From dhkc at ozgurluk.org Fri May 1 15:33:10 1998 From: dhkc at ozgurluk.org (dhkc at ozgurluk.org) Date: 01 May 1998 15:33:10 Subject: Mayday is ours! Message-ID: Mayday is ours! Mayday belongs to the oppressed peoples! Mayday belongs to the Front! Today is Mayday. Today the fascist regime in Turkey another time has spilled the blood of our peoples. It attacked the people brutally. In Istanbul police and "Special Forces" attacked ten thousands of elder and younger ones, children, women, man of every age and arrested hundreds of them. Dozens are severely wounded. We couldn't get any news about a lot of them. The attack started as it was tried to prevent the revolutionaries from reaching the place of the may meeting. Armored cars and more than 10.000 policemen went on with the attacks with the support of civil-fascists. Directly responsible for preventing the revolutionaries from reaching the place are the leaders of the trade-unions. First they took the decision that the meeting shouldn't start until everybody reached the place. But then they ignored their own decisions by starting the demonstration as about 2000 or 3000 people gathered in the place. And the state started its attacks as they turned away from the masses. The ones who spilled Mayday with blood are the state and the leaders of the trade-unions. The aggressors and the ones who watched in silence will be held accountable by history and the people. Mayday was spilled with blood but they couldn't prevent a revolutionary Mayday. The people resisted against the police and the MHP-fascists. Mayday 1998 was celebrated in determination to the martyrs of Mayday 1977, 1989 and 1996. We, in the name of the European Representation of the Revolutionary Peoples Liberation Front (DHKC) appeal to every honest and proud to everybody who defends Mayday, who reacts against fascist attack and who do not want the blood of his people to be spilled, to protest against this attack and to engage for the arrested and wounded. Long live Mayday! May 1, 1998 DHKC Revolutionary Peoples Liberation Front European Representation -- 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 tabe at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl Fri May 1 15:34:56 1998 From: tabe at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl (tabe at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl) Date: 01 May 1998 15:34:56 Subject: Mai 1: 'Robocop' Police In Turkey Battle Militants Message-ID: 'Robocop' Police In Turkey Battle Militants Istanbul, Turkey (Reuter - May 1, 1998) A large May Day rally in central Istanbul Friday brought a response by Turkish "Robocop" riot police wielding batons and firing water cannons. The armored police dispersed stone-throwing leftist militants. Witnesses said dozens of demonstrators were injured, most of them beaten by police, and more than 100 were detained. The clash began after some 3,000 riot police backed by armored cars blocked access by leftists, many wearing red masks and affiliated with outlawed urban guerrilla groups, to an official rally at Freedom Monument in the city's Sisli district. May Day in Turkey has a legacy of confrontation, with police and militant groups frequently engaging in pitched battles. On May 1, 1977, 37 workers were killed at the hands of suspected rightist gunmen and three demonstrators died in fighting with riot police in 1996. The feared "Robocops", encased in plastic body armor, are often accused of heavy handedness at public events that adds to Turkey's poor human rights image abroad. "We live in a country where workers who struggle are silenced by batons, teargas bombs and dogs", union official Atila Ongel told thousands assembled in the capital Ankara, to loud chanted replies of, "Side by side against fascism." At the height of the clash in Istanbul, a wall of police, flanking a pair of armored personnel cars mounted with water cannon, rushed at the demonstrators with batons flailing. Most demonstrators escaped, but police repeatedly struck at young girls and older women who were unable to get out of the way. Those who were caught were often pummeled again before being led away. Reuters reporters on the scene estimated the crowd Friday at more than 70,000, with labor and political delegations at the front and the radicals bringing up the rear. On the fringes of the clashes, right-wing militants and police badly beat a leftist protester at the local headquarters of a far-right political party. A Reuters Television video tape showed "Grey Wolf" rightists hanging the protester, a man in his 20s, out of the first-floor window of the Nationalist Action Party (MHP) building as police and other members of a 100-strong crowd of rightists beat him. Rightists forced journalists away from the scene and the man's fate was not known. Labor leaders addressing crowds in Istanbul and Ankara reiterated demands for expanded rights to strike, better pay and curbs on rampant inflation and high unemployment. Bayram Meral, the head of the big Turk-Is union confederation, said Turkey's workers suffered hardest from the country's lackluster economic performance. "The unjust distribution of income and regional economic imbalances have become main economic problems in their own right", he said in remarks prepared for delivery in Istanbul. Official commemorations took place across Turkey, where the traditional day of labor power retains its powerful appeal. About 1,000 protesters staged a sit-down protest in the center of Diyarbakir, the biggest city in the mainly Kurdish southeast where demonstrations are banned under emergency rule. -- 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 May 1 17:32:30 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 01 May 1998 17:32:30 Subject: Turkey protester beaten by "Grey Wolves" and police Message-ID: Turkey protester beaten by ``Grey Wolves,'' police 01:47 p.m May 01, 1998 Eastern ISTANBUL, May 1 (Reuters) - Turkish right-wing militants and riot police badly beat a leftist protester on Friday at the headquarters of a far-right political party after mob violence at a May Day rally. Reuters Television filmed ``Grey Wolf'' rightists hanging the man out of the first-floor window of the Nationalist Action Party building as police and other members of a 100-strong crowd of rightists below beat him. The man was dragged screaming back into the building. Rightists then forced reporters and camera crews away from the scene in Istanbul's Okmeydani district. They later seized a Reuters journalist's notebook. A television channel said the Grey Wolf rightists, named after a legendary she-wolf from Turkic Central Asia, kept on kicking and beating the protester inside the building, injuring him severely. Police later took him hospital for treatment, it said. The RTV videotape showed a young rightist howling in triumph and giving the two-fingered Grey Wolf sign after the attack. The rightists also roughed up three young women who appeared to be passers-by. State-run Anatolian news agency said one of its correspondents was taken to hospital with slight injuries after he and other journalists were beaten in a side street during the incident. An official at a police station 150 metres (160 yards) from the building told Reuters by telephone they were not aware of any trouble. Human rights groups say extreme rightists have infiltrated the police force, particularly in the mainly Kurdish southeast where police teams often sport Grey Wolf insignia and stickers on their weapons. Riot police wielding batons and firing water cannon earlier dispersed stone-throwing leftist militants at a large May Day rally nearby. Witnesses said dozens of demonstrators were injured, most of them beaten by police, and more than 100 detained. Turkey's riot police, called ``Robocops'' because of their plastic body armour, are often accused of heavy handedness at public events. The European Union cited concern over Turkey's human rights record among its reasons for putting the country's membership bid in cold storage at the end of last year. May Day in Turkey has a legacy of violence, with police and militant groups frequently engaging in pitched battles. Three demonstrators were killed in heavy fighting between leftist rioters and police in 1996. Thirty-seven people died after suspected right-wing gunmen opened fire on a May Day rally in Istanbul in 1977. List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Fri May 1 18:03:03 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 01 May 1998 18:03:03 Subject: Demonstrators, police clash in Istanbul May Day celebrations Message-ID: TDN: May 2, 1998 Demonstrators, police clash in Istanbul May Day celebrations * Police detained at least 200 leftist extremists. At least 74 people were injured, and demonstrators burned cars in the central part of Istanbul _________________________________________________________________ Hakan Aslaneli Istanbul - Extremist demonstrators wielding sticks and stones and wearing masks clashed with police in downtown Istanbul Friday at the end of a May Day rally, leaving at least 74 people injured, including two policeman, security officials said. They were unable to give the precise number of individuals involved since small clashes had broken out in a number of locations. Of the 74 injured, 28 were police, 42 were demonstrators and four were journalists. Police detained at least 200 extremists, all believed to be members of the outlawed Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C), a group which has been blamed for political murders, bombings and robberies. Security officials said the clashes broke out when an estimated 5,000 members of different extremist groups, wearing red masks and berets, tried to forcibly enter Caglayan Square for the May Day rally. Unable to break into the square, the demonstrators separated into small groups and rampaged through the narrow streets of the Piyalepasa, Okmeydani and Kasimpasa districts, burning vehicles and throwing stones at public buildings and at the offices of political parties. A truck was set on fire and was put out by one of the armored personnel vehicles on the scene. They then proceeded toward Taksim Square, which was the scene of a violent May Day rally in 1977, when more than 30 people were killed following clashes between rival leftist groups. This year however, they were unable to get past heavy police lines set up around the square. Police in a panic >From the early morning hours, the police were overwhelmed with bomb threats in Istanbul. The number of threats reached 150 as empty brief cases, in particular, were left in garbage cans at various points around the city. All Istanbul police units had their leave cancelled in an effort to secure public order on the streets. But the demonstrators were well-organized and the police did not have sufficient numbers to contain those who spread out down the side streets. Illegal groups chose the areas near Taksim for their activities, but another big group with sticks in hand and their faces concealed chose to carry out their protest in Besiktas' Dikilitas Park. The Besiktas police, however, surrounded the demonstrators and prevented the incident from getting too out of control. Police used water cannons, truncheons and armored police vehicles to break up some groups, as security forces were met with stones and sticks. Main meeting proceeds quietly May 1 started off quietly enough as the general chairmen of the Confederation of Turkish Labor Unions (Turk-Is), the Confederation of Revolutionary Workers' Unions (DISK), the Labor Confederation (Hak-Is) and the Confederation of Public Workers' Unions (KESK) gathered in Taksim Square to place a wreath on the Taksim monument. The chairmen also left red carnations at Kazanci Yokusu, where a number of people died in the tragic events of May 1, 1977. The labor union leaders were accompanied by a number of politicians and members of Parliament. Afterwards they went by bus to Sisli's Caglayan Square for the main meeting. Some 25,000 workers, political party officials, and civil servants gathered peacefully at Caglayan Square to dance, sing songs and listen to labor leaders speak. In his address to the assembled masses, Turk-Is General Chairman Bayram Meral stressed the need for unity in order to settle the problems which the country faces. He further emphasized that Turkey was currently experiencing some very negative circumstances in politics and in social and economic areas. "We are celebrating May 1 at a time when supranational capital is threatening the sovereignty of the country." Meral criticized the privatization process, describing it as pillage, and drew attention to the straits in which many people found themselves because of the excessively high inflation rate. Hak-Is General Chairman Salim Uslu noted that worker solidarity was the equivalent of talking about peace. KESK General Chairman Siyami Erdem expressed the hope that the days when workers had had to struggle to gain their rights had passed and that the future would be bright. Participants in the meeting were carrying placards and signs, some of which read, "Long Live May 1," "Democracy Now," "No to Privatization" and "The National Budget for Workers, not War." The Sisli meeting broke up without incident. Peaceful rallies held in other cities The May Day activities in Ankara began at the city's main train station with a public rally smoothly coordinated by a number of labor union federations. Among them were Turk-Is, DISK, Hak-Is and KESK. The crowd chanted slogans while marching downtown, but in general, the atmosphere was peaceful. Additionally, members from various parties, including the Republican People's Party (CHP), the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ODP), the People's Democracy Party (HADEP), the Workers' Party (IP), the Labor Party (EMEP) and various student organizations were present. Security precautions on the marchers' route were tight. Public rallies were also held in other cities, including Adana, Gaziantep, Sivas and Diyarbakir. In Adana, people, also led by union confederations walked to Ugur Mumcu Circle in the downtown area. In Diyarbakir, where riot police prevented marchers from walking down Inonu Street, marchers blocked traffic for a while but soon dispersed after warnings by security officials. -- Press Agency Ozgurluk For justice, democracy and human rights in Turkey and Kurdistan! Website: http://www.ozgurluk.org mailto:ozgurluk at xs4all.nl / mailinglists: petidomo at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Sat May 2 07:05:33 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 02 May 1998 07:05:33 Subject: Mainstream News: More arrests in Turkey Message-ID: Turkey police arrest far-left militants 08:00 a.m. May 02, 1998 Eastern By Osman Senkul ISTANBUL, May 2 (Reuters) - Turkish police detained 11 suspected far-left militants on Saturday after clashes between leftists and riot police at a May Day rally that brought complaints of security force violence. Anatolian news agency said police rounded up the suspects in the western city of Bursa. They are accused of links to the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) urban guerrilla group. The agency quoted Bursa assistant police chief Bulent Eliacik as saying the group had recently sent a leader to the city from nearby Istanbul to organise a guerrilla network. Police wielding batons clashed with far-left militants at a large May Day rally in Istanbul on Friday. Dozens of demonstrators were hurt, most of them beaten by police, and more than 100 were detained. About 100 journalists marched through Istanbul on Saturday to protest at what they said were police attacks on them during the May Day unrest. ``As always in public order incidents, the police take it out on journalists,'' Turgay Olcayto, general secretary of the journalists' association, said in a speech. He said seven journalists were hurt by far-right ``Grey Wolf'' militants and police, despite security officials handing out bright green waistcoats to members of the media in advance to make sure they were not confused with rioters. Reporters on Saturday marched to the Istanbul governor's office where they tied the waistcoats to the front gate in protest. The U.S.-based Freedom House monitoring group described Turkey in a report on the world press on Friday as ``democracy's worst violator of press freedom.'' Turkey frequently jails journalists for breaking strict laws on freedom of expression, although rights workers say the number imprisoned has dropped in recent months. Newspapers said a leftist badly beaten by police and rightists on the fringes of Friday's rally had been taken to hospital seriously hurt but the reports could not be confirmed on Saturday. Reuters Television filmed the Grey Wolf nationalists, named after a legendary she-wolf from Turkic Central Asia, who hung the protester from a building as police and other members of a 100-strong crowd beat him repeatedly. Trouble erupted at the May Day march when police refused militant leftist groups permission to enter a square in the city centre where an official labour rally was taking place. The DHKP-C is the largest of Turkey's many extreme-left factions. It was accused of rocket attacks on police buildings in Istanbul last year. The group shot dead industrialist Ozdemir Sabanci in 1996. More than 5,000 people died in street clashes between leftist groups and Grey Wolves in the late 1970s. The fighting prompted a military coup in 1980. -- 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 May 4 09:19:33 1998 From: dhkc at ozgurluk.org (dhkc at ozgurluk.org) Date: 04 May 1998 09:19:33 Subject: WWW: Pictures about May Day in Istnabul online Message-ID: For those who are interested. We placed some pictures online about May Day, 1998 in Istanbul http://www.ozgurluk.org/dhkc/pub/mayday1998 Hasta La Victoria Siempre! --- 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 9011731o at student.gla.ac.uk Tue May 5 08:38:16 1998 From: 9011731o at student.gla.ac.uk (9011731o at student.gla.ac.uk) Date: 05 May 1998 08:38:16 Subject: Glasgow Conference: Communist Manifesto Message-ID: CONFERENCE SCHEDULE ?150 Years of the Communist Manifesto? 22-23 May, 1998 University of Glasgow Centre for Study of Socialist Theory & Movements Adam Smith Building 10am-5pm (Registration on Door, 9-9:45) ?20/?10 (cons) both days ; ?12/?6 (cons) one day SCHEDULE Friday, 22 May Opening Plenary Session: THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO: COMING TO TERMS WITH THE PAST Suzi Weissman, Savas Michael-Matsas and Mikhail Voeikov Workshop 1 options (11:30 - 1:00) THE NATIONAL QUESTION with.... Terry Brotherstone: ?The Communist Manifesto, Marxism and Scotland? Mick Cox: ?Marx and the National Question- 1848: Ireland and the Cold War-1998? Savas Michael-Matsas: ?Marx and the Jewish Question? THE THIRD WORLD AND SOCIALISM: ISSUES AND QUESTIONS with.... M. Mohanty: ?Creative Theory of Freedom: Communist Movements in China & India? Torab: ?The Nature of Third World Revolution? RHETORICAL DEVICE in the MANIFESTO with.... Alastair McLeish: ?The Manifesto as a Call to Arms? Workshop 2 options (2:00-3:30) WORKING CLASS STRUGGLE and the WORLD WIDE WEB with.... Liverpool Dock Workers and Chris Bailey (Labournet) with Peter Kennedy (facilitator) THE MANIFESTO AND ITS RELEVANCE with.... Cyril Smith: ?The Manifesto: Past, Present and Future? Ian Thatcher: ?Past Receptions of the Manifesto? MARXISM AND THE SOVIET UNION Committee to Study the Legacy of Leon Trotsky Second plenary session: THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO AND CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL ECONOMY Werner Bonefeld, Mick Cox and Latief Parker Social Friday Evening --------------------------- Saturday, 23 May Workshop 3 options (10:00-11:30) GLOBALISATION(?!) and POLITICAL ECONOMY with.... Werner Bonefeld: (paper not yet received) Savas Michael-Matsas: ?A Critique of the Globalisation Thesis? The MANIFESTO and GLOBALISATION with.... Peter Kennedy: ?Globalisation as Decline? Peter Burnham: ?International Relations Theory and the Manifesto? CRISIS, MARX and the MANIFESTO with.... Hillel Ticktin: ?Business Cycle or Crisis of the System? Marx of the Manifesto and Marxists? Latief Parker: ?Capitalism - the Headless Chicken? Workshop 4 (11:30 - 1:00) THE COMMUNIST FUTURE with.... Bertell Ollman : ?The Future of a Socialist Society? Filio Diamanti: ?Etienne Cabet?s Influence on the Manifesto? Workshop 5 options (2:00-3:30) DIALECTICS in the MANIFESTO with.... Peter Hudis: ?The Dialectic of ?Revolution in Permanence?? Alan Horn: ?Dialectics in the Manifesto: Pre-Scientific Approximations" ENLIGHTENMENT as OPPOSED to MYSTIFICATION in the ERA of the COMMODITY with.... Bridget Fowler: ?Homology of Social Relations in Archaic and Rational Societies? Steve Fleetwood: ?Placing Emancipation back on the Agenda in a Post-Modern World? THE SPECTRE HAUNTING SOUTH AFRICA with.... Latief Parker and Elaine Clarke Closing Plenary Session: THE MANIFESTO IN THE NEXT EPOCH Manoranjan Mohanty, Bertell Ollman and Hillel Ticktin NOTE: Istvan Meszaros will not be attending the conference, as originally scheduled, due to serious illness. **** This schedule is laible to change. From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Tue May 5 20:05:15 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 05 May 1998 20:05:15 Subject: 10,000 Kurdish POWs on hungerstrike Message-ID: 10,000 Kurdish POWs on hunger strike The Turkish State, denying the most fundamental rights and legitimate demands of the Kurds, has intensified its all-out war and psychological warfare against our people. Today Turkey's campaign of annihilation has reached horrendous proportions. As the comprehensive military operations backed by heavy artillery have failed the Turkish state has stepped up its psychological warfare. This psychological terror based on lies, demagogy, false accusations which is aimed to paralyse, confuse, demoralise and pacify people is intensified daily. The latest slanders and lies can be attributed to the PKK defector Semdin Sakik, who constantly violated the PKK/ARGK regulations and was subsequently demoted and now turned informer for the Turkish state. There are two main aims of this campaign of slander; one is to create confusion in people's minds by distorting the reality, secondly to gain the support of the public by intimidating and persecuting of Kurdish progressive individuals and/or organisations, and to destroy the gains of the Kurdish movement both in the country and abroad. The main target of this slander campaigns is our national leader, Abdullah Ocalan. Of course this is not a coincidence! Our leader speaks and fights for the Kurdish people. The Turkish state believes that if it could strike a blow to the tongue, the heart and the brain of our people then it will win both militarily and politically. Turkey is using a wretched defector in this plan. It makes him to "sing" the scenarios which it has planned to put into operation. To give him credibility they call him the "number two man" of the PKK. We will certainly not remain silent about these campaigns of lies and their plan to paralyse us. The Kurdish people have responded to the war of extermination and show their determination during the Newroz celebrations. We shoul particularly remember two of our comrades Selma and Fikri [the two POWs who burnt themselves in Canakkale Prison in March 1998]. We, the POWs numbering 10,000, will start a hunger strike on 2 May for three days to show our determination and total support for the struggle and the leadership of the PKK, and as a protest against the latest campaign of lies and war of extermination. We call on our peoples, and progressive forces to take effective actions against Turkey's dirty war. No dirty scenarios and treachery can stop our march to freedom under the leadership of the PKK. On behalf of the all PKK POWs Sabri Ok, M Can Yuce and Muzaffer Ayata 1 May 1998 ********************************************************* Kurdistan Informatie Centrum Nederland Postbus 58092 1040 HB Amsterdam tel: 020-681 01 01 fax: 020-488 82 82 e-mail: kicadam at xs4all.nl url KIC: http://www.xs4all.nl/~kicadam/index.html url 'Kurdistan: http://www.xs4all.nl/~kicadam/colofon.htm ********************************************************* List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Wed May 6 12:53:21 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 06 May 1998 12:53:21 Subject: Turkey: 2 Kurds Acquitted in Language Case / Kurdish remains forbidd Message-ID: 2 Kurds Acquitted in Language Case Tuesday, May 5, 1998; 5:57 p.m. EDT ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) -- A Turkish court acquitted two Kurdish cultural officials Tuesday of starting a banned Kurdish language course, one of the defendants reported. The men worked for the Kurdish Culture and Research Foundation, which seeks more cultural freedom for Turkey's 12 million Kurds, who are not allowed to use their language in education or broadcasting. Yilmaz Camlibel, the foundation's president, and an aide, Mehmet Celal Baykara, had faced up to two years in prison if convicted of holding an unauthorized language course. They were acquitted because the court ruled the course was private, and not open to the general public. Camlibel, speaking to the The Associated Press by telephone, said the prosecutor said he would not appeal, but the court also ruled that the foundation cannot run a Kurdish language course anymore. ``We are determined to carry on this struggle to gain our educational rights in Kurdish,'' Camlibel said, referring to a separate case in which the foundation is suing the Education Ministry to allow them to open a Kurdish course. That case was appealed by the foundation last year, after a court in Ankara rejected the foundation's demand. ``If the appeals court holds up that jurisdiction, we will take the case to the European human rights court,'' Camlibel said. Hundreds of writers, journalists and politicians have been jailed in Turkey for promoting Kurdish cultural rights or allegedly supporting Kurdish guerrillas seeking autonomy in southeastern Turkey. -- 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 May 8 21:35:00 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 08 May 1998 21:35:00 Subject: Fascism and state in Turkey Message-ID: For your information: The person showed on world-wide television on May 1 that was mistreathed by MHP-members in Istanbul, was arrested after the incident and is still in custody.... May 9, 1998 Ultranationalist violence is fast growing in Turkey * In the latest event, the writer Remzi Cakin was assaulted for the misdeed of strolling down the street and singing _____________________________________________________________ HAKAN ASLANELI Istanbul - Turkish Daily News During clashes between demonstrators and security forces at the May Day rally in Istanbul, a young man trying to escape from the police accidentally entered the local office of the extreme right wing Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). The man was beaten and almost thrown out of the window. Although party officials denied any wrong doing, a television cameraman filmed the scene, showing the man being held out of the window by his ankles and pounded by several people inside the party office. Then came the incident in Bolu, a city in northwestern Turkey: A youth from the eastern province of Tunceli was beaten and stabbed with a knife by alleged ultranationalists. The man died on the way to the hospital. Several people with right wing affiliations have been charged with the murder. And on Tuesday, just two days after the Tunceli beating, the latest target of the ultranationalists was the writer Remzi Cakin in Istanbul. The crime of singing After dining out with a girlfriend in a seaside restaurant in the Kadikoy district late Tuesday, Cakin started to walk in the direction of Sogutlucesme. It was past midnight when he entered the Altiyol neighborhood, humming a song, and approached the area where the MHP and the Grand Unity Party (BBP) buildings are located. At that point, he says, he was first assaulted verbally by two individuals. Then the two quickly swelled to 15 people, forming a circle around Cakin. Then the group started pummeling him. Cakin said he and his girlfriend shouted for help but to no avail. Police officers standing in front of the MHP and BBP buildings did nothing more than watch. As no help was to be had from the police, Cakin managed to escape by his own means and went to the Numune Hospital. The doctors told him to stay at home for seven days. Now that he no longer was in mortal danger, Cakin went to the district police station to lodge a complaint. Ill treatment at police headquarters The Hasanpasa Police Station was closest to where Cakin and his girlfriend were assaulted. When they entered the building, a bad surprise was in store for them. Despite Cakin's battered condition, police treated him as a criminal, he charges. This time, Cakin went to the Kadikoy Central Police Station to complain about the police who he says not only insulted him but also beat him. Police officers in Kadikoy treated Cakin in the same contemptuous manner. They told him, "You are a Kurd, it is obvious that you are a leftist, then you must be guilty," and he had to wait in the police station until dawn. After investigating Cakin's file at police headquarters, police finally released him. In the meantime, the officers who had been involved in the beatings and harassment had disappeared into thin air. On Wednesday, Cakin went to the Human Rights Association to speak about what happened to him. There was also a press conference. Cakin, who was visibly bruised on his face, complained to the press. Authorities from the Human Rights Association commented that it was not pure coincidence that similar incidents had been happening in the last few days. So far police and MHP officials haven't commented on Cakin's charges. -- 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 May 8 21:35:59 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 08 May 1998 21:35:59 Subject: Turkish state popaganda: Germany supports the PKK!!! Message-ID: TDN, 08-05-98 Intelligence links German general prosecutor to PKK * 'Germany supports the PKK because of its huge interests in the Caucasus and is also using the separatist organization to put pressure on Turkey. Bonn released leading PKK official Kani Yilmaz after fearing that the PKK would carry out terrorist activities,' sources said _____________________________________________________________ Ankara - Turkish Daily News Quoting a recently captured former leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), senior Turkish intelligences sources say that there are considerable links between Germany and the separatist organization and claim that German general prosecutor Kay Nehem, who earlier said that the PKK is no longer a terrorist organization, received $75,000 in bribes from the PKK. The sources said that German politicians, intelligence and judiciary members have had contacts with the PKK and Syrian government officials in northern Iraq, Syria and Germany. "I know that since 1989 at least seven German deputies travelled to Damascus and the Bekaa Valley to meet PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan and also met secretly with Syrian and Greek intelligence officials," the terrorist, who was responsible for the European operations of the PKK, is said to have alleged. "As I hear from my friend Osman, Syria was coordinator among the Greek, Syrian and German intelligence organizations. I personally heard two German intelligence officials say that they contributed DM 6 million to the bank account of Nizamettin Togus who was responsible for PKK financial affairs in Germany," intelligence sources quoted the terrorist as having said. "Germany supports the PKK because of its huge interests in the Caucasus and is also using the separatist organization to put pressure on Turkey. Bonn released leading PKK official Kani Yilmaz after fearing that the PKK would carry out terrorist activities in Germany," sources said. "Abdullah Ocalan, who bought a house in Koln, told me that some Germans were sent to PKK units to fight against the Turkish military. Ocalan told me that Germany is also ignoring the PKK efforts to launder money," the terrorist said. "Ocalan told us that he is planning to improve the PKK's effectiveness within Europe and that they are doing their best to see this happen. Furthermore, with this aim, the PKK bribed the German prosecutor," the terrorist said. Currently, a German citizen who was captured earlier in a Turkish military operation against the PKK is being tried in a Turkish court in the Southeast. -- Press Agency Ozgurluk For justice, democracy and human rights in Turkey and Kurdistan! Website: http://www.ozgurluk.org mailto:ozgurluk at xs4all.nl / mailinglists: petidomo at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Sat May 9 13:18:49 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 09 May 1998 13:18:49 Subject: Turkey: Trial against the Kurtulus magazine in Istanbul Message-ID: AN APPEAL TO MONITOR THE TRIAL AGAINST THE KURTULUS MAGAZINE IN ISTANBUL To the INTERNATIONAL PRESS and the PUBLIC We appeal to the international public, especially the lawyers and journalists who see themselves as democrats, to join an international delegation to monitor the trial against the weekly magazine Kurtulus. We would like to present you this detailed statement of the "People's Lawyers Office", HALKIN HUKUK BUEROSU. "KURTULUS for the people" is a socialist weekly. During the time it has been published 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, 2 co-workers are 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, 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. The correspondents of the weekly have been arrested and detained countless times. The owners and chief editors have been sentenced to dozens of years imprisonment and billions in fines. On February 17, 1998, the central offices of the paper in Cagaloglu were searched on orders of the 1. State Security Court. Two reasons were given. 1. Supposedly there were persons inside the building against whom warrants had been issued by the State Security Court. 2. The many press organs inside the office rooms were to be confiscated. On that day, a large number of plainclothes policemen, uniformed police and Special Units were gathered in front of the building. Without referring to the court order, they tried to break in through the entrance of the paper's office. The co-workers of the paper asked for the reason why the door was broken open, and they were answered by insults and threats. Only after the co-workers in the editorial offices tried to protect themselves by building barricades, the policemen declared they had to "carry out a search". The co-workers of the paper pointed to their rights: "If you are in the possession of a search warrant, and if the state prosecutor and our lawyers are present, then you can carry out a search." The police, unable to break through the door, decided to wait for the lawyers. After they arrived, the following was agreed: "Only 4 police officers are to enter to check the identity papers. A proper search, without damaging or messing up the inventory in any way, is to be carried out in mutual agreement." After this was agreed, the persons inside the offices opened the door. However, dozens of policemen stormed into the editorial offices, identity checks were carried out and 7 persons were arrested after being beaten, pushed down the stairs and pulled by their hair. One co-worker of the paper, Zehra Kurtay, fell into a coma as a result of this severe attack. After this, the remaining people pushed the policemen out of the offices, barricades were set up again behind a door, and then they began to wait. The Special Operation Unit was then strengthened to more than 500 officers. To overpower the persons inside the rooms, they carried gas grenades. The deputy chief of police, and chief of the Security Department, Hueseyin Arpaci, talked with the co-workers inside the building and stated: "I promise you'll be released immediately after your identity has been checked in the Security Department, nobody will be handed over to the Political Department. This is a promise by Hueseyin Arpaci." Later, 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. JUDICIAL STEPS AND REQUESTS: Claiming there was "a suspicion of an organization", the state prosecutor of the State Security Court in Istanbul gave the permission to keep 24 arrested people in police custody for 4 days. The 8 persons who had been arrested in front of the building on February 18, were brought to court for carrying out a "unlawfull action". They were released after they had been heard by the state prosecutor. On February 20, 1998, the lawyers of the arrested journalists appealed against the methods of arrest and against the 4 days police custody. On February 21, 1998, the state prosecutor of the State Security Court asked for an extensions of police custody. The judges of the State Security Court, after considering both motions, decided to extend police custody for 2 days, arguing that "because of the number of accused, the identification and the confrontation protocols have not been finished yet". After the trial was opened, it became clear that not a single confrontation protocol was in the files. It was clear from the first moment that a confrontation had not been necessary regarding the co-workers of the paper because they were all known to the police. On February 23, 1998, 15 of the 24 people who had been brought to court were released after being heard by the state prosecutor. Custody in jail was requested for 9 people. The requests of the assigned lawyers of the "Baro CMUK Service" to see the files, the speak to the detained and the participate during the interrogation by the state prosecutor were all rejected. When the 9 persons were interrogated by the judge, the presence of the lawyers was allowed. The request to "remove the officers from the court who have carried out the arrests and who participated in the interrogation in the police stations, using torture", was rejected by the judge, arguing that the "policemen are present for the security of the accused, respectively to prevent their escape, therefore the request is not in order." After this kind of proceedings, the co-workers of the paper Hamdi Kaysi, Banu Guedenoglu, Zehra Kurtay and Ecevit Uluvar, the owner of the magazine TAVIR who was in the Kurtulus office at the time - Aynur Cihan -, and Cem Kilic, arrested in front of Bayrampasa Prison, were officially detained and sent to Umraniye Prison. Among the detained is also the Kurtulus co-worker Senguel Akkurt against whom a detention order existed from the State Security Court in Malatya. The appeal against the detention order of February 24 was rejected by the 4. State Security Court. As a result of the investigations, the trial against the 9 persons who had been shown to the judge, as well as against the later detained and released again owner and chief editor of the paper, was opened on March 10, 1998. The indictment is "supporting the organization DHKP/C". According to the indictment, a computer which had been confiscated in the office was considered to be a "organization computer". As a reason for opening a trial because of support for an organization, it was stated that "coded documents of the DHKP/C and the `Draft of a People's Constitution'" had been found. The mentioned `Draft of a People's Constitution', published by the Platform for Rights and Freedom, and confiscated on orders of the State Security Court, is a proposal for a new constitution. The co-workers of the paper refused all statements to the police. This was interpreted in the interrogation protocol as follows: "The persons refused statements, acting in an organized manner, to cover their own actions and activities and to protect the other militants of the organization with whom they are in contact from being exposed." The first trial session against the co-workers of the paper, arrested on February 17, 1998, will take place on May 15, 1998 at 10.40 a.m. before the 6. State Security Court in Istanbul. People's Law Office The lawyers of the People's Law Office not only expect long prison terms for the accused, although there is no evidence. Because the Kurtulus is a opposition paper, and therefore subject to severe oppression by the state, the lawyers think there is a possibility that they will try to ban the paper altogether. To prevent a justice of political arbitrariness, it's necessary that foreign watchers monitor the trial. We ask for your participation in a delegation, organized for this purpose by the Information and Prison Watch International. In case you have any questions, please address Sandra Bakutz at the address below. There's the possibility to ask for a brochure with background information about the Kurtulus. We'll send you this brochure in exchange for 1,50 DM postage costs. For further information, please contact: Information Centre for Free Peoples Kalkarer Str. 2 50733 Cologne Germany Tel 0049 221 760 7656 Fax 0049 221 760 2887 e-mail: informationzentrum at kurtulus.com For more information about 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 Tue May 12 05:57:53 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 12 May 1998 05:57:53 Subject: Turkey: Assinationattempt on Akin Birdal Message-ID: Assassination attempt against Turkey's leading human rights activist Turkey- Democracy at gunpoint Akin Birdal, President of Turkey's Human Rights Association was attacked today, 12 May 1998, by two armed men in his office in Ankara. He is reported to have been seriously injured and received six bullets, two to his chest, to his body and currently being kept under intensive care in a hospital in Ankara. We categorically condemn this attack. Akin Birdal has been a long standing human rights advocate in Turkey. He was particularly active on promoting the Kurdish rights in Turkey. Turkish state has recently portrait Mr Birdal as the Turkish State's enemy. Turkish officials claimed that Akin Birdal, a respected human rights activist, was working for the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Turkey accused him of "putting Turkey in difficult position abroad". Birdal participated at several international platforms on Turkey and Kurdish question and particularly assisted individual cases to the European Court of Human Rigths. It is clear that Turkish authorities deliberately prepared the ground for an attack against him. The assassins of Birdal are appointed by the state to carry out their jobs. The assassins of Birdal are the Susurluk forces. Turkish sate is clearly determined to repress any democratic opposition to its policy of extermination on the Kurdish question. Turkey's allies, the West, must see this reality and put a stop to this regime of oppression. Democracy has always been in gun point in Turkey. Progressive forces have sacrificed numerous activists in the name of democracy and human rights. Kurdish issue is the heart of democracy and human rights problems in Turkey. The Kurdish people and their friends will not stop their struggle for freedom and democracy. We demand from the international community to act immediately. Silence has always meant the approval of Turkey's state policy. ********************************************************* Kurdistan Informatie Centrum Nederland Postbus 58092 1040 HB Amsterdam tel: 020-681 01 01 fax: 020-488 82 82 e-mail: kicadam at xs4all.nl url KIC: http://www.xs4all.nl/~kicadam/index.html url 'Kurdistan: http://www.xs4all.nl/~kicadam/colofon.htm ********************************************************* -- 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 May 12 06:02:45 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 12 May 1998 06:02:45 Subject: OMCT-TUR110598-TURKEY (disappearances) Message-ID: TUR 110598 The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Turkey. Brief description of the situation: The CETIM (Centre Europe-Tiers Monde), a member of the network, has expressed its grave concern over the disappearance of 4 persons in Izmir, Turkey. According to the information received, Neslihan Uslu, Metin Anda=E7 Basan, Hasan Aydogan and Mehmet Mandal were seen for the last time on the 31st of March 1998. Neslihan Uslu (30), female and originally from D=FCzce, was for a long time the Editor in Chief of the opposition magazine of the Revolutionary Youth (Demrimci Gen=E7lik). Because of her activities she was frequently arrested by the police and subjected to harassment as well as threatened with death or disappearance. Several proceedings were started against her on various charges by the Tribunal of the State Security (DGM) under the anti-terrorist law. Metin Anda=E7 (48), originally from Bergama (Izmir), was active in Izmir in demonstrating against the company Eurogold who were apparently employing toxic substances to extract gold deposits. Metin Anda=E7 and his family were repeatedly threatened with death until he came up for judgement in the Tribunal of the State Security (DGM). He was condemned for supporting the Popular Revolutionary Liberation Front (DHKP-C), detained in Buca in 1995 and then released. Hasan Aydogan, originally from Akar=E7ay, near Almus (Tokat). Mehmet Mandal, orignally from Menemen (Izmir). Action requested: Please write to the Turkish authorities urging them to : i. locate the whereabouts of Neslihan Uslu, Metin Anda=E7 Basan, Hasan Aydogan and Mehmet Mandal and guarantee their physical and psychological integrity; ii. order their immediate release in the absence of valid charges or, if such charges exist, bring them before a competent and impartial tribunal and guarantee their procedural rights at all times; iii. ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with national laws and international standards. Addresses: President S=FCleyman Demirel, Office of the President, Cumhur Baskanligi, 06100 Ankara. Fax : + 90 312 427 13 30 Telegram : President Demirel, Ankara, Turkey. Prime Minister M. Yilmaz, office of the Prime Minister, Basbakanlik, 06573 Ankara, Turkey. Fax : + 90 312 417 0476 Mrs. Ismail Cem, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Disisleri Bakanligi 06100 Ankara Turkey. Fax : + 90 312 419 15 47 Mr. Olatan Sungurlu, Minister of Justice, Adalet Bakanligi, 06659, Ankara, Turkey. Fax: + 90 312 417 39 17 Mr. Basegioglu, Ministre de l'Int=E9rieur, Fax : + 90 312 419 16 64 Geneva, 11 May 1998 Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply. The World Organisation Against Torture Case Postale 119 37-39 Rue de Vermont CH1211 Geneva 20 CIC Switzerland Fax 4122 733 1051 Ph 4122 733 3140 OMCT is: l'Organisation Mondiale contre la Torture The World Organisation Against Torture OMCT at IPROLINK.CH http://www.omct.org/ OMCT - The World Organisation Against Torture is the Worlds largest network of human rights organisations fighting against all forms of torture, cruel inhuman or degrading treatment, forced disappearances summary execution or other more subtle forms of violent repression. OMCT has consultative status with the UN, The ILO and the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights. -- 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 May 12 06:11:51 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 12 May 1998 06:11:51 Subject: Turkey: leading human rights campaigner gunned down Message-ID: ANKARA, May 12 (Reuters) - Turkey's leading human rights campaigner, Akin Birdal, was gunned down by two unidentified attackers in his Ankara office on Tuesday, rights officials said. Birdal, head of the Human Rights Association (IHD), was hit in the chest and leg by six bullets and was in a critical condition at a local hospital, the chief doctor there said. Birdal has been an outspoken critic of Turkey's shaky human rights record and has frequently accused the state of conducting a ``dirty war'' against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas. ``Two people shot him numerous times. His condition is critical... The assailants fled the scene afterwards,'' a spokeswoman for the association told Reuters. NTV television channel carried pictures of Birdal lying on the floor of his office, his white shirt and the floor soaked in blood. Rights lawyer Aydin Erdogan blamed the shooting on a series of media reports suggesting Birdal had links to the Kurdish separatists. ``Birdal was portrayed as a target before the whole world in recent days. It was an invitation to murder,'' he told reporters at the hospital. A close friend and colleague said Birdal and his family had received telephone death threats in the last two months. ``This is a warning to the people of this country who oppose the official state policy on sensitive subjects such as the Kurdish question,'' Human Rights Foundation chairman Yavuz Onen told Reuters. ``This attack was aimed at silencing dissidents.'' A heavy police presence was set up outside the association's headquarters, in central Ankara. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, and police said their investigation was continuing. Turkey has seen a wave of violence involving extreme rightist and leftist groups since a militants clashes with police at a May Day rally in Istanbul. Ultra-nationalist Grey Wolf militants have been blamed for the killing of a Kurdish political party member and a university student since then. Veteran activist Birdal was recently accused in the media of having taken orders from PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan. The accusations followed alleged confessions by guerrilla commander, Semdin Sakik, captured by Turkish forces in northern Iraq. Outside the hospital, where a team of doctors were closing a large wound in Birdal's chest and setting broken bones in his legs, a crowd of around 50 people protested over the attack. ``The state will pay the price for this murder,'' they chanted. Turkey's human rights record has often come under fire from Western countries and was one of the factors cited by the European Union for excluding the country from a list on potential EU candidates last December. Birdal faces at least 20 criminal cases on a variety of charges from aiding Kurdish rebels to provoking hatred. All are related to his criticism of Turkey's human rights record and treatment of its Kurdish minority. He said last month he faced so many charges he could no longer be sure of their precise number. Turkey tolerates little dissent in its fight with the Kurdish rebels. Police used force to break up an IHD-supported protest in Istanbul at the weekend by mothers of those missing in the 13-year conflict with the guerrillas. -- 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 May 12 06:14:01 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 12 May 1998 06:14:01 Subject: Turkish activist in French jail in Hungerstrike Message-ID: Hereby we send you the letters that were delivered at the French Consulat in The Netherlands. Turkish friends have been imprisoned there since Sept. 1997 and are threathed like animals. Ali Ayyildiz went on a hungersstrike protesting his prison conditions he describes as "turkish" To the Minister of Home Affairs Ali Ayyildiz and twelve of his friends are being detained in your country since September 16, 1997. These are all people who fight the present fascist regime in Turkey. They have been fighting for democracy and human rights in Turkey and in this struggle they respected the limits of the law in the European countries. All the countries, including France, are very well aware of what is going on in Turkey at present. Innocent people are being murdered, torture is legal, opponents of the system "disappear", entire villages are bombed. The whole world knows about the irrefutable proof. However, the attitude you choose in your country against the Turkish revolutionaries and democrats shows the entire world that France, a democratic European country, overtly and objectively supports the fascist regime in Turkey. The family members in Turkey of the detained are being arrested, their houses are being ransacked by the police who legally practice torture. All this is just one more proof of how you share the political views of Turkey. Our friends are being held in a unjust manner in your country, France. And even more, the conditions they are being held in are no better than those in the prisons of Turkey. Except for the fact that they are not allowed to buy newspapers and books, they even can't receive the money which is sent by their close ones. Despite the bad health condition of Ali Ayyildiz, he hasn't received medical treatment for a long time. Where are the human rights France is so proud of? We, the Turks who live in the European countries, express our protest against this anti-democratic attitude of France which plays a double role. We demand that our friends, imprisoned for nothing, are being released immediately. France should leave people in peace who are fighting for human rights and it should prosecute the real delinquents! We would like to ask you, the minister of Home Affairs, to accept this expression of our respectful sentiments. Rotterdam, 1e 3 avril 1998. Monsieur le Ministre de l'Interieur, Ali Ayyildiz et ses douze amis sont detenus en prison dans votre pays depuis le 16 septembre 1997. Ces personnes luttent contre le regime fasciste de la Turquie actuelle. Ces meme personnes luttent pour la democratie et les droits de l'Homme en Turquie. Cette lutte, ils la menent dans les limites des lois des pays Europeennes. Y compris la France, tous les pays du monde savent tres bien ce qui se passe actuellement en Turquie. Des personnes innocents y sont assassines, la torture y est legale, on fait disparaitre les opposants au regime, des villages entiers sont bombardees. De ces crimes, tout le monde a des preuves incontestables. Mais, malheureusement, le comportement que vous optez contre les revolutionaires et les democrates turques habitants en votre pays nous montre aux yeux du monde entier que la France, pays democratique europeen, soutient ouvertement et objectivement le regime fasciste de la Turquie. Les familles des detenus habitantes en Turquie ont ete arretes, leurs maisons devastes par la police qui pratique toujours legalement la torture. Tout ceci n'est qu'une preuve de plus que vous partagez les opinions politiques avec la Turquie. Nos amis sont detenus de facon injuste dans votre pays, la France. Par ailleurs, la condition de leur detention n'est pas mieux que dans les maisons d'arret en Turquie. Hors le fait de ne pas pouvoir acheter des journaux ni des livres, ils ne peuvent meme pas recevoir l'argent que leurs proches leurs envoient. Malgre l'etat de sante deplorable d' Ali Ayyildiz, il ne pouvait pendant longtemps pas avoir d'aide medicale. Ou sont donc les droits de l'Homme dont la France est tellement fiere? Nous, les Turques habitants dans les pays europeens, nous protestons contre cette attitude anti-democratique de la France qui joue ici un jeu double. Nous exigeons la mise en liberte immediate de nos amis detenus pour rien. La France doit laisser en paix les personnes luttant pour les droits de l'Homme et doit commencer a poursuivre les vrais coupables! Nous vous prions, Monsieur le Ministre de l'Interieur, d'agreer l'expression de nos sentiments respectueuses. -- 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 Tue May 12 06:58:40 1998 From: dhkc at ozgurluk.org (dhkc at ozgurluk.org) Date: 12 May 1998 06:58:40 Subject: Turkey: Disappeared!!!! Message-ID: DHKC INFORMATION BUREAU AMSTERDAM NOW IT'S OUR DUTY TO ASK IT! WHERE ARE THEY? It's now time to ask the attention of the democratic public opinion. It's now time to find out and judge why innocent people are being captured by the police and the counter-guerilla units en taken away from their house without knowing where they are heading. And this everything happens in Turkey and Turkish-Kurdistan. Neslihan Uslu, Hasan Aydodan,Metin Anda_, Mehmet Ali Mandal_ These are the people who are captured and taken away by the police on 31 March 1998 in Yzmir (West-Turkey). From then we receive no news from these four people. Because of this fact it's now time to ask: Where are these four people? They are not the first and unfortunately not the last four who disappeared after that they were taken by the police. Without doubt we know that the police had arrested these four people on 31 March 1998 but none of the government institutions gives us information about their fate. It's the responsibility of the government to know where the four people are. "Even if there a sheep is missing, it's my responsibility to know where it is." NOW WE ARE ASKING! WHERE ARE THESE FOUR PEOPLE!!! NESLIHAN USLU: She was a student at the Faculty of Literature in Istanbul. She was standing for a democratic educational system and she fought for it. She had participated in the struggle to establish a real democratic, justified and totally independent country. Because of these facts the police has arrested her on March the 31st. From then we obtained no news. MEHMET ALI MANDAL: Born in 1958 in Menemen-Aliada (Yzmir). Because of the family circumstances en poverty he couldn't finish his education. He has fought for equality and justice and been arrested with his 3 comrades on 31 March 1998. After that time we obtained no news from him. HASAN AYDODAN: Born in 1974 in Tokat (Northern Turkey). He was one of the seven children of a poor family. After the secondary school he couldn't continue with studying. While his friends at the same age were going to school he began to work just like the thousands of children in our country. He fought for a democratic and justified system. The police had arrested him on 31 March 1998. We obtained no news from him after that time. METIN ANDA_: 46 years old. He was a poor farmer in a village nearby Bergama (Western Turkey). In 1989 a company called Eurogold to settle down in the neighborhood of his village. Eurogold made use of "cyanide", a very poisonous material, to search gold on the mountains of Bergama. This material has damaged the nature and health of the people living there. Metin Anda_ mobilized the people to protest against this poisonous company and succeeded to establish a people's council in Bergama. Because of this fact the police had arrested him on 31 march 1998. After that time we obtained no news from him. Addresses: President S?leyman Demirel, Office of the President, Cumhur Baskanligi, 06100 Ankara. Fax : + 90 312 427 13 30 Telegram : President Demirel, Ankara, Turkey. Prime Minister M. Yilmaz, office of the Prime Minister, Basbakanlik, 06573 Ankara, Turkey. Fax : + 90 312 417 0476 Mrs. Ismail Cem, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Disisleri Bakanligi 06100 Ankara Turkey. Fax : + 90 312 419 15 47 Mr. Olatan Sungurlu, Minister of Justice, Adalet Bakanligi, 06659, Ankara, Turkey. Fax: + 90 312 417 39 17 Mr. Basegioglu, Ministre de l'Int?rieur, Fax : + 90 312 419 16 64 -- Devrimci Halk Kurtulus Cephesi (Revolutionary Peoples Liberation Front) DHKC Informationbureau Amsterdam http://www.ozgurluk.org/dhkc dhkc at ozgurluk.org List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Tue May 12 08:29:12 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 12 May 1998 08:29:12 Subject: Turkish Human Rights Activist Shot Message-ID: Turkish Human Rights Activist Shot Tuesday, May 12, 1998; 10:11 a.m. EDT ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- Two assailants shot and wounded a leading Turkish human rights activist in his Ankara office today. An ultranationalist group claimed responsibility for the attack. Akin Birdal, president of Turkey's independent Human Rights Association, was in critical condition with six bullet wounds in the leg, chest and shoulder, said Tevfik Ali Kucukbas, chief physician at the private Sevgi hospital. Two men entered Birdal's downtown office and opened fire, an association official, Meral Bekar, told The Associated Press. The association is the largest organization of its kind in Turkey. Birdal, widely respected by international rights organizations, has been fighting Turkey's government over alleged human rights violations, including torture and forced village evacuations in the Kurdish-dominated southeast. The Turkish Revenge Brigade claimed it carried out the attack, private NTV television reported. Little is known about the ultranationalist group, but it has been vocally opposed to Turkey's Kurds. The group, which has claimed responsibility for killing several Kurdish and leftist journalists, did not give a motive for the attack on Birdal. Husnu Ondul, general secretary of the Human Rights Association, said without elaborating that Birdal had been receiving death threats and had requested protection from the government, to no avail. -- 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 May 12 09:30:26 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 12 May 1998 09:30:26 Subject: [] Human Rights Activist Gunned Down in Turkey Message-ID: Assassination attempt against Turkey's leading human rights activist Turkey- Democracy at gunpoint Akin Birdal, President of Turkey's Human Rights Association was attacked today, 12 May 1998, by two armed men in his office in Ankara. He is reported to have been seriously injured and received six bullets, two to his chest, to his body and currently being kept under intensive care in a hospital in Ankara. We categorically condemn this attack. Akin Birdal has been a long standing human rights advocate in Turkey. He was particularly active on promoting the Kurdish rights in Turkey. Turkish state has recently portrait Mr Birdal as the Turkish State's enemy. Turkish officials claimed that Akin Birdal, a respected human rights activist, was working for the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Turkey accused him of "putting Turkey in difficult position abroad". Birdal participated at several international platforms on Turkey and Kurdish question and particularly assisted individual cases to the European Court of Human Rigths. It is clear that Turkish authorities deliberately prepared the ground for an attack against him. The assassins of Birdal are appointed by the state to carry out their jobs. The assassins of Birdal are the Susurluk forces. Turkish sate is clearly determined to repress any democratic opposition to its policy of extermination on the Kurdish question. Turkey's allies, the West, must see this reality and put a stop to this regime of oppression. Democracy has always been in gun point in Turkey. Progressive forces have sacrificed numerous activists in the name of democracy and human rights. Kurdish issue is the heart of democracy and human rights problems in Turkey. The Kurdish people and their friends will not stop their struggle for freedom and democracy. We demand from the international community to act immediately. Silence has always meant the approval of Turkey's state policy. Business as usual in Turkey * 14 May - "flag incident" final day of HADEP hearing * Saturday Mothers are under attack * Pro-Kurdish daily Ulkede Gundem faces closure Appeal hearing of 30 HADEP (People's Democracy Party) leaders including President Murat Bozlak, on the flag incident will be held at the Supreme Court in Ankara on 14 May 1998. The HADEP leaders, sentenced for six years in jail for "aiding and abetting" Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) on 5 June 1997, were arrested after a youth had torn down the Turkish flag during the HADEP Congress in June 1996. The youth who allegedly tore down the Turkish flag was sentenced to 22 and half years. The appeal hearing on 14 May 1998 will be the final day of the HADEP trial. If the Supreme Court approves the decision taken by the Ankara State Security Court then all 30 HADEP members will start serving their sentences and the party will face closure. Previously three pro-Kurdish political parties, the People's Labour Party (HEP), the Freedom and Democracy Party (OZDEP) and the Democracy Party (DEP) were banned in Turkey. HADEP President Murat Bozlak and Deputy President Hikmet Fidan who were sentenced to six and a half years under the Article 169 of the Turkish Penal Code, will be banned indefinitely from carrying out political activity under Article 31 of the Turkish Penal Code (TPC). 28 other HADEP executive members who were sentenced to four and a half years, will also be banned from carrying out political activity for three years. Saturday Mothers attacked on the eve of Mother's Day Saturday Mothers (Mother's of the Disappeared) were attacked by police during their 155th-week sit-down protest in Galatasaray, in Istanbul on 9 May 1998. "The Mother's of the Disappeared" who have been protesting against disappearances under police custody and demanding information about their relatives, were told last Saturday that there will be no 156th-week to their protest. Pervin Buldan, member of Saturday Mothers Organising Committee and wife of Savas Buldan, a Kurdish businessman who was abducted and a few days later found dead, said that the protest of the mothers will continue and that they urge women all over the world to give them their maximum support. Nimet Tanrikulu, member of the executive committee of the Human Rights Association, Tomris Ozden, Birgul Kutan, Hanim Tosun, Ali Ocak, Fatma Morsumbul, Emine Duman, Aynur Kocak, Kiymet Tosun and Kiymet Cengiz were taken into custody during the police attack last Saturday. Ulkede Gundem closed down for 10 days Pro-Kurdish daily Ulkede Gundem was closed down on 10 May 1998 for ten days by order of Istanbul State Security Court. According to journalists working at the newspaper the court order was served on late on 9 May demanding that the newspaper cease publication for 10 days. The reason given for the closure, according to the court order, is an article written by Hatip Dicle, an ex-DEP MP who is currently serving a 15 years sentence in Ankara Prison. His article was found to be in violation of Article 312 of Turkish Penal Code. Newspaper officials claimed that further closure orders will follow and subsequently the Turkish authorities will ban the newspaper. The Turkish authorities had closed down four (4) pro-Kurdish daily newspapers in the past five years. Kurdistan Informatie Centrum Nederland Postbus 58092 1040 HB Amsterdam tel: 020-681 01 01 fax: 020-488 82 82 ---- American Kurdish Information Network (AKIN) 2623 Connecticut Avenue NW #1 Washington, DC 20008-1522 Tel: (202) 483-6444 Fax: (202) 483-6476 E-mail: akin at kurdish.org Home Page: http://www.kurdistan.org -- 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 May 12 15:28:14 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 12 May 1998 15:28:14 Subject: Fascist practices in Turkey: again disappearences Message-ID: For more information and a single-click emailaction see: http://www.ozgurluk.org/hrights/37days 37 DAYS, AND STILL NO NEWS ABOUT THE WHEREABOUTS OF FOUR REVOLUTIONARIES Neslihan Uslu Metin Andas Hasan Aydogan Mehmet Ali Mandal The Turkish Mafia-state continues its method of making people disappear, for the first time used in 1980 when Hayrettin Eren "disappeared". On March 31, 1998, NESLIHAN USLU, METIN ANDAC, HASAN AYDOGAN and MEHMET MANDAL were arrested by the police in Izmir. Although inquiries were made at all the police stations in Izmir, no information about their whereabouts could be obtained. Hereby we publish a statement of the Halkin Hukuk Buerosu (People's Lawyers Office) in Istanbul: Statement of the People's Lawyers Office May 7, 1998 The lawyers ask parliament about the fate of the disappeared. The People's Lawyers Office addressed Turkish parliament (TBMM) with a statement regarding the whereabouts of Neslihan Uslu, Metin Andac, Hasan Aydogan and Mehmet Mandal, last seen in Izmir on March 31, 1998. TO THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION OF THE TBMM There has been no news about Neslihan Uslu, Metin Andac, Hasan Aydogan and Mehmet Mandal, last seen on March 31, 1998, in Izmir. The people mentioned above are first grade relatives of our clients. Because there has been no news about said persons and because they were last seen in Izmir, we directly addressed the public prosecutor of the State Security Court (DGM) in Izmir, the chief prosecutor of Izmir, the police headquarters and the gendarnerie stations in the region on April 15, 1998, asking about their whereabouts. Without result. The files of the prisons in Buca and Bergama didn't contain the names of said persons either. Because of the political qualities of our clients, fears are justified that they have disappeared. Neslihan Uslu, daughter of Hatice and Ahmet, was born in 1968 in Duezce. She has been the responsible chief editor of the opposition magazine Devrimci Genclik (Revolutionary Youth), published in Istanbul, for years. Because of this, she was repeatedly arrested by the police, subjected to repression and constantly threatened with death or disappearance. Neslihan Uslu was sentenced several times by the State Security Council (DGM) in Istanbul, applying Anti-Terror Law article 3713, because of her position as responsible chief editor. All the sentences against her stem from trials against the press. Metin Andac, son of Asiye and Hamit, born in 1952 in Bergama/Izmir, until now living in this regional municipality. He participated in people's actions in Bergama against the gold mining, using cyanide, by the firm Eurogold. Metin Andac was indicted by the State Security Court in Izmir in the trial no. 1995/240, and condemned because of membership of the DHKP-C. Because of this, he was detained for a long time in the Buca prison. Metin Andac