hundreds are arrested and taken to torture centres. We demand our right to organise in trade unions and the enemy attacks us. We demand work, bread and some reward for the sweat we shed from our brows, and he attacks us. We deman d a democratic university and education for the people, and the enemy attacks us. We demand the right of national self-determination for the Kurds, and we are attacked. we make a stand against depredations, drugs and prostitution, and the enemy attacks us . We are the people, there are millions of us, we have the right to exercise power, we say, and want to exercise our right to make decisions and express our opinions freely, and we are attacked. Our democratic institutions are stormed and ransacked. We wa nt our rights, we want justice. The enemy attacks us. No, he says. You will do what I tell you. You will act according to my wishes. You will be content with what whatever Igive you. If I say "sit down", you will sit down and if Isay "stand up", you will stand up. If I say "work", you will work without grumb ling about it. There is to be no search for rights and justice. And of course no demands for power. You will not raise your voice, but keep your heads bowed and surrender. So, will we bow to oppression? Never. Will we surrender? Never. We have never surrendered, never bowed our heads. They will not be able to succeed. To divert us from our path, to force us to surrender, they have made every kind of effort. They have used every kind of psychological warfare. They have tried to expose our leaders, our leading comrades and our movement to scorn, they attacked and slander ed them in the lowest manner but they had no success. They have murdered, they have even been so low and timid as to desecrate corpses, but still they had no success. Every time our comrades have resisted, they have sought to break the resistance, to dest roy it. They placed their hopes in the putsch and all attack together, but without success. They used every conceivable form of torture, but without success. They have filled the dungeons but they could not make the prisoners surrender. The prisons have become a nightmare for them. And now they are continuing to murder and make people disappear. We are giving martyrs. When our guerrillas fall, they write a new legend and inscribe a new page in our tradition of not surrendering. For years they have tried every method of silencing the newspaper Kurtulus, storming its office, causing destruction, arrests and imprisonment. Now they think they can silence the newsp aper by threatening the owner of the printing firm. Again, they will have no success. They cannot silence the voice of the people, nor will they succeed in the future. The war goes on and we will continue to wage it. Neither today nor tomorrow will we giv e in to oppression.We will keep on fighting until no bulwark of repression remains standing. We must make those who intimidate the people more afraid for their own skins Disappearances, massacres, torture, arrests, all these are designed to cause fear among the people. To intimidate them and make the people surrender. But despite all that, the people's struggle cannot be prevented. Again the workers and the government emp loyees are out on the streets. Every Saturday, the families and friends of the disappeared continue their action in front of the Galtatasaray High School. Young people do not let fascist attacks go unanswered. In city neighborhoods the nests of the fascis ts are attacked, one after the other. Despite all attacks the people continue with the Gazi trial in an effort to bring the murderers to justice. They persist in travelling 1,000 kilometres to Trabzon to demand a reckoning from the murderers. That is what is important. The continual resistance of the people despite all these attacks shows a strong potential for revolution. And this is exactly what the enemy fears. Nobody will stop the people's march for work and bread, for rights and justice, for a better future, for a reckoning from the Susurluk state. Organising this force and increasing the fear of those who want to intimidate the people, today this is one of the most basic tasks. The enemy must run into our organisation whenever he raises his fist against us. So we must make use of all forms of orga nisation, from the most simple to the most complex. We must not restrict ourselves to people's councils, associations, trade unions and committees. Everything we use is a tool for making the revolution. Everything that is important is to think in a practi cal manner, take practical steps and achieve results. In the struggle and in organising against fascism, the most important thing is to struggle and to organise without relying on the system or looking to receive toleration from it. All forms of organisation, all policies which do not pay heed to that have no serious influence, either on developing the struggle or on organising the resistance to oppression. Today our basis for putting into practice the "Committees of Defence and Stru ggle against Fascist Terror" is greater than ever. Without making everything too complex, we must propagate an attitude which is capable of driving back fascist attacks, smashing them and giving expression to the people's reaction against them. This attit ude must be expressed through nests of the fascists being destroyed, or through press conferences, or through demonstrations and meetings, whatever is necessary in the given situation. In other words, we must think in the most broad-minded way possible. W e must bring the broadest possible section of the masses to confront the fascist terror. Dissipating the disquiet and worry of the masses, and making thoughts flow in the direction of trust and enthusiasm through achieving results in common action - this is what gets through to people. Our concern must be to use our strength in the best and most effective manner. If we get to know well the city neighbourhoods in which we live, the schools we attend, the workplaces where we earn a living, if we get to know the people there well, there is no reason why we cannot do all this. Knowing them, knowing how to set in motion the people's contradictions with the system, their pains, longings and preference for the revolution and how to direct their thoughts and feelings towards revolution. We must arm the people. Every one of the Front's people must be able to use a weapon, to learn to be familiar with one and teach this to others. We must be persistent and courageous. We must trust in our own strength. We organise and are active and the enemy attacks and tries to scatter and destroy our organisations. We re-organise and continue to be active. There are blows, there are losses. A wa r cannot be conducted without losses. We will spread our organisation and increase the struggle with these losses. There is no other way. Against the attacks of the oligarchy, every struggle, every war by the people is legitimate. To spread the consciousness of this legitimacy, we must illustrate this with examples, without making it too complicated to grasp. With growing consciousness of l egitimacy, the organising of the people and the resistance is strengthened. We must further an ideological and practical struggle, not just against terror and against oppression, but also against the culture of corruption. One of the most important roots of the enemy's strengh is decay and rottenness. We must combat every kind of dishonour, decay, prostitution and drugs, in every field. The Party-Front has grown and become stronger up to now through giving life to the feelings and thoughts of the people in its policies and tactics. That is why the Party-Front has become the only force that can take power and achieve the revolution. We wi ll see that this march is accelerated when we put this force into full operation. (1) On July 2, 1993, 36 people died as a result of an arson attack on a hotel in Sivas. On May 1, 1977, police and military personnel shot at the May Day demonstration in Istanbul, and more than 30 people were killed. Maras (1978) and Corum (1979) were pl aces where civil fascists, in cooperation with the police and military, carried out massacres against the people. On March 16, 1978, seven students were killed by the military in an attack on Beyazit University, Istanbul. In 1978 in Bahcelievler, six stud ents who were members of TIP (Workers' or Labour Party of Turkey, a pro-Soviet and left reformist party) were murdered with particular brutality by civil fascists. In May 1979 civil fascists stormed a cafe in Ankara's Piyangotepe neighbourhood. They shot dead six people. (2) For example, on May 1, 1989 M. Akif Dalci was murdered, on May 1, 1996 three people died as a result of gunfire from contra-guerrillas, and another arrested on the same day died as a result of police torture a short time later. On March 12, 1995, civi l fascists in a car they had stolen fired on a cafe in Istanbul's Gazi Neighbourhood. The police did nothing to bring those responsible to justice. As a result, tens of thousands came out onto the streets and police opened fire on them. In five days of re bellion, 16 people were murdered and hundreds wounded. In January 1996, four DHKP-C political prisoners in ?mraniye prison, Istanbul were beaten to death by gendarmes who used iron bars. (3) Operations in which the contra-guerrillas murdered Devrimci Sol cadres, some of them on the Central Committee. (4) Families owning big business concerns in Turkey. List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Sat Jul 11 18:38:15 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 11 Jul 1998 18:38:15 Subject: Turkish police detain seven Austrians at human rights protest Message-ID: ANKARA, July 11 (AFP) - Turkish police Saturday detained seven Austrian tourists attending a human rights protest here, Turkey's Human Rights Association (IHD) said. The Austrians were detained as they were filming and photographing scores of members of the IHD protesting against the country's alleged human rights violations in Ankara's central Kizilay district, IHD officials said. The police said they had detained the four women and three men because they had no prior permission to record the protest, according to the officials. The seven were being questioned at the police department's foreigners section, the Anatolia news agency said. The IHD released a press statement denouncing the detentions and urging immediate release of the Austrians. The IHD holds weekly protests at Kizilay square on Saturdays. -- Press Agency Ozgurluk For justice, democracy and human rights in Turkey and Kurdistan! Website: http://www.ozgurluk.org mailto:ozgurluk at xs4all.nl / mailinglists: petidomo at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Sat Jul 11 18:38:38 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 11 Jul 1998 18:38:38 Subject: Pay rise dispute threatens Turkish government Message-ID: ANKARA, July 11 (AFP) - A centrist party in Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz's coalition government is threatening to quit his cabinet after demanding public service wages be increased to keep up with inflation, newspapers said Saturday. Yilmaz has envisaged a 20 percent pay rise for over four million civil servants for the second half of 1998 at a time when the inflation rate on consumer prices in the first six months of this year was 29 percent. The Democratic Turkey Party, the smallest group in Yilmaz's three-party coalition, is demanding a rise of 40 percent. A Saturday meeting between conservative Yilmaz, Democratic Turkey leader Husamettin Cindoruk and a third nationalist coalition partner failed to produce an agreement on the pay rise. The Istanbul daily Sabah quoted Cindoruk as telling party aides after the meeting that Democratic Turkey could even consider quitting the government if Yilmaz fails to meet his demand. A second coalition leaders meeting to discuss the problem is scheduled for next week. "We cannot accept anything below 36 percent," Cindoruk said, according to Sabah. "If Yilmaz rejects our proposal, this will affect the government's future," another Istanbul daily, Milliyet, quoted Cindoruk as saying. Yilmaz's government, whose highest economic priority is to fight Turkey's chronic inflation problem, has managed to reduce the year-on-year inflation on consumer prices from 101 percent in January to 90 percent in June. The premier's objective is to continue to trend and reduce this year's inflation rate to below 70 percent. His aides say low pay rises are key to success in fighting inflation. They accuse Democratic Turkey of following populist policies aimed at boosting the support behind the party before planned legislative elections next spring. Under a protocol signed by Yilmaz and a left-wing party backing the premier from outside the government in June, he is to resign at the end of 1998 to pave way for the creation of an interim government to lead Turkey to the planned April polls. Yilmaz became prime minister in June last year, replacing Necmettin Erbakan, Turkey's first Islamic premier who resigned under strong pressure by Turkey's powerful pro-secular military. The newspapers said the pay rise dispute was the most serious internal problem facing the government since it took office. -- Press Agency Ozgurluk For justice, democracy and human rights in Turkey and Kurdistan! Website: http://www.ozgurluk.org mailto:ozgurluk at xs4all.nl / mailinglists: petidomo at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Mon Jul 13 18:38:28 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 13 Jul 1998 18:38:28 Subject: Turkey denies it is building a base for Israel Message-ID: ANKARA, July 13 (AFP) - Turkey and Israel denied reports Monday by a US newspaper that Turkey is building an air base in the east of the country for Isreali combat pilots to train in Turkish air space. The report, published in the Christian Science Monitor, was reproduced in the Turkish daily Milliyet Monday. "This story is totally unfounded and has nothing to do with reality," a Foreign Ministry communique stated. "This type of report and those about Israeli planes using air bases in Anatolia to spy against their neighbours are deliberately pushed despite our repeated denials," the communique added. Turkey sees the information about the construction of a base for the use of Israeli aircraft as a campaign against cooperation between itself and Israel. In Jerusalem, an Israeli Foreign Minsitry spokesman also denied the report. The spokesman also denied a report in the Turkish daily Hurriyet Monday that Turkish air force pilots received training in Israel in countering attacks by S-300 missiles, the type that Cyprus has just bought from Russia. Cooperation between the countries' air forces is laid out in a Turkish-Israeli framework agreement, signed in February 1996, which authorises the exchange of personnel and information as well as permitting Turkish and Israeli pilots to train in each other's air space. This agreement sparked off anger in several Arabic countries, especially Egypt and Syria. Iran saw it as a threat directed against itself, which Turkey and Israel deny. "Turkish-Israeli relations are developing in the interest of the Turkish and Israeli peoples...and are not directed at any third country. The Turkish-Israel Agreement has no strategic character or secret missions and does not target any country," the communique states. List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Mon Jul 13 18:38:35 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 13 Jul 1998 18:38:35 Subject: Turkish pilots trained to take out Cyprus missiles: report Message-ID: ANKARA, July 13 (AFP) - Turkish fighter pilots have been given training by Israel to destroy anti-aircraft missiles bought by Cyprus, the Hurriyet newspaper reported Monday. Six Turkish F-16 warplanes, combat pilots, military experts and maintenance officers recently underwent training exercises in the Shdema base in Israel's Negev desert to take out the S-300 missiles the Greek-Cypriot government has ordered from Russia, it said. The Turkish newspaper reported that the Turkish military personnel were also given training in scrambling the missile batteries' radar and in flying undetected by radar. Cypriot government spokesman Christos Stylianides said Monday that Cyprus has no information about the reported training. But he said that the Cypriot government "has always maintained a cautious stance toward the military defense agreement between Israel and Turkey." He added that Israel has often assured Nicosia that its agreement with Turkey does not affect Cyprus. Stylianides also denied a report Sunday in Israel's Haaretz newspaper that his government asked Israel to intervene with Ankara to defuse tension Cyprus' purchase of the Russian missiles. He said the "Haaretz article is not precise." The newspaper reported that Cyprus and the United States had asked Israel to use its influence with Turkey to ease the missile crisis, but that its efforts were in vain. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem during his visit to the Jewish state last week that Israel regretted the Cyprus arms race and called for a peaceful solution to the crisis, Haaretz said. Israel has good ties with both Cyprus and Turkey and wants to remain neutral in the conflict, Netanyahu reportedly said. But according to internal foreign and defence ministry reports quoted by Haaretz, Israel believes Cyprus "committed an error" with its decision to order the missiles. Delivery of the missiles was originally due in August but Russian officials said earlier this month that it has been put back to "late autumn" following a request by Greek-Cypriot authorities. Cyprus President Glafcos Clerides reassured Russia on Monday during a visit to Moscow that his government intends to honour the contract to buy the missile system, Russian news agencies reported. Meanwhile, both Turkey and Israel denied reports Monday by a US newspaper that Turkey is building an air base in the east of the country for Israeli combat pilots to train in Turkish air space. The report, published in the Christian Science Monitor, was reproduced in the Turkish daily Milliyet Monday. "This story is totally unfounded and has nothing to do with reality," a Foreign Ministry communique stated. In Jerusalem, an Israeli Foreign Minsitry spokesman also denied the report. Under a defence pact signed in 1996, Israeli and Turkish aircraft have trained in each other's airspace and the two nations' navies participated in January in joint naval maneuvers in the Mediterranean with the United States. Israel and Turkey are also discussing a series of joint weapons projects, notably involving anti-missile defense systems, while Israel is upgrading Turkish warplanes in a contract worth more than 600 million dollars. The Cypriot missile deal has raised tensions between long-time rivals Greece and Turkey over Cyprus, which has been divided since Ankara occupied the northern third in 1974 after a coup aimed at uniting the island with Greece. Ankara has vowed to take military action against the advanced ground-to-air missiles, saying they pose a threat not only to the Turkish-Cypriot part of the divided eastern Mediterranean island but also to Turkey itself. Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz said last week that Turkey would deploy missiles of its own in north Cyprus if the Greek-Cypriot government went ahead with the missile deployment. The Turkish airforce carried out a simulated attack against imaginary S-300 missiles in northern Cyprus in November. List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Wed Jul 15 14:23:59 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 15 Jul 1998 14:23:59 Subject: Turkey/Kurtulus Weekly: Not a natural disaster but a massacre Message-ID: Not a natural disaster but a massacre We lost 150 of our people in an earthquake in Adana and Ceyhan which registered a strength of 6.3 on the Richter scale. The rulers of this land mocked the people by saying "We got off lightly", and as usual they shifted the blame from themselves by talking of "divine intervention". And we know from experience that in two or three days the families of those who died will be left to their own devices to face hunger, poverty and powerlessness. Are we condemned to live with this pain? Floods, earthquakes, workplace accidents... The people who die are the workers! The deaths follow closely one after another. Not even a month has passed since the disastrous flood in Bartin and the surrounding area. Now the state is blaming two or three entrepreneurs for the deaths in the earthquake. But have no fear, not even those entrepreneurs will receive their merited punishment. In the flood a month back, exactly 52 bridges were destroyed and streets were ripped up like paper. Has a single one of the entrepreneurs who built the bridges and streets or the officials who gave the permits perhaps been hauled before a court and found guilty? Has a single one of the builders or those of the authorities who cooperated with them perhaps been punished in the case of the Erzincan earthquake not so long ago, when houses crumpled like cardboard boxes? Hardly. Moreover, nobody will be punished. Because this system is a system of robbery. All the system parties are candidates for power in order to win a bigger share of the loot for themselves. The aim of their rule is to cream off state money, get their paws on funding and give the go-ahead to every form of dirty business and illegal building work, all in return for a bribe. None of the mainstream parties is going to change this system. This state can offer the people nothing. Because all it thinks of is its own self-interest. The task forces it sets up and the aid it sends are there for show, and the show is a transitory one at that. We have witnessed this on dozens of occasions. Since the state pays insufficient attention to the welfare of the people, it only pretends to be concerned for as long as the disasters are a subject the media are interested in. When attention moves on, everything and everybody is left to fate. Everything is like before. Normality returns. From time to time debts are rescheduled or interest payments cancelled to appease popular anger, but even then, they are brought back into force later, sometimes under more onerous conditions. They have made injustice and oppression a part of life. The people of Adana and Ceyhan booed the chairmen of the system parties when they came into the earthquake zone. They were right to do that, but it wasn't enough. The heads of the system parties are to blame for our problems. And what we face is not limited to disasters like these. The Susurluk state continues to murder and terrorise. The terror we live under is clear enough just by looking at the events of the last few months. Armoured cars attacked government employees on Kizilay Square in Ankara. On May Day the police attacked demonstrators and hundreds were arrested. In Bolu, Istanbul and Ankara dozens of revolutionaries, patriots and ordinary people were attacked by civil fascist bands and were killed and wounded as a result. Four of the Front's people disappeared in police custody. The attacks on prisoners and their families or on the friends and families of the disappeared have not ceased. http://www.ozgurluk.org/kurtulus -- Press Agency Ozgurluk For justice, democracy and human rights in Turkey and Kurdistan! Website: http://www.ozgurluk.org mailto:ozgurluk at xs4all.nl / mailinglists: petidomo at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Thu Jul 16 15:23:45 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 16 Jul 1998 15:23:45 Subject: Turkey: July 12 is the strength, permanence and invincibility of the Message-ID: Kurtulus No 89, July 11, 1998 July 12 is the strength, permanence and invincibility of the Front The oligarchy strove with all its strength to ensure our annihilation. But the Front could not be annihilated, it could not be extinguished. They could not destroy it. Our struggle continues. The development of the Front goes on. We experienced July 12, then April 16 and 17 and the betrayal by the putsch. But our decisiveness and our conviction were stronger than the enemy's massacres. In the midst of the enemy's war of annihilation, we became a party. As the DHKP-C, we have continued our march towards revolution. After July 12, we said, "For us there is no death." "For us there is no death", because the Front is the hope for liberation of all the peoples of Turkey. They could not kill hope. "For us there is no death", because the Front is the people. They could not kill the people. "For us there is no death", because the Front is connected to the people and the revolution, it is firm in its aim of taking power and persistent in seeking revolution. We did not die. We became hope itself. We are fighting. July 12, 1991 is a highly important and significant story, not just from the viewpoint of the Party-Front, but from the viewpoint of the class struggle in Turkey, the people and the entire left. While July 12 was being experienced, the left could not see this and did not want to understand it. Only some of them could grasp this significance much later, at least in part. July 12 was a turning point which clearly showed that the war against the people would be continued in an even more unscrupulous and effective way. The policy was continued since that time without changes, give or take a few minor adjustments to form and a few deviations from its course. Neither the strength of the oligarchy's terror at this time, nor the moves against Devrimci Sol were the consequences of transitory policies. It was an error of the left to assume that this terror would not be stepped up and was merely the result of a war between Devrimci Sol and the oligarchy. This "observation" is a mixture of error and truth. Whoever thought that the attacks are merely directed against Devrimci Sol, that executions and disappearances would simply have Devrimci Sol as a target were in error. Sooner or later all the opposition would be targetted by this terror from the oligarchy. But without a doubt Devrimci Sol was the first target. The actual target of the policy of annihilation was those who developed the liberation struggle of the people. The oligarchy continued its policy persistently and still pursues it. But it could not achieve its desired aim. It could not wipe out the organisation physically nor create a second Kizildere (On March 30, 1972 at Kizildere in Turkey's Black Sea Region, the leading cadres of the THKP-C, still a new organisation at the time, were killed in an operation by the state. Devrimci Sol continued the tradition of the THKP-C). Nevertheless, that was precisely the aim of the operations on July 12, 1991 and the follow-up operations on April 16-17, 1992. But from the organisational point of view the Party-Front had transcended the state it was in at the time of Kizildere, had put down broader and deeper roots and created traditions. The oligarchy could not make a new dent in our struggle and our organisation. The attacks against Devrimci Sol and the DHKP-C were of a kind made against no other revolutionary movement in Turkey. These attacks were so heavy that even sympathisers were targetted by the policy of annihilation. This policy is still continuing with undiminished intensity. The latest four people to disappear are a clear and most recent example of that. Nevertheless, the stability of the struggle has been maintained. This stability is produced by the ideological strength of the Party-Front and the courage and decisiveness of its fighters. Why is the oligarchy targetting us in particular? If we look back, the reasons for the mission undertaken on July 12 become clearer. All over the world, the 1990s have been marked by a wave of counterrevolution and the bourgeoisie's shouts of triumph. Everything was turned into its opposite. The counterrevolutions experienced in the socialist countries, above all the Soviet Union, made imperialism's greed develop at an exponential rate. This could be perceived in imperialism's attacks on both the material and the ideological plane. While the demagogy of "socialism is dead" was being propagated, imperialism dreamed of creating a rose garden of the "New World Order" and "globalisation" in which no thorns would mar its pleasures. The way was clear for imperialism to wheel and deal to its heart's content after the socialist system collapsed. US imperialism succeeded in whipping into line anything that opposed its "New World Order". To secure its own interests, it engaged in various forms of intervention, either military or covert. All its operations embarked on in the name of peace and human rights ended in bloodshed and massacre. The influence of the winds of counterrevolution also affected many countries and revolutionary organisations. While concepts like "armed struggle" and "revolution" were pilloried, peacemongering, compromise and the laying down of arms grew apace. Many organisations parted with their arms and sat down at the "negotiating table" with imperialism and its collaborators. "Solutions" began to be sought from imperialism. On the other hand, in Turkey the struggle continued even at the height of imperialism's ideological and material attacks, and this struggle made use of guns and bullets. Anger, oppression and injustice all exploded in the face of the enemy. Those who said "We will shake the world once again from Turkey" continued the struggle for power. They flung down a challenge to imperialism and its collaborators. While imperialism was at its most triumphalist, we did not hesitate in declaring our own upsurge and spreading the struggle. We laid claim to revolution and the drive to take power. Wherever the imperialist bandits made a move, we confronted them. In the days when everything was collapsing and nobody could tell good from bad any more, we bound ourselves more firmly to Marxism-Leninism and socialism. We were alone but we based ourselves on no force other than our people. On the side of the enemy, the spokesmen of the oligarchy like ?zal (a prime minister in Turkey following the military coup) lamented that "in Turkey, the world is starting to collapse". This was the truth, for when the world was upside down, we called for revolution, marched along our independent road and when everybody talked of the death of socialism we held its banner high. It was not the case at this point in our upsurge that we had innumerable possibilities and mountains of weaponry. The power of our upsurge came far more from belief in revolution, courage and a refusal to be daunted, decisiveness, readiness to sacrifice oneself and the will to take power, and loyalty to socialism. Our upsurge was not a matter of armed struggle before everything else. What gave our upsurge its real content was our adherence to socialism and persistent attachment to revolution. This made our blows to imperialism and our claim that "we will shake the world once again from Turkey" into more than mere words. In this claim there lay, on the one hand, the continuation of the armed struggle with the aim of taking power, and on the other hand the courage and self-sacrifice of the people's liberation fighters. In this claim lay our martyrs who did not hesitate to look death in the face. Our growing struggle, our actions aimed at implementing people's justice caused fear among the enemy and stirred up great sympathy among the masses of people. The oligarchy's spokesmen said, "Forget about the East (ie. Kurdistan), watch out for Istanbul" and spoke of the "problems in the East and Istanbul". In the upsurge period, while we were fighting toe to toe with the oligarchy and punishing those who for years had been committing crimes, we also took a position against the banditry and brutality of imperialism. At a point when the world was silent and inactive against the tonnes of bombs imperialism rained on the people of Iraq to safeguard its own interests, we gave US imperialism an answer fired from our own gun barrels. Many organisations of national and class struggle orientation did nothing about imperialism's attacks. While the left in our country developed theories about "a plague on both their houses" and failed to take a serious position, we took our place in the struggle alongside the peoples of the Middle East. We threw down a challenge to imperialism. Those who fell on July 12 played an active role in this. They showed both friend and foe that one cannot be a revolutionary and cannot implement a revolution at all if one is not fighting against imperialism. So we were constantly exposed to blows from imperialism. To smash us and wipe us out, plans dreamt up by the CIA and Pentagon were set in motion. Before Bush came to Turkey after the Gulf War to collect the harvest won from the massacre of the peoples of the Middle East, we experienced July 12. The struggle was experienced in every aspect. On the one side was imperialism and the oligarchy, and on the other side us... All the overt and covert methods of the Susurluk state came out into the open. Those who took no position at the time against the executions saw the real intentions of the state only after Susurluk happened. Already back then, Mehmet Agar stood at the head of the operations and executions. But the left and the democratic circles were very far from being able to understand this. They continued to see the executions as only being a problem for Devrimci Sol and did not see the Susurluk state for what it was. There were even those who secretly applauded the executions. Because they did not want their own status quo to be disturbed by the armed struggle. Years later they were to talk of Susurluk and discover Agar, but at the time they said nothing. Because at the time they all maintained a guilty silence. Those who did not take sides later tried to ascribe a positive role to ?zal and the ANAP (Motherland Party) of Mesut Yilmaz. Their names also appeared in the state's show of strength on July 12, 1991. Those who try to present ?zal as an angel no longer remember anything - it is as if they were not in Turkey at the time. We know the Susurluk state since that time. We were at war with it. Because we knew the enemy we were confronting, we neither practiced a wrong policy nor caved in to the terror practiced by the enemy. In a phase in which revolutionary values were starting to degenerate, July 12 showed the conviction and willingness to die in the name of the revolution and the organisation's ties to the people. At a time when the cry was ringing out that "no ideology is worth dying for", in Balmucu, Dikiltas, Nisantasi and Yeni Levent in the heart of Istanbul the calls "Long live an independent Turkey", "Long live socialism" and "Long live Devrimci Sol" were heard. On this honourable page in the history of revolution was written the struggle against imperialism, the refusal to surrender and the allegiance to socialism and people's liberation. And July 12 was a battle cry summoning all peoples to fight imperialism and its collaborators. The events of July 12 were not only felt in our own land but influenced the whole world. "We don't doubt that our struggle is one in which the struggles of the oppressed peoples of the world against imperialism and its collaborators have become a hearth for revolution, that each of our comrades who waved the banner of Marxism-Leninism in this fight will always be honoured in the memory of the oppressed peoples and the proletariat... It is our mission, consciously or unconsciously, with every bullet, slogan or thought to strengthen the hope for liberation in the hearts of people living in misery in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. The fighters on July 12 acted with this awareness, for this reason when they were surrounded, they did not hesitate to challenge death and its bullets and bombs with revolutionary slogans and marches, and they became immortal. While in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe the statues of Lenin and Stalin were destroyed and the flags of socialism torn down, its institutions destroyed and the gains it made erased one after the other, the Marxist-Leninist conduct of the fighters on July 12 had the significance of a revolutionary barricade erected against this wave of treason..." The high price we paid on July 12 neither lessened nor dulled our desire and determination to fight. Our urge to fight for power has only grown. With a tradition of dying but not surrendering, furthering the development of our struggle, the rulers' fear has continued. Despite all losses the struggle went forward without interruption. The places of our martyrs on July 12 were not left empty. Because we were successful in that, we were able to turn July 12 into a political victory because they did not surrender, held their heads high and resisted, remaining loyal to the cause. Seven years have passed since then. Imperialism's triumph has passed. The balloons of the "New World Order", "neoliberalism" and "globalisation" burst rather quickly. The cries of victory have given way to fear of "crisis" and "rebellions". On the other hand, in all corners of the world growing liberation struggles of the peoples cannot be extinguished despite rightist pressures, the founding of "new left" parties and the laying down of weapons. Today, from the Middle East to Latin America, from the Far East to Africa, wars of liberation are going on. Imperialism sees itself confronted by what it itself has called the "age of uprisings" in the 21st century. What has been shown to be true is the line of the Front. It is the legends of the resistance wagd by fighters of the Front who wrote dignified pages in the book of history. >From then until today we go along our path with the traditions we have created, embracing our strategy for struggle and also the weapon of the Party. Imperialism and its collaborators who thought they could annihilate us with massacres, can no longer conceal their fear. From the beginning, the DHKP-C has been on the list of "dangerous organisations" published every year by the USA. Before every July 12, the USA issues a warning to its citizens in Turkey. Security measures are stepped up, circulars sent round. Our particular revolutionary claim to July 12 forces the USA and the oligarchy to take special precautions. The inheritance passed on from July 12 shows us the way. Our claim to "shake the world once again from Turkey" is continued with the strength we derive from our ideology, our people and July 12. There are many winds blowing over the world and our country, but not one has diverted us from our path of seizing power. Once, after July 12, we promised that "the banner of socialism they carried will be held even higher by those who take their places and our struggle against imperialism and the oligarchy will be continued." Today, as promised, we are continuing the struggle, with our feet on the soil of our country, our eyes directed to the goal of power. Again we are challenging imperialism and the oligarchy. Shaking the world with our revolution, we are carrying the tradition of invincibility of July 12 to victory. The struggle by the Front's fighters will shake the peoples of the entire world, strengthen the hope for liberation of the peoples and be a source of the coming dawn for them. All the policies of annihilation and extermination of imperialism and its collaborators are doomed to failure. No force, no obstacle will stop the stream carrying our people's liberation fighters towards revolution. -- Press Agency Ozgurluk For justice, democracy and human rights in Turkey and Kurdistan! Website: http://www.ozgurluk.org mailto:ozgurluk at xs4all.nl / mailinglists: petidomo at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From tabe at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl Fri Jul 17 09:53:46 1998 From: tabe at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl (tabe at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl) Date: 17 Jul 1998 09:53:46 Subject: No Subject Given Message-ID: Subject: Way cleared for re-trial of police who killed journalist in Turkey From: Press Agency Ozgurluk Sender: tabe at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl Original-Sender: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Organisation: Press Agency Ozgurluk X-No-Archive: yes X-Url: http://www.ozgurluk.org Mime-Version: 1.0 (generated by tm-edit 7.108) Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Date: 17 Jul 1998 18:47:37 +0200 Message-ID: Lines: 43 X-Mailer: Gnus v5.6.9/XEmacs 20.4 - "Emerald" ANKARA, July 17 (AFP) - An appeal court Friday quashed verdicts against five police officers in Turkey convicted of killing a journalist in their custody, clearing the way for a re-trial and possible harsher punishment for the culprits. In a case that has been closely followed in Turkey and abroad, critics of the original trial had condemned the verdict and sentences handed down as too lenient. The five were sentenced to seven and a half years prison each by a court in Afyon, western Turkey, on being convicted of the manslaughter of Metin Goktepe, 27, who worked for the leftwing daily Evrensel. Six other police officers were acquitted for lack of evidence. Witnesses said Goktepe was beaten to death by a group of police officers after being arrested on January 8 1996 while covering the funeral of two prisoners killed in a riot at an Istanbul jail. His body was later found in Eyup district, on the European side of Istanbul. The court of cassation said in its ruling Friday that there had been procedural errors in the original trial, citing insufficient investigation and the fact that witnesses called by lawyers for the dead man's family were not heard, the Anatolia news agency reported. At the trial, lawyers for Goktepe's family had sought a verdict based on a charge of murder with torture, but the court in Afyon based its decision on the penal code article referring to manslaughter, which carries a lighter sentence. The prosecution had sought prison terms of eight to 15 years against the five principal defendants, and the acquittal of the others. The court sentenced the five to 12 years in prison, but a law on remission of sentences was immediately applied cutting that to seven and a half. Human rights activists condemned the sentences as far too lenient. The trial opened in October 1996 in Aydin, in the west of the country, rather than in Istanbul, where the crime took place, officially for security reasons. It was later moved to Afyon, again ostensibly for security reasons. A total of 48 officers were originally charged in connection with the case. Last year, the case against the 11 principal defendants was separated from the others. The fate of the other 37, accused of complicity, will be resolved at a later date. List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Fri Jul 17 17:54:15 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 17 Jul 1998 17:54:15 Subject: USA: Another Congressman Nominates Leyla Zana for Nobel Peace Prize Message-ID: July 14, 1998 The Nobel Peace Prize Committee Nobelinsintuttet Drammensvein 19 N-0255 Oslo, Norway Dear Committee Members: I am writing to ask that you give your utmost consideration to the nomination of Leyla Zana for the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize, a gesture that could initiate an end to Turkey's appalling discriminatory policies against its Kurdish citizens. In October 1991, Leyla Zana was elected by an overwhelming margin to represent her hometown of Diyarbakir, becoming the first Kurdish woman ever elected to the Turkish Parliament. As a result of her exercise of the right to free speech in defending the rights of the Kurdish people, she was arrested and convicted of treason by Turkish authorities. In December 1994, she was sentenced to 15 years in prison and remains there today. One of the examples used by the Turkish government as evidence of her "separatist" activity was her testimony before the United States Congress' Committee on the Helsinki Commission, where she addressed the oppression of the Kurds living in Turkey and voiced her hopes for a peaceful solution between the two parties. Zana's courageous efforts to promote democratic change through nonviolence have been admired and revered by many. She is the recipient of numerous peace prizes and honorary friendship awards. The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Leyla Zana would serve as a valiant attempt by the committee to bring an end to the suffering of the Kurdish people. It would bring to the world's attention Zana's message of hope for a peaceful coexistence to end the misery that has plagued the Kurdish people. I hope that you will agree to initiate harmony in an area where peace has been so long awaited. Sincerely, Nick Lampson Member of Congress ---- American Kurdish Information Network (AKIN) 2623 Connecticut Avenue NW #1 Washington, DC 20008-1522 Tel: (202) 483-6444 Fax: (202) 483-6476 E-mail: akin at kurdish.org Home Page: http://www.kurdistan.org List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Thu Jul 23 18:54:18 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 23 Jul 1998 18:54:18 Subject: Ankara seeks to build nuclear weapons: Athens Message-ID: ATHENS, July 23 (AFP) - Greek Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos on Thursday accused Turkey of seeking to build nuclear weapons, the ANA news agency reported. Anakara is "on a mistaken path towards nuclear arms," he said, referring to Turkey's plans to build the country's first nuclear power plant at Akkuyu on its Mediterranean coast. He said the Turks were planning to use Canadian technology for the construction of the plant, adding that "every country that has used this technology has built nuclear weapons" and gave India as an example. Greece has repeatedly expressed concern over the Akkuyu project but so far this has been for ecological reasons. Akkuyu is in an area hit by a lethal earthquake last month. Greece's nuclear technology institute is meanwhile set to begin measuring radioactivity in its eastern Aegean Sea, which borders on Turkish waters, ahead of the planned 1999 start for construction of the nuclear plant. Nuclear Power International, headed by Siemens of Germany and Framatome of France, is the leading contender for the construction of the plant at Akkuyu. Two other consortiums, led by Westinghouse Electric Corporation (USA) and Atomic Energy of Canada, are also bidding in the multi-billion-dollar tender, which is to be concluded this summer. List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Fri Jul 24 17:38:57 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 24 Jul 1998 17:38:57 Subject: Four Kurds remanded in custody in Paris Message-ID: PARIS, July 24 (AFP) - Four Kurds alleged to be militant Kurdish separatists were remanded in custody in Paris Friday in connection with an incident last month in which Turkish demonstrators were attacked with iron bars and knives. Court sources said the four were being investigated for use of violence and "criminal association in connection with a terrorist operation." Militant Kurds have been conducting a campaign against the Turkish government since 1984 to carve a separate state out of south-eastern Turkey. Five other Kurds were placed under investigative detention on June 25 in connection with an alleged commando-style operation against Turks who were demonstrating in Paris against a decision by France formally to recognise the Turkish massacre of Armenians during World War I as genocide. The National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, on May 29 approved a bill officially recognizing the Armenian genocide under the Turkish Ottoman empire in 1915-1916. Turkey has always denied that a genocide took place. The 1,500 demonstrators were attacked in the middle of Paris on June 18 with iron bars and knives by some 60 to 80 people, leaving 18 injured. The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has been leading an armed rebellion against Ankara in the predominantly Kurdish southeast of Turkey since 1984 with the aim of creating an independent Kurdish state. More than 30,000 people have died in the violence. List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Fri Jul 24 18:53:49 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 24 Jul 1998 18:53:49 Subject: Turkey: Immunity lifted, seven deputies now face trial Message-ID: 24 July,1998, Copyright ? Turkish Daily News Immunity lifted, seven deputies now face trial Under Turkish law, immunity must be lifted for each separate accusation that is to be prosecuted Ankara - Turkish Daily News In the history of the Turkish Republic, legislative immunity for 49 parliamentarians, made up of 39 deputies and 10 senators, has been suspended, exposing them to prosecution, reported the Anatolia news agency. This is the first time since 1994 that Parliament has experienced a situation where parliamentary immunities have been lifted. The Constitution-Justice Joint Commission led by Atila Sav has completed 114 of the 120 case files submitted. Following the suspensions of immunity for Mehmet Agar and Sedat Bucak, two True Path Party (DYP) deputies, for their alleged involvement in conspiracy, the committee has finalized 28 additional case files pertaining to seven deputies. Under Turkish law, immunity must be lifted for each separate accusation that is to be prosecuted. Kalemli case is next in line It is expected that the immunity of six other deputies, including that of Mustafa Kalemli, the former speaker of the house, and Omer Bilgin, a DYP deputy from Isparta, will also be suspended next week by Parliament, in conformance with the decision taken by the Joint Commission. Two other case files also await inclusion on the agenda, one relating to Mehmet Agar, who is accused of authorizing a false gun licence for Abdullah Catli (A key figure in the so-called Susurluk state gang scandal), and two other case files accusing Ramazan Yenidede, a Virtue Party (FP) deputy, of slander. Seven deputies are now exposed to prosecution The immunities of seven deputies have been suspended for alleged involvement in the following crimes: Omer Bilgin, a DYP deputy from Isparta, for abuse of power, forgery on official documents and corruption in tender procedures; Mehmet Agar, DYP deputy from Elazig, for ordering the release of Yasar Oz, a drug trafficker; Mustafa Bayram, FP deputy from Gaziantep, for first degree murder; Kahraman Emmioglu, FP deputy from Gaziantep, for smuggling; Kemal Akyurt, DYP deputy from Denizli, for embezzlement of funds belonging to a client; Murat Karayalcin, Republican Peoples' Party (CHP) deputy from Samsun, for abuse of power. The Joint Commission first reached an agreement that it was not necessary to suspend Murat Karayalcin's immunity. Karayalcin requested that his immunity be suspended so he would have the opportunity to clear his name in the judicial system and his request was consequently approved. Sema Piskinsut, DYP deputy from Aydin, disagreed with the commission's decision to postpone a decision on her case file until the end of the current term, however, she also requested to be given the opportunity to clear her honor and her request was ultimately granted. First organized crime accusation Parliament had suspended the immunities of both Mehmet Agar and Sedat Bucak during December so that they can be put on trial to face charges of "forming a gang with criminal intent." This was the first time ever that the immunities of deputies had been suspended by Parliament because of organized crime. Mehmet Agar's trial has turned into a judicial nightmare, as he committed the alleged crimes during a period in which he was serving as a state employee. State Security Court (DGM) No.6 declared the case beyond its jurisdiction during the first hearing, however, the High Court of Appeals overturned the decision and decided that Agar's trial must be conducted in compliance with the law on trial procedures for a civil servant, which stipulates that civil servants may not be brought to trial on issues related to their work unless a prior consent in writing is obtained from their superiors. Consequently, the case file will now be forwarded to the Interior Ministry where it will be reviewed by the Ministerial Investigation Committee. A report of the review will then be forwarded to the Council of State where the final decision on whether Agar would be brought to trial will be made. The cross-examination of Sedat Bucak, a deputy from Sanliurfa, on the other hand, has already commenced at the DGM in Istanbul. Democracy Party deputies serving time Democracy Party (DEP) deputies Hatip Dicle, Orhan Dogan, Leyla Zana, Sirri Sakik, Mahmut Alinak, Selim Sadak and Ahmet Turk, whose legislative immunities were lifted in 1994 because of separatist activities, have been brought to trial. Of these, Zana, Dicle, Sadak and Dogan are already serving time in jail. -- Press Agency Ozgurluk For justice, democracy and human rights in Turkey and Kurdistan! Website: http://www.ozgurluk.org mailto:ozgurluk at xs4all.nl / mailinglists: petidomo at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Sat Jul 25 18:10:33 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 25 Jul 1998 18:10:33 Subject: Turkish police briefly detain two Belgians at human rights protest Message-ID: ANKARA, July 25 (AFP) - Turkish police Saturday briefly detained two Belgians attending a human rights protest in the Aegean port of Izmir, the Anatolia news agency said. The two Belgians were detained for "attending an illegal demonstration," the agency quoted police officials as saying. But the two were later released after they were briefly questioned at the police headquarters, it said. The protest was organised by a human rights group called the Izmir Rights and Freedoms Platform in protest at alleged human rights violations in Turkey. Two weeks ago, seven Austrian tourists were detained after taking pictures of another human rights protest in central Ankara. They were released the next day. List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl