From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Tue Jun 2 03:19:09 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 02 Jun 1998 03:19:09 Subject: Turkish activist Yagmurdereli returned to prison Message-ID: ANKARA, Turkey (June 1, 1998 8:38 p.m. EDT http://www.nando.net) -- A blind human rights activist who was released from a Turkish prison following an international outcry was returned to his cell on Monday, the Anatolia news agency said. Esber Yagmurdereli was re-arrested after he declined to provide a medical report for a possible pardon because of his ill health, the agency reported. He was freed in November after the government, bowing to pressure from international human rights activists, gave him a one-year furlough from prison to recover from high blood pressure and other illnesses. He was serving a 22-year sentence on charges of supporting terrorism and spreading separatist propaganda. Yagmurdereli, insisting he was innocent, has rejected the offer of a pardon and has refused to undergo the required medical check-up. "Freedom of expression should not be a crime," he told reporters as police took him away. "We have to fight for it." Yagmurdereli, a lawyer-turned-activist, was first imprisoned in 1978 on charges of trying to overthrow the government. He was freed on parole in 1991. He was arrested again in October after criticizing the government on a television show. Turkey's human rights record has long been a stumbling block to its goal of membership in the European Union, a top priority for the new government. France, Germany and Britain had asked Turkey to free Yagmurdereli. List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Tue Jun 2 03:46:58 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 02 Jun 1998 03:46:58 Subject: Turkey: PKK informer alleges more state-gang link Message-ID: TDN, June 2, 1998 PKK informer alleges more state-gang links * Bilgic says that state officials ordered informers to commit illegal acts including murder, drug smuggling and kidnapping _________________________________________________________________ MUSTAFA ERDOGAN Ankara - Turkish Daily News Already shaken by revelations about the criminal acts committed by Mahmut Yildirim, known as "Yesil," Turkey is once again hearing testimony by informers who allege that serious crimes were carried out at the behest of certain state officials. Kahraman Bilgic, a former Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) informer, has made earth-shattering statements to members of Parliament's Human Rights Commission, revealing mass murders and evidence concerning previously unsolved murders. The commission also heard testimony from Fatih Ozhan, a former member of the police force's Special Team. Once the commission's report is concluded it will be brought to Parliament for debate. Bilgic and Ozhan are being tried in the Diyarbakir State Security Court (DGM) for murder, drug smuggling and kidnapping and are the leading suspects in the Yuksekova gang. The informers are being detained in Diyarbakir prison. Bilgic, a leading name in the Yuksekova gang, described to the commission members the illegal acts in which he was involved in Hakkari province. When asked by Ferit Bora of the Democratic Turkey Party (DTP) for what purposes the informers had been used, Bilgic replied that he was being tried because of facts about his actions that he had made public. But when pressed by commission members, Bilgic said that mass murders had taken place in the region. Five gangs in Yuksekova Members of Parliament's Human Rights Commission also met with Ozhan, who revealed links between the gangs within the state and drug smugglers. The following section contains excerpts of the questioning of Ozhan by the commission's members: -Professor Ioonna Kucuradi (member of the commission): What was your main purpose? Ozhan: Ten years ago, I wrote a letter of complaint but I couldn't find anywhere to send it. And now I refuse to hand it over... Seyyit Hasim Hasimi (Virtue Party's Diyarbakir deputy): No, please give it up... Ozhan: I will explain everything when the time comes. Who are we? For whom are we working? We were appointed for the nation and the state. Does it really serve the interests of the people, or of some circles who see themselves above everything? Hasimi: Did you face mistreatment during the prosecution period? Ozhan: They took our guns and identity cards. And I was taken to the city's police chief and he accused me of kidnapping people while disguised as a PKK member. Thank God they took away my gun, because I tried to point my gun. Because I should not be accused like this... Illegal things... Ozhan: We struggled against those committing illegal actions, such as our struggle against the PKK... Sema Piskinsut: It means that such crimes are being committed...? Ozhan: Nobody is denying this. So many bad things were done. There is no way that they can cover up these terrible things. There are five gangs in Yuksekova. Sometimes these gangs work together and sometimes they work separately. Sema Piskinsut: In Yuksekova there is no possibility that drug smuggling and the drug mafia can continue without the knowledge of the people working for security in the region. Ozhan: There are heroin godfathers. When these people are arrested, my authority finishes. Piskinsut: You will take care of heroin-dealers... Ozhan: I can say one thing. I will be finished the moment that I touch that man. We are being prevented from doing so by high-level officials. A phone call... We arrested a man with guns and heroin. The man offered DM 100,000 while my chief was near me. It was in the year 1994. Pointing out that he has worked with security forces in Hakkari province, Bilgic said that his death certificate has been issued, although he is still alive. Confessing that he had taken part in drug smuggling and "unsolved killings," Bilgic said that he had witnessed mass murders in the province he was in charge of. "If a repentance [reduced sentences or amnesty for informers] law is approved by Parliament, everything will be cleared up," Bilgic stated. He added that he had been given training at Habur for the first six months after he turned informant. "They use us however they want. We have no security. There is no official detention process for us, so officials are free to use us in whatever way they wish. For example, I surrendered in Hakkari and started to work under the orders of the commander in Hakkari. Furthermore, they declared me dead. I did whatever they wanted me to do. I committed some illegal acts, such as murders and drug smuggling. Some circles within the state are trying to cover up their crimes by blaming them on us. We are being used as tools in that sense. They hide behind us. If a security official commits a crime, they say it was committed by informers," Bilgic said. -- 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 K.RAUCHFUSS at LINK-DO.soli.de Mon Jun 1 09:30:00 1998 From: K.RAUCHFUSS at LINK-DO.soli.de (K.RAUCHFUSS at LINK-DO.soli.de) Date: 01 Jun 1998 09:30:00 Subject: Offensive gegen zivile Opposition Message-ID: <6v2ZEMSb.RB@walker.link-do.soli.de> Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Die schwarzen Listen der Denunziation T?rkische Regierung bl?st zur Offensive gegen legale Opposition Zeitgleich mit gro?angelegten Bombardierungen in den Regionen Bing?l und Sirnak haben Regierung und Milit?r in der T?rkei eine Generaloffensive gegen die legale Opposition des Landes eingeleitet. Bereits seit Beginn des Jahres f?hrt das t?rkische Milit?r mit Unterst?tzung der staatstragenden Medien eine internationale Propagandakampagne die behauptet, die PKK sei milit?risch geschlagen und kurdische Organisationen seien politisch marginalisiert. Man brauche ihnen nur noch endg?ltig den Todessto? versetzen. Offizielle Rechtfertigung f?r die neuerliche Milit?roffensive, wie auch der Verfolgung der kritischen ?ffentlichkeit, bildet dabei eine Kaskade angeblicher Aussagen des in t?rkischer Haft befindlichen ehemaligen ARGK-Kommandanten Semdin Sakik. Sakik hat sich in S?dkurdistan am 16. M?rz Einheiten der KDP ergeben. In den t?rkischen Medien wurde auch dieser Vorgang als ein Beleg f?r den angeblichen Zerfall der PKK hochgespielt. Einzelne Zeitungen nahmen den Frontenwechsel Sakiks zum Anla? f?r die Behauptung, da? weitere Kommandeure ?bergelaufen seien. Die Genannten dementierten das Ger?cht jedoch am selben Tag in einer Sendung von MED-TV und erkl?rten die Hintergr?nde f?r Sakiks Verhalten. Dieser sei u.a. verantwortlich f?r den ?berfall auf einen Reisebus im Mai 1993 in der Provinz Bing?l, bei dem 33 unbewaffnete t?rkische Soldaten exekutiert worden waren. Der ?berfall bedeutete das j?he Ende eines zuvor von Abdullah ?calan erkl?rten einseitigen Waffenstillstandes. Au?erdem soll Sakik rund 70 PKK-Rebellen durch Exekution bestraft haben. Daraufhin sei er aller verantwortlichen Posten innerhalb der PKK enthoben worden.Kaum bei den Truppen Barzanis in S?dkurdistan angekommen meldete sich Sakik in der t?rkischen Redaktion der britischen BBC, um die PKK heftig zu attackieren und sich selbst als Hardliner und "wahrer Befreiungsk?mpfer" zu pr?sentieren. Er habe mitnichten die Flucht ergriffen, sondern sei "in mein Land, zu meinem Volk zur?ckgekehrt" und genie?e "bei der gastfreundlichen KDP jegliche Bewegungsfreiheit". Leider habe er sich zu sp?t gegen die "Fluchtmentalit?t der F?hrung" der PKK gewandt, die von Syrien aus den Kampf befehlige. ?calan habe durch seine Machtpolitik die Partei "zur Sekte gemacht" und sich selbst "zum Scheich ausgerufen". Sakik ?bernahm auch die Verantwortung f?r die damalige Aktion in der Region Bing?l. Zu seiner Rechtfertigung f?hrte er an, der Entschlu? sei in einer Zeit gefa?t worden, in der "der Feind intensive Angriffe f?hrte, die nicht nur die Guerilla zum Ziel hatten". In wieweit die KDP ein Auslieferungsbegehren der t?rkischen Regierung tats?chlich ablehnte oder ihre H?nde bei der Entf?hrung Sakiks in die T?rkei mit im Spiel hatte, mu? vorerst als unklar bezeichnet werden. Offiziellen Angaben zufolge flog ein t?rkisches Armee-Sonderkommando mit einem Helikopter nach Dohuk im Nordirak. Die Elitesoldaten verkleideten sich als Kurden und fingen dort das Auto Sakiks ab, nahmen ihn fest und entf?hrten ihn auf t?rkisches Gebiet. "Aktion Fledermaus" hie? die Geheimoperation. Nun werde er wie ein "ganz normaler Terrorist" und nicht etwa wie ein ?berl?ufer behandelt, hie? es in Ankara.Seither hat niemand mehr Sakik zu Gesicht bekommen. Weder Anw?lte noch Familienangeh?rige haben Zutritt zu ihm und seine Zelle im Gef?ngnis von Diyarbakir, wohin er angeblich verlegt worden sei, ist leer.Die sogenannten "Sicherheitskr?fte" der T?rkei jedoch ?berschwemmen die Presse mit sogenannten Enth?llungen und Gest?ndnissen, die der Entf?hrte im Verh?r gemacht haben soll. So beschuldigen die staatstragenden Medien des Landes, unter Berufung auf Sakik seither namentlich prominente MenschenrechtlerInnen, kurdische PolitikerInnen, Zeitungen, JournalistInnen und Pers?nlichkeiten des ?ffentlichen Lebens, wie die bekannte Pops?ngerin Sezen Aksu, die Ziele der PKK unterst?tzt und daf?r teilweise auch Geld von der PKK bekommen zu haben. Die regierungsnahe Tageszeitung "Sabah" berichtete unter Berufung auf den stellvertretenden t?rkischen Ministerpr?sidenten B?lent Ecevit, der schwedische Ministerpr?sident Olof Palme sei seinerzeit einem Attentat der PKK zum Opfer gefallen. "Sakik hat ?ber das Attentat in allen Einzelheiten berichtet", wurde Ecevit zitiert. Au?erdem habe Sakik bei seinen Verh?ren erkl?rt, militante PKK-Rebellen w?rden in ihrem Kampf gegen die T?rkei von Deutschen unterst?tzt. Unter der ?berschrift "Deutschland bildet PKK-Militante aus" zitierte die Tageszeitung "H?rriyet" Sakik: "Die in Deutschland erpre?ten Gelder werden von deutschen Kurieren zur PKK und zu ihrem F?hrer Abdullah ?calan in Damaskus weitergeleitet." Deutsche h?tten sich nicht nur auf die logistische Unterst?tzung der PKK beschr?nkt, sondern auch militante Mitglieder ausgebildet, hie? es weiter. Bevor Bundesanwalt Nehm die seit 1993 in Deutschland verbotene PKK nicht mehr als terroristisch einstufte, h?tten deutsche Abgeordnete und Justizvertreter ?calan in Damaskus aufgesucht. Auch medico international wurde beschuldigt, die PKK finanziell zu unterst?tzen. Zwar wiesen die beschuldigten Presse-Organe sowie genannte Personen die Verleumdungen umgehend als unwahr zur?ck, die Konsequenzen lie?en jedoch nicht lange auf sich warten. Neben der milit?rischen Offensive, die auf der angeblichen Preisgabe von Informationen ?ber die Lokalisation von Stellungen der ARGK basiert, setzte die vorprogrammierte Verfolgungslawine gegen die zivile Opposition ein. Die sogenannten "Sicherheitsbeh?rden" haben erkl?rt, sie konzentrierten nun ihr Vorgehen gegen die PKK im Lichte der Aussagen Sakiks auf die von ihm genannten Ziele. Dabei hatten der dennunzierte Kolumnist der Zeitung Sabah, Mehmet Ali Biran, noch fast Gl?ck - er verlor lediglich seinen Arbeitsplatz. Auch Akin Birdal, der Vorsitzende des Menschenrechtsvereines IHD war durch vermeintliche Aussagen Sakiks als Unterst?tzer der Arbeiterpartei Kurdistans belastet worden, bevor er am 12. Mai Opfer eines Anschlages rechtsradikaler Todesschwadronen wurde (vgl. Arikel auf S.x). Wenige Tage zuvor entging Dicle Anter der Sohn des ebenfalls ermordeten Autors Musa Anter nur knapp einem Attentat. In den angeblichen Gest?ndnissen Sakiks sind au?er Birdal und dem IHD auch die Tageszeitungen ?lkede G?ndem und Emek sowie die "Samstagsm?tter", die seit ?ber drei Jahren jede Woche gegen die Verschleppung und Ermordung ihrer S?hne und T?chter protestieren, die Gewerkschaft KESK und die prokurdische Partei HADEP der Unterst?tzung der PKK beschuldigt worden.Der Druck auf HADEP, die bereits seit ihrem Bestehen staatlicher Verfolgung ausgesetzt ist und derzeit in einem Schauproze? gegen ihre Parteispitze vor dem Staatssicherheitsgericht in Ankara dem Verbot der Partei entgegensieht, hat sich seit den Aussagen Sakiks weiter versch?rft. Am 22. Mai wurden mehrere Parteib?ros durchsucht und 16 Personen verhaftet. Als die Attent?ter Akin Birdals auf ?ffentlichen Druck hin schlie?lich verhaftet wurden, gestanden sie, auch einen Anschlag auf den ebenfalls als Menschenrechtsanwalt bekannten HADEP-Vorsitzenden aus Istanbul, Mahmut Sakar, vorbereitet zu haben. Anfgang Mai griff die Polizei in Istanbul auch die "Samstagsm?tter" an. Diese hatten zum 156. Mal f?r ihre in Polizeihaft "verschwundenen" Angeh?rigen demonstrieren wollen, als sie von Polizeieinheiten ?berfallen, geschlagen und festgenommen wurden.Es ist viel dar?ber diskutiert worden, ob die ihm zugeschriebenen "Enth?llungen" tats?chlich von Sakik stammen. Zumindest eines l??t sich feststellen: h?tte dieser freiwillig ausgesagt, w?re es ein gefundenes Fressen f?r die t?rkischen Propagandisten, den ehemaligen ARGK-Kommandanten auf einer ?ffentlichen Pressekonferenz zu pr?sentieren. Die Tatsache, da? dies nicht geschieht und da? keine der angeblich neuen Informationen ?ber das bisher von der t?rkischen Propaganda Behauptete hinausgeht, spricht eher eine gegenteilige Sprache. Doch genaugenommen ist es unerheblich, wer die Sakik zugeschriebenen Propagandal?gen wirklich in die Welt setzt. Sie dienen der Legitimation einer erneuten gigantischen Milit?roffensive gegen die kurdische Bev?lkerung und der Denunziation der zivilen Opposition, v.a. im Westen der T?rkei und im europ?ischen Ausland. Als die vermeindlichen Angaben Sakiks, wonach der schwedische Ministerpr?sident Olof Palme 1986 einem Attentat der PKK zum Opfer gefallen sei, ihren gew?nschten Effekt in Schweden nicht erzielten, trat die t?rkische Regierung den R?ckzug an. Die t?rkische Tageszeitung "Milliyet" zitierte Ministerpr?sident Mesut Yilmaz mit den Worten, Sakik habe seine Aussage gegen?ber der Staatsanwaltschaft j?ngst wieder ge?ndert. Die schwedischen Beh?rden seien ?ber die ver?nderte Lage informiert worden. Die ?brigen Denunziationen jedoch werden weiterhin ?ffentlich vertreten. Die Beschuldigten haben die Konsequenzen zu tragen. Und das hei?t weiterhin massenhafter Mord an der kurdischen Bev?lkerung und eine Versch?rfung der Verfolgung all jener Menschen, die sich in der T?rkei f?r eine friedliche L?sung des Konfliktes aussprechen. (Knut Rauchfuss) ## CrossPoint v3.1 ## From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Wed Jun 3 06:45:37 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 03 Jun 1998 06:45:37 Subject: Turkish teenager sentenced for internet comments Message-ID: TDN: June 3, 1998 Turkish teenager sentenced for internet comments _________________________________________________________________ Istanbul - Reuters A Turkish court gave a teenager a 10-month suspended jail sentence for using the internet to criticise rough police treatment of a group of blind protesters, a court official said on Tuesday. In a landmark case, 18-year-old Emre Ersoz was charged with "publicly insulting state security forces" after comments he made on Turknet's on-line daily forum last December. "I can confirm that he was sentenced to 10 months for publicly insulting the police force, but his sentence was suspended for five years," an official at Istanbul's Beyoglu court told Reuters. The case is the first to pit users of the decentralised communication highway against Turkish security forces, who traditionally brook little dissent. Mainstream daily Radikal said Ersoz signed off using his name and e-mail address, and was then reported to the police by another user. State prosecutors then applied to Turkish internet provider Turknet for Ersoz's full address. In his testimony Ersoz argued that his on-line comments could not be called public, since the site was open only to Internet users, Radikal said. His exact comments were not disclosed. Ersoz was taking part in a debate centered around police treatment of a group of blind people protesting against potholes in pavements in the nation's capital Ankara. -- 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 Wed Jun 3 11:30:50 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 03 Jun 1998 11:30:50 Subject: Turkey aided Nazies Message-ID: WASHINGTON (June 2, 1998 7:56 p.m. EDT http://www.nando.net) - Four countries which maintained neutrality publicly during World War II -- Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Turkey -- were as crucial to the Nazi war effort as Switzerland, according to officials who released a final U.S. report Tuesday on looted gold from the Holocaust. Switzerland, which has been the main target of criticism for its key role in turning gold looted from Holocaust victims and Nazi-conquered countries into Swiss francs, was the "financial facilitator" for the Nazis, Undersecretary of State Stuart Eizenstat told reporters. But Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Turkey "played an equally critical role in sustaining the war effort" by providing Nazi Germany with minerals essential for making weapons, he said. "You couldn't have had one without the other," said Eizenstat, citing a "seamless web of interrelationships." "Clearly if the gold hadn't been transferred to Swiss francs, then they (Nazis) wouldn't have had a medium of exchange. On the other hand, if the other (neutral countries) hadn't supplied the raw materials, then the gold would not have been terribly useful," he said. Eizenstat, head of U.S. efforts to determine the fate of Nazi gold, oversees economic affairs at the State Department. Aided by department historians and other agencies, he produced a first American report in May 1997 that described in detail how Switzerland assisted Hitler and stymied efforts to recover the Nazis' stolen gold after Germany's surrender. Since then, he has also taken the lead in trying to defuse defuse Swiss anger over the report. The second -- and final -- report released on Tuesday appears to strike a more balanced chord, making a point of Switzerland's difficult wartime position as a landlocked country encircled by German forces. It also praises Switzerland for taking the lead among wartime neutral countries in its commitment to provide concrete "justice" for Holocaust victims even though Jewish groups and others are fighting legal battles with the Swiss government and three major Swiss banks over the hoarding of Nazi-era wealth. "This is not intended to be an indictment of any country," Eizenstat insisted at a news briefing. The new report concluded that about $300 million in looted Nazi gold, worth $2.6 billion today, went to pay Sweden, Spain, Portugal and Turkey for war materiel and three-quarters of this was transferred from Germany through the Swiss National Bank. "This study shows that with the exception of Argentina, each of the wartime neutrals made a substantial contribution to the economic foundations of the Nazi war effort," it said. Most of the countries named, which were briefed in advance on the U.S. report, defended their wartime role. Spanish Foreign Minister Abel Matutes told state radio his country's actions regarding the looted gold were "impeccable." Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres said his country, under a right-wing dictatorship at the time, had "nothing to hide" and stressed it had appointed a special commission to probe the country's dealings with Nazi Germany. A Turkish spokesman also said Ankara had nothing to hide since "a committee ... has been working on the Turkish archives and so far they have come up with nothing that gives us any cause for concern." Switzerland tried to make the best of the new report, saying the federal government viewed it as a "further contribution to clarifying events," but adding it contained "no essentially new findings" about Switzerland. Portugal and Spain provided almost 100 percent of Germany's wartime supply of wolfram, "the essential mineral in processing tungsten for steel alloys used in machine tools and armaments, especially armor-piercing shells," the report said. Sweden provided Germany with a "major portion -- in some war years up to 90-100 percent" -- of the iron ore needed for weapons and armored vehicles and ball bearings, while Turkey sent chromite, including 100 percent of Germany's 1943 requirement, for hardening steel to make armor. Beginning in 1943, when it seemed Germany's own supply of critical commodities would be exhausted, the Allies warned the neutrals to stop trading with the Nazis and told them directly they were trafficking in looted gold, the report said. But the neutrals' trade with Germany ended only late in the war, partly as a consequence of Allied embargoes and after the United States and Britain were forced to try to deny supplies to the Nazis by buying wolfram and chromite at inflated prices on the open market, the report said. Sweden was also faulted for allowing German soldiers to make 250,000 trips across its territory to reach Finland in order to fight against Soviet occupation forces. But the report held that neutrality in the World War II had more to do with questions of law than morality and human rights, which are more recent concepts. The Nazi era was a time of "severe pressures ... (when) there were no easy choices for countries to make," the report said. It also emphasized that several wartime neutral countries aided the Allied victory, including offering refuge to more than 250,000 Jews fleeing the Holocaust. The United States by contrast had "one of the worst records" of accepting wartime refugees and remained neutral for the first 27 months of the war, Eizenstat said by way of demonstrating a U.S. commitment to historical fact. Other major new findings include: -- More than $40 million measured in today's dollars was in an infamous "Melmer account," named for the German SS officer who administered it. That account, double previous estimates of $20 million, contained gold bars made from the smelted tooth fillings, wedding bands and other personal effects taken from Holocaust victims, including from Nazi death camp ovens. -- The Ustasha regime in Nazi Germany's wartime puppet state of Croatia amassed about $80 million by robbing, murdering and deporting Serbian, Sinti-Romany and Jewish populations. Ustasha leaders took refuge in the College of San Girolamo in Rome in 1945 and the college was "most likely" funded with this money with the tacit acquiescence of some Vatican officials. There was no evidence Pope Pius XII knew of this activity, Eizenstat said. -- 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 G.LANGE at LINK-GOE.de Tue Jun 2 16:46:00 1998 From: G.LANGE at LINK-GOE.de (G.LANGE at LINK-GOE.de) Date: 02 Jun 1998 16:46:00 Subject: USA/CIA/Middle East: The Role of the CIA in the Global Oil Conspirac Message-ID: <6v78tW.eENB@1lange.link-goe.de> *A Gulf War wrap up* *The Role of the CIA in the Global Oil Conspiracy* By Joe Vialls* For decades the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has coveted global domination, not with the consent of the American people but rather by directing the actions of the American President as a child pulls the strings of a limp puppet. The term "new World Order" was coined back in the late sixties by the CIA, not by a democratically elected leader of the American people. With the collapse of the USSR, the CIA saw it's chance and pushed for global domination by manipulation of world oil resources. Its prime objective of developing the vast but little-known oil reserves of the British-dominated Falkland Islands has been frustrated since the early 1980s by oil prices too low to finance expensive Falklands exploration. Intending to "bounce" oil prices high enough by forcibly reducing Middle East oil production, all the CIA needed was an excuse, which was "miraculously" provided in 1990 by President Hussein of Iraq. As American Ambassador to the United Nations and the Bush Administration's champion for compulsory U.S. democracy, Thomas Reeve Pickering cut a dashing figure. Tall and urbane, he looked the perfect statesman as he hurled vitriolic remarks at the countries of the Middle East. There is little doubt that after sustained exposure, most television viewers believed Pickering's carefully structured U.N. presentations. Enter "Thomas Reeve Pickering" into any counter-intelligence computer and the machine groans with agony as it struggles to flood the screen with an overwhelming mass of data. Tanzania? Jordan? Washington's war on Nicaragua? Pickering was around for all of them and many more. He was even in El Salvador during the period the CIA supervised the "Death Squads" responsible for the torture, assassination and disappearance of more innocent people than could be counted. It is possible, though unlikely, that the numbers who died in El Salvador might have exceeded those who died at the hands of the Shah's hated "Savak" secret police in Iran. As with the death squads in El Salvador, Savak had its torture and assassination techniques honed to perfection by the CIA. Back in 1974 Victor Marchetti, formerly and Executive Assistant to the Deputy Director of the CIA, wrote of the "New Order" then being planned at Langley headquarters. He explained in chilling terms why resignation was his only honorable choice: "And there was a diabolical invention that might be called a mini- cannon... There were a number of uses for the mini-cannon, one of which was demonstrated to us using an old army school bus. It was fastened to the gasoline tank in such a fashion that the incendiary projectile would rupture the tank and fling flaming gasoline the length of the bus interior, incinerating anyone inside. It was my lot to show the rest of the class how easily it could be done. It worked, my God, how it worked. It was, I guess, the moment of truth. What did a busload of burning people have to do with freedom? What right did I have, in the name of democracy and the CIA, to decide that random victims should die? The intellectual game was over. I had to leave." THE MIDDLE EAST Victor Marchetti resigned before the CIA decided to target the Middle East in its attempt to shift primary oil production from the Persian Gulf to the Falkland Islands. However, evidence the CIA maintained its vicious determination to murder random innocent victims by the thousand was soon to be provided in the Middle East with sickening massacres in both Iraq and Kuwait. The CIA's first priority was "putting men on the ground" in the Middle East as Intelligence operatives. Despite the sophistication of reconnaissance satellites, there was no substitute for human beings capable of infiltrating and undermining foreign governments -- the Agency's normal method of operation. From the outset, the CIA recognized two countries in particular would be very difficult to undermine easily: Iraq and Libya. The Agency infiltrated the Kurdish population in the north of Iraq but failed to gain the influence it needed. Skeptical readers should note that all Kurds inside Iraq are now known as "freedom Fighters" while their brethren north of the border in NATO Turkey are labelled "Terrorists." [Pertinent to Libya, in a previous issue of Blazing Tattles, Alan S. Levin, M.D., explained psychological warfare used by the CIA, defense contractors, and others involved in Covert Operations. He said: "(These operations) make Charlie Manson look like Abigail Van Buren ... Americans have done it many times before and in essence we did it inadvertently in Libya. The theory is you don't kill the leader, you kill his children, or his family. It works perfectly. It works all of time. Basically, what you do is you destroy the chief's family very ignominiously, and I mean ignominiously ... And so when the guy comes back, he sees this mess -- you know his wife beheaded, and her infant child stripped out of her abdomen, and beheaded and bleeding on her body, hung from a rafter, shit all over the walls, those kind of things -- that's how you do it. And when that happens, then these guys lose confidence in themselves, and the village loses confidence in them, but they're not martyrs. So the whole operation loses its fighting will. And that's basically "The American Way"... That's "good, practical warfare."] The governments of Iraq and Libya had managed to foil dozens of CIA attempts aimed not only at infiltration but also at assassinating the Iraqi and Libyan heads of state. One CIA report written in 1985 referred to a failed attempt to murder Colonel Al Qadhafi, stating the hired killers were inefficient. Ex-CIA Deputy Director John McMahone echoed the criticism. THE GULF WAR If Middle East oil production was to be drastically reduced to increase world oil prices to the point where the Falkland oil reserved could be exploited, the timing of the CIA's Gulf 'war' was critical. Equally critical was the need for large numbers of sneak bombing attacks on Middle East civilians in order to shatter public morale as quickly as possible. On July 12, 1990, during a small ceremony at the Lockheed "skunk Works" in California, the last of 59 deadly F117A stealth bombers was handed over to its new owners: the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing, normally hidden deep in the remote Nevada desert at its secret "black" air base at Tonopah. Though the F117A was labelled the "stealth Fighter" in order to deceived American taxpayers, it was not such thing. The F117A was designed using low-visibility data provided by the CIA as a black project killing-machine capable only of slaughtering under the cloak of darkness, very much in the tradition of assassins of the old. Nor was the F117A very accurate: during the only operational mission before the Gulf debacle, two stealth bombers attacked an army barracks in Panama where both missed their targets completely. There would be many more "misses" in the densely populated city of Baghdad. Three weeks after the last stealth bomber flew into Tonopah, Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait and the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing was given a new commander, Colonel Alton Whitley. Within four hours of Whitley taking command, the stealth bombers were order to fly to Saudi Arabia via Langly Air Force Base in Virginia under the cover of darkness. The united Nations had not yet responded to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, but the stealth bombers were already being positioned for the attacks. The CIA was well aware of President Hussein's armed forces massing to the north of the Kuwaiti border during 1990. Despite the fact it had many days of advance warning, the CIA failed to tell the Kuwaiti government of the forthcoming attack. With all the sophisticated communications at its disposal it was a truly damning omission that escaped Western media attention, pointing directly at CIA manipulation of the invasion itself. CIA MANIPULATION OF THE MEDIA Millions of television viewers watched the most damning evidence of CIA premeditation but most failed to recognize it. Though European troops were rush to the Gulf in out-of-date ill- fitting desert camouflage, there was no such problem for the U.S. forces. Despite the fact America has never fought a large-scale desert campaign, nearly a quarter of a million U.S. troops arrived in Saudi Arabia wearing well-fitting post-Vietnam-pattern desert camouflage. Someone somewhere had done a vast amount of covert advance planning and purchasing for the desert campaign, because no nation on Earth keeps a quarter million uniforms on hand for every different climate zone in the world. [Publisher: Somewhere I read the General Norman Schwarzkopf had strategically prepared for Desert Storm for seven years.] From that point forward, white became balk and black became white -- courtesy of the CIA "Psychological & Paramilitary Staff" unit operating under the direction of the Deputy Director Plans (DDP). For decades the unit has specialized in deception and abuse at the psychological level, fitting in perfectly for the role of turning both President Hussein and Colonel Al Qadhafi into "non-democratic dictators" in the eyes of the West. The most memorable (and successful) of the ploys used was to turn President Hussein into the man who "gassed his own Kurds" at Halabja. The same devastating images of dead women and children lying in the streets were shown thousands of times on all Western television channels, placing President Hussein well beyond Western "rehabilitation" under any circumstances. Unfortunately the entire exercise was a complete lie. The CIA knew very well that a February 1990 U.S. Army War College report concluded Iraq was not responsible for the Halabja attack, stating "that it was the Iranian bombardment that had actually killed the Kurds." The War College findings were hardly surprising; the Kurdish people of Halabja were killed by a war gas know as Phosgene used by the Iranians but not he Iraqis. Though Iraq did use war gas on the battlefield, it was Mustard, an entirely different chemical which causes death in a visibly different way, enabling U.S. Army chemical warfare experts to easily identify the attack as Iranian in origin. Though many reads may say "So what?", the distinction is important in identify CIA media techniques used to deliberately distort the perception of the Western public. When the U.S. Administration was looking for an excuse to use ground forces to finish off the people in Kuwait, the CIA flashed a story round the world about Iraqi soldier ripping newborn Kuwaiti babies out of their incubators and throwing them on the floor. As with the Kurds of Halabja the story was proved totally false, though not before U.S. tanks had buried 8,000 soldier alive in the bunkers and destroyed half the ground installations in Kuwait and southern Iraq. Disinformation is critically important to the CIA, for without it the Agency would be unable to whip up sufficient public outrage to justify its savage attacks. For an alert Western public there were other indications that neither President Hussein nor Colonel Al Qadhafi were dictators who habitually murdered their own citizens. If that were the case, there would be no point in both of them training huge numbers of doctors, for doctors cure people -- they do not kill. While Saudi Arabia and Great Britain (two of the coalition partners) have only one doctor for every 4,321 and 4,632 people respectively, Iraq has one doctor for every 2,303. Colonel Al Qadhafi has trained a stunning gone doctor for every 757 people. Facts like these were considered counter-productive to the CIA's aims and were ruthlessly suppressed. Boosted by CIA lies and disinformation, the Bush Administration pushed with indecent haste for military action against President Hussein. After successfully applying pressure to the United Nations Security Council, the Bush Administration ordered its stealth bombers to attack the capital of Iraq instead of the forces occupying Kuwait. Under cover of darkness during the night of January 16-17, 1991, the first F117A's flew out of Khamis Mushait in southern Saudi Arabia to start the killing in Baghdad. The "black" stealth bombers were to fly a total of 1,271 missions in less than six weeks, dropping more than five million pounds of bombs on populated areas. The total bombardment was awesome and sickening: 88,000 tons of bombs, 97% of which flew wide of their targets, ripping more than 70,000 innocent women and children to bloody shreds and maiming countless thousands more. Sadly, the Iraqi dead were merely a sideshow for the primary CIA objective of controlling world oil reserves on a permanent basis. Around February 16, 1991, American AV8B Harrier ground-attack jets started lying with wing-mounted napalm pods. Less than a week later, on February 22, President Bushed accused Iraqi forces of lighting 140-plus oil wells in Kuwait. If the Iraqi forces had done so, they managed it while under continual attack by about 2,500 coalition aircraft -- an act of crass stupidity or outstanding bravery in the face of stupefying American firepower. Somehow the Western media missed the point that the napalm burns at a temperature high enough to melt the side-pipes on oil well-heads and is capable of setting fire to the crude oil which then blasts out under high pressure. Most of the public also remained unaware that CIA pilots are cross-trained to fly a large variety of both military and civilian aircraft. During this precise period Kuwaiti Air Force pilots were grounded in Saudi Arabia on the order of the American Commander in Chief. It is left to the reader to speculate why the U.S. High Command ensured that no native Kuwaiti pilot be allowed to fly over his own oil fields during this specific phase of the operation. Within 24 hours of the Bush accusation, the Iraqi government denied setting fire to the oil wells and urgently called on the United Nations Security Council to send a team to "investigate the destruction of non-military installations in Kuwait" -- a curious response from the Iraqi government if it was guilty of the alleged crime. The American-dominated Security Council dismissed the request out of hand. When the Iraqis retreated from Kuwait, American forces violated mutually agreed cease-fire terms, shooting more people in the back with radioactive 30 mm Depleted Uranium (DU) shells than Adolf Hitler could have imagined in his most vivid dream. Unluckily for its human targets, the CIA was out to prove Adolf Hitler a mere simpleton with a strictly limited imagination. American Fairchild A10 "Thunderbolt II" ground-attack jets criss- crossed the highways of death in Kuwait, spitting radioactive 30 mm shells at the rate of 4,200 per minute per aircraft. Anyone left alive after the strafing runs, the CIA reasoned, would probably die a terrible death much later from the effects of toxic uranium poisoning. Over time, the same highly toxic radioactive waste would slowly kill large numbers of the civilian population in both Iraq and Kuwait. Though larger 120 mm DU shells were used by battle tanks, the U.S. administration claims "only" 5,000 of the 120 mm version were fired. There is only one gun capable of firing the special high-velocity radioactive 30 mm DU shells: the GAU-8A seven-barrel "avenger" Gatling cannon, specially designed for the Thunderbolt. Even at a range of two miles, the 30 mm DU shells are known to be travelling at almost one mile per second, hitting each target with almost half a million foot-pounds of energy. With impact forces that high, very few 30 mm DU's ricocheted and stayed in one piece, most exploding into uranium dust which was strewn far and wide across the land. The awesome Avenger Gatling is capable of firing depleted uranium at the rate of nearly 12 tons per minute per gun. Small wonder the U.S. administration remains acutely anxious that the total number of 30 mm DU shells fires should remain "Classified." THE OIL MEN TAKE CONTROL Shortly after driving the Iraqi forces out of Kuwait, the American government handed total control of Kuwaiti oil operations to Bechtel Corporation -- an American multinational giant originally founded by CIA Deputy Director John McMahone. It was an odd choice. Bechtel excels chiefly in the area of civil construction. Unfortunately the problem it faced was "upstream" oil technology involving oil well blowouts raging at up to 11,000 p.s.i. By June 1991 the coordinator of the well-control teams, TV O'Brien of Midland, Texas, complained of Bechtel slowing down the rate of damage control by going through a long slow biddy process for equipment that could be had "off the shelf" in Dubai, a short distance away down the Persian Gulf. In the meantime, about US$40 million to US $50 million in oil burns a day, but nobody looks at that,' Mr. O'Brien said. "These things are not an emergency to them." After months of increasing pressure from world environmentalists about the smoke then circling the globe at high altitude, there was an apparent acceleration in well control efforts. On November 6, 1991, Sheikh Jabir-al'Ahmad al-Jabir al Sabah was shown on television throwing a lever that put out the last of the fires which had raged since February. It was a public relations masterpiece and most world environmentalists immediately stopped worrying about possible global environmental effects. They were wrong to stop worrying, for their worst nightmares are probably yet to come in the Falklands. OIL DISCOVERED UNDER THE FALKLANDS During late 1981 an obscure document was circulated around a small select group of Western oil multinationals. The data it contained was staggering and details swiftly leaked. In a recently completed comprehensive seismic survey of the Falkland Islands continental shelf, realistic estimates indicated oil reserves more than ten times larger than those in Saudi Arabia. For anyone with the wealth to exploit the reserves, the magnitude of the prize was almost beyond comprehension. That the seismic was accurate was proved beyond doubt by the mid- 1980s, by which time Argentina had proven reserves of more than four billions barrels on its Patagonian coast directly opposite the Falkland Islands. With the continent shelving downwards out to sea, calculations indicated Falkland Islands reserves easily as massive as those predicted in the 1981 document. During 1982 many Britons wondered aloud at the sheer compassion of their government which sent an entire battle fleet to evict the Argentines who, it was rumored, were indecently assaulting a few hundred Falklands sheep farmers. It was democracy at its best and countless thousands of patriotic Britons cheered the QEII as she cleared the harbor at Southhampton laden with troops for the fight in the South Atlantic. Democracy? The British government had probably forgotten the sheep farmers a generation before but it knew abut the oil reserves, as did the Argentines who managed to obtain a copy of the seismic report. Those oil men who knew of the seismic report watched the patriotic fervor with amazement but said nothing. If the British public really wanted to believe the Thatcher Government would send a battle fleet 8,000 miles to protect a few farmers, it was not their job to disillusion them... The American and British governments were excited at the prospect of total oil self-sufficiency and the resulting ability to bypass the Middle East completely for their energy needs. But what if the nations of the Middle East tried to compete with them? The shorter shipping distance from the Persian Gulf to most world markets would still undermine prices. Clearly strategic controls had to be placed on the Middle East first. The problem the British government faced was twofold: the Falklands were so far away that Britain alone could never hope to explore without the assistance of the Americans; secondly, the ready availability of Middle East crude at low prices would make exploration a financial impossibility. Despite the predictions of some analysts during 1981 that crude oil prices might rise as high as $80 per barrel by 1985, there was not way of telling of those predictions would become reality. (By 1985 oil prices had in fact slumped dramatically to $10 per barrel, well below the $28 minimum needed for Falkland exploration.) Proof the Arab nations had "noticed" the Falklands survey was provided in 1982 when OPEC suddenly kicked the bottom out of the price of crude oil. For nearly ten years following the famous price-hike of 1973, western oil multinationals had been using their windfall revenue to build many more oil rigs to drill more and more wells. So frantic was the activity that the total number of rigs drilling under western multinational control rose from around 1,500 in 1973, to just over 4,600 by late 1981. Disaster swiftly followed the 1982 oil price collapse with more than 3,000 western drilling rigs suddenly idle due to a lack of funds. In other words, the number of active drilling rigs went into reverse gear, dropping from 4,600+ down to 1,600 in less than nine months from late 1092 to mid-1983. For the oil industry it was a total nightmare with drilling contractors going broke overnight, while hundreds of multimillion-dollar oil rigs sat quietly rusting in the deserts and mountains. If evidence was ever needed proving the size (and danger) of the Falkland reserves, this was it: the nations of the Middle East flooding world markets with crude oil from massive over-production, and halving their own revenues in order to halt western moves to exploit the massive South Atlantic oil fields. The size of the catastrophe for the western oil multinationals was barely noticed by members of the public, who responded with ill-concealed glee to cheaper petrol prices at the pumps. Vast oil reserves in the South Atlantic, initially merely tempting, soon became a strategic imperative in the minds of the western oil multinationals, frustrated by their continued inability to raise world oil prices. Reducing Middle East production to earlier, much lower levels was the only way to achieve the objective, but how could it possibly be done? After all, the Arab countries might object to any production controls placed on them. Personnel at CIA headquarters in Langley went to work eagerly searching for the solution. And so it was that a mere ten years after the Falkland seismic survey of 1981, the fire fighters walked away form still-smoking oil well- heads, leaving behind them two shattered Arab oil-producing nations: Kuwait and Iraq. Not bad for a first strike. LIBYA IS NEXT Combined Arab output before the Iraqi slaughter began was about 13.17 million barrels per day, excluding Iran. Within 40 days both Kuwait and Iraq had stopped production completely, theoretically reducing the daily output by 4.36 millions barrels, or 33% of balanced Arab oil o utput. The world barely noticed as Saudi Arabia took up the slack and increased output to compensate for lost Kuwaiti and Iraqi production capability. The CIA strategic planners noticed though. What they had done was reduce the number of Arab oil-producing nations by two. If they could also eliminate Libya there would be another fall of 1.36 million barrels per day, creating a further drop in balanced Arab oil output equalling 10.3%. With all three countries wiped out, the total drop would be more than 43% -- nearly half of the total. The three other Arab producing countries considered to be "friendly" to the U.S. administration could be left for treatment at a later date, as could Iran. CONNING THE GREENIES The masses of environmental scientists who swarmed to the Gulf to examine the carnage were skillfully shown slick damage in the Gulf, mines on the beach at Kuwait, smoke in the sky and some low pressure blowouts in the Burgan field. None, including Greenpeace, was allowed to "stray" into the real problems areas to the north of Kuwait City, or the areas of southern Iraq subjected to carpet bombing by American B52 heavy bombers from Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. Blowout pressures in the north were up to ten times as high as those in Burgan field -- a very good reason for keeping unwanted spectators away. John McMahone's old company, Bechtel, subtly directed the flow of traffic away from the "dangerous" areas. Huge lakes of crude oil, no longer burning to atmosphere, increase in size to the point where some roads were impassable. Within days of Sheikh Jabir-al'Ahmad al-Jabir al Sabah throwing the lever that "capped" the last of the burning wells, the British World Conservation Monitoring Centre commented on the blowing wells the media cameras somehow missed: "Burning wells cause less pollution damage than non-burning gushers." It was a factual statement, entirely accurate but understating the case. When an oil well blows out the primary task is to stop the flow of oil from the underground reservoir. Most wells that blow out but fail to light spontaneously are lit as quickly as possible by well- control specialists, in order to keep the volatile oil and explosive gas away from workers in the immediate area. Failure to light the well swiftly can lead to a situation where lakes of oil entrained with explosive gas pose a deadly risk for the well-control specialists themselves. `How were the specialist to control rogue wells surrounded by huge oil lakes, growing larger all the time as they were continually fed with more underground oil and gas? The British New Scientist of November 9, 1991, painted a grim picture of the massive problem the environmentalists had chosen to forget: "The lakes vary in size and depth but are usually no more than a metre deep. In the northern oil fields, small lakes have run together to form rivers that stretch for many kilometres." Horrifying stuff, and it got worse. Middle East contacts advised that one of the lakes measured about 8 kilometers by 5 but was "only" about a meter deep. Only? The capacity of that lake alone to a depth of one metre is 230 million barrels. How many lakes are left, and what is their combined capacity and how many rogue wells are still feeding them? Alas, the CIA and NSA are being coy and sitting on the satellite images so details may be withheld until a complete cure is impossible. One thing is certain: the western public will never be told the truth. THE HUMAN PRICE OF OIL From the CIA viewpoint Kuwait and Iraq were oil cripples, with savage sanctions "punishing" the entire civilian population of Iraq by slowing starving women and children to death, while deadly toxic uranium dust worked even more slowly in the south of Iraq and in Kuwait. Put simply, the CIA was responsible for the clearest case of genocide since Poi Pot butchered more than a million unarmed civilians in Cambodia during the 1970s. Next the CIA turned the United Nations Security Council through abut five points of the compass and pointed it at Libya. The third card in the deck was scheduled to fall before the November American presidential election. That way there would a double bonus with decreased Arab production and more "gung-ho" votes for the hawkish extremists. President Bush was starting to need votes badly. During the U.S. slaughter of 70,000 innocent Iraqi women and children, his popularity rating rose as high as 90% but the glitter and glory was fast wearing off as decent Americans became aware of the tragic events in the Middle East. Once again the tall, urbane Thomas Reeve Pickering went about his job with astonishing vigor, drumming up support for full-blown sanctions after failing to convince Libya that it should illegally hand over its citizens for a "fair" trial in American or Scotland on the accusation of bombing Pan Am 103. Seemingly the Western intelligence agencies had suddenly found critical evidence that Libya, rather than new coalition partner Syria, was responsible for the outrage. The Security Council was stretching the public's imagination to the breaking point. There is a very strong possibility neither Libya nor Syria was directly responsible for the downing of Pan Am 103. The timing of the crash indicates it may have been an Iranian order that send Flight 103 earthwards after the downing of an Iranian Airbus, carrying a full load of woman and children, by the USS Vincennes. At the time of the Airbus crash the U.S. navy forgot to explain to the media that even if surface-to-air missiles are fired by mistake, every one of them as a "self-destruct" charge that can be detonated by remote control in a split second. No explanation was offered as to why the missiles were not detonated long before they struck the Airbus. The Iranians must have been upset by the slaughter of the innocent women and children, and by the presentation of a special medial to the captain of the USS Vincennes by President Bush. The Security council, in its haste, completely ignored such trifling matters and pressed ahead with its charges against Libya. Once again using the electronic media to maximum effect, Libya was slowly but surely turned into a "guilty terrorist state" in the eyes of the television viewers. No matter the entirely correct procedures that Libya used to respond in terms of international law: the Security council was going to "punish" the country and its leader -- just as the U.S. in 1986 on a trumped-up charge when it bombed Tripoli and Benghazi, leaving trails of murdered women and children strewn across both cities. Apparently the 1986 sneak attack did not do enough damage in the eyes of Comte de Marenches, then head of the SDECE, the French version of the CIA. The Count berated the Americans for their inefficiency with staggering simplicity and arrogance: "Why, instead aft killing a few women and children, did they not bomb the oil fields?"BR> Examining the massive levels of bomb damage and toxic uranium dust in Kuwait and Iraq, it seems entirely possible the CIA took Count's rebuke to heart and was trying to atone for its 1986 "failure" in Libya. Worse still were grim pronouncements from the Security Council that "the use of force against Libya has not been ruled out." The threat was obvious: another 88,000 tons of bombs with an accuracy of 3%, more than 70,000 dead innocent Libya woman and children, total destruction of the Libyan civilians infrastructure, plus starvation and death through savage sanctions -- a high price to pay for following international law to the letter as Libya undoubtedly had. As with most ideas hatched by psychotic megalomaniacs wishing to control the world by force, the Falklands game plan came unstuck. The CIA managed the massacre stages quite well (it always does) but flunked on the oil price increase needed for an effective transfer from the Middle East to Falklands crude oil. Although it was openly reported on December 7, 1991, that British Petroleum, Shell and Occidental were expected "to bid for rights" in the Falklands, the oil price was already unstable again. Too few people realize how dangerous the CIA really is. If the Falklands scenario ever came to pass it would be the Western public who would ultimately to bite the bullet, paying massive prices for Falklands crude oil in order to please on out-of-control US intelligence agency that is accountable to no one including the President of the United States. Nor would the environmentalists fare well. The Falklands lie in one of the most environmentally sensitive and unspoiled areas of the globe. The South Atlantic is an extremely dangerous place to drill, with complete exposure to huge swells from the Southern Ocean and no shelter at all. There is no doubt that weather alone would easily exceed the structural design limits of all but the most sophisticated state-of-the art offshore drilling rigs. The level of devastation created by the oil multinationals operating completely outside the scrutiny of environmental watchdogs, like Greenpeace would be obscene in its totality. Who could possibly afford aircraft with the range to keep an eye on them? The simple answer is no one could. During the last two years Kuwait has managed to produce a little oil, Iraq has exported some through Turkey, and certain European countries have so far managed to stop an all-out oil embargo against Libya. Overall, these factors have helped to push oil prices substantially lower than they were just after the destruction of Iraq and its people during 1991 -- certainly to the point where large-scale exploration of the Falklands continental shelf would be a very high-risk financial venture. Just how long that situation will last is uncertain, with the U.s. now once more pushing hard for an oil embargo against Libya -- an objective it will continue to struggle to achieve because the Falklands crude oil is a prize too heady to leave alone forever. In the years to come, the CIA might lose patience and start sending out "friendly" probes toward Argentina. Exploration of the shelf from the Argentine mainland would cost much less, and would allow the U.S. multinationals direct access without having to bother too much about junior partner Britain. It has long been recognized the CIA has a considerable amount of blood on its hands, but never more so than now. Back in 1963 President John F. Kennedy acknowledge the dangers and vowed to "shatter the CIA into a thousand different pieces." Before the end of that year one of the greatest of all American presidents lay dead, the back of his head blown off by a high-velocity bullet fired by a marksman positioned ahead of his limousine. Perhaps there is an American citizen out there with the sheer determination and resolve to complete what President John F Kennedy vowed to do in 1963. REFERENCES Al Quadafi failed assassination attempt: New Dawn Special Supplement (undated periodical), page 15. Al Sabah, Kuwait: CNN, live coverage, 1991. CIA, disinformation: Clark, Ramsey and others, War Crimes, Maisonnerve Press, New York, USA, 1992. CIA, knowledge of pending invasion: Woodward, Bob, The Commanders, London, 1991. CIA, Psywar Department: Agee, Philip, CIA Diary, 1975, Appendix 3. de Marenches, Count: de Marenches, Comte and C. Ockrent, The Evil Empire, 1988. Dead, Iraqi women and children: Dupont, B. O., The Washington Post, March 7, 1992, also The West Australian, March 7, 19912, p. 16. Depleted Uranium, GAU-8A gun and Thunderbolt II: US Air Force Documentation, 81st Tactical Fighter Wing, USAF, Foster, P.R., "The Last Frontier," USAF magazine article. Desert camouflage: CNN, live coverage, 1990. Doctors/Population: PC-Globe, demographic world computer database. F117A Stealth Bomber: Archer, B. "Stealth Technology Vindicated," USAF Yearbook, 1993. Falklands, seismic: BPPDV Briefing, October 1981. Falklands, exploration: Heather, S., Radio Australia, Buenos Aires, December 8, 1991. Greenpeace access to Kuwait limited by Bechtel Corp.: Greenpeace internal report, Boston, 1991. Halabja, gas attack: US Army War College Report, February 1990; M. Wines, New York Times, April 28, 1991, page 13; Ray, Ellen, and William H. Schaap, Behind the Veil. Marchetti, Victor: Marchetti, V. and J. Marks, The CIA and the Cult of Intelligence, London, 1974, page 3, pages 113-4. McMahone, John: Powers, T., The Man Who Kept The Secrets, 1979. Napalm, AV8B Harrier: CNN, live coverage, 1991. O'Brien, T.B./Bechtel: MacFarquar, N., A.P. Sharjah LOW priority wire, June 9, 1992; personal telephone conversation between author and T.B. O'Brien, 1992. Oil outputs and prices, Arab nations, 1990-93: World Oil, 1990; oil industry sources telephone confirmations with author, 1992. Oil price predictions during 1981: Weaver, K.F., "America's Thirst for Imported Oil," in National Geographic Special Supplement, February 1981. Pickering, Thomas Reeve: Mader, J. Who's Who in CIA, 1968; Sklar, H. Washington's War on Nicaragua, 1998. * Vialls is an Australian-based freelance journalist, with thirty years' direct experience in international military and oil field operations. He is author of the article "Do the French have the Gulf War Syndrome." THE ABOVE ARTICLE FIRST APPEARED IN NEXUS MAGAZINE, December 1993 - January 1994. NEXUS IS DISTRIBUTED AND PUBLISHED IN Australia. It was reprinted in Blazing Tattles in early 1994 in the form presented herein. >>>---------------------------------------------------<<< >> Further Informations about Iraq and Palestine: >> http://www.germany.net/teilnehmer/101,88843 >>>---------------------------------------------------<<< * * * * * From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Thu Jun 4 21:01:11 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 04 Jun 1998 21:01:11 Subject: Maianstream Warnews from Turkey Message-ID: 5 June,1998, Copyright Turkish Daily News * [1]Freedom of thought on trial + State Security Court: 'Writing is more dangerous than aiding the PKK' + Intellectuals: Thoughts must be able to be expressed freely; the actual crime is prohibiting the thoughts * [2]European Human Rights Award is given to the Human Rights Foundation in Turkey * [5]A day of bombings + A first bomb explosion in Istanbul was followed by another six hours later, killing one person and wounding 10 * [6]MAI: A threat to the environment Freedom of thought on trial * State Security Court: 'Writing is more dangerous than aiding the PKK' * Intellectuals: Thoughts must be able to be expressed freely; the actual crime is prohibiting the thoughts _________________________________________________________________ Ankara - Turkish Daily News Intellectuals who endorsed and affixed their signatures to a book entitled, "Freedom for Thought - 2," containing the speeches for which lawyer Esber Yagmurdereli and union worker Mahmut Konuk were sentenced, have gathered together, demanding freedom of any kind of thought without condition or discrimination. The State Security Court (DGM) chief prosecutor, however, said writing was more dangerous than distributing food and clothes to outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants. Admitted to having committed a crime The case concerning the 14 intellectuals, including journalists, writers, union workers and academics, who signed the book, was heard in Ankara DGM No. 1. All the intellectuals and their lawyers, except Associate Professor Haluk Gerger, who was sentenced to 20 months in jail by another court on grounds of having made public his opinion, were present at the hearing. Also attending the hearing were legal experts who participated in the Human Rights Research Tour organized by the USA Legal Experts Committee and the Fordham Faculty of Law, the Modern Journalists' Association (CGD) and the Turkish Journalists Union (TGC) executives and members. Postponed defense for Birdal The intellectuals, who had not defended themselves at the first hearing on May 12 after Human Rights Association (IHD) Chairman Akin Birdal was shot in order to protest the attack, defended themselves for the first time on Thursday. The indictment prepared by the chief prosecution of the DGM accused the defendants of "aiding the illegal armed gang, the PKK, by disseminating propaganda for it although aware of the book's characteristics." The prosecution regarded the act of writing to be "...as dangerous as providing shelter, food and clothes for the illegal organization's members." Freedom of all thought One of the defendants, Associate Professor Fikret Baskaya, stated in his defense that he had deliberately and willingly signed the book. Health and Social Service Laborers' Union (SES) Chairman Veysi Ulgen demanded from the court that thought should no longer be regarded as a crime. "Although we don't agree on it, every kind of thought must have the freedom to be expressed," he said. 'We make our living from our thoughts' During their defense, defendants Can Dundar, M. Tali Ongoren, Temel Demirer and Varlik Ozmenek, who are all journalists and writers, drew attention to the fact that they survive on the money they earn by expressing their thoughts. Dundar stated that he does not believe thoughts can be eradicated by being prohibited. "Thought cannot be categorized as beneficial or harmful. Thought can be consistent or inconsistent, which can only be revealed by discussion. As is put in the indictment, we did not support violence. Indeed, the mentality that prohibits thought provides support for violence." Varlik Ozmenek, reminding listeners about the fabricated press reports on the attack on Akin Birdal, criticized the made-up indictment, saying: "Just like the targeting of Akin Birdal by nonexistent statements, we could have become targets because of this indictment, which blames us for aiding the illegal organization [the PKK]. If somebody [a press member] had written this indictment, the same incident could have happened." Ongoren in his defense emphasized the fact that he had been working as a journalist for 45 years. "I know very well the value of thinking, of expressing your opinions. For this reason I assert that every kind of thought must able to be expressed." Journalist Temel Demirer said he opposed the categorization of the convenience and inconvenience of thought and that he would accept the sentence of the DGM, adding that he had not asked for his acquittal. Why can't 'Yesil' be captured? Confederation of Civil Servants' Unions (KESK) Human Rights Secretary Tayfun Isci wanted the Court to eliminate conditions obstructing the expression of differing opinions. Union workers I. Hakki Tombul, Ersat Yazili, Mustafa Kadioglu and Yusuf Ozden said that they had displayed "democratic" civil disobedience and signed the book that includes the articles regarded as crimes, which is a prerequisite of being a citizen. Former deputy Mahmut Alinak asked in his defense why Mahmut Yildirim, code-named Yesil, who is a counter-guerrilla, as well as businessmen who live a luxurious life abroad have not been captured, while they were being judged for their opinions. The DGM chairman postponed the hearing until another day to allow for the securing of necessary documents. The DGM indictment requires the imprisonment of the 14 intellectuals for seven years and six months on the basis of Article 169 of the Criminal Code which governs the actions of aiding illegal organization members and providing them shelter. However at the first hearing, the court said the crime could be regarded within the framework of Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law, which regulates "separatist propaganda," thus giving the defendants the right to additional defenses. _________________________________________________________________ European Human Rights Award is given to the Human Rights Foundation in T urkey _________________________________________________________________ Ankara - Turkish Daily News The seventh European Human Rights Award is to be given to the Human Rights Foundation (IHV) in Turkey. The Ministers Committee of the Council of Europe released a written statement on Thursday saying that this year the award will be given to the IHV and to Clara Lubich, who is the founder of the Focolare Movement in Italy, as well as to the Committee for the Administration of Justice (CAJ) in Northern Ireland. The statement said the IHV deserved the award because of its prominent efforts in the protection of human rights. The Focolare Movement, established in 1943, is dedicated to the achievement of unity, peace and brotherhood at any cost, and is active in 180 countries. CAJ is a nongovernmental organization in Northern Ireland, which strives to improve the justice system and assure that the government carries out its duties according to international law. Turkey forms new human rights committee Turkey has set up a 15-member national committee comprised of representatives from the government, voluntary organizations and universities which will monitor the human rights situation, assess ongoing efforts to make progress in that field, and submit proposals for further action to the government's Supreme Board of Human Rights. The committee, entitled the "National Committee of the 10th Year of Human Rights Education," will consist of a representative from the Prime Ministry, and one each from the ministries of Justice, Interior, Foreign Affairs, Education, Health and Culture. In addition, four representatives from voluntary organizations working in the domain of human rights and four academics known for their research on human rights will be included. The committee will prepare a national program aimed at fulfilling the United Nations' (UN) "Action Plan of the 10th Year of the Human Rights Education." The committee will observe and assess programs on human rights issues and report its results to the Supreme Board of Human Rights. It will also carry out responsibilities given to it the Supreme Board. _________________________________________________________________ [INLINE] A day of bombings * A first bomb explosion in Istanbul was followed by another six hours later, killing one person and wounding 10. _________________________________________________________________ HAKAN ASLANELI Istanbul - The first bomb exploded on Wednesday at 5:30 P.M. on the suburban train going from Sirkeci to Halkali. When the train approached the Yesilkoy train station, a big explosion was heard in the first railway car. The passengers started to scream and doctors in a nearby ambulance performed the first examination. Thirty-eight-year old Hasan Sezer, who had been sitting next to the bomb, lost his arm and died of excessive bleeding. Four individuals in the same railway car were wounded. Police took broad security measures after this event spread terror in the vicinity and started to search for the four suspected of planting the bomb. The other bomb exploded approximately five hours later in Kucukmece. Two people arriving at the Fatih Coffeehouse on Bayrampasa Cyprus Avenue threw a hand grenade and then ran away. Kemal and Ramazan Sahin, Cemal Ozturk, Osman Sekman and Kazim Demir were wounded in the explosion and Ali Kaya was said to be in serious condition. After the bombings which alarmed the Istanbul police, counter-terrorism group searched for the culprits until the early morning hours. Many people who were suspected of being involved in the bombing were rounded up and taken into custody. Authorities say that the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) may be involved in the bombings. _________________________________________________________________ MAI: A threat to the environment _________________________________________________________________ Istanbul-Turkish Daily News June 5 is World Environment Day when the 26th anniversary of the signing of the UN Environmental Charter will be celebrated. The document was the first step in creating a global consciousness about the unity and interconnectedness of the planet. Its goal was to "fight colonialism" and form a "common future" for the globe, and it was understood that the signatories would apply these principles in their own countries. The Turkish Chamber of Architects (TMMOB) however has issued a warning against the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development's "Multilateral Agreement on Investments" (MAI). MAI includes regulations that would subordinate national legal interests to investments by multinational firms and would impede the protection of cultural and environmental values in various countries. TMMOB believes that MAI aims at "a colonialist world system" and constitutes a "global threat." TMMOB draws attention to the fact that even though MAI has not taken force yet, some other investments already represent the same exploitative logic. In order to sidestep Turkish law, "projects prepared by foreign architects" are selected. The criteria for approval by official authorities are either relaxed or totally ignored. According to TMMOB, there will be even fewer measures to prevent environmentally hazardous investments once MAI is accepted. _________________________________________________________________ -- 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 Jun 8 06:01:46 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 08 Jun 1998 06:01:46 Subject: Arms Makers Look Overseas to Make Profits Message-ID: Sunday, June 7, 1998 Arms Makers Look Overseas to Make Profits By STANLEY MEISLER, Times Staff Writer WASHINGTON--With the U.S. defense budget practically in free fall, the American arms industry is pursuing the strategy that worked so well for the cigarette companies when sales fell at home: It is increasingly looking overseas to peddle its wares. But weapon makers, unlike cigarette manufacturers, need government approval before they can sell so much as a rifle to a foreign buyer. They are resorting to all the tricks of the political trade--lavishing campaign contributions on key decision-makers in both parties and lobbying hard in the administration and Congress--to win friends in high places. So it was that the Clinton administration snapped to attention last November when the top executives of five major U.S. arms makers wrote to the president, pleading for permission to bid on a contract to sell $4 billion worth of attack helicopters to Turkey. The State Department had blocked such permission because of Turkey's sorry record on human rights. But the five signatories represented firms that had contributed a total of $1.7 million to the Democratic Party and its candidates in the 1996 elections. In five weeks, just before the year-end deadline that Turkey had set for bids for its helicopter contract, the State Department reversed course and gave the companies the green light. Most recently, Loral Space & Communications Ltd. captured the headlines. Earlier this year, the administration gave Loral special permission to launch a communications satellite atop a Chinese rocket, even though the Justice Department was investigating whether a report by Loral engineers on a failed 1996 launch had illegally provided U.S. technological secrets to China. With contributions of $632,000, Loral Chairman Bernard L. Schwartz was the biggest individual donor to Democrats in the 1996 elections. He has denied seeking favors from President Clinton. To America's arms merchants, the end of the Cold War came as a sharp blow to the solar plexus. The Defense Department has slashed its weapon purchases by more than half (after adjustment for inflation), from a peak of $97 billion in 1985 to $44 billion in 1997. The industry turned to foreign markets as part of a strategy that also included mergers (such as Boeing's purchase of McDonnell Douglas Corp.) and diversification into some unlikely lines of business. Lockheed Martin Corp., for example, runs welfare offices in Florida and Texas and is replacing parking meters destroyed by vandals in the District of Columbia with a model that it touts as vandal-proof. As a result, the arms industry is more successful now than during the Cold War. Profits hit a record $7.7 billion in 1996, and, although that figure dipped to $6.6 billion last year, it is still about double the total industry profits in 1985. In 1990, the United States supplanted the Soviet Union as the world's leading arms exporter. By 1996, it accounted for 35% of all international arms sales, more than double that of runner-up Great Britain's 15%. Arms companies make greater profit margins on overseas sales than they do from the Defense Department, which can control company profits in its contracts. "You had a monopoly buyer," said Joel Johnson, vice president of the Aerospace Industries Assn. "And, as a result, companies lost on a lot of Department of Defense contracts." President Clinton has made it clear that the industry's well-being, though far from his only consideration, figures large when his administration decides whether a company may supply a foreign buyer. In 1995, the administration formally adopted a policy of considering "the impact on U.S. industry and the defense industrial base" when arms manufacturers ask to sell abroad. Laura Lumpe, director of the arms-sale monitoring project of the Federation of American Scientists, said the policy means that "the Clinton administration has largely bought into what [the arms makers] want." Whether industry campaign donations have directly contributed to the arms industry's triumphs is never easy to determine. "There is an assumption that companies are getting a lot by being contributors," said an arms industry analyst who asked not to be identified. "But companies tend to look at it as if they have to contribute when asked." These companies depend heavily on the government for contracts and for permission to sell abroad, the analyst said. In the case of the Turkish helicopter contract, as in most such instances, the evidence of a link between contributions and government support is circumstantial. The State Department and private human rights agencies have long accused Turkish security officials of raping, torturing and killing people. On top of this, Turkey has used American-made helicopters to wage war on Kurdish separatists in southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq. Once the letter from the five American executives reached the White House, however, Turkey found it easy to allay the administration's concerns. After Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz met with Clinton in mid-December, deputy State Department spokesman John Foley told reporters that the administration was impressed by Yilmaz's determination to make human rights a top Turkish goal. "It is entirely appropriate, we believe, for [North Atlantic Treaty Organization] allies to have sophisticated U.S. military equipment in their inventories," Foley said. He did not mention campaign contributions and the Clinton administration, which is committed to a healthy arms industry and to a secure and stable Turkey, might have authorized the bids even without political contributions. Nevertheless, the signers of the letter--Boeing Chairman Philip M. Condit, Textron Chairman James F. Handyman, General Electric Vice Chairman Eugene F. Murphy, Lockheed Martin Vice Chairman Vance D. Coffman and Northrop Grumman Chairman Kent Kresa--could surely look on the campaign contributions as wisely spent. Those five companies plus three other major arms manufacturers--Raytheon Co., McDonnell Douglas and General Dynamics Corp.--contributed $6.8 million to political candidates and parties in the two years leading up to the 1996 elections, according to a survey by The Times and a private research firm, Campaign Study Group. Of the total, $4.3 million went to Republicans and $2.5 million to Democrats. Contributions appear to be growing for the 1997-1998 election cycle. With the major political-giving season still ahead, the big eight arms companies already had contributed more than $3.9 million as of March 31, according to the latest available figures, compiled and released by the Campaign Study Group. William D. Hartung of the World Policy Institute, a private think tank, estimated that the arms industry as a whole made $11.8 million in political contributions during 1995 and 1996. He predicted that before the Nov. 3 elections, the arms industry will have given at least $12 million. Some of the leading arms manufacturers have made political contributions far out of proportion to their size. The Times survey of the 544 largest U.S. corporations in 1995 showed that Textron Inc., though only the 165th largest company as measured by sales, was sixth in its political contributions. Lockheed Martin ranked 27th in sales but seventh in contributions. General Dynamics, 405th in sales but 46th in contributions, was even more generous. It spent $171 on political contributions for every $1 million of company sales. Only two top-500 companies--Beneficial Corp. and Federal Express Corp.--spent more. Clearly, the arms makers give more to their friends in Congress than their enemies. In 1995, for example, the House defeated an amendment to eliminate funding for the B-2 bomber. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan research group, the main contractor, Northrop Grumman, and its subcontractors contributed an average of $3,285 during 1995 and 1996 to each of the 219 representatives who voted for the bomber and an average of only $1,305 to the 203 who voted to get rid of it. Similarly, the Senate defeated an attempt in 1995 to eliminate a program that subsidized arms sales abroad. Hartung said that the 58 senators who voted for the subsidy program received an average of $18,113 each from the arms industry in campaign contributions during 1995 and 1996, while the 41 senators who tried to eliminate the program received an average of $7,731. But Johnson called these numbers "meaningless." "Members of Congress who are in key positions to help the industry are in key positions to obtain [campaign] funding," he said. In their quest for overseas business, the arms industry hankers after one more change. The State Department issues licenses to sell weapons abroad, while the Commerce Department approves the sale of "dual-use" material that has civilian and military applications. In congressional testimony last year, Johnson proposed that all arms export control decisions be made by the Commerce Department. Arms control advocates, however, believe that the Commerce Department, whose mission is to promote American business abroad, would give short shrift to foreign policy considerations. Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) has long advocated a new "code of conduct" under which American arms could not be sold or donated to foreign countries that are undemocratic, armed aggressors, indifferent to human rights or unwilling to list their weapon purchases on an open United Nations register. The House approved such a bill last year, but it died in the Senate, where the arms lobby argued that the code would merely leave the arms export field wide open to foreign manufacturers. To no avail, Kerry proposed coupling the code with instructions to the president to seek international arms controls. "The United States should lead the way," Kerry said, "and stop selling arms to nations that ignore the rights and needs of their citizens and that use those arms to bully their neighbors or their own populations." * LATIN AMERICA DILEMMA: President Clinton wrestles with Latin America arms policy. A20 * * * Arms Makers as Campaign Contributors Political contributions of the nation's eight biggest arms manufacturers: CompanyDemocrats 1995-96 1997-present** Textron $490,000 $98,000 Lockheed Martin $545,000 $294,000 General Electric $372,000 $247,000 Boeing $229,000 $249,000 General Dynamics $275,000 $169,000 Raytheon $233,000 $184,000 McDonnell Douglas $209,000 $108,000 Northrop Grumman $137,000 $163,000 Total $2,490,000 $1,512,000 * * * Company Republicans 1995-96 1997-present** Textron $996,000 $162,000 Lockheed Martin $929,000 $532,000 General Electric $549,000 $340,000 Boeing $611,000 $442,000 General Dynamics $364,000 $217,000 Raytheon $374,000 $191,000 McDonnell Douglas $383,000 $246,000 Northrop Grumman $81,000 $267,000 Total $4,287,000 $2,397,000 * * * Company Total* 1995-96 1997-present** Textron $1,486,000 $261,000 Lockheed Martin $1,474,000 $826,000 General Electric $930,000 $587,000 Boeing $849,000 $691,000 General Dynamics $639,000 $386,000 Raytheon $613,000 $375,000 McDonnell Douglas $598,000 $354,000 Northrop Grumman $232,000 $430,000 Total $6,821,000 $3,910,000 * Totals sometimes exceed sum of Democrats and Republicans because of contributions to third parties. ** Dec. 31, 1997, for some categories of giving; March 31, 1998, for others. Source: Campaign Study Group -- 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 Tue Jun 9 10:58:01 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 09 Jun 1998 10:58:01 Subject: Disappearances in Turkey: protest hungerstrikes in Europe Message-ID: Committe Stop Disappearances" Chaussee de Louvain 323B - 1030 Bruxelles Tel: +32 - 477 - 88 34 13 Fax: +32 - 2 - 733.72.81 We will not let them disappear! Protest hunger strikes in Europe On March 31, 1998, four people were arrested by the police in Izmir, western Turkey. They have not been seen or heard from since. All of them were revolutionaries: Neslihan Uslu had been active in her student days and had then become editor of Devrimci Genclik (Revolutionary Youth) and was later a journalist on the staff of the weekly newspaper Kurtulus (Liberation). She had experienced imprisonment and torture but it did not deter her. Metin Andas was a 46-year-old peasant from the Bergama region. For years he campaigned against the Eurogold firm which was using cyanide, poisoning the soil and the inhabitants of the region in its efforts to extract gold. Hasan Aydogan, a worker from a poverty-stricken background, had served a sentence in Kayseri prison for his revolutionary activities. Mehmet Ali Mandal, a worker from the Izmir region, had lived outside Turkey. His family returned to the country before the 1980 military coup but went abroad again as a result of it. Mehmet Ali Mandal had married a Greek woman and lived in Greece, but he returned to his native land to join the revolutionary struggle. Turkey straddles Europe and Asia, has a larger population than its neighbours and a very large army. Even its parliament is officially referred to as "Great". However, there is nothing great about the oligarchy ruling Turkey. Petty, cruel and grasping, they oppress its national minorities, the revolutionaries and the working people, and their resort to the technique of disappearances means that, under the oligarchy's rule, Turkey is no different from Latin America. The oligarchy uses extreme nationalist rhetoric to conceal the fact that it is tied hand and foot to the IMF and has made Turkey into an "airbase for America", as the great poet Nazim Hikmet put it. But this is not the whole picture as far as Turkey is concerned. Whatever the risks and dangers, protests are going there such as against the disappearances, including these most recent ones. And abroad too - for since June 1, a hunger strike has been taking place in the church of Notre Dame de Bon Secours in Brussels, Belgium, as a protest and to draw attention to what has happened. This follows on from hunger strikes which started earlier in London. Some participants in the hunger strikes originate from among Turkey's various peoples: others are from Western Europe, but are aware of what is going on in Turkey. The oligarchy are trying to make Neslihan, Metin, Hasan and Mehmet Ali disappear. If we do not get them back alive and well, we will ensure their immortality and eternal remembrance - we will carve their names in the oligarchy's living heart. Committee "Stop Disappearances" Brussels -- 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 ANNIKA.SANDLUND at yle.fi Thu Jun 11 05:49:00 1998 From: ANNIKA.SANDLUND at yle.fi (ANNIKA.SANDLUND at yle.fi) Date: 11 Jun 1998 05:49:00 Subject: urgent action Message-ID: <6vf$cX4M$RB@walker.link-do.soli_> Hi knut! Greetings from Finland. Can you please forward this request to everyone interested. Some of these people we the ones we (the scandinavian) delegation met in Hakkari in March. love, annika sandlund URGENT ACTION REQUEST As You read this message seven civilians are probably tortured in South-east Turkey. In the mountaintown Hakkari in South-east Turkey the seven civilians were arrested on the 8th of June. They are currently being held in a military base in the mountains run by a general named Muzaffer Sen. Their lives are in danger, and we are asking for immidiate support to save their lives. Some of the civilians represent the HADEP-party, which is campaigning for human rights and a peaceful solution to the Kurdish question. They met with a Scandinavian human rights and peacedelegation earlier this year. They spoke about human rights abuses and the pressure towards their party in the town of Hakkari. The people arrested are; Huseyin Umit, HADEPs regional chairperson in Hakkari Cemal Sezgin, HADEPs regional secretary Suvar Demir, Member of the Board of HADEPs regional office Veli Koparan, Democratic peace party Manit Ege, buisnessman Nevzat Kizilbabk, buisnessman Mrs Rojbin Tugan, independent lawyer Please send faxes the Governer of Hakkari, asking for the immidiate release of all seven above. fax. + 90 438 2112622 (phone; +90 438 2116010, speaks only Turkish) and, at the same time, urge the Prime Minister Mesut Yilmas to act to save the lives of the civilians; fax + 90 312 4170476. (phone + 90 312 4185743) the same fax could also be sent to the Foreign Ministery of Turkey fax + 90-312-2878811 (phone: + 90-312-2871765) For more information, please contact Jouni Pirila, phone 358-2-2352 307 or e-mail jopirila at utu.fi Elina Saari, phone 358-9-242 7223, The Kurdish friendshipassociation - Finlands Kurdistan organisation This is part of one of the biggest military operation in Turkish modern history is currently taking place. According to different sources 50 000 - 100 000 soldiers are taking part in the operation. Turkey has also (once again) attacked bases in the UN safe zone in Northern Irak. ## CrossPoint v3.1 ## From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Thu Jun 11 10:17:13 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 11 Jun 1998 10:17:13 Subject: Unanswered Questions in Shooting of Turkish Rights Advocate Message-ID: June 11, 1998 Unanswered Questions in Shooting of Turkish Rights Advocate By STEPHEN KINZER ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Even after Turkey's most prominent rights advocate, Akin Birdal, was released from a hospital this week, questions about who was behind the attempt to kill him remain unanswered. Police have arrested six men in connection with the shooting, on May 12. Birdal has identified two of them as the gunmen who walked into his Ankara office and shot him in the chest, arm and legs. Interrogations of the suspected gunmen led detectives to the other four, one of whom is reported to be a noncommissioned military officer assigned to a police station in Istanbul. They are said to have planned the shooting and told the gunmen that Birdal was a traitor who had to be punished. Turkish military officers and prosecutors have long asserted that Birdal and his Human Rights Association maintain ties with Kurdish guerrillas, a charge he denies. After a senior guerrilla leader was captured earlier this year, newspapers close to the army reported that he had named Birdal as a paid guerrilla agent. Birdal's associates said those reports set the stage for the attack last month. Before the arrests, Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz described the shooting as an "internal settling of accounts" within pro-guerrilla circles. According to statements attributed to the two gunmen, however, the attack was planned by members of shadowy ultranationalist groups. Ties between these groups and officials of security agencies have been the subject of widespread speculation for the last year and a half. Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, speaking after Birdal's suspected attackers were arrested, said, "If people, using the excuse of protecting the state, have put themselves in the place of the state and have perpetrated this attack or have permitted someone else to do so, they should know that they are destroying the state with such extra-judicial executions." According to his aides, Birdal has been a defendant in more than 20 criminal cases over the last year, all for statements he made or for activities of the Human Rights Association. In February he and other leaders of the association were acquitted on charges of "incitement" and "disseminating separatist propaganda" that were filed after they organized a rights conference. His most recent court appearance came three weeks before he was shot. Prosecutors asserted that a speech he gave in Rome advocating a negotiated settlement to the Kurdish conflict constituted encouragement to terrorists. No verdict has been announced. In the days after the shooting, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in Ankara and Istanbul to repudiate the attack and show solidarity with the Human Rights Association. They chanted "Murderer State!" and carried banners accusing state-sponsored gangs of involvement. Birdal himself, however, has been more cautious. "One should be careful about saying the attack was linked to the state just because a sergeant was involved and those who pulled the trigger were the sons of policemen," he told an interviewer before being wheeled out of his Ankara hospital room on Monday. "We always see those in front of the curtain," he said. "The people who put these players on the stage are the real perpetrators, the directors who wrote the script. When I saw the attackers I saw only two pawns. Our problem is those who are behind the stage." The gunmen who tried to kill Birdal fired 13 shots, but only six hit him. Doctors said that they had operated on him several times and that he will need more treatment for nerve injuries to his left arm, but that they expect him to recover fully. "You will see him walking in a few months," one doctor predicted. -- 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 jopirila at utu.fi Thu Jun 11 17:51:00 1998 From: jopirila at utu.fi (jopirila at utu.fi) Date: 11 Jun 1998 17:51:00 Subject: further information from Hakkari - civilians released - Hadep askin Message-ID: <6vf$q13b$RB@walker.link-do.soli_> URGENT ACTION REQUEST 2 11 June 1998 According to our information those taken to custody on 8 June have been released after interrogations. But they are extremely worried about the death threats stated personally by the Turkish local military commandor BG Muzaffer Sen. He had said that "whatever happens in Hakkari (war clashes etc.), they (HADEP-party and human rights defenders) will be held responsible and finally killed". Please continue your appeals requesting protection for those working for human rights and peace in Hakkari, mentioning the arrested civilians. Stress concern about the threatening by the military commandor. HADEP-party is campaigning for human rights and a peaceful solution to the Kurdish question. They met with a Scandinavian human rights and peace-delegation earlier this year. They spoke about human rights abuses and the pressure towards their party in the town of Hakkari. This is part of one of the biggest military operation in Turkish modern history which is currently taking place. According to different sources 50 000 - 100 000 soldiers are taking part in the operation. Turkey has also (once again) attacked bases in the UN safe zone in Northern Iraq. The people who were arrested but now released: HUSEYIN UMIT, HADEP's regional chairperson in Hakkari CEMAL SEZGIN, HADEP's regional secretary SUVAR DEMIR, Member of the Board of HADEP's regional office VELI KOPARAN, Democratic peace party MANIT EGE, businessman NEVZAT KIZILBABK, businessman MRS ROJBIN TUGAN, independent lawyer Governer of Hakkari fax. + 90 438 2112622 (phone; +90 4382 116010, speaks only Turkish) Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz fax + 90 312 4170476. (phone + 90 312 4185743) Foreign Minister of Turkey fax + 90 312 2878811 (phone: +90 312 2871765) For more information, please contact : Jouni Pirila, phone 358-2-2352 307 or e-mail jopirila at utu.fi Elina Saari, phone 358-9-242 7223, The Kurdish Friendship Association ## CrossPoint v3.1 ## From jopirila at utu.fi Thu Jun 11 17:52:00 1998 From: jopirila at utu.fi (jopirila at utu.fi) Date: 11 Jun 1998 17:52:00 Subject: further information from Hakkari - civilians released - Hadep askin Message-ID: <6vfa1Jrb$RB@walker.link-do.soli_> URGENT ACTION REQUEST 2 11 June 1998 According to our information those taken to custody on 8 June have been released after interrogations. But they are extremely worried about the death threats stated personally by the Turkish local military commandor BG Muzaffer Sen. He had said that "whatever happens in Hakkari (war clashes etc.), they (HADEP-party and human rights defenders) will be held responsible and finally killed". Please continue your appeals requesting protection for those working for human rights and peace in Hakkari, mentioning the arrested civilians. Stress concern about the threatening by the military commandor. HADEP-party is campaigning for human rights and a peaceful solution to the Kurdish question. They met with a Scandinavian human rights and peace-delegation earlier this year. They spoke about human rights abuses and the pressure towards their party in the town of Hakkari. This is part of one of the biggest military operation in Turkish modern history which is currently taking place. According to different sources 50 000 - 100 000 soldiers are taking part in the operation. Turkey has also (once again) attacked bases in the UN safe zone in Northern Iraq. The people who were arrested but now released: HUSEYIN UMIT, HADEP's regional chairperson in Hakkari CEMAL SEZGIN, HADEP's regional secretary SUVAR DEMIR, Member of the Board of HADEP's regional office VELI KOPARAN, Democratic peace party MANIT EGE, businessman NEVZAT KIZILBABK, businessman MRS ROJBIN TUGAN, independent lawyer Governer of Hakkari fax. + 90 438 2112622 (phone; +90 4382 116010, speaks only Turkish) Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz fax + 90 312 4170476. (phone + 90 312 4185743) Foreign Minister of Turkey fax + 90 312 2878811 (phone: +90 312 2871765) For more information, please contact : Jouni Pirila, phone 358-2-2352 307 or e-mail jopirila at utu.fi Elina Saari, phone 358-9-242 7223, The Kurdish Friendship Association ## CrossPoint v3.1 ## From ANNIKA.SANDLUND at yle.fi Thu Jun 11 17:53:00 1998 From: ANNIKA.SANDLUND at yle.fi (ANNIKA.SANDLUND at yle.fi) Date: 11 Jun 1998 17:53:00 Subject: urgent action Message-ID: <6vfa3cdr$RB@walker.link-do.soli_> Hi knut! Greetings from Finland. Can you please forward this request to everyone interested. Some of these people we the ones we (the scandinavian) delegation met in Hakkari in March. love, annika sandlund URGENT ACTION REQUEST As You read this message seven civilians are probably tortured in South-east Turkey. In the mountaintown Hakkari in South-east Turkey the seven civilians were arrested on the 8th of June. They are currently being held in a military base in the mountains run by a general named Muzaffer Sen. Their lives are in danger, and we are asking for immidiate support to save their lives. Some of the civilians represent the HADEP-party, which is campaigning for human rights and a peaceful solution to the Kurdish question. They met with a Scandinavian human rights and peacedelegation earlier this year. They spoke about human rights abuses and the pressure towards their party in the town of Hakkari. The people arrested are; Huseyin Umit, HADEPs regional chairperson in Hakkari Cemal Sezgin, HADEPs regional secretary Suvar Demir, Member of the Board of HADEPs regional office Veli Koparan, Democratic peace party Manit Ege, buisnessman Nevzat Kizilbabk, buisnessman Mrs Rojbin Tugan, independent lawyer Please send faxes the Governer of Hakkari, asking for the immidiate release of all seven above. fax. + 90 438 2112622 (phone; +90 438 2116010, speaks only Turkish) and, at the same time, urge the Prime Minister Mesut Yilmas to act to save the lives of the civilians; fax + 90 312 4170476. (phone + 90 312 4185743) the same fax could also be sent to the Foreign Ministery of Turkey fax + 90-312-2878811 (phone: + 90-312-2871765) For more information, please contact Jouni Pirila, phone 358-2-2352 307 or e-mail jopirila at utu.fi Elina Saari, phone 358-9-242 7223, The Kurdish friendshipassociation - Finlands Kurdistan organisation This is part of one of the biggest military operation in Turkish modern history is currently taking place. According to different sources 50 000 - 100 000 soldiers are taking part in the operation. Turkey has also (once again) attacked bases in the UN safe zone in Northern Irak. ## CrossPoint v3.1 ## From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Fri Jun 12 19:46:49 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 12 Jun 1998 19:46:49 Subject: FYI: FBI READS ENCRYPTED EMAIL Message-ID: N E W S R E L E A S E FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FBI READS ENCRYPTED EMAIL VICTORIA BC, CANADA ? June 12, 1998 ? A spy watcher in Canada says FBI surveillance teams routinely crack encrypted email. "PGP is a good example," says Lee Adams. "It's a first-rate encryption program ? but most people aren't using it correctly, mainly because they don't understand how the FBI operates." "FBI methods are based on two classic strategies. Some methods rely on the FBI's ability to get inside your home or office undetected. Other methods involve electronic equipment that can detect at a distance what's happening on your computer." "Most people don't even realize they've been compromised," says Adams. "They continue to send email they think is confidential." Adams is using his web site at http://www.spycounterspy.com to expose the different methods used by FBI surveillance teams. "We explain ten methods," says Adams. "Six of those methods involve surreptitious entry by the FBI. That's spy-talk for break-and-enter. Most people have a difficult time accepting that a surveillance team can get inside undetected ? not just once, but many times." "The FBI often needs to make repeated entries in order to pick through all your stuff," says Adams. "They've developed some fascinating methods for getting in ? and we're finding that people are more serious about their privacy once they find out what the FBI has been up to." The web site provides step-by-step instructions on how to prevent an FBI surveillance team from reading your confidential email. "The first step is purely defensive," says Adams. "But once you've made it difficult for them to crack your email, you can go on the offensive. It's possible to use bogus email to detect the presence of a surveillance team you didn't realize was there. This method works against FBI and BATF teams. It's particularly effective against standard police surveillance." Adams says he has no plans to discontinue publishing his disclosures at his Web site at http://www.spycounterspy.com -30- Contact Vickie Nickel Email reader_service at spycounterspy.com Tel 250-475-1450 Fax 250-475-1460 Mail PO Box 8026, Victoria BC, Canada V8W 3R7 Latest article: http://www.SPYCOUNTERSPY.com/fs006.html List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Sat Jun 13 07:31:53 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 13 Jun 1998 07:31:53 Subject: Turkish journalist to go to jail Message-ID: ISTANBUL, June 12 (AFP) - An award-winning Turkish journalist, Ragip Duran, is to begin serving a seven-and-a-half month prison term next week after exhausting all legal means to appeal his conviction of propaganda for a separatist organization under Turkey's anti-terror laws. "This can happen to anyone who works at serious journalism in this country," Duran said at a farewell dinner for the foreign press in Istanbul on Thursday evening, lamenting the restrictions of freedom of speech in Turkey. "There are a number of taboo subjects in Turkey, on which you can express views only if you stay within the line drawn by the state," Duran said. "The Kurdish issue is at the top of that list." The 44-year-old journalist is presently the Istanbul correspondent for the French daily Liberation and formerly worked for Agence France-Presse, the BBC, and various Turkish newspapers. He was tried and sentenced in December 1994 for an article in a Turkish newspaper about an interview with Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) which is fighting for a Kurdish homeland in southeast Turkey. While the Istanbul State Security Court did not object to the interview in itself, it ruled that a comparison drawn with a former interview and an analysis of Ocalan's statements violated Article 7 of the Anti-Terror Act which bans propaganda for separatist groups. The Court of Appeals upheld the conviction last year, but Duran was granted a stay of execution that runs out on Tuesday. Duran's lawyer Fikret Ilkiz now plans to bring the case before the European Human Rights Commission in Strasbourg. The Comittee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) protested the conviction as "an illegal denial of (Duran's) rights as a journalist and as a citizen of Turkey to freedom of expression". "One of Turkey's finest journalists is being sent to jail as punishment for his thoroughly professional reporting on one of Turkey's biggest stories," CPJ said in a written statement. Duran teaches media ethics at Istanbul's Galatasaray University. He was named Journalist of the Year by Turkey's Human Rights Association (IHD) in 1991 and received the Human Rights Watch organization's Freedom of Expression Award last year. The Turkish government considers the PKK a terrorist organisation and is waging a bitter war against it. More than 29,000 people have died in the fighting. Two prominent Turkish journalists were suspended by their newspaper in April after a Kurdish former rebel commander was reported to have said they sympathised with his separatist movement. -- 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 Sun Jun 14 08:01:26 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 14 Jun 1998 08:01:26 Subject: AI: TURKEY Still no proper investigation into "disappearances" Message-ID: * News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International * AI INDEX: EUR 44/27/98 5 JUNE 1998 PUBLIC STATEMENT TURKEY Still no proper investigation into "disappearances" Amnesty International has received no reply from the Turkish Government concerning the "disappearance" of Neslihan Uslu, Hasan Aydogan, Metin Andac[,] and Mehmet Mandal, who were last seen in Izmir on 31 March. This case was raised by the Secretary General Pierre Sane[/] on 27 April in a letter to the Turkish Prime Minister, Mesut Yilmaz, urging that reports of their "disappearance" be promptly and impartially investigated, and findings be made public. Amnesty International also submitted the case to the United Nations (UN) Working Group on enforced and involuntary disappearance. On 20 December 1996 the Turkish Government established the "Bureau for the investigation of Disappearances" but it appears that its real purpose is not to establish the fate of the "disappeared" but to discredit those concerned organizations and people whose call for thorough investigation along the lines indicated by the UN Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance is an enduring embarrassment to the authorities. Less than a month after its foundation the Bureau has published its findings on scores of allegations of "disappearance", but these findings consist of one or two lines of official denial that the individual was ever detained. No serious investigations seem to have been carried out. For example, the report mentioned that Tevfik Kusun, who "disappeared" on 29 November 1996 after being taken from the building site where he worked was not held in police custody, but failed to mention that his body was found by a local highway on 7 January 1997. Similarly, the report stated that police archives had no record that Mahmut Mordeniz, who "disappeared" on 28 November 1996, was detained but failed to note that family and others witnessed his detention by people who introduced themselves as police, that a local police unit confirmed that he had been detained, and that his wife also "disappeared" the same day. Such gross omissions, of which these are typical examples, confirm that the Bureau is no more than a publicity exercise. Meanwhile, the Saturday Mothers, who hold a vigil for the "disappeared" in Istanbul city centre once a week, are again suffering police harassment. On 8 May police barred the mothers from reaching their meeting place, and detained several relatives of "disappeared" persons and bystanders, two of whom were beaten . Since then the relatives' traditional place of meeting for silent vigil has been occupied every Saturday by a large contingent of uniformed police officers. Relatives of the "disappeared" are unlikely to abandon their protest until the authorities conduct the thorough and impartial investigations which international standards require. Amnesty International will continue to support those relatives in their quest for an answer, and to press the authorities for information about the fate of Neslihan Uslu, Hasan Aydogan, Metin Anda? Mehmet Mandal and the other scores of "disappearances" which the organization has brought to the Turkish Government's attention since 1991. Background In its letter to the Turkish Prime Minister, Amnesty International also stated that fears that Neslihan Uslu, Hasan Aydogan, Metin Anda? and Mehmet Mandal, have "disappeared" are heightened by that fact that they are know to the police and have reportedly been threatened with death and "disappearance" on numerous occasions. Their lawyers have made inquiries in person to Izmir State Security Court, Izmir State Prosecutor, Police Headquarters and local gendarmerie stations, but were told that the four persons are not held in any of these places. Their names are also not on the registers of Buca and Bergama prisons. Neslihan Uslu, as editor of the journal Devrimci Gen?lik, published in Izmir, has frequently been detained by the police, been subjected to raids and threatened with death and "disappearance". She had told her lawyers that on one occasion during detention the police told her "we will kill you and throw you into a corner and nobody will know about it". She has a number of previous convictions under the Anti-Terror Law for her work as editor of Devrimci Gen?lik and there is an arrest warrant for her issued by Istanbul State Security Court No 5. Hasan Aydogan served 18 months in Kayseri Prison for membership of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP/C) and is wanted to serve an outstanding sentence of three years and nine months for assisting the same organization. Metin Anda? was involved in popular protests against Eurogold, a mining company which is allegedly using cyanide in gold exploration work in the Bergama region. In 1995 he was convicted by Izmir State Security Court of providing assistance to an illegal organization (DHKP/C) and served a prison sentence in Buca Prison. Mehmet Mandal, to Amnesty International's knowledge, has never been detained or prosecuted. Amnesty International has raised previous cases of people with a history of prosecution for DHKP/C membership who "disappeared" -- for example, L?tfiye Ka?ar, who "disappeared" on 11 October 1994. This and several other cases are still unresolved. Article 13 of the UN Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance states that relatives of the "disappeared", as well as others with knowledge or legitimate interest, have the right to complain to a "competent and independent State authority" which should have the powers and resources to conduct effective investigation. This includes the power to compel attendance of witnesses, to protect witnesses, to compel the production of relevant documents, and that the findings of such an investigation be made available on request to persons concerned. ***************************************************************** For further information also See Amnesty International's Urgent Action, Index No: EUR 44/03/97) -- 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 Sun Jun 14 11:01:37 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 14 Jun 1998 11:01:37 Subject: In Turkey, the Lot of the Press Includes Jail Time Message-ID: The New York Times In Turkey, the Lot of the Press Includes Jail Time By STEPHEN KINZER I STANBUL, Turkey -- A couple of dozen of Ragip Duran's friends arranged a farewell dinner for him Thursday night at a restaurant in Istanbul's artistic Asmalimescit quarter. Spirits were high, jokes and stories were told, and much Turkish food was washed down with much beer, wine and raki, the potent anise-flavored national drink. Duran, a prominent journalist who has worked for several Turkish newspapers as well as for the BBC and Agence France-Presse, is not leaving Istanbul for an extended vacation. Nor has he taken a job or accepted a fellowship abroad. He is going to prison. Turkey has some of the most restrictive press laws of any country professing democracy. Journalists who challenge long-established taboos risk falling afoul of the anti-terror law, which bans propaganda for Kurdish guerrillas or other groups that are considered threats to the nation. Under that law Duran, 43, has been sentenced to serve seven months in prison beginning Tuesday. His case is far from unique. After a period of tolerance, the Turkish authorities imposed measures in 1993 intended to crush the Kurdish insurgency. Thn-Prime Minister Tansu Ciller authorized the deployment of hundreds of thousands of troops in the mostly Kurdish southeast, and they carried out intensive sweeps through guerrilla areas and evacuated hundreds of villages. At the same time, a new crackdown on the press began and dozens of intellectuals and others deemed sympathetic to the guerrilla cause were killed by shadowy death squads. The murder campaign has all but ended, but the prosecution and imprisonment of journalists and intellectuals continues. A court recently upheld the conviction of a leftist social critic, Haluk Gerger, who was imprisoned this year after he published an article portraying Kurdish guerrillas as authentic representatives of the Kurdish people. The week before last, police also picked up Esber Yagmurdereli, a blind lawyer who is facing a 22-year sentence for "spreading separatist propaganda," and returned him to jail. He had been freed for health reasons, but refused to submit to medical examinations because he said he did not want to be "treated as a special case." Over the last year, prosecutors have spread their net to include not just those who speak favorably of Kurdish nationalism, but also those who support Islamic causes. Istanbul Mayor Recep Tayyip Erdogan is appealing a 10-month prison sentence for making a speech that judges found to be pro-fundamentalist. Another leading figure in Islamic politics, former Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, is the subject of several investigations that could led to his prosecution and imprisonment. At Thursday's farewell dinner for Duran, several Turkish journalists spoke bitterly of the European Union's decision in December not to consider Turkey's application for membership. They said it had led anti-democratic forces here to conclude that there was no reason for Turkey to ease its policy toward dissenters. "The support of Europe has been extremely important to civilians in countries emerging as democracies, like Spain and Portugal," one journalist asserted. "But when it comes to Turkey, Europe just turns its back. How are we supposed to develop democracy here without any help from people who say they support our ideals?" Duran's crime was to publish an article portraying Kurdish guerrilla leader Abdullah Ocalan as a thoughtful figure who "cites Zarathustra or Freud" and "gives a lot of importance to equality and fraternity." This contradicts the official view that Ocalan is a ruthless terrorist without redeeming qualities. "Since the founding of our republic, four or five subjects have been established as taboos, and you can only write about them if you accept the official line," Duran said. "You are free to say that Kurds are Turks or that Kurds do not exist in Turkey, but if you try to understand the Kurdish problem and say that Kurds have rights, that is a problem." "The second taboo is Islam, or any suggestion that the Republic has not been able to wipe away the influence of Islam in daily life. The third is the role and function of the army in the Turkish government and state. Free discussion of the Armenian problem and its history is also impossible, and the same is true about relations with Greece and Cyprus." "The state tries to say that the press shouldn't be getting into these issues," he said, "but I think they are very complex problems that have to be examined and studied. That's what got me into trouble." Copyright 1998 The New York Times Company -- 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 Sun Jun 14 11:46:34 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 14 Jun 1998 11:46:34 Subject: Trade union "rights" in Turkey Message-ID: This is the part on Turkey from the Anual Survey of Violations of Trade-Union Rights 1998 from the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) http://www.icftu.org. TURKEY C87/C98 In June, the Turkish government began the process of amending clauses in the labour law dating from the military dictatorship which restrict basic trade union rights. Successive governments have been promising to do this since 1991. Constitutional amendments in 1995 had paved the way for the changes. They referred to "trade unions and higher level organisations that shall be permitted by a law, to be established by public servants". They also gave public servants the right to negotiate, although any negotiated agreement would be subject to the approval of the Council of Ministers. Law No. 657 on civil servants was brought into line with the constitution in June to give workers designated as public servants, the right to form and join trade unions. This includes many manual workers, municipal workers, teachers, nurses, police, and military and contract personnel. However, the new law did not grant them the rights to bargain collectively or strike. In practice, there have been unofficial unions for public servants since 1990, and some 500,000 workers are now grouped in four organisations. A number of court rulings have said that public servants can bargain collectively and they have signed a number of agreements with municipal authorities (although many of them have not been honoured). The Trade Unions Act was also amended in June to repeal almost all the restrictions and bans on unions' political activity, in line with the constitutional amendments of 1995. There were no other changes to Turkey's labour law which continues to contain restrictions on basic trade union rights. The law says that the first level of union organisation can only be at industry or sectoral level and bans enterprise or occupational unions. Employers can be fined for anti-union discrimination, but the fines are too low to act as deterrents, and the burden of proof lies with the worker to prove discrimination. The law does not require dismissed trade unionists to be reinstated except for shop stewards, and the lack of job security also undermines legal protection. Turkey's unions estimated that around 40,000 trade unionists had been sacked for union activities between 1992-96. A union must represent over half the employees in a workplace, and 10 per cent of all employees in the sector to be recognised as a bargaining agent. There have been reports that the authorities have manipulated membership figures to prevent unions acquiring bargaining rights, or to remove their rights by pretending there were irregularities in the figures. Industry-wide bargaining is banned and only one agreement is allowed at any level of organisation. Lengthy and cumbersome procedures have to be followed before a strike. Strikes are banned in a wide range of sectors including banking; public notaries; transport; exploration, production, refining and distribution of water, gas, electricity, coal, lignite, natural gas and petroleum. Solidarity strikes, general strikes, and go-slow strikes are all banned. Turkey's constitution allows the government to halt strikes for up to 60 days for reasons of national security or public health and safety and to impose binding arbitration at the end of the period. The ILO has criticised the government for applying the law too broadly. The Free Trade Zone Act bans strikes in Turkey's nine EPZs for ten years following the setting up of a zone, and imposes binding arbitration. The Trade Union Act remains overly prescriptive and regulates internal union rules and constitutions too closely. The Supreme Court banned the DISK affiliated union in the leather sector, Deri-Is, because of an article in the trade union law which says that founders of any union must have worked for at least ten years. The government's privatisation and deregulation programme continued. Unions said that precarious employment, including sub-contracting, continued to increase together with job insecurity, and undermined trade unions. Employment fell in the formal sector and increased in the informal sector where labour regulations do not apply. There were again some delays in wage payments and non-payment by employers of social security contributions. Private sector employers continued to try and get rid of unions, particularly by subdividing companies or temporarily suspending their activities. There were less reports of violence in 1997. In 1995-96 the authorities and the security forces had intervened on the side of employers during union organising campaigns and strikes. Workers were violently attacked by the police and by hired thugs, and sacked with the complicity of local authorities. Halil Cabir Karacadagli, president of the Diyarbakir branch, of Tes-Is, the energy, water and gas union, in the south-east of the country, received death threats in 1997. He had been detained and tortured at the end of 1996, when the police had tried to force him into being an informer. They blindfolded him and made him sign a statement that he was involved in the banned Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK). On 3 April, he received a telephone call saying that he should become a police informer otherwise he would be killed. On 1 May, police in armoured cars and wearing plastic body armour cordoned off the main square in Istanbul where some 150 union leaders laid a wreath in memory of 37 people killed at a 1977 May Day rally. Twelve thousand policemen and over 2,000 soldiers were deployed. Three people had been killed at the 1996 May Day rally. On 22 May, Haydar Kilicoglu, president of the Diyarbakir branch of the teachers' union, Egitim-Sen, and union members Ahmed M. Altindag and Yusuf Akgun were detained, as well as several members of the Diyarbakir branch of the Human Rights Association. The union's offices were raided. Under emergency legislation, detainees can be held for 30 days without being charged and without access to a lawyer. Torture in detention is routine during this period. The municipal and general workers' union, Belediye-Is, in Diyarbakir, said that it was impossible to enforce any labour rights in the region. Wages were paid late. Unions and workers were sacked and harassed for demanding their rights. In May, Egitim-Sen said its officials and members were being constantly harassed and detained, and the Diyarbakir office had been raided. On 4 November, in Urfa, six members of the SES union in the public health sector were detained. On the following day, three of them, including the president of the Urfa branch, Ihsan Avci were arrested and imprisoned. On 12 November, the union branch office was raided and documents were seized. On 17 November, the Governor of Urfa had the union's branch office and the branch office of the Egitem-Sen closed down and sealed because he said that there were banned publications on the premises. The SES said that in September, the public prosecutor had filed a case against the union's branches in Bolu and Diyarbakir because of their trade union activities. At the end of November, the Ankara State security court prosecuted nine members of the Egitim-Sen national board for issuing publications calling for free, democratic, and secular education in their mother tongue. The Reslan Printing Company in Istanbul sacked 45 workers because they had become members of the DISK Basin-Is union in the printing sector. The Frigo-Pak factory in Inego/Bursa which produces canned fruits for the European market sacked 76 workers for joining the DISK Gisa-Is union of foodworkers. The majority of the workers at the Ciragan Kempinski Hotel - 370 workers - joined the DISK Oley-Is union. Although a local court ruled that the union had the right to bargain with the employer, the Supreme Court reversed this ruling arguing that trainees are also workers. This increased the size of the workforce, and meant that Oley-Is lost its majority and did not have the right to bargain. On 11 December, thousands of public sector workers across Turkey held work stoppages and protests over low wage rises and to call for collective bargaining and strike rights. The unions had been offered a pay rise of 30 per cent while annual inflation was 95.8 per cent in November. The KESK public sector workers' confederation threatened to call a general strike if there was no response to their demands. In Istanbul a rally in the main square was monitored by several hundred policemen, many in riot gear and backed by armoured vehicles. The prime minister issued a decree on the day before the protest saying that those joining the protests would face legal proceedings. END -- 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 Jun 15 21:01:10 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 15 Jun 1998 21:01:10 Subject: Turkey/TDN: 120 female prisoners on hunger strike Message-ID: 120 female prisoners on hunger strike _________________________________________________________________ Huseyin Kandemir Izmir - Turkish Daily News The Human Rights Association (IHD) Izmir branch's prison commission announced that 120 female inmates at Sivas Closed E Type prison who began hunger strikes on May 2, originally to be carried out on an alternating basis, have changed the nature of their strike on May 27, resulting in permanent hunger strikes. The strikes began as a protest against the gendarmes, the pressure applied by the prison administration and the transportation of some inmates to other prisons. Lawyer Hatice Korkut, who is head of the Izmir Prisoners Family Association (TAYDER), said that a human rights commission went to Sivas a week ago to assess the inmates' situation. She stated: "Sivas Closed E Type Prison's administrator, Mehmet Yalcin, refused to let us see the women prisoners. We then applied to the Sivas prosecutor to get his permission to observe the prisoner's situation and to try to solve this problem, who also refused to grant us the necessary permission." Korkut went on to say that the hunger strikes began after the installation of Yalcin, the prison's new administrator, who wants to intimidate women prisoners. According to the women, they are searched five times a day by the gendarmes and their families are continuously harassed and interrogated and even taken into custody. Korkut believes that the female inmates' situation is currently worse than that of the male prisoners, explaining that they are sexually abused by the gendarmes while they shower and are taken to the hospital handcuffed and shackled. "The condition of political prisoners has not changed since the fatal hunger strikes of 1996. The prisoners are still under pressure and are being forcibly removed to other prisons, often very far away, where they are not able to communicate with their lawyers or families," explained Mihriban Dilsen, a member of the IHD's prison commission, at a press meeting at IHD's Izmir branch. She stated that the jails in which political prisoners are held have been criticized numerous times, that the prisoners have had to fight for their human rights and that the rights they acquire after hunger strikes are invariably taken away again in a short time. -- 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 Jun 15 21:16:29 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 15 Jun 1998 21:16:29 Subject: Turkey: Media Barons, Workers and Killers Message-ID: 16 June,1998, CopyrightA9 Turkish Daily News * [1]Commission exposes media barons' incentive scandals + TDN discloses Parliamentary Investigative Commission report which has been concealed for two months + Furniture, carpet and construction equipment imported as modern printing machinery + Secondhand printing presses have regularly been imported with incentive certificates obtained on the promise that new equipment would be brought in + Incentive certificates obtained for new investment have been used for importation of newsprint without customs duty being paid + The amount of 'Fund-sourced' credit, which should be 30 percent of the total investment, has consistently been computed at a higher figure + Following reports from Treasury experts indicating 'investments completed,' new documents have been discovered showing that imported machines are not where they should be * [2]Workers' distrust of politicians escalates + DISK Chairman Budak: 'Next time we may chain ourselves to the ministry's building' * [3]Ragip Duran heads for prison * [4]The killer is here somewhere... + Mothers, brothers, sisters, nephews and spouses spoke at the IHD symposium about the unsolved murders of those whom they had lost * [5]DIE plans intensive business surveys _________________________________________________________________ Commission exposes media barons' incentive scandals * TDN discloses Parliamentary Investigative Commission report which has been concealed for two months * Furniture, carpet and construction equipment imported as modern printing machinery * Secondhand printing presses have regularly been imported with incentive certificates obtained on the promise that new equipment would be brought in * Incentive certificates obtained for new investment have been used for importation of newsprint without customs duty being paid * The amount of 'Fund-sourced' credit, which should be 30 percent of the total investment, has consistently been computed at a higher figure * Following reports from Treasury experts indicating 'investments completed,' new documents have been discovered showing that imported machines are not where they should be _________________________________________________________________ KEMAL BALCI Ankara - The Parliamentary Investigative Commission has exposed incentive scandals of the media barons. The report, which the commission prepared following four months of work and which was submitted for printing and distribution to the Parliamentary Speakership Office on March 20, 1997, has been kept from the public despite the fact that two months have elapsed. The commission report, obtained by the Turkish Daily News, has determined that media barons have imported carpets, furniture and various construction materials, such as glass bricks, roof insulating materials and aluminium frames, from outside the country without paying customs duties or surcharges. The irregularities in the certificates pertaining to the Treasury Undersecretariat as regards the press sector have been outlined in detail. The commission has had an expert from the Prime Ministry High Board of Inspectors examine these certificates. It has been shown that: the incentive certificates obtained with a commitment to make new investments were consistently used for the importation of used equipment in place of modern equipment; that media bosses have had experts prepare reports, saying that the imported printing presses became useless in a short period, such as one or two years; that documents were drawn up to make it seem as if the machines and equipment -- obtained with incentive certificates -- were transferred to a second firm owned by the very same media boss, but that the attempt was later abandoned; and that blank incentive certificates were in the end presented to the Customs Undersecretariat. The report details that Milliyet Gazetecilik A.S. paid $2,776,482 for carpeting and furniture, and that construction materials such as glass bricks, aluminium frames, paint and structural steel cost $3,539,897. It also shows that Sabah Yayincilik A.S. imported construction material designated as a "Hewgate roof and front dressing system" without paying the surcharge. According to the report, Hurriyet Offset Matbaacilik ve Gazetecilik A.S. imported a 1988 model HARRIS M 1000X offset printing press having a freight on board (FOB) value of $2,374,303 as a "new machine," and that it later it sold the machine to Hurriyet Gazetecilik ve Matbaacilik A.S. for $6,000,000 on June 2, 1997. The report continues by stating that one month later, the term of the incentive certificate of the company was extended for a period of one year, and that one month after the extension, the plan for one firm to sell the printing press to another -- both subsidiaries of the same group -- was abandoned. The report alleges that all these developments confused officials at the Customs Undersecretariat, and that they applied to the Treasury Undersecretariat, asking them to clarify the latest situation of the incentive certificates. The commission report fails to specify exactly which series of complex transactions these companies conducted in dealing with Customs. The study indicates that Ihlas Gazetecilik Holding A.S. imported newsprint under the auspices of a customs exemption, but that a "new investment" was necessary to be completed for making use of this exemption, whereas the firm did not make such an investment. The investigation also highlights numerous irregularities the result of which certain companies received unduly large amounts of soft loans provided from special "Funds," when the maximum amount they would be entitled would be 30 percent of the total cost of the investment projects in question. This kind of irregularity has happened on a sustained basis. The report points out that although no investment had been made, incentive certificates were used with the purpose of importing newsprint without paying customs duties or surcharges. According to the study, experts from the Treasury Undersecretariat prepared reports indicating that the new investments, extension investments and modernization investments, which had been made under the incentive certificates, were completed, but that media bosses continued transactions regarding machinery equipment importation long after those reports were filed, and that furthermore, imported machinery having incentive certificates does not exist at the companies. The conclusion of the 38-page report, examined by a member of the Prime Ministry High Board of Inspectors, says: "Regarding Incentive Certificate No. 32118 pertaining to Milliyet Gazetecilik A.S.: * Some of the furniture -- cited in a "global import list" -- has been imported on a surcharge-exempt basis, when these should have been subject to a 20 percent surcharge; * Some construction materials -- again from among the items cited in the "global list" -- have been imported surcharge-exempt by the printing firm, although a 5 percent surcharge should have been paid; * Although the company would be entitled to a maximum of TL 218,261,000,000 in "Fund-sourced" credit, that is, 30 percent of the total fixed investment specified in the incentive certificate, the actual figure put on the incentive certificate is TL 252,100,000,000. Regarding Incentive Certificate No. 32253 pertaining to Gazete ve Matbaacilik A.S.: * Although incentives were being sought for an "expansion" project, the applicant made it sound as if the sum was being sought for a completely new investment. As a result, the company was able to import "operational goods" without having to pay duty for a period of three months -- an incentive normally granted only for completely new investments; * According to the final form of the certificate following revisions, although TL 134.432.000,000 of "Fund-sourced" credit would have been obtainable, the applicant sought a TL 156,750,000,000 credit; * When the secondhand machinery imported according to the terms specified in Certificate No. 32253 was transferred to Asli Gazetecilik ve Matbaacilik A.S. with the approval of the Undersecretariat -- as Certificate No. 38086 attests to -- this created an "advantage" for which extra payments should have been made, according to the relevant law. This has not happened. Regarding Incentive Certificate No. 32254 pertaining to Sabah Yayincilik A.S.: * A forklift [described as item eight in the global import list among materials subject to 10 percent surcharge] was imported on a surcharge-free basis; * Following the transfer of this machine to Asli Gazetecilik ve Matbaacilik A.S. according to Certificate No. 38086, the provisions of the relevant law were not fulfilled. Regarding Incentive Certificate No. 32267 pertaining to Medya Holding A.S.: * Although the roof and front dressing system, which are provided among the construction materials in the 12th item of the global import list, should have been imported subject to 5 percent surcharge, it was imported free from surcharge; * Though the financial costs should have been met with the net assets of the company, the documents specifying these expenditures refer to various exchange and interest rates. Regarding Incentive Certificate No. 30468 pertaining to Hurriyet Offset Matbaacilik ve Gazetecilik A.S.: * Although the two versions entailed different advantages for the applicant with respect to the incentives to be made available, the Customs Undersecretariat was not informed of the latest situation when the initial applicant abandoned the plan to go ahead with the above-mentioned transfer, and the situation reverted to the "global list." As far as the Customs Undersecretariat was concerned, the transfer had taken place; * A secondhand "master machine" was imported though the incentive document was drawn up for the importation of machinery for an "expansion and modernization" investment. Regarding Incentive Certificate No. 31603 pertaining to Hurriyet Offset Matbaacilik ve Gazetecilik A.S.: * Although under the legislation workmanship involved in erection work would not be included in the tax base in calculating the incentive premium or the support to be provided in the Value Added Tax (VAT) area, expenditures regarding the erection were listed in the "domestic global list" as the 28th item; * Following the revisions, a maximum of TL 105,348,000,000 in "Fund-sourced" credit could have been sought, yet the figure written on the final version of the certificate is TL 140,464,000,000. Regarding Incentive Certificate No. 28993 pertaining to Ihlas Holding A.S., although the existing incentive decree allows importation of operational items within the framework of a customs exemption for new investments which have been completed, this firm made use of the exemption possibly for its investment in the form of an extension and thus imported an operational item [newsprint]." It is noteworthy that the report, which has not been accepted by opposition members of the Parliamentary Investigative Commission on the grounds that it resulted from an "incomplete investigation," has not addressed a controversial issue, that is, the "monopoly" two major media groups have jointly created to dominate the distribution of publications. The fact that the government and the Republican People's Party (CHP) members of the commission have not deemed it necessary to study the TL 16.4 trillion incentive certificate given for the establishment of the distribution monopoly on the grounds that it has not used "Fund-sourced" credit, has drawn criticism from the opposition. Although the commission report was printed by parliamentary administration, it was not distributed to the deputies or the public for two months. It will be read out at the parliamentary general assembly following its distribution. _________________________________________________________________ [INLINE] Workers' distrust of politicians escalates * DISK Chairman Budak: 'Next time we may chain ourselves to the ministry's building' _________________________________________________________________ Ankara - Turkish Daily News The Confederation of Revolutionary Labor Unions (DISK) Chairman Ridvan Budak and recently laid-off workers from Istanbul's Kohler Factory and Bursa's Isi Sah Factory demonstrated on Monday in front of the Labor Ministry to commemorate the worker resistance movement of 1970 and to protest against the factory sackings. The workers shouted slogans such as "A union of workers will defeat the capital" and "Laborers hand in hand towards a general strike." Budak, speaking during the demonstration, said that society's problems had not been solved and added that unemployment, injustice, poverty and violations of human rights continues. Budak later moved on to Labor Minister Nami Cagan's office hoping to talk to him. The civil police, however, did not permit Budak and the workers accompanying him to enter the office, saying that the minister refused to meet with them. Budak and his colleagues insisted upon seeing Cagan and finally met him after a few minutes delay. Budak told Cagan that the workers were desperate and that they were close to completely losing their trust in politics and in politicians. Budak added that the next time they come to the ministry they may chain themselves to the building. They were struggling between survival and extinction, he said. "You are our minister. We are asking you for more support." Minister Cagan replied by saying that inspectors had investigated the recent sackings and that he had already received a report stating that the firings in Bursa were illegal. Cagan added that although unfairness may be determined in a particular factory's practices, this, unfortunately, would not guarantee that workers could return to their jobs. Cagan stated that Turkey has been addressing the issue of job security in International Labor Organization (ILO) meetings for many years and that his ministry, in this respect, had completed a flexible set of draft proposals which will be presented to the labor confederations for their approval shortly. DISK executives are also calling for the granting of autonomy to the Social Insurance Authority, the passage of laws concerning unemployment insurance and job security, the control of unregistered employers, policy precautions to provide a better distribution of income and a just tax system. Following the reading of a statement to the press, the participants dispersed. Later on Monday, Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz received Budak and other DISK administrators in his office. Budak presented a letter to Yilmaz outlining DISK's demands from the coalition partners and from Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman Deniz Baykal. The letter echoed the previous demands on the government, such as job security and union rights. Yilmaz acknowledged that Budak, in line with his job description, was expressing the worker's demands; however, the government should not only consider the demands of the workers but should represent the interests of all sections of society. _________________________________________________________________ The killer is here somewhere... * Mothers, brothers, sisters, nephews and spouses spoke at the IHD symposium about the unsolved murders of those whom they had lost _________________________________________________________________ STAFA ERDOGAN Ankara - Turkish Daily News While speaking about Diyarbakir, the city of unsolved murders and missing persons, poet Hicri Izgoren has also criticized insensitive people. While death patrols the streets at night in Batman, or while it is uncertain in Diyarbakir from which direction the bullet will come, in short, while a geography bleeds from one end to the other, Izgoren said in his poem, "I am an unsolved murder now where everyone is a little bit of a perpetrator." During a symposium entitled, "Unsolved Murders and the Right to Live," organized by the Human Rights Organization (IHD) last weekend, attendees mentioned thousands of murders in which "everyone is a little bit of a perpetrator." The missing persons' relatives, who have lived out the tragedy which Turkey has experienced during the past 20 years, in the sad memories of those whom they have lost, caused Ankara to weep and experience sadness, wisdom and solidarity. With tears flowing down their cheeks, mothers, sisters, spouses and nephews spoke about the deaths they had experienced. They explained how the spouses, fathers, mothers or brothers whom they had sent to the newspaper stand, to the office, to the fields, to school, to court, to the hospital or to herd the sheep had not returned. The spirit of honest columnists of the Turkish press, Abdi Ipekci and Ugur Mumcu, the newly blossoming young writers Hafiz Akdemir, Yahya Orhan and Ferhat Tepe, as well as Musa Anter, symbolic figure of Turkish and Kurdish brotherhood, Namik Erdogan, one of the forthright and industrious figures of the bureaucracy, Savas Buldan, who became a father the day his funeral was held, and all the others were there. Hanife Tekdal, who has lost four members of her family to clashes in the Southeast, because of the unsolved murders said: "I have lost my sons Mehmet, Mustafa and Ali and my husband, Emin. Despite all this, I want peace so that more mothers will not cry, because they also have children." Derman Taranci, wife of journalist Namik Taranci, who was murdered in an unsolved case, said her husband had not been killed in an unsolved murder. Taranci claimed that the killer of her husband was known. "It is said that he was killed by gang members. Well, who is supporting the gang members?" she asked. Ulku Adali, wife of journalist Kutlu Adali from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC), drew attention to the fact that the overwhelming majority of those who had attended the symposium were women. Adali said it had been proven how sensitive the hearts of women were, and that they had not surrendered easily. She urged the participants to maintain their unity, stressing that the state was under suspicion and that it meant that the state was guilty if it remained silent. Bengi Heval Oz, daughter of Ankara Prosecutor Dogan Oz, who lost his life in an armed attack in 1978, and Nuket Izzet, Abdi Ipekci's daughter, also took part in the IHD's symposium, each presenting a submission. Political parties urge joint struggle On the second day of the symposium, representatives of political parties and democratic organizations delivered speeches. HADEP, ODP, EMEP, DKP, DBP and TSIP members focused on the political dimensions of the unsolved murders. Pointing out that in most parts of the world unsolved murders were being used as a method of political intervention, the representatives gave examples, particularly from Latin America and Algeria. They blamed the state for the murders and claimed that the killers were being protected. They pointed out that they would work together to raise social awareness on this issue. During that day's afternoon session, representatives of various other organizations spoke. The lecturers who talked in the name of the Contemporary Journalists Association (CGD) and the Medya-Sen stressed the insensitivity of the press as respects of the unsolved murders of journalists. The IHD administration announced that it would prepare a final communique at the end of the symposium. While all this was going on at the symposium, daily Aydinlik was publishing an interview with Mahmut Yildirim, known as "Yesil," who is claimed to be one of the architects of unsolved murders. In his interview, Yesil was calmly explaining that for the good of the country, he had carried out all the acts which had caused hundreds of people to attend the meeting at Ankara's Harb-Is Hall. Yesil was saying that top-level state officials could not touch him because he had information ranging from unsolved murders to drug smuggling. When the Plaza Del Mayo Mothers from Argentina visited Turkey, they had said, "The killer may be the person who is sitting next to you on the bus." The participants of the IHD symposium also said, "The murderer is somewhere nearby." How interesting that everything becomes likened to everything else. While Yesil was blackening the pages of daily Aydinlik with his ominous statements, the love of the mothers was lighting up Harb-Is Hall. _________________________________________________________________ [INLINE] Ragip Duran heads for prison Istanbul - Turkish Daily News Today is Tuesday, June 16 and another one of Turkey's prominent journalists is headed for prison to serve out a ten-month sentence. Ragip Duran is his name and he enjoys a good reputation for his writing for newspapers in Turkey and abroad. The article for which Duran was found guilty was published on April 12, 1994 in Ozgur Gundem, a newspaper which has subsequently been closed. It was entitled "Apo 91/Ocalan 94" and involved a comparison of two interviews with Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The first was conducted in 1991 and lasted 13 hours while the second, in 1994, took only seven hours. The comparison was his personal impression of the PKK leader and he took careful note of the changes which occurred between those years as Ocalan now appeared to have grown in stature and thought, more sure of himself and more concerned for international affairs than he had been previously. Another charge against Duran and Ertugrul Kurkcu concerning an article entitled "No solution without the PKK" which appeared on the same page as the Ocalan interview was dropped. However the charge against Duran alone was considered sufficiently proven to warrant a prison sentence. It is thought that his comparison of Ocalan with the leader of the Italian war of independence, Garibaldi, was the offense. According to the decision by the Istanbul State Security Court No. 5 on December 19, 1994, the article violated Article 7 of the Anti-Terror Act which prohibits "outlawed organization propaganda." The Supreme Court confirmed the decision. Duran's lawyer Fikret Ilkiz has issued a statement (dated 9 June 1998) that his client will surrender to the prosecutor of Sisli district in Istanbul today as requested. Duran faces a fine of TL 333,333,333 (approx. $1300) and a ten-month sentence which will last until the end of January 1999. Among the groups which are protesting his jailing is the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) which has issued a call to Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz to do everything in his power to find some way to prevent Duran's going to prison. Duran, who was born in 1954, has worked as a journalist since 1978 in Istanbul, Paris and London. In the past he has worked with Agence France Presse (AFP) and BBC. He has up to now been working for the French daily Liberation and has also presented short programs for French radio stations. He has been active in the work of the Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontieres and the CPJ in New york. In addition Duran has been teaching courses on "International events and the Media" and on media ethics at Galatasaray University as well as in a private school. He has also been working as a conference translator since 1978. He is considered a specialist on the Kurdish problem. Last year he published a book entitled "Apoletli Medya" (Pro-military Media). He won the "Hellman/Hammett Freedom of Expression" award given by the US-based Human Rights Watch and was made "Journalist of the Year" in 1991 by Turkey's Human Rights Association. _________________________________________________________________ DIE plans intensive business surveys _________________________________________________________________ Ankara - Turkish Daily News The State Institute of Statistics (DIE) has begun studies to advance not only Turkey's economy but also its social conditions and regions, reported the Anatolian news agency on Monday. <...> -- 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 Fri Jun 19 07:10:38 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 19 Jun 1998 07:10:38 Subject: Turkish court sentences Italian pacifist for "separatism" Message-ID: DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, June 16 (AFP) - A Turkish court on Tuesday handed down a one-year sentence for "separatist activities" to an Italian pacifist, which was immediately commuted to 2,500-dollar fine. Turkish police in Diyarbakir, south-eastern Turkey, accused the Italian, Damiano Frisullo, of carrying photographs of activists from the separatist Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) and of chanting pro-PKK slogans during a protest. It was the second charge laid against the Italian, a member of a pacifist group. In late April he was expelled from Turkey after charges were brought against him for "inciting racial hatred" for attending celebrations marking the Kurdish New Year in March in Diyarbakir, the capital of the Kurdish-majority region. Frisullo pleaded not guilty to the charges and was expelled after staging a hunger strike to protest his detention. He was present for the court's ruling on Tuesday. The PKK has led an armed rebellion against the Turkish government since 1984 in a bid to establish a separatist Kurd state on the south-eastern region bordering Syria, Iraq and Iran. Almost 30,000 people have died in violence related to the rebellion. -- 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 Fri Jun 19 07:52:23 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 19 Jun 1998 07:52:23 Subject: International press body condemns jailing of Turkish journalist Message-ID: VIENNA, June 17 (AFP) - The Vienna-based International Press Institute on Wednesday condemned the prison sentence imposed by Turkish authorities on an award-winning Turkish journalist for writing about the Kurdish issue. Ragip Duran, a former journalist for Agence France-Presse and the BBC and several Turkish newspapers, and now the Istanbul correspondent of the French daily Liberation, began his seven-and-a-half-month sentence Tuesday. In a statement, the IPI said the jailing of Duran was "a flagrant violation of everyone's right to freedom of opinion and expression" as guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It called for him to be released "immediately and unconditionally" and for a reform of laws "under which Turkish journalists can be imprisoned for what they write." Duran, 44, was tried and sentenced in December 1994 for an article in a Turkish newspaper about an interview with Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the banned Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) which is fighting for a Kurdish homeland in southeast Turkey. The Court of Appeals upheld the conviction last year, but he was granted a stay of execution that ran out Tuesday. The Turkish government considers the PKK a terrorist organisation and is waging a bitter war against it. More than 29,000 people have died in the fighting. On Tuesday, the international journalist body Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) also demanded that Duran's sentence be lifted. Duran teaches media ethics at Istanbul's Galatasaray University. He was named Journalist of the Year by Turkey's Human Rights Association in 1991 and received the Human Rights Watch organization's Freedom of Expression Award last year. -- 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 Fri Jun 19 09:11:12 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 19 Jun 1998 09:11:12 Subject: Turkish authorities close torture victims' center Message-ID: Turkish authorities close torture victims' center AP.international (06-18) 19:31:45 TURKISH AUTHORITIES CLOSE TORTURE VICTIMS' CENTER DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (AP) -- Turkish authorities shut down a private rehabilitation center for torture victims just five days after it opened, human rights activists said Thursday. About 15 policemen came to the center in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir and ordered it to close Wednesday, the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey said in a statement. The facility was sponsored by the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims, based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Police said the center's director had failed to obtain proper authorization for the opening Saturday, the group said. But activists said the center had the proper authorization and called the closing illegal. ``They don't want any witnesses or human rights defenders in southeast Turkey,'' said Nazmi Gur of the Human Rights Association in Ankara. Government officials could not immediately be reached for comment. Most charges of human rights abuses are focused on the southeast, where the military has been fighting autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels for 14 years. Torture also is said to occur in prisons and police stations throughout the country. Turkey denies systematic rights violations, and says that those suspected of abuses are brought to justice. -- 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 dhkc at ozgurluk.org Mon Jun 22 06:53:58 1998 From: dhkc at ozgurluk.org (dhkc at ozgurluk.org) Date: 22 Jun 1998 06:53:58 Subject: Turkey/DHKP-C: DEVELOPING THE STRUGGLE Message-ID: >From Devrimci Sol No. 10, March 1998 DEVELOPING THE STRUGGLE MEANS ACHIEVING ONE'S OWN TASKS IN THE BEST MANNER How does one develop the struggle? From a strategic perspective, from the viewpoint of organisational development, from the perspective of the prevailing conditions, it is possible to answer this question in different forms. However, if the perspective of one of the chief factors in the struggle is taken, that is, the human perspective, the struggle develops through the way the diligence, heroism and readiness for self-sacrifice of thousands and thousands of cadres, fighters and sympathisers is formed. What is the role, the place that a cadre, a fighter or a sympathiser has in this struggle? Is it simply measured by responsiblities given to them, by the tasks with which they are entrusted. If this is the yardstick, we encounter some remarkable viewpoints. "A mighty country, a great struggle; the progress and setbacks of the revolution do not just depend on what I do or don't do." This viewpoint denies the reality of organisation. A further variation on this denial is to constantly expect the development of the struggle and the organisation to be something "external to oneself, somewhere else". People with this attitude expect the solution of all questions to come from above and blows against the enemy to be struck only by the armed units. Their own participation - positive or negative - whether as a person or as a unit is not something they think about and no value is attached to it by them. The organisation is something to be considered as a whole. The areas, units, even individual persons are part of this whole, connected to one another and influencing one another. Positive or negative things, enthusiasm, motivation or low morale are apt to be contagious in any living organisation. They are very rapidly transmitted from person to person, from unit to unit. Minor cases of paralysis, a unit's omitting to do something while carrying out work, can lead to the whole task not being completed, and of course, depending on the nature of the task, such paralysis can lead to the arrest or massacre of people. If this is borne in mind, the question of how to develop the struggle is taken from the field of strategy and employed in what we do in practice. Strategy by itself is abstract. What puts it into practice and brings it to life are the cadres, fighters, people in the areas and units, and the work they carry out. This is why our own development also develops the struggle. Carrying out a task in our unit, whatever it may be, means developing the struggle. Every cadre, everyone in an area must think in this way: if I stand still, so does the revolution. Clearly, revolution and organisation are independent of anybody. The revolution and the movement develop independently of everybody and everything. But this is only one side of reality. On the other side, the fate of the revolution is bound up with our activity. Whether the development of the revolution accelerates or is slowed down depends in the final analysis on the human factor - in other words, us. This is what a revolutionary thinks about - the organisation is me, the struggle is me, the revolution is me. Developing the revolution and the struggleis not a matter of intending to do it. In words, we can want this so much but do our deeds correspond to it. This is the real question. In our own units, in our own areas the development of the struggle is not something abstract at all, it finds concrete expression and rflection: at its clearest this is the degree of organisation and the achievement of results. These two points are valid for all aspects, whether education work, the development of committees, councils, military units or actions. In a period in which this is not done, in other words, in a period which is not organised and no results are achieved, the development of the struggle is not possible, for no development has been secured within our unit. ORGANISING AND ACHIEVING RESULTS Our people have a saying: rowing a boat towards nothing. This is used to describe activity which has no aim or whose aim is not followed through to completion. Whoever rows a boat towards nothing is constantly in motion. He appears to be taking a lot of trouble. He rows and rows, but either he goes back to where he started from or does not reach his goal. Because in his head no aim is firmly anchored, or else the aim is clear but the way towards it is not. Of course nothing results from this. And then there are those who only pretend to be rowing. They do not even take the trouble to move the oars. They are simply going through the motions of rowing. Of course this too leads to nothing. And finally there are those who sit in their boat and do not even touch the oars. They just talk about the necessity to row the boat. All they do is talk. Of course they do not move from the spot. Now let us look at how the units which are rowing deal with the tasks they are given. From time to time we can see a strange and indeed absurd picture not unlike what we described above. If there are no results, it is what can be expected from such a situation. Every kind of work done, every action carried out, every step which is taken without efforts made to organise it, or without present and past mistakes and weaknesses being taken into account, or without taking account of their significance from the beginning or without planning down to the last detail - all these are doomed to failure. A characteristic of many of our friends is to believe that work can be carried out with general explanations being made. Of course it is the task of a revolutionary to turn a problem, even a small one, into a means of education and present it in such a way that it can be understood. But if the presentation of the problem is not reflected in organisation, if it does not lead to a result, it will be empty and in vain, and those who do it this way are people who do not achieve results or offer a lead. They are merely good storytellers. Turning education into organisation and the achievement of results is an indispensible rule and the aim of our work methods. This is valid for all kind of work, whether it is a criticism, a self-criticism, a meeting or an action. For example, distributing our newspaper is a case that springs to mind in a quite striking way. Sometimes a lot of effort is made to distribute it more widely, special pains are taken. Some units achieve successes with it. Later they are stuck with this same level of achievement, or they let go of the threads and if they do not adopt a systematic form of distribution, the circulation of the paper drops again. We must pause for thought about this. A revolutionary who works in any unit, if he wants to organise and educate the masses, or says he wants this, why does he not make every effort to distribute the paper to the broadest possible mass of people, in greater numbers with every issue? This means not wanting to organise the masses, not giving it any importance. If this, the most simple task, is not taken in hand, how can the masses be organised, how can they be brought to contribute to the struggle? For example, when we ask about what resulted from a criticism and self-criticism session, we receive the answer, "We discussed and talked about relations among the comrades." When we look at the result, there is any amount of negative things, egoism, getting in each other's way, defamation and deficiencies which are not looked into, their reasons are not uncovered and how to remove these mistakes and build up and control new relations is not discussed. Of course, in such a situation, a possible change in relations only lasts a few days. Then things go on as before. This criticism and self-criticism can go on for hours and even days and any number of things can be talked about in this or that form. But if that is all that is done, all the effort is condemned to remain futile. Here, the responsible comrade has not tied the discussion to the question of revolution. There is not a trace of achieving results, no staying power or persistence. Work that is not done and problems are not urgent questions for him. What was done? Apparently, form was enough. We talked about it, that's it. We could hold dozens of meetings like this, spend hundreds of hours of our time, but no result would be achieved. Another example: somewhere an action or a campaign is organised. The instructions of the leader to the people under him, "You must do it in such and such a way, it will be an action like this," express nothing at all. If the leader's activities are restricted to communication and passing things on, results will either not be achieved at all or will end in failure. A responsible comrade who is serious and who gets results knows the intentions, possibilities and aims of people. And he will discuss the action with the people who have to carry it out and plan and discuss it with them in all the relevant details. He will show them the way to overcome things that might seem insuperable. And first he will patiently listen to the ideas and suggestions of the people under his authority. Bearing in mind their abilities, he will show them how to ovcercome obstacles. He defines what the results of the action or the campaign should be, what aims should be achieved. If that is not done, reports will come later such as "I looked for him but could not find him", "I left some information behind but it has not been passed on", or "I also do not understand why so few took part in the action." The task of a leader does not end with such things. If he wants results, he must control every step. He must see every positive and negative development, show the way, intervene if serious errors are about to take place, correct possible deviations from the correct pathand show the way to achieve the goal, to achieve a result. Especially with regard to democracy, organisation, planning and the achievement of results, an attitude has become dominant which is backward and does not correspond to the period and our methods of work. There is a real tendency to honour spontaneity. We must know that no results can be achieved unless every type of work, right down to the smallest action is not organised, carried out and closely controlled. A responsible comrade must achieve results. Every responsible comrade understands that perfunctory instructions to "do it such and such a way" do not achieve a result. In conditions in which a great many of our people are young and inexperienced and lacking in theory, we cannot organise work solely with orders and instructions. In this situation we must organise in practical terms and also educate through practice. That must be our slogan: "Educate through practice". People learn while they are engaged in struggle. This is the best and quickest way to learn. The view that "We first educate ourselves and then put what we have learned into practice" is a view that deserves to be condemned. It is the view of those who do not want to struggle. Of course it is not planned this way, but whatever is done without enthusiasm and without achieving results, is in any case betrayal and an offence, no matter who or what is the cause. But the problem is this: one can become content with what one has achieved, developments and events are not correctly analysed and the reasons for mistakes and weaknessesand there is no thought as to how things can be done better next time. If this is not done, there will be failure after failure, pessimism will set in and criticism will begin to sap morale. Failure will be followed by failure. The same mistakes will be made again and again. We cannot expect everything to be perfect. Revolutions have not taken place under perfectly prepared and suitable conditions. Nor will they in future. first we must learn to remain upright no matter how bad the conditions might be, and to deal with problems in a persistent manner, attacking them at their roots. This phase is at the same time educational for us. Nobody, no leader can educate himself simply by thinking about what he is, what failings and weaknesses he has and by finding theoretical answers to these questions.Fundamentally, the personality, dynamic in the struggle, talents, characteristics and creativity must be developed through practice. To think is a precondition. This effort must follow thought) If there was a failure in some place or other, if one of our people turned out badly, if a unit has lost ground or failed in its tasks in a particular area, and if the reasons for all this are said to be external, then it will be presented as though fate was responsible and these developments will last for several more months. But we should not put up with these things for even an hour, let alone for months, but we should go to work, find out the reasons for these developments and change them. Achieving results depends above all on mechanisms for collectivism, as well as on the stability and lasting nature of activity in an area. A unit or an area which tends to neglect the small daily tasks, which forms units for the day which works in an unplanned way without concrete aims, will only achieve results with difficulty or will not achieve anything at all. For example, what are the signs of this? A work group on education is absolutely necessary. If there is no steady education work in a unit or its members do not take part in an education group, it is not difficult to guess that only things are only done on a short-term basis, even if the tasks that are given are more or less fulfilled. One way or another, work must be structured in a committee. If this committee does not meet regularly, if the problems of the unit or the area are not discussed, if no decisions are taken, then again it is not hard to tell that the work there is based on the initiative of individuals and on spontaneity. Excuses like there is no time for education and the establishment of committee structures, there is no suitable venue, other work has got in the way, all these are an expression of the fact that they are fleeing from having disciplined work methods or are at least have not understood the need for organisation and cadres and the need for work methods which achieve results. Whoever fails to create lasting work groups for education, whoever is not organised in his area, we say that quite openly that such people are using the organisation and serving the enemy. Their revolutionary enthusiasm and desire for revolutin must be doubted. Whoever does not achieve this cannot perform revolutionary work in any area and sooner or later they will return to the system. EXPECTING TO RECEIVE EVERYTHING ON A SILVER PLATTER One of the most obvious weaknesses arising from unorganised and unsuccessful work methods is found with rgard to material resources. Money is a big problem in those places where there is a lack of organisation and work has been fruitless, and this threatens to destroy their revolutionary activity. For revolutionary organisations there are in general four main sources of income: monthly contributions, donations, collectivisation (expropriations) and trade. At different times and in different forms, all contribute to solving the problems. But essentially the same thing applies to them all: a revolutionary organisation can only solve its material problems through methods of work directed towardsthe people. In addition, any methods which are used only tentatively are doomed to failure. All four of the ways of raising money we have mentioned have another function apart from solving the money problem. Monthly contributions are a way of firming up day-to-day organisation, discipline and sense of responsibility. Donations are both a means and a result of work to set the masses in motion, to make them see the movement as their own and to make clear the necessity for self-sacrifice. (?Collectivisation (expropriations) are .....) Trade, whether involving small-scale traders or more comprehensive forms of trade, is on the one hand a way of educating our people as workers, to rid them of petit bourgeois pride and on the other hand, to institutionalise them. In other words, to find necessary sources for the revolutionary struggle and to create possibilities for the movement means in most cases forming unity with other forms of struggle, is a part of them and a result. Every unit, every area must take the material problem on board as a part of the whole, and solve it. With regard to this, it is the minimum requirement of each unit to cover at least its own needs. Whether a unit can do this or not is a serious criterion of its ties to the masses, how organised it is, its seriousness and sense of responsibility. Quite apart from the fact that a unit should have as a perspective covering not only its own needs but should also be creating resources for different needs of the movement. Units lacking such a perspective will also lack a perspective of covering their own needs. Not fighting the idea that everything should be served to you on a plate also means not fighting the enemy properly. Every area is responsible for finding resources to cover their own expenses. A unit that laments about money problems should pause for thought. No money means no banner, no newspaper, it means selling your revolutionary attitude for money. Whoever wants to find sources for money and other needs must go to the masses. Whoever does not go to the masses will find neither money nor support nor cadres, nor indeed anything else. Money cannot solve anything. Many of our cadres and sympathisers have experienced this. In tasks in which the lack of money was seen as a big obstacle more than enough money was contributed, but the task were still not acomplished. Whoever laments at the beginning that there is "no money, no money" has seen that it was not the money that was really the problem. To make money into a problem, to be merely a bystander when a problem arises is not a mentality arising from revolutionary culture, but an element of another culture. It is an element of the culture of capitalism, which measures everyything in money terms and instead of problems, instead of people prefers to talk about money. We revolutionaries plan the work that has to be done. In this programme money is merely incidental. How and where to find this money is determined by revolutionary principles. A mentality that puts money at the top of everything in planning work does not show a revolutionary spirit but rather a mentality of wanting everything served on a plate, that money will be provided and can be used to one's heart's desire. This mentality cannot train cadres. This mentality cannot carry out work among the masses. Because this is not done, the smallest demonstration becomes the biggest task in the world. As we said before, money is never the problem by itself. A money problem is certainly only the result of other problems. Whatever the problems posed by money, what is really important is what it brings into the foreground. A work method which has no sources of income and depends on outside help means rejecting the desire to become a mass movement. It menas saying we have no ties to the masses. That is not right. Almost everywhere there is potential,or ties to the masses already exist. Whoever does not work at this forgets to put into practice the idea that the revolution is based on the masses. The actual problem is one of not going to the masses. Not organising people or failing to train those who are organised means people not becoming cadres. Instead of this there is the mentality of everything coming from outside. In the end, this means dispensing with the revolution. If in an area, in a unit the potential is not organised, it is impossible to find neither people, nor money nor anything else. Despite tens of thousands of sympathisers, relationships, thousands of people voluntarily connected to us, of course this cannot be organised. Nobody will find a function in a unit which corresponds to his place and his talents. If a relationship is not tied into a network, if nothing of this mighty potential is organised, so that when necessary money or when necessary sources for other needs of the movement are found, all there is is lamentation about the lack of money or lack of success. Collectivisations (expropriation) and other methods of finding money through the use of force can be employed when necessary, but in fact the voluntary support from thousands of people must be gathered together. More must be taken from those who can afford more. Money should be taken from those who are able to give money. Other necessary things should be taken from those who have other things to offer. City neighbourhoods are a rich source of this, in the history of the movement they have constantly produced new sources which have given new strength to the movement. If work in a city neighbourhood doesn't go forward because of material problems, then this shows that there are no connections to the masses. And we can immediately conclude from this that whoever does not go to the masses produces neither politics, does not educate, does not broaden the struggle and cannot transmit revolutionary enthusiasm on a permanent basis.Everything is with the masses. Voluntary donations, semi-voluntary donations given on the basis of the organisation's authority, making it an obligation for our people to give monthly donations, making use of the opportunities presented by relationships with our environment, getting people to carry out work, bringing money home, filling up free time with work, working constantly, etc, etc... In dozens of ways money can be found. All this is possible. But only relying on an existing network is not enough. EXPECTATIONS IN EDUCATION, THE QUESTION OF CADRES WHO EXPECT EVERYTHING TO BE SERVED UP ON A PLATE Expecting everything to be served up on a silver platter is not a phenomenon restricted to education. Whoever is used to being "served", whoever expects everything to be readily available would also like people to be ready to serve them. A merely verbal culture means neither being able to give reports nor to carry out education and checking up on others, nor being able to utilise whatever has been done in a particular field, knowing what mistakes have been made and how they can be removed. "I told them, but nothing was done about it," "There is a lot of work," "I forgot," are all the classical excuses that spring to mind. Our people who have this attitude have little or no revolutionary enthusiasm. And these people, who do not know what to do and how to do it feel no responsibility and no concern about the lack of education of thousands of our people, they have almost no idea of what education means. To educate, develop and adapt enthusiasm is something that is being forgotten about. And this state of mind has sometimes developed so much that there is not a revolutionary type of human being but rather an official or a consumer. A revolutionary's place is among the masses. We already learned this reality when we were at the start of our revolutionary existence. But it seems as if our people who have been working for 15 or 20 years have forgotten this reality. Being a revolutionary does not mean spending the whole day in one or two democratic institutions. "I called them but they did not come" is not the behaviour of revolutionaries but of those who do not want to achieve results, who have no revolutionary feelings and are pessimistic. If people do not come this means we could not make them come. But actually we know how we can bring them with us. Now let us look at the programme of some responsible and leading people. There is no concern about educating people, developing them, and even if for one day in the week, developing units and giving them guidance, even if at the lowest level. That is the task of every responsible person at every level. Whoever does not plan this and take the work in hand is not making the problems of the movement his own and is not carrying out his tasks. Leaving aside those who have to work in illegality, our people who work legally are able to move around freely for 24 hours a day, and if they cannot develop cadres and cannot educate the masses, they are just rowing their boat into a vacuum no matter what they do. And someone will not be able to educate the masses or sympathisers. For a leader, a responsible comrade, a cadre, there is no life outside the revolution, 24 hours a day. If our thoughts, feelings, love, family, if everything serves the revolution, then we are revolutionaries. Everything that does not serve the revolution serves the counterrevolution. Above all we must get rid of the habit of "ifs" and "buts" and "impossible", of having a pessimistic attitude to daily work. Whatever a leader, a cadre, a responsible comrade does, is reflected more strongly downwards. Every responsible comrade, every cadre must awaken enthusiasm among the masses, and be able to strengthen their morale. From him or her, people must derive creativity, the strength to find solutions, and see enthusiasm, discipline, readiness for self-sacrifice and justice. Leading cadres must do a lot of work. Not going to the masses, saying "no money", not educating people and then saying there are "no people" means halting the development of the revolution. This is the real problem, not money or people. The problem is one of understanding, one of developing the idea of needing to be served. Whoever works in a way that gets results, whoever organises the people where he works will also be able to solve the money and personnel problem... -- Devrimci Halk Kurtulus Cephesi (Revolutionary Peoples Liberation Front) DHKC Informationbureau Amsterdam http://www.ozgurluk.org/dhkc List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Mon Jun 22 07:48:15 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 22 Jun 1998 07:48:15 Subject: Turkey/Pressfredom: Threaths against Kurtulus-printer Message-ID: THE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL IS TRYING TO SILENCE THE REVOLUTIONARY; DEMOCRATIC AND OPPOSITION PRESS BY THREATENING THE FIRMS THAT PRINT THEM For a long time, the state has been attacking publications that support the people, it has murdered journalists, arrested them, sentenced them to do time in prison, tortured them and raided the offices of their newspapers. However, despite all this it has not achieved its aims, so it has stepped up its attacks, going down new paths of repression and harassment. The latest example of this is the threats made agianst the owner of a print shop in an attempt to stop him printing revolutionary publications. On May 26, Huseyin Islamoglu, the police chief of Buyukcesme District (in Istanbul), summoned the owner of the Serler printing firm and threatened him. He began by saying that he was speaking in the name of "the divisional commander of the artillery units in Hadimkoy". If he, the printing firm owner, was to continue printing the newspapers of revolutionary, democratic, progressive and opposition press structures, "civil forces" would intervene and do him harm. Huseyin Islamoglu continually stressed that he was speaking in the name of the MGK (National Security Council) and said: "Legally, we cannot prevent these newspapers from being printed. But you will not print these newspapers anymore. If you do, you have children, it will go hard on them." The threat was punctuated with remarks such as: "The official forces of the state won't do anything to you. But there are also the 'civil forces'." The MGK threat, made in the name of the artillery units of Hadimkoy, stated that the newspapers Kurtulus, Ozgur Halk, Atilim, Halkin Gunlugu, Partizan, Kervan, Ozgurluk Dunyasi, Hevi, Kizil Bayrak, Ozgur Kadin, Zindan, Alternatif, Evrensel, Kultur, Yeniden, Halkin Birligi, Deng and Yurtsever Genclik could no longer be printed, for if the situation were doubtful certain developments could not be prevented. The aim was obvious: The state is completely disregarding its own laws in order to exclude the revolutionaries, democrats and opponents of the state. But we will frustrate these attempts to prevent us from functioning. Up to the present, hundreds of us have been murdered, hundreds arrested, our offices have been laid waste but we were not silenced. And they will not silence us now. We will frustrate the attacks carried out in the name of the MGK. Kurtulus, June 18, 1998 Committee"Defend Press Freedom" Chauss?e de Louvain 323 B - 1030 BruxellesTel: ++32 - 477 - 88 34 13 Fax: ++32 - 2 - 733.72.81 e-mail: schrader at wiwi.uni-frankfurt.de For background informatuion regarding the Kurtulus, see 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 Mon Jun 22 07:50:28 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 22 Jun 1998 07:50:28 Subject: Turkey/Pressfreedom: Owner of the printing firm for KURTULUS under t Message-ID: Brussels, June 1998 Defend Press Freedom: Owner of the printing firm for KURTULUS under threat Since May 26, the owner of Serler Matbacilik, the firm in Istanbul where the socialist weekly KURTULUS is printed has had a threat from the National Security Council hanging over him. On May 26, Huseyin Islamoglu, the police chief of Buyukcesme District (in Istanbul), summoned the owner of the Serler printing firm and threatened him. He began by saying that he was speaking in the name of "the divisional commander of the artillery units in Hadimkoy". If he, the printing firm owner, was to continue printing the newspapers of revolutionary, democratic, progressive and opposition press structures, "civil forces" would intervene and do him harm. Huseyin Islamoglu continually stressed that he was speaking in the name of the MGK (National Security Council) and said: "Legally, we cannot prevent these newspapers from being printed. But you will not print these newspapers anymore. If you do, you have children, it will go hard on them." The threat was punctuated with remarks such as: "The official forces of the state won't do anything to you. But there are also the 'civil forces'." The MGK threat, made in the name of the artillery units of Hadimkoy, stated that mainly amoung other socialist newspapers KURTULUS, could no longer be printed, for if the situation were doubtful certain developments could not be prevented. "KURTULUS for the people" is a socialist weekly which follows the tradition of the radical press. It began its activities in 1986 under the name "Yeni Cozum" (New Solution). After years of pressure, threats, torture and arrests against its co-workers by the police, the paper was banned. On July 15, 1990, the paper appeared again, now as "Mucadele" (Struggle). Mucadele was silenced too because it reported the reality in Turkey. Its sincere journalism became an alternative to the bourgeois media. In 1992, the paper continues its work under the name of "Emperyalizme ve Oligarsiye karsi KURTULUS" (Liberation against Imperialism and the Oligarchy). Again its co-workers were exposed to repression, torture and prison. After some editions under the name "Zafer Yolunda KURTULUS" (Liberation on the Path to Victory), the struggle was continued under the name of "Halk icin KURTULUS" (Liberation for the People) since August 2, 1990. During the time it has been published up till now, again and again editions of the paper were confiscated by the State Security Court in Istanbul. According to the figures of the Press Council, two co-workers were imprisoned at the time, according to Reporters without Borders, 17 are in jail at present. Last January, the paper's representative in Adana, Mehmet Topaloglu was murdered in the house of his uncle, and two years ago the 17-year-old Irfan Agdas was murdered when he distributed the paper in Alibeykoey/Istanbul. Both were murdered by the police. Correspondents for the weekly have been arrested and detained countless times. The owners and chief editors have been sentenced to dozens of years of imprisonment and billions in fines. On February 17, 1998, the central offices of the paper in Cagaloglu were searched on orders of the 1st State Security Court. 32 persons in total, including some people who came to the building to express their solidarity, were brought to the Security Department. The next day, 24 of these persons were handed over to the Political Department. While the people protesting in front of the building were released after a day, the people arrested in the office had to spend six days in the anti-terror unit, where they were tortured. Also, people who were wounded were dragged from hospital and taken to the police station. After six days in police custody, they were finally brought before a judge on February 23. Of the 22 people, seven were held. At the first hearing against the seven, where the journalists were charged with membership of a banned organisation or aiding a banned organisation, all seven accused were released from prison.The trial goes on however, and the next hearing takes place on July 27 at the State Security Court in Istanbul. Most ot the attacks against the KURTULUS are illegal even according to the laws in Turkey and a serious attack on press freedom. Please help us to defend press freedom which supposedly exists in Turkey by withdrawing the threats against the owner of the printing firm. Please help us to make sure that a legal newspaper in Turkey can be printed without any hindrance. Committee "Defend Press Freedom" Chauss?e de Louvain 323B - 1030 Bruxelles Tel: ++32 - 477 - 88 34 13 Fax: ++32 - 2 - 733.72.81 e-mail: schrader at wiwi.uni-frankfurt.de -- 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 Tue Jun 23 04:38:13 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 23 Jun 1998 04:38:13 Subject: RIGHTS-TURKEY: Military Courts Start Targeting Journalists Message-ID: Title: RIGHTS-TURKEY: Military Courts Start Targeting Journalists By Nadire Mater ISTANBUL, Jun 17 (IPS) - Ragip Duran became the latest Turkish journalist to end up in jail this week. He began a ten month sentence refusing to accept the verdict of a military court that ruled that his reporting encouraged 'terrorism and separatism'. ''I do not believe I am guilty, for one cannot commit a crime by expressing his or her thoughts,'' Duran told colleagues before he travelled to Saray district prison in south west Turkey to start his jail term. There are 95 journalists now held in Turkish jails. Some 100 people gathered outside the Turkish Journalists' Association on Tuesday to bid farewell to Duran, Istanbul reporter for French daily Liberation and a columnist for the pro-Kurdish daily Ulkede Gundem. ''This is injustice, but it cannot last long. Citizens daily become more aware of the negative effects that the lack of freedom of expression has on their own lives.'' Several of his colleagues held banners with the words 'Duran In, Shooters Out', a reference to the recent release of senior security officials charged with scores of killings in a dirty war against Kurdish dissidents. Some 30,000 people have died in the fighting around the country's south eastern provinces, where the guerrillas of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) have been locked in conflict with Turkish forces since 1984. An estimated three million have been forced out, including many cleared from 3,000 remote villages destroyed by troops in an attempt to deprive the insurgents of local support. Nail Gureli, Turkish Journalists Association chair, says Turkey's legislators should lift all restrictive articles in the Turkish Penal Code. ''Ragip Duran's arrest once again tarnishes Turkey's image. The Turkish people does not deserve this wretchedness.'' The Istanbul State Security Court found Duran guilty of violating Article 7 of the anti-terror law, ''by propagating the terrorist organisation and expressing opinions against indivisible unity of the country.'' The offence was drawn from an April 1994 article based on his impressions of Kurdish guerrilla leader Abdullah Ocalan, whom he had interviewed the same year. Duran notes that a 1993 feature on Ocalan that compared the PKK leader to turn of the century Mexican rebel leader Emiliano Zapata, without prosecution. But that article was for the Istanbul mainstream daily Cumhuriyet. ''But one year later, I compared him (in another article) to Italian republican hero Giuseppe Garibaldi (leader of the 1860 war of Italian liberation) in the pro-Kurdish daily Ozgur Gundem, alas, this seemed to have been too much for the authorities: Zapata was a loser, Garibaldi a winner. I paid the price.'' In a letter to Turkish prime minister Mesut Yilmaz, the U. S. based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) described to protested Duran's imprisonment as ''a flagrant violation of the most basic right of journalists -- the right to seek receive and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers.'' The CPJ calls on Yilmaz ''to examine all possible legal options to rescind the court ruling against Duran in accordance with internationally recognized norms for press freedom.'' ''One of Turkey's finest journalists is being sent to jail as punishment for his thoroughly professional reporting on one of Turkey's biggest stories,'' says CPJ's executive director, William A. Orme Jr. The CPJ has also released an English translation of Duran's condemned article to back up their case. ''Duran's case exposes the very limits of freedom of expression in Turkey,'' Robert Menard, head of the Paris-based Reporters Without Frontiers (RSF) media rights group told IPS. The case is now going to the European Court of Human Rights. Duran will join fellow 'criminal of conscience' Saruhan Oluc in Saray district prison. The deputy chair of the left-wing Freedom and Solidarity Party, Oluc was jailed last week for a 1994 article critical of the army's hardline policies against the Kurds. Oluc's case is unusual in that he is the first prisoner of conscience to be sentenced by a military court. Oluc was sentenced to three months in jail for violations of Article 155 of the Penal Code, which prohibit the provoking of ''anti-military sentiments among public,'' in a 1995 article in his Socialist Worker magazine. ''Freedom of expression does not exist in Turkey'' Oluc told IPS. ''You are completely deprived of the right to criticise the army and its functioning, yet you are free to exalt it. And the worst is that any civilian, without military responsibilities, may at any moment face prosecution by the military.'' The third case on rights activists' lips is that of Esber Yagmurdereli, the blind lawyer and peace activist jailed in October 1997 but later released for health reasons. Last month he was returned to prison on a technicality -- that according to Ankara police he had ''failed to display a report validating his release on health grounds''. He says he never received it. Yagmurdereli is presently serving a 10 months term, but is likely to stay in jail, as the new offence breaches the terms of his release in 1991, when he was 13 years into a 36 year sentence. Since he has ''repeated a similar crime'' under Turkish law his parole is rescinded and he now has to serve another 23 years. Ironically Turkey's record had improved a little in 1998. The number of jailed authors and writers in Turkey has actually fallen since the passing of temporary legislation to release jailed journalist Isik Yurtcu. Another 18 editors were released with him and scores of new cases have been dropped. Current prisoners of conscience include writer Haluk Gerger, Kurdish parliamentarians Leyla Zana and Hatip Dicle and sociologist Ismail Besikci. Besikci, 53, doyen of Turkey's prisoners of conscience, is currently serving his 15th year in prison for his views on the Kurdish separatist question. His latest stint began in 1991. Already condemned to a total of 100 years in jail, Besikci currently faces more charges, bearing sentences of up to 104 years more imprisonment. ''There is one common aspect in all of the recent jailings,'' says Bulent Forta, a columnist with the bi-weekly Istanbul magazine V-Ozgurluk. ''The jailed are known for their determined stand for a peaceful and political solution to the Kurdish conflict. Forta notes the mainstream media's cool stand towards the 'elimination' of dissidents and the 'accelerated transfer' of Turkish intellectuals and journalists from their desks to prison beds. She cites the current ''authoritarian restructuring of Turkish political and juridical system under the pressure of the military''. ''The military, through indirect pressure on the judiciary and through imprisonment of the dissidents, sends fresh signals that the Kurdish issue will be handled in silence and behind closed doors, not through public debate. ''Recall the first time Yagmurdereli was jailed. The media poured all sorts of denouncements on the then Islamist-led coalition. However (jailed again), Yagmurdereli is the same man, but the reaction is totally different. The media has got its signal.'' (END/IPS/NM/RJ/98) -- 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 dhkc at xs4all.nl Tue Jun 23 16:08:00 1998 From: dhkc at xs4all.nl (dhkc at xs4all.nl) Date: 23 Jun 1998 16:08:00 Subject: PKK Part 1 Message-ID: Note: Translation from Kurtulus Nr. 82, May 23, 1998. The first part of a series about the PKK. Footnotes will only be given at the end of the series. We ask for your patience. The PKK - where it comes from and where it is going In the beginning... Without criticism, without discussion, without checking up and doing research, it is impossible to move forward. The national movement is far from carrying out a critique and an analysis of the tactics, politics and strategy it has pursued, from yesterday to the present day. Pragmatism is an obstacle to this. What was planned is not put into practice, different tactics clearly contradict each other, the dilemma brought about by the war is scarcely talked about. The national movement does not engage in sel f-criticism and so can derive no conclusions from it. One can also say that the left in Turkey has not fulfilled its task of criticising the national movement. To put it more accurately, it is neither able to support it nor to criticise it. While the oligarchy in 1978-79 was attacking the PKK with demagogy about "separatism", a significant portion of the left supported this attack, by calling the PKK agents provocateurs and counterrevolutionaries. When the PKK started guerrilla warfare in 19 84 they maintained their views and believed that the armed struggle would soon be defeated. When the PKK gained strength, they began to modify their analyses. Some turned into cheerleaders for the PKK. Their analysis of Kurdistan's socio-economic structur e followed a similar line. When the PKK grew, those who yesterday called Kurdistan a neo-colony later said it was a colony. (1) The pragmatism of the PKK played a substantial role in this. For example, the different phases of the politics of Aydinlik (2) bear scrutiny. At the end of 1970, the PKK were "provocateurs" according to Aydinlik. Aydinlik published the names of PKK activists. In 1985 the armed struggle began. In the magazine Sacak, which Aydinlik published with the permission of the military junta, the PKK were called "soldier-killers" and "terrorists". At the end of the 1980s we witnessed how Dogu Perincek, who was responsible for such statements, was received with military honours on a visit to a PKK training camp. At this point, Aydinlik were calling the PKK "patriots". Then we encountered the familiar counterrevolutionary face of Aydinlik. Perincek, who slandered and smeared the PKK, now began to write that it was "under the influence of the USA". Among the rest of the left in Turkey, there were also numerous changes in viewpoint with regard to the PKK, even if not to the degree shown in the example already mentioned. The TKP M-L (Translator's note: Communist Party of Turkey Marxist-Leninist, a Maoist movement with a long history of waging guerrilla warfare) has called the PKK counterrevolutionary on some occasions, and on other occasions revolutionary. These descripti ons alternated with each other from time to time. The TDKP (Revolutionary Communist Party of Turkey) with other sections of the left which favoured the Party of Labour of Albania, mostly called the PKK agents provocateurs and counterrevolutionaries. When the PKK gained strength, these claims mostly fell by the wayside. However, these parties never conducted a serious self-criticism for having made these claims. The result of all this was the following: the national movement was never given the necessary support at the right moment, nor was it subjected to the criticism it needed. Without hesitation, we can say that the Front was the sole exception to this. At a time when the oligarchy and almost the whole left attacked the PKK with demagogy about "separatism", even if other words were used, Devrimci Sol recognised and defended the PKK as a national movement. When the guerrilla struggle began in 1984, the sa me political support continued. When in the years 1984-86 the oligarchy conducted brutal operations against the PKK and the Kurdish people, Devrimci Sol gathered its entire organisational strength and possibilities and carried out actions against the ANAP (Motherland Party) government of the time to show that the Kurdish people are not alone. Since that time up to the present, the same line has been followed, both with regard to the Kurdish people's right to stand up for and defend their just demands, as well as not hesitating to support the Kurdish national movement. At the same time the mist akes of the national movement were criticised, based on the interests of the people and the revolution. The starting point of this criticism was the necessity for a common struggle by our peoples. In order to comprehend the criticism and analyses correctly that we will cite here, the Front's approach to this process must be correctly recognised. It is obvious that the PKK today is an organisation which can determine the agenda of politics in Turkey. It is a force conducting a guerrilla struggle in which thousands have fallen. But the size of a particular force does not exempt it from criticism. E ven if that were the case, a false picture would be created, as can be seen from the previous examples we have cited. A revolutionary movement, in this phase or that, can lose strength for one reason or another, and on the other hand, under certain conditions a movement may seem very strong. Yes, the PKK has struggled and become a force, but the real question is: where is it going? Today the PKK says some new things. For example, they say that "they want to integrate into Turkey". What are the positive and negative sides to that, to what exte nt are the arguments consistent and comprehensible? What happened to their earlier theses? Up to the present, the PKK has hurled every kind of reproach at the left in Turkey. What are the reasons for this intolerance? False lines of action and the negative consequences arising from it have persisted, despite all the warnings and criticism they have received. Why do they keep on doing it? What is meant by peace, the laying down of weapons and compromises with the oligarchy, which they have been trying to achieve for years? How does that stand in relationship to the original aims of the PKK? There are many such questions that could be asked From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Wed Jun 24 09:08:39 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 24 Jun 1998 09:08:39 Subject: News from the struggle in Turkey Message-ID: TRANSFER TO CANKIRI PRISON STOPPED WITH BARRICADES According to the reports, 7 convicted prisoners were to be moved to the E-type prison of Cankiri but because of the resistance by the other prisoners, the administration was forced to withdraw. In a statement of the DHKP-C prisoners in Cankiri it was stated that the administration planned to move 7 prisoners to another prison on June 19, 1998. It was further stated that the transfer, planned for days, became known because the 7 prisoners were called to the administration, using all kind of pretexts, and then suddenly shoved into a prisoners transport bus without the possibility to pack their things. When the prisoners became aware of the situation, the resistance was started by building barricades in all the cells. It's also said that the prisoners set fire to the barricades for a short while. As was said in the statement, the transfer process could be stopped because of the prisoners' resistance. It's reported that the administration of the E-type prison in Aydin is continuing its arbitrary attacks against the prisoners and that the medical treatment of prisoners who require such is hindered. In the prison of Elbistan a provocation was attempted and the prisoners are subjected to the danger of an immanent attack. The administration of the Burdur prison was transferred recently. Its tasks are said to be given over to a new administration which largely consists of fascists. It is said that the attacks against the prisoners have increased considerably with this new administration. (OEzguer Politika, June 22, 1998) A NEW ATTACK IN THE BUCA PRISON BEATEN OFF BY EVEN MORE RESISTANCE A new attack of the Justice Department was witness in the Buca prison on June 11, 1998, at 6 p.m. when 4 DHKP-C prisoners, among them 2 women, returned to the prison from court and were attacked at the entrance with girders. The prisoners, trying to resist this attack, were not returned to the community cells but brought to individual cells instead and tortured. The DHKP-C prisoner, who heard from the attack and who immediately tried to free their comrades from the hands of the torturers, were attacked as well. During this second attack, the representative of the DHKP-C prisoners, Nevzat Kalayci, was taken away with violence and locked in an individual cell under torture. Thereupon the DHKP-C prisoners, hearing from the fate of the removed prisoners and wanting to get them back, started a resistance, together with some revolutionary prisoners. The torturers of the Buca prison who could not stand this fact destroyed the peep-hole of the community cells and high-pressure water was discharged into the cells. In front of the cells, dozens of torturers, armed with girders and protection shields, prepared for a new massacre and a deportation. The prisoners explained their sole demand: the attacked, the wounded and the prisoners who are subjected to torture in the individual cell must be brought back. The Justice Department and the contra-guerrilla of Izmir-Buca were forced by these events and the justified resistance and its strength to fulfill this demand. During the attack, Baris Yildirim, OEvsev Alev OEzcan and Ayten Alas were wounded while Nevzat Kalayci (brain trauma) and Tamer Cadirci (internal bleedings) were brought to hospital. Nevzat Kalayci and Tamer Cadirci were under doctors control in hospital until 12 at night and then returned to prison. The lives of both friends are still in danger. If the situation would get worse, this would be on account of the Justice Department. One again we warn the Justice Department of the Susurluk State and the prison bandits... You cannot intimidate the revolutionary prisoners with attacks, massacres and transfers You'll be held responsible for this gangsterism. The organization of DHKP-C prisoners (Kurtulus, June 20, 1998) THREE DHKP-C GUERRILLAS FELL IN DERSIM Several DHKP-C guerrillas were killed on June 15 near the exit road of the village of Ardic in Dersim after a confrontation with the state security forces. The killed guerrillas were fighters of the Dersim Ibrahim Erdogan Armed Propaganda Rural Unit. The three guerrillas, Songuel Erkus, Dursun Cakir and Alp Arslan, all joined the guerrilla in 1997. Their families went on their way on June 18 to collect the bodies of their relatives. (Kurtulus, June 20, 1998, no. 86) THE GAZI MASSACRE TRIAL Three years have gone by since the massacre in Gazi. Between March 12 and 13, 22 people were murdered by the official state forces in the neighborhoods of Gazi and UEmranye in Istanbul. The murder trial, a show trial, is still continuing and already the ninth trial session was held before the Severe Crime Court in Trabzon. Yalcin Yilmaz, heard as a witness, stated that he had seen Adem Albayrak shooting at Reis Kopal. Ilhami Yelekci, the lawyer of the policemen who are accused of murder in this trial: "The one who give my clients the weapons is the state itself. My clients basically acted within the boundaries of the state laws. And even if they used weapons, this was legal as well". Adem Albayrak in his defense: "I have fought for the Turkish state, that's why Dursun Karatas and Ercan Kartal personally ordered my death while I was in the "fight against terrorism". But even if you fire me, I will continue to fight for my state." After a recess of 45 minutes the court decided: "The accused will remain in custody. The trial will be postponed until July 10, 1998, because of a lack of presented evidence". (Kurtulus, June 20 1998) -- 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 Wed Jun 24 13:27:18 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 24 Jun 1998 13:27:18 Subject: Disappearances in Turkey: "Silence kills" Message-ID: June 12, 1998 Four new disappearances in Turkey: "Silence kills" Today, we still remain without news of Neslihan Uslu, Mehmet Ali Mandal, Hasan Aydogan and Metin Andas, all four arrested on March 31 in Izmir. Before their disappearance, they were involved in popular resistance to fascism. Metin Andas had contributed to organising 17 villages in the struggle to close the Eurogold firm which extracted gold using cyanide. Neslihan Uslu had long been active in the student movement before working for the revolutionary weekly Kurtulus (Liberation). Mehmet Ali Mandal became active after spending some time in Greece, devoting himself to translation work. Hasan Aydogan was an activist for the working class. All of them had been threatened with death. That is why on June 1, 1998, two months after their abduction, we started a hunger strike in the church of Notre Dame de Bon Secours in the middle of Brussels in order to shatter the silence which cloaks the policy of disappearances conducted by the state in Turkey. We must regretfully state that the press only reacted timidly in spite of the urgency of the situation. In the meantime, we tried to inform democratic parliamentarians about the disappearances in Izmir. In vain. On the 12th day of the hunger strike, about 20 people went to the European Parliament to meet parliamentarians thought to be likely to look into what happened to the disappeared. But, on the spot, our delegation was immediately dragooned out of the building by its security guards. Next, the hunger strikers assembled in front of the parliament, still wanting to meet some parliamentarians. These latter were at lunch. Throughout the action one could hear slogans chanted in Turkish, Dutch and French, for example: "Down with MIT (the security service in Turkey), the CIA and the contra-guerrillas", "Let's get the disappeared back, give us justice", "Down with fascism in Turkey". The press had been urgently alerted once more, but yet again it had turned a deaf ear. To the great joy of the police and gendarmes who attacked the demonstrators with a violence worthy of their colleagues in Turkey. In the police van, a policeman compressed a woman hunger striker's throat with his hand. Moreover, one hunger striker was handcuffed and another had his right leg crushed against the grille on the door of the van. One woman hunger striker whose sister was assassinated by the army and who was already weak from her fast, became ill but despite her weakness she was not taken to hospital. In the garage of the police station, and within full view of them, the hunger strikers were subjected to degrading comments: the police, who were annoyed by the enthusiasm and high morale of the strikers, amongst other things parodied the inscription "Greve de la faim" (hunger strike) on the smocks of the strikers, trying to turn it into "Creve jusqu'a la fin" (Croak until you die). In the police station, one hunger striker received blows from four angry policemen. Then the police had recourse to humiliation, forcing the strikers to undress, on the pretext of a search they pretended was legal. After four hours in detention, the strikers returned to the church with their heads held high. Thus, nothing could stop our determination to find our disappeared comrades, neither silent repression through censorship nor police terror. Comite Stop aux Disparitions 323 Chaussee de Louvain 1030 Bruxelles Tel 0032 477 883413 Fax 0032 2733 7281 -- 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 dhkc at xs4all.nl Thu Jun 25 05:08:38 1998 From: dhkc at xs4all.nl (dhkc at xs4all.nl) Date: 25 Jun 1998 05:08:38 Subject: PKK Part 2 Message-ID: Note: Translation from Kurtulus Nr. 82, May 23, 1998. The first part of a series about the PKK. Footnotes will only be given at the end of the series. We ask for your patience. The PKK - where it comes from and where it is going In the beginning... Without criticism, without discussion, without checking up and doing research, it is impossible to move forward. The national movement is far from carrying out a critique and an analysis of the tactics, politics and strategy it has pursued, from yesterday to the present day. Pragmatism is an obstacle to this. What was planned is not put into practice, different tactics clearly contradict each other, the dilemma brought about by the war is scarcely talked about. The national movement does not engage in sel f-criticism and so can derive no conclusions from it. One can also say that the left in Turkey has not fulfilled its task of criticising the national movement. To put it more accurately, it is neither able to support it nor to criticise it. While the oligarchy in 1978-79 was attacking the PKK with demagogy about "separatism", a significant portion of the left supported this attack, by calling the PKK agents provocateurs and counterrevolutionaries. When the PKK started guerrilla warfare in 19 84 they maintained their views and believed that the armed struggle would soon be defeated. When the PKK gained strength, they began to modify their analyses. Some turned into cheerleaders for the PKK. Their analysis of Kurdistan's socio-economic structur e followed a similar line. When the PKK grew, those who yesterday called Kurdistan a neo-colony later said it was a colony. (1) The pragmatism of the PKK played a substantial role in this. For example, the different phases of the politics of Aydinlik (2) bear scrutiny. At the end of 1970, the PKK were "provocateurs" according to Aydinlik. Aydinlik published the names of PKK activists. In 1985 the armed struggle began. In the magazine Sacak, which Aydinlik published with the permission of the military junta, the PKK were called "soldier-killers" and "terrorists". At the end of the 1980s we witnessed how Dogu Perincek, who was responsible for such statements, was received with military honours on a visit to a PKK training camp. At this point, Aydinlik were calling the PKK "patriots". Then we encountered the familiar counterrevolutionary face of Aydinlik. Perincek, who slandered and smeared the PKK, now began to write that it was "under the influence of the USA". Among the rest of the left in Turkey, there were also numerous changes in viewpoint with regard to the PKK, even if not to the degree shown in the example already mentioned. The TKP M-L (Translator's note: Communist Party of Turkey Marxist-Leninist, a Maoist movement with a long history of waging guerrilla warfare) has called the PKK counterrevolutionary on some occasions, and on other occasions revolutionary. These descripti ons alternated with each other from time to time. The TDKP (Revolutionary Communist Party of Turkey) with other sections of the left which favoured the Party of Labour of Albania, mostly called the PKK agents provocateurs and counterrevolutionaries. When the PKK gained strength, these claims mostly fell by the wayside. However, these parties never conducted a serious self-criticism for having made these claims. The result of all this was the following: the national movement was never given the necessary support at the right moment, nor was it subjected to the criticism it needed. Without hesitation, we can say that the Front was the sole exception to this. At a time when the oligarchy and almost the whole left attacked the PKK with demagogy about "separatism", even if other words were used, Devrimci Sol recognised and defended the PKK as a national movement. When the guerrilla struggle began in 1984, the sa me political support continued. When in the years 1984-86 the oligarchy conducted brutal operations against the PKK and the Kurdish people, Devrimci Sol gathered its entire organisational strength and possibilities and carried out actions against the ANAP (Motherland Party) government of the time to show that the Kurdish people are not alone. Since that time up to the present, the same line has been followed, both with regard to the Kurdish people's right to stand up for and defend their just demands, as well as not hesitating to support the Kurdish national movement. At the same time the mist akes of the national movement were criticised, based on the interests of the people and the revolution. The starting point of this criticism was the necessity for a common struggle by our peoples. In order to comprehend the criticism and analyses correctly that we will cite here, the Front's approach to this process must be correctly recognised. It is obvious that the PKK today is an organisation which can determine the agenda of politics in Turkey. It is a force conducting a guerrilla struggle in which thousands have fallen. But the size of a particular force does not exempt it from criticism. E ven if that were the case, a false picture would be created, as can be seen from the previous examples we have cited. A revolutionary movement, in this phase or that, can lose strength for one reason or another, and on the other hand, under certain conditions a movement may seem very strong. Yes, the PKK has struggled and become a force, but the real question is: where is it going? Today the PKK says some new things. For example, they say that "they want to integrate into Turkey". What are the positive and negative sides to that, to what exte nt are the arguments consistent and comprehensible? What happened to their earlier theses? Up to the present, the PKK has hurled every kind of reproach at the left in Turkey. What are the reasons for this intolerance? False lines of action and the negative consequences arising from it have persisted, despite all the warnings and criticism they have received. Why do they keep on doing it? What is meant by peace, the laying down of weapons and compromises with the oligarchy, which they have been trying to achieve for years? How does that stand in relationship to the original aims of the PKK? There are many such questions that could be asked From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Thu Jun 25 17:36:47 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 25 Jun 1998 17:36:47 Subject: gone for two weeks Message-ID: Hello to all of you. This is a short note to inform you we will be gone for two weeks. Don't expect to much traffic in this time. Take Care! -- 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 dhkc at xs4all.nl Fri Jun 26 21:21:56 1998 From: dhkc at xs4all.nl (dhkc at xs4all.nl) Date: 26 Jun 1998 21:21:56 Subject: PKK Part2 Message-ID: Translation from Kurtulus, Number 83, May 30 1998, second part of a series about the PKK. The PKK - where does it come from and where is it going. INTRODUCTION The PKK in particular, but also all Kurdish nationalist political organisations, upheld the thesis that Kurdistan is a colony of Turkey, and they propagated the idea of an "independent Kurdistan". This conception and aim of an independent Kurdistan became a raison d'etre for the Kurdish national movement. This went as far as treating those Kurds who did not accept the colonialism thesis as "traitors to the nation", while those of Turkish background who rejected the thesis were called "Kemalists" and "coll aborators with colonialism". At the end of the 1970s this question came in for such a massive amount of discussion that the task of waging the anti-fascist struggle was quite forgotten. The discussion as to whether or not Kurdistan was a colony overwhelme d everything else. Many left groups who are devoid of self-confidence and have developed no policies on the national question, did not support the colonialism theory at that time. But after the PKK became a significant force these groups began to adopt the theory. They saw Kurdistan as a burden, and were glad to hand it over to the PKK so they could take the burden off their own shoulders. Colonialism is one of the PKK's basic theses. Its strategy for revolution and its ideology are framed accordingly. The idea that Kurdistan is the colony not of imperialism but of Turkey is also what restricts the PKK to dealing only with the question of n ational liberation. The colonialism thesis, the nationalist viewpoint and pragmatism supplement one another in the PKK's ideology. The political handicaps that are confronted in the struggle, the mistakes committed in the course of actions, the search for wrong alliances are all nurtured by this ideology. When asked why four TDKP (Revolutionary Communist Party of Turkey) activists had been murdered, the reply was that they had been guests. Of course it goes without saying that guests must be subordinate to their host and do whatever is demanded of them... Exactly the same logic as this, saturated with nationalism, is what the PKK confronted in northern Iraq. Barzani told them exactly the same thing. But they did not accept it. The national liberation line they have, nurtured by the colonialism idea, could not stop them from collapsing into pragmatism, which is the inevitable fate of petit bourgeois nationalism. After a certain point, everything, politics, alliances, relations and actions will be characterised by pragmatism. One is always planning only for the short term. Things that look good in the short term from a pragmatic viewpoint merely pave the way for negative developments in the long term. The point that has been reached is the bankruptcy of ideological and strategic theses as a consequence of this negativity. They have gone from a theory of colonialism to seeking integration into Turkey, and from seeking independence to seeking autonomy, o n the pattern of Chechnya's autonomy within Russia, or the federal structure of Germany. Now ideological weakness is concealed with weaponry. Weapons are not in themselves a sign of one's ideology, they are also not an instrument that justifies every kind of policy. In Africa and Asia there are dozens of organisations that are conducting an armed struggle, but a significant proportion of them are using their weapons to achieve goals that are within the system. As Mahir Cayan clearly pointed out, "The guer rilla struggle by itself does not determine a movement's character." The question is what programme, aims and purpose govern the guerrilla struggle. There is a war, granted, but what is the attitude to classes and nationality in the politics, practice and programme of the war? The revolutionary movement was reproached for years with being "Kemalist" for not accepting the colonialism theory. In the meantime years have passed and there is nobody, not even the PKK, who talks of the independence of "colonial" Kurdistan. Today, wher e are the people who talked about the colonialism theory yesterday? Marxist-Leninists say the same today as they said yesterday. Life has once again confirmed today what the revolution and the common struggle had proposed and fought for yesterday. Everybody must accept that the theory of colonialism has been shown to be bankrupt. Marxist-Leninists do not organise on the basis of nationalism. There is no other way and no other solution, this theoretical basis must be changed. FROM COLONIALISM TO BELONGING TO TURKEY According to the PKK, Kurdistan was inherited as a colony by present-day Turkey from its Ottoman predecessor. Today Kurdistan is supposed to be a classic colony of Turkey. At the centre of the PKK's theoretical conceptions, as with many other nationalist Kurdish movements, lies "Turkish colonialism". "The Turkish bourgeoisie which is very strong in Kurdistan in the military sphere, also developed colonialism without any difficulties, in the political as well as socio-economic and cultural spheres. Under capitalism, everybody rules according to their p ower. The power of the Turkish bourgeoisie is also enough to colonise Kurdistan." ("The Road to Revolution in Kurdistan") In the past, the left in Turkey talked a lot about colonialism. But what we are discussing today is not a repeat of that. "COLONIALISM" IS A SUBJECTIVE DEFINITION First of all, it cannot be said that Kurdistan was left to present-day Turkey as a colony of the Ottoman Empire. The national liberation struggle against the partition of the Ottoman Empire by imperialism during the first war of distribution created new r elations and new formations. So the old relationships also did not exist any more after the war of national liberation. The Kurdish people, under Kurdish leadership, also took part in the national liberation war through an agreement with the Kemalists, an d they fought against imperialism. However, after the revolution the government broke its accords, ignored the existence of the Kurdish people and placed the annexation and assimilation of northern Kurdistan on the agenda. To achieve this, attacks contin ued until the Dersim uprising was put down in 1938. After that, the petit bourgeois Kemalist dictatorship completed its annexation of northern Kurdistan. Secondly, Turkish and Kurdish rulers took part in the oligarchy, which is an alliance of the ruling classes in Turkey. That means that the Kurdish and Turkish ruling classes have integrated themselves in the same structure from the beginning. This structu re which we call the oligarchy forms the basis of national oppression, jointly with imperialism. Moreover, neo-colonial relationships have tied Kurdish and Turkish working people into the same relationships. In short, these relationships have placed two n ations in a single social structure. Thirdly, in the age of imperialism there is no colonialism other than imperialist colonialism. The example of Portugal is no proof of the colonialism theory that the PKK is trying to develop. There has been much discussion about this. In the PKK's publica tions the same example is constantly cited. Portugal is used in an effort to show that a colony can also have a colony. The PKK, which does not take imperialism into account, says the revolution in Kurdistan is first targeted against Turkish colonialism. Amilcar Cabral, who led the revolution in Guinea-Bissau, a colony of Portugal, gives the best reply to this. "Portugal is a henchman of imperialism (...) It is known that Portugal is itself a semi-colonial country. Since 1775, it has been a semi-colony of Britain. That is the only reason Portugal was able to maintain its colonies when Africa was being partitione d. How could this poor and miserable country maintain its colonies in the face of the greed and jealousy of Germany, France, England and Belgium, and of US imperialism, whose day was dawning? Because of the tactics that were preferred... England said, 'Po rtugal is my colony, if it maintains its own colonies these will also be my colonies.' And England used force to defend the intersts of Portugal. But the current situation is not the same. Angola is really no longer a colony of Portugal." ("The Last Words ") Imperialism itself is what leaves its stamp on colonialism. Without this there is no colonialism. Imperialism is the age of rule by the monopolies, which completely dominate economic life through the accumulation and centralisation of capital. Another mistake of those who define Turkish Kurdistan as a colony of the Turkish ruling classes and not of imperialism and the oligarchy, is the claim that feudal relations dominate in Kurdistan while capitalist relationships are predominant in Turkey (so me of those who say this consider the strategy for revolution in Turkey to be the uprising, while Kurdistan's revolution is to come from people's war). The degree of development of capitalism in western Turkey and Kurdistan is different, but that does not alter the fact that capitalist relations predominate. Viewed this way, while exploitative relationships have developed worldwide and also in Turkey, there was not an inch of soil left that had not been encroached upon by imperialism. The colonialism theory was almost developed as an alibi for separate organi sation and nationalism. Because of the claim that Kurdistan is a colony of Turkey, resolving this was placed in the foreground and the struggle of the Turkish and Kurdish peoples was separated, instead of a joint revolution of these peoples and other nationalities, two different revolutions for the two countries were envisaged. Understandably, separate revolutions also meant separate tactics and strategies. A NATIONALISM NOT DIRECTED AGAINST IMPERIALISM What we particularly want to touch on is why and how the transition has been made from a theory of colonialism to wanting integration into Turkey. Here, something else must be mentioned. From the start the PKK described its aims on the basis of colonialis m in the following way: "The revolution in Kurdistan is first of all targeted against Turkish colonialism. It is this that robs us of political independence, destroys and devastates the productive forces and pursues a policy of annihilating the Kurdish la nguage, history and culture. This colonialism is supported from outside by the imperialists and internally by feudal compradors. These forces, closely connected to each other economically, are the targets of the revolution in Kurdistan. A movement that do es not oppose first of all Turkish colonialism and its internal and external supporters at the same time cannot be considered to be revolutionary in Kurdistan." In and of itself, this statement is approximately correct. "Turkish colonialism", imperialism and Kurdish collaborators are all described as a target, even if a correct and unambiguous formulation has not been used. However, the PKK's practice has never developed inside this framework. First of all, the PKK has in no way openly opposed imperialism, and if it is a question of "Turkish colonialism", this is always presented as the main target. As a consequence of this logic, imperialism is always presented as a secondary target. In the PKK's history there has never been a tactic of fighting imperialism. It looks on the Turkish oligarchy as though it had seized colonies outside of Kurdistan's borders, for example like t he relationship between the USA and Vietnam. From this analogy, the liberation of Vietnam did not see the destruction of US colonial power as an aim. Also, the PKK sees overthrowing the oligarchy in Turkey as a secondary matter or shows no interest in it at all. And if the oligarchy maintains itself in power, the PKK develops the strategy of trying to take Turkish Kurdistan away from it, and to impose this upon it. But the drawback of this is that the relationship between Turkey and Kurdistan is not the s ame as the relationship between the USA and Vietnam! Without taking account of the oligarchy's relations with imperialism, and its economic, political, cultural and military dimension, one will get into endless difficulties if one tries to put the "Turkis h" dimension of this in the foreground and build an entire strategy upon it. Inside the oligarchy there is no "Turkish" national purity, despite all the bourgeois demagogy that is deployed. So for this reason it is clear that a strategy that is not aimed at overthrowing the oligarchy and the imperialism inseparable from it will not be able to free Kurdistan. This is actually one of the most important contradictions in the PKK's theory of colonialism. In China and Vietnam, which are always cited as examples by the PKK, an actual struggle against imperialism was conducted. Whereas in the quote above, the place of imperialism was not clearly defined. One must ask what this analysis considers the influence of imperialism to be. Is Turkey, which is militarily, politically, culturally and economically dependent on imperialism, the determining force, or is it imperi alism itself? The publications of the PKK do not answer such questions. Today, no answer will be forthcoming. For the reason that the PKK sees the USA or Germany as forces that might resolve the Kurdish question. Now we have to ask whether the genocides a nd massacres the oligarchy has unleashed against the Kurdish people for years are independent of the politics of imperialism? Is that the case today? This question is not clearly answered. If it was, the PKK would have to adopt a clear attitude towards im perialism, that is, struggling against it. But as we will later quote in detail, the peace politics of the PKK require it to have relations with imperialism. Moreover, the PKK does not wage a serious struggle against the Kurdish rulers and major landowner s, though it says it does. Nor has it waged a struggle based on the land question. This means that the class content of the struggle has completely disappeared and on all sides it is narrowing down to mere nationalism. GROWING "HANDICAPS"AND THEIR "SOLUTION" Despite the positive development of the armed struggle, the handicaps put up by the colonialism theory did not become less, on the contrary, they came out into the open. The theory became a basis for separate organisation and a separate revolution, and se parate states under all conditions. But experience has shown that this nationalist approach is a handicap which prevents results from being achieved. Instead of the national movement moving closer to revolutionary theory, its efforts to find a solution ta ke it in a false direction. With this line, the PKK underwent political change while it was achieving the greatest strength it could from its armed struggle. Because of its class character it could not develop revolutionary politics which could bring abou t a solution. The theory of "belonging to Turkey" came onto the agenda in such a setting. But this theory is incomprehensible. It causes one question after another to be asked. Of course the main origin of this chaos is the theoretical and ideological structure of the PKK at the start. There is no agreement between this structure and the theor y. Those who uphold this theory increase chaos with the writings they pen in an effort to explain the theory. So before we deal in more detail with this theme of "belonging to Turkey", it is a good idea to specify the following points. *Separate organising and separate revolutions as a consequence of the colonialism theory have no other function from the very beginning than to use nationalist emotions which separate the peoples and weaken them in the face of the common enemy. The new ai m, "belonging to Turkey", which is a way out of their present handicap, is also a confirmation of what we have been saying. What can be understood of the goal "becoming a party of Turkey" is that the Kurdish national movement is admitting that what went b efore was a handicap. For what does it mean when yesterday they were saying "Kurdistan is a colony of Turkey" and now are saying, "The revolution in Turkey is also our revolution". *But these words are not sincere, they contain no strategic approach, because everything is made to depend on the revolution in Kurdistan. On the one hand they talk of "belonging to Turkey", on the other they talk of "peace". Peace with whom? With the o ligarchy of Turkey? So if one signs a peace treaty with the oligarchy in Turkey and ends the armed struggle, what happens to the peoples of Turkey? What has happened to "belonging to Turkey"? The peace politics of the PKK have no room for the peoples of T urkey. They want a few rights for the Kurdish people but the Turkish people should continue to live under the repression and exploitation by the oligarchy. That is the result of what they have said. To turn to the peoples of Turkey with this nationalist l ogic to "lead" their struggle is also not a possibility. Striving to belong to Turkey was something the PKK claimed to have put on the agenda in 1997, but it is not new. It was trying to do it in 1991. The DHP (Revolutionary People's Party) was a product of this and remained fruitless, as we will show later on. Sometimes they claim to have believed in belonging to Turkey from the very beginning. "Our operations in Turkey are not connected with our difficult situation, nor with the annihilation of the enem y's military forces. These play a role, but only on the side. The basic political reasons for our operations in Turkey are made very clear in our party manifesto. We have the aim of creating Kurdish-Turkish fraternity, unity and commonality. As Kurdish r evolutionaries we will not tolerate the oppression of the peoples of Turkey by the fascist leadership. We do not simply want to realise revolution in Kurdistan, but we also owe Turkey a revolution." (Semdin Sakik, ?. Yurtsever Genclik, November 1997, issu e 7) According to this assessment, the PKK talked of "belonging to Turkey" years ago, and also predicted the common organisation of its peoples years ago. The PKK was founded in 1978, but 19 years had to pass before they started talking about "belonging to Tur key". At its foundation the PKK stood neither for organising the peoples together nor for being a "party of Turkey". Why have you called for an independent Kurdistan for years? Why did you only organise among Kurds? Why have you only fought in Kurdistan? These are valid questions. Undoubtedly it is well known that the PKK, since it arose, has only named revolution in Kurdistan as its goal in its publications. The concept of "belonging to Turkey" only appeared in its literature in the 1990s. It is also cle ar why. *In reality the PKK is engaged in a search. The nationalist conception they had for years is a dead end, for in the name of its slogans of "a people", "a land", its efforts to organise the Kurdish workers, government employees and youth separated them fro m others. The current search is for a way out of this dead end. The war itself pushes them that way. All assessments which have been built up on the basis of the colonialism theory have losr significance, one after another. So it was possible to see that the nationalist theories were widely separated from life and the reality of Turkey and Kurdistan. Instead, the nationalist movment should acknowledge the facts as an expression of their sincerity. Their various searches are an effort to conceal all this. It is a symptom of the nationalist line that things have turned out the way they have. The thesis of "belonging to Turkey" is not a result of their strategy for revolution but a necessity forced on them by life. The reason the PKK turned to the west was to relieve their difficulties in Kurdistan. For it is well known that it is impossible t o achieve a result with a guerrilla movement confined to one region. This is particularly the case in our country. It can be seen that a guerrilla war restricted to Kurdistan and which does not spread, remains unsuccessful and means the guerrillas are con fronted with isolation in areas uninhabited by people. Attempts to take the fighting into the big cities are a recognition of the fact that the war must spread throughout Turkey. This is made necessary in practice. Right at this point, a struggle conducte d on the basis of Kurdish nationalism does not correspond to the needs of the war. Looked at this way, the nationalist theory must give way to the reality in the country, but the thesis of "belonging to Turkey", which only exists on paper, also makes no s ense. For what has happened to the things they defended up to today? What lessons have they drawn from it? Why has it come at this point? Why was it not defended yesterday, but only today? As long as these questions are not answered, the "tactic" of "belo nging to Turkey" will also be condemned to fail. In our conclusion we would also like to point to the following. The thesis of "belonging to Turkey" could be the start of a way out of the dead end if the correct lessons are drawn from it, with the perspective of strengthening the struggle. Up to the pr esent that has not happened, they did not want to... So it remained a matter of military actions. No strategic viewpoint has been achieved. Since this thesis of "belonging to Turkey" is also being looked at from a nationalist viewpoint, it is clear that t hey have sacrificed it in favour of looking for a solution within the framework of the regime, such as seeking peace and dialogue. But whether one calls it "belonging to Turkey" or not... The task of revolutionaries today is to strengthen the common fight for the liberation of all our peoples. The PKK's "belonging to Turkey" was from the beginning a consequence of their pragmatic aims and did not serve the task of revolution. Those who do not take, from a strategic viewpoint, the common organising and li beration of the peoples of our country as a basis, or do not work to improve it in an appropriate manner will not save themselves from the handicap of nationalism. It is obvious that the revolution in Turkey needs a serious leadership and a serious struggle. Whoever does not fulfil these tasks in the struggle, will also have no success. Up to the present, the PKK has said many things, made many comments, given voice to exaggerated claims such as that the end of the struggle is in sight, but they have achieved no results. They are in a dead end, in political terms. That is, their words and claims can achieve nothing. In what they write, on one page they will talk of bringing guerrillas into the mountains and on another they will talk of peace. The strategies and tactics which are the basis of this are left unclear. "If a revolution is achieved, it will happen in both Turkey and Kurdistan. The state will sit down at a table with the peoples of Kurdistan and Turkey and reform the laws and the constitution, create a democratic regime and develop peace through this." (i bid, page 7) The expectations from this are clear. The contra-state of Susurluk is supposed to sit down at the same table with the Turkish and Kurdish revolutionaries and patriots, carry out common reforms and produce a constitution and laws. Will these latter give ri se to people's power? What will the state be called? It is impossible to liberate our peoples in a struggle which has such expectations in mind. Such expectations mean that the politics of "belonging to Turkey", are nothing other than continuing the natio nalist line they have been pursuing. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (IM KASTEN) WHY A JOINT LIBERATION? The revolution in the Turkish part of Kurdistan will come onto the agenda as part of an anti-imperialist, anti-oligarchic people's revolution of the Kurdish and Turkish peoples. This Marxist-Leninist approach, which rests on a historical and socio-economi c analysis of the conditions in Turkey and a correct definition of its relationship to imperialism is the only valid road to liberation, so long as no very special conjunctural changes arise in these relationships. The conditions for realising the right to self-determination of the Kurdish people depend on the peoples of the Kurdish and Turkish nations and the other nationalities achieving an anti-oligarchic and anti-imperialist people's revolution under the leaders hip of the Marxist-Leninist party and achieving revolutionary people's power. All states in the region (Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria) which have annexed Kurdistan and whose interests are the same as those of the oligarchy in Turkey and imperialism, are against an independent, democratic Kurdistan in Turkey. The same is true because of common interests with regard to the Kurdish parts of the other countries in the region. Marxist-Leninists are objective: they base revolutionary theories on scientifically objective events and not on desires. So they do not struggle with national independence and liberation strategies which are not based on facts and pay no heed to the curre nt situation. Marxist-Leninists take account of the balance of external forces, but they chiefly form their strategy based on internal dynamics. As a whole, Turkey and Turkish Kurdistan are a neo-colony of imperialism. This statement does not mean that Marxist-Leninists of Turkey see the definitive solution to the Kurdish issue in the Middle East as depending absolutely on the maintenance of Turk ey's current borders. After an anti-oligarchic, anti-imperialist people's revolution in Turkey, if as a consequence of the free will of the Kurdish people (as expressed in a referendum), separation comes on the agenda, they will support this. (They will s upport it, though the interests of the proletariat lie in the existence of one unitary state.) For Marxist-Leninists there is already a broad horizon for supporting such a goal of making a new Kurdish state a stronghold for the other parts of the Middle E ast, or that, with the other parts freeing themselves, an independent, united, democratic Kurdistan can be founded. (Of course, the first condition for supporting it is that imperialism is beaten and driven out from it.) However, the united-Kurdistan stra tegy, leading to the complete liberation of Kurdistan, depends on the freeing of the Kurdish people in the other parts, and this depends on a joint revolution of the Kurdish people and the oppressing nation. That is, democratic people' revolutions in Tur key, Iran, Iraq and Syria. The more these revolutions are accelerated, the quicker the Kurdish people will be liberated. Therefore the approach of Marxist-Leninists to the Kurdish national question is in conformity with the independence of Kurdistan and t he interests of both peoples - oppressors and the oppressed. But first there must be unity for the common liberation of the Kurdish and Turkish peoples with a common organisation and a single revolutionary strategy. True liberation, in Turkish Kurdistan a lso, involves the unification of the forces of both peoples in one unitary and central organisation in order to overthrow imperialism and the oligarchy. The opposite of this is not possible. Why is this the case? The determining factors are as follows: Fascism, which is continually in power and propped up by imperialism, is the common enemy of the Kurdish and Turkish people. Both nations are subjected to massive attacks from fascism. Apart from the national oppression directed at the Kurdish people, the fate of both peoples is determined by fascism. The true cause of national oppression today is imperialism, which supports fascism and maintains it in power. So the national liberation war of the Kurdish people and also the Turkish people is closely boun d up with class liberation and liberation from the power of imperialism and the oligarchy. Both nations were forced to form common organisations, compelled by national oppression and assimilation in many areas. (The majority of these organisations are bourgeois.) They have influenced each other culturally because of centuries of the necessity o f living together under one roof in the same state. Besides this, in their economic, political and social life they are, in the end, forced at all levels to work together for a common future. The oligarchy created the relationships of this multinational s tate to serve its own interests, and is now confronted by an enemy consisting of many peoples (Kurdish, Turkish and the other minorities). While the oligarchy and the Kemalist dictatorship practised national repression of the Kurdish people, the Turks and the other peoples were by no means ruled by bourgeois democracy. Apart from national oppression directed at the Kurdish people, there is no difference, as far as fascism and the state is concerned, between Kurdish and Turkish working people. These basic factors make the liberation of the Kurdish people alone impossible, but the PKK and other nationalist Kurdish groups have yet to grasp this. The PKK is a patriotic nationalist movement, for it restricts itself to the national question, Kurdish national borders and Kurdish demands. More importantly, it sees the social and class liberation of the peoples and nations who live together under the r oof of the same state as a secondary matter. One can say that revolutionaries dedicate themselves first of all to the liberation of their own countries and push this process forward. But in a multinational state, that is not possible. The entire epoch of imperialism,that is, all national and social wars in this century, provide sufficient proof that this is a false conception. Their false analysis of conditions in Turkey is the basic factor explaining why the PKK is unable to perceive this reality. The PKK, reproaches the revolutionary movement for recognising the current borders of Turkey in its attitude to the Kurdish question, even though the PKK itself has only a purely nationalist line. The PKK claims to stand for scientific socialism and the views of the working class. This is really an outstanding contradiction; the second contradict ion applies to "external" reasons: an independent democratic Kurdish state will not only be rejected by Turkey on strategic grounds, but also by the states of Iran, Iraq and Syria. This "external" factor is as important as the first one. Another factor which comes into it is the interests of imperialism in the Middle East and its influence over Turkey. This factor can be seen in the advantages which have accrued to imperialism in the developments of the past 10 years. A revolutionary Kurd istan which does not receive sufficient support but wants to separate from Turkey will be strangled at birth, because its existence is not in the interests of imperialism. What the USA thinks about all this is not a secret. For the reasons mentioned above , no nationalist movement, even if it conducts armed struggle, can realise the goal of an independent Kurdistan, if it does not have the perspective of a common struggle, common organisation and a common power to deploy against imperialism and the oligarc hy, which dominate Turkey and Turkish Kurdistan. A revolutionary movement which divides the strength of the Kurdish and Turkish working people and, against these hostile powers, only relies on Kurdish national forces will be confronted with political, mil itary and ideological handicaps, as is currently the case. The war between Iraq and Iran and the Gulf War confirm our remarks cited above. During the Iran-Iraq War, both of those states lost strength. Kurdish patriots in both lands did not organise jointly with revolutionary movements of the oppressing nations as a national and social force of the whole peoples of Iran and Iraq, and so the r evolution could not be pushed forward. On the contrary, they were played off against one another. Moreover, those Kurdish organisations which based their policies on the support of these states have been dealt heavy blows as a result of the peace treaty b etween Iran and Iraq. Thus both Iranian and Iraqi Kurdish organisations are to blame for the fact that the Kurdish people were massacred. In short, movements whose horizon is restricted to nationalism have little or no chance of success. Only a common struggle will bring the liberation of the peoples. ----------------------------------------------------- IM KASTEN YESTERDAY - TODAY YESTERDAY "Imperialism, which today is trying to organise reaction again, to create a so-called peace under its control, is the enemy of all peoples in the region. The PKK is convinced that in the region, peace and cooperation for the peoples on the basis of equality and freedom cannot be achieved without overthrowing the regime of imperialism and its collaborators." (Founding manifesto, 1978) "US imperialism is responsible for the September 12 fascism coming to power. It has erected a regime of oppression and torture in doing so. Moreover, this regime has done everything to destroy the Kurdish people. While all this happened, the USA was not concerned. On the contrary, it gave its blessing to the suppression of 'terrorism' and 'separatism'. " (Selected works, volume 4, Abdullah ?c alan, end of the 1980s, page 133) TODAY "I don't say that I am totally against the USA. I am not against the technology, science and the people of the USA. I don't say that everything American is my enemy. I don't say that one should have no ties with the USA..." ("Kurdish documents", 1991, Ref et Balli, page 244) "Certainly we have carried out no actions against US installations or persons, and we have no intention of doing this. Even though we are not at war with the USA, I don't understand why the USA and its intelligence service see the PKK as the greatest dang er in the world. What have we done to the USA to be treated like this? (...) Where have we attacked the interests of the USA to make them come after us like this?" (Abdullah ?calan in "?zg?r Halk", May 15, 1995, page 55) List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From dhkc at xs4all.nl Sat Jun 27 21:08:29 1998 From: dhkc at xs4all.nl (dhkc at xs4all.nl) Date: 27 Jun 1998 21:08:29 Subject: The National Security Council is attaking the Kurtulus Message-ID: Kurtulus Number 86, June20, 1998 The National Security Council is attacking Kurtulus. We will not be silenced! Once again the National Security Council (MGK) is attacking Kurtulus... But this time the attack takes a diferent from from before. This time the attack is not directly against the offices of Kurtulus or the people who work there... To prevent the printing and distribution of the paper, the owner of the printing firm which pr ints our newspaper has been threatened by the contra-guerrillas. Threats are being made in order to stop various democratic, opposition newspapers from being printed, particularly Kurtulus. Things started to happen on May 26, when the owner of the Serler printing firm was phoned up by the nat?onal secur?ty d?rector for B?y?kcesme District, H?seyin Islamoglu, who told him to come and see the authorities. The owner of the Serler print shop was frightened and confused by what he was told in the office of the national security director. For H?seyin Islamoglu called upon him, in the name of the National Security Council and the divisional commander of the area's artillery units, not to print Kurt ulus any more. "Or else..." he said. "Or else" was clarified by him in the following terms: "Look, I can guarantee that the forces of the state won't do you any harm. The printing firm's premises won't be bombed, the state's forces won't attack it. But nobody can tell what the 'civil forces' will do. And you have children... It will be a shame for them. I'm sorry..." Yes, that was the style of the threats. The owner of the printing firm was deeply astonished... "I print in accordance with your laws," he said. However the answer he received was interesting. "We are engaged in a hard fight against them in the mountains and the cities. Legally, we cannot stop their publications. The way to stop them publishing is through you. If you don't print, they cannot publish anything." In short, the province's director for national security, H?seyin Islamoglu, is declaring that they do not even obey their own laws. And again and again he emphasised that it was the MGK which was making statements like, "Print other publications, we will support you," they are saying... And of course, right after these threats and this "offer", a most varied assortment of right-wing publications are expecting to be printed by the firm. In other words, threats and blackmail are going hand in hand. After the MGK tried all ways and failed to silence Kurtulus, it is now threatening the printer. And it is continuing, as if it hopes to get a result. ?zg?r Halk (Free People), Atilim (Upsurge), Halkin G?nl?g? (People's Diary), Partizan... you are also not to printed them anymore. Then he listed left-wing and opposition publications: Kervan (Caravan), ?zg?rl?k D?nyasi (World of Freedom), Hevi (Kurdish: Illumination), Kizil Bayrak (Red Banner), ?zg?r Kadin (Free Woman), Zindan (Prison), Alternatif, Evrensel K?lt?r (Universal Culture), Yeniden (Anew), Halkin Birligi (People's Unity), Deng (Kurdish: Voice), Yurtsever Genclik (Patriotic Youth)... You will also not print these anymore... He could not stop himself and added other publications which are not curre ntly being printed at Serler: Memur Gercegi (Government Workers' Reality), Yoksul Halkin G?c? (Power of the Poor People), Devrimci Genclik (Revolutionary Youth), Tavir (Behaviour). Afterwards... What follows next is clear... The MGK would like to silence all voices it sees as oppositional. It knows very well that one must start with the revolutionaries. It is profiting from fascism's experience over decades: first the revolutionaries, then the pr ogressives, then the democrats and finally everybody... While the MGK tries to put artificial things on the agenda in order to divide the people's forces in a debate over secularism and anti-secularism while strengthening its own forces, it is attacking the people even more unscrupulously. Until yesterday, thi s was directed from behind the scenes. Now it is not directing it, it is playing the leading part on the stage. Without doubt there are also circles which call themselves "leftist" which have contributed to the MGK's unscrupulous efforts to pull all the s trings. This is because they have become pawns in the secularism versus anti-secularism game and have taken sides with the MGK. With the strength it gains, the Susurluk state is becoming evermore unscrupulous and aggressive. On June 18, 1998, a press statement was read out in front of the building housing the Journalists' Society. The subject was the events described above. For a whole week, dozens of institutions of writers and publishers had been visited and told what had h appened. The majority said, "Of course we support you. We will take part in the press statement." But when the press statement was read out, there was nobody other than the Kurtulus journalists present. Some newspapers sent journalists to report on the ev ent, but none of them took part. When someone treads on the toes of the "major newspapers", they wail loudly about press freedom. But when the time comes to defend it they are nowhere to be seen. The threats against a printing firm's owner are an attempt to halt the publication of many newspapers. If that is not an attack on press freedom, what is? But the fact that nobody from the other press took part in reading the press statement shows that some do not see these events as an attack on press freedom... Because they publish with the permission of the MGK. Their existence is tied to the existence of the Susurluk state. They know that if the Susurluk state is not secured, that is also the end of their own existence. Their policy in what they publish is de termined by this reality. And in situations like now, their screams about press freedom are shown to be hypocrisy. "A snake that refrains from biting me should live for a thousand years," they say. But that is fascism... These journalists forget that one day it will be their turn. However much they support the Susurluk state, they have to publish some facts about it. When the contra-guerrilla state prescribes that nothing should be published about these events, these journalists will realise what has actu ally happened, but by then it will be too late. The picture we have drawn is in itself a very pessimistic one. In other words, the worst of all possibilities. On the other hand, developments in our country are actually unfolding differently. While on the one hand fascist oppression and attacks are on the increase, on the other hand the revolutionary struggle is on the rise and the people's opposition is developing. In other words, the contra-guerilla state has few chances of actually turning the pessimistic picture we have sketched into a reality. In the end, the continually escalating policy of aggression of the Susurluk state will be rendered futile by the revolutionaries. With the tradition of Yeni C?zum and M?cadele (New Solution and Struggle, forerunners of Kurtulus) behind us, we have written th e truth for the past 12 years, and we are the voice and breath of the people. In these 12 years we have faced every kind of oppression and ban. Hundreds of our co-workers have been arrested and tortured. Dozens have been put in prison. Irfan Agdas, Senem Adali and Muhammet Kaya, who distributed the newspaper, were murdered. The contra-guerrillas bombed the newspaper's office in Ankara. Mehmet Topaloglu (responsible editor of Kurtulus in Adana) was murdered in his house, together with two revolutionaries. They have attacked us for 12 years in an attempt to stop us. Our offices in Anatolia are confronted by the police almost every day, almost every day our workers are arrested. Our people are tortured, thrown into prison, murdered, made to disappear... We k now that this will continue to be the case. But no oppression, no attack will alter the policy of our newspaper of standing on the side of the people and growing closer to them. Naturally there is a reason why we were chosen as the first target of the MGK, or in other words, the Susurluk state. For years we have written about the reality of the contra-guerrilla state, we declared that those actually pulling its strings are the me mbers of the MGK. After the Susurluk accident of November 3, 1996, we described and showed in the most open way possible how hostile the state is to the people,and we also showed the people's reaction and struggle against it. Without being intimidated or exhausted, we wrote that without overthrowing the Susurluk state, without setting up a system in which people can live in a human way with dignity, without driving imperialism out of our land, actual liberation of the people is impossible. We have tried t o frustrate the state's efforts to tie various sections of the people to it. That is why we above all must be silenced. The contra-guerrilla state knows well that if it can silence us it will be easier to silence everybody. Exploitation and oppression wi ll continue more easily. This is why we are the number one target... As long as our country continues to be occupied by imperialism, as long as the system of exploitation and oppression remains in power, the struggle in our land will not cease. Also, Kurtulus, which seeks out the people and stands by their side and in thei r ranks, will not fall silent. No oppression and no attack will silence Kurtulus, the honourable voice of the struggle. List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From dhkc at xs4all.nl Sun Jun 28 21:22:18 1998 From: dhkc at xs4all.nl (dhkc at xs4all.nl) Date: 28 Jun 1998 21:22:18 Subject: disappeared Message-ID: Translation from the magazine for cultur and art, TAVIR, June 1998, issue 6 On the disappeared Will they now all be designated as "disappeared''? Our people have given countless names to the disappeared. People who have slipped through our hands, the lost ones, the disappeared... Everything one seeks to express; those one loves so much are now those one searches for in the realm of nothingness. Disappeared...What a cold word. Yet with the disappeared one is talking about a person... If strangers are far away, they still possess an address; and should one die, one still has a gravestone where people can mourn and weep... Unless of course one has "disappeared"... Individually, our people break away and fall down like twigs from high trees. The dark forces want to fill humanity with those whose hearts are wrapped in hopelessness. For they are indeed without hope, used up, corrupted, concepts like these are to be applied to them. We, on the other hand, have a bright future in our hands. If we spread out our hands, there will not remain one spot on the world that we have not illuminated. Once again, a portion of our hearts has been torn out. We have heard: in the land of the Efes (a kind of Robin-Hood-style bandit who was particularly widespread in western Anatolia), in the Aegean, four of our dear friends: our Neslihan, our Metin, our Hasan and our Mehmet Ali, have fallen into the hand of da rkness. For three months, there has been no news of them. It is said that they have "disappeared". In the year gone by, in these months... We are in Bergama, to support the peasants, who selflessly and without hesitation are doing battle with a company which is poisoning their land with cyanide. When we arrive in Narlica, we meet one of the older peasa nts who is in rebellion. We do not understand why it was that the time passed so quickly in the village cafe. In a notably cordial and sincere manner, the peasant we met reported to us what had happened: "For example, we carried out a secret occupation. The first occupation... At half past four in the morning... We called it 'Operation Dawn'. " We smiled. "Until quarter past four, civilian cars of the MIT (National Intelligence Organisation, Turkey's secr et service) were driving around, and there were civil police in the village, patrolling. So something might be expected to happen. However, nobody could be seen on the street. He drives to Bergama and drinks some tea. Then there is a telephone call: 'The peasants in Bergama have raided the building site.'... They dismissed him from the service... The man said: 'Yes, nobody was there, where did 10,000 people spring from in just 15 minutes, where had they been hiding?' A weekly newspaper reported: 'They were brought in from outside and the peasants concealed th em in a forest.' But this was not true. So, how many people are there in our village: ten people... Since the previous evening, two people have known of the day of the action and how it is to take place. An action is about to happen... Without letting sli p where and what it will be, these two people go around knocking on the committees' doors and saying: 'Get ready: at the last moment we will announce what the objective's going to be.' Everyone is ready. The committees in the villages are waiting... The committees are divided up among peoples' homes... How many of those are there in our village; one hundred... One person will take on ten houses and wake up the people in them. Whoever wakes up everybody first is the winner... If one person has got sta rted, within five minutes the people of 10 houses can be woken up. The only sounds are the knocking on the doors and 'Get up, it's time for the action.' Within ten minutes, they brought peasants, children and all, including their tractors and were on the road by about half past four... We got out; five minutes passed before we arrived there. This police station will inform them, the commisioner will explode with anger... Hey, my boy, hey!" How well the older peasant tells the story. One can hardly bear to part from him. An energetic young man approaching 50... "There was no fear in the villages... One day the news came: a press conference about minerals is happening in one of the big hotels in Izmir. 'Great,' we said. We did not tell anyone. These cars you see over there - there are many of them in our villages and they can take forty or fifty people... We found 50 of them to transport us. Right to Izmir... On Republic Square we parked the cars. It is half eight in the morning and nobody knows about it... Our chairman says, 'Let's shout slogans in the hotel lou nge.' 'No,' I say, 'Let's occupy the hotel.' He asked, 'How?' 'Hey,' I reply, 'Just come along, we will find a way.' We stood in front of the entrance. Before the great mass of people arrived, about 50 people were at the entrance. 'A press conference is t o take place in this hotel, ' the chairman said... 'We are peasants who want minerals. The company has invited us.' After the doorman told the consul right away that 'peasants who want minerals have come', they said, 'Let them in'... The hotel is five-sta r and there are hundreds of security guards... Fifty of our people have got in and and spread around inside the hotel. The others are at the corner having a look around. Our fifty people have scattered inside the hotel, we have occupied it. There they came across all kinds of preparations, like cakes and snacks. All the press was there... We had got in. First through this door, then through that one... The man said, 'What 's going on'. 'Stand up!' the people say. 'The speaker's platform belongs to us'. They took the microphone from the consul's hand..." The peasant we spoke to was Metin Abi. ("Abi", literally "older brother", is a term of respect for an older man.) Metin Andas... He was entirely one of the people. I remember a dialogue with a peasant on a tractor I had stopped in order to come into the v illage: "Where are you going?" "I want to go into Narlica village." "Who do you know in Narlica?" "I am looking for Metin Abi, Metin Andas..." "Do you know Metin?" "I know him, he's my friend." All traces of worry disappeared from the peasant's facial expression. "Well then, you're also our friend." Metin Abi is also one of them. They were peasants. Their sweat dropped upon the same earth, the same sun burnt their faces. They nourished the same hopes, felt the same hatred. When the company that spewed poison around laid its clutches on the local soil, the same hot breeze of the struggle caused their faces to glow. The same growing anger also glowed in their eyes. ---------------- Quite suddenly, she came into the OKM (Okmeydani Culture Centre), bringing her joie de vivre with her. The actors of the Ayse G?len People's Theatre are staging a rehearsal. "Hayat" takes a passionate part in the rehearsal, without any questions being ask ed. With the words, "What if we do it this way, or that way," she bursts in and takes part in the collective theatre production. All OKM members know her. Her real name is "Neslihan", but everyone knows her as "Hayat". For she was full of vivacity. ("Hayat" means "life" in Turkish.) ------------------------- Since March 31, there has been no word of Neslihan Uslu, Metin Andas, Hasan Aydogan and Mehmet Ali Mandal. They are said to have "disappeared". Can it be possible? Yesterday, people had spoken to them. Hayat took part in a boycott at the university. In the lecture theatres and the corridors she organised the boycott. Together with the peasants of Bergama, Metin Abi occupied the contruction sites of the cyanide company. How they had been afraid, the poison-spewing gentlemen of the company. Hasan had called on the people of Tokat to rise up and go into the mountains to join the people's army. Memet Ali's appeal had been directed to behind the front: "Turn your faces towards your country, use your strength to free the land." And now, are they called "disappeared"? The dominion of darkness will fall to the ground. It will be ignited with a spark. The steel blue flame of anger in the eyes of Mother Elif, who searches in the rubbish dumps for her disappeared son D?zg?n, will not allow any place to remain in darkness. And when this day comes, those who made others dis appear will not find a single roof to hide their own heads. List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl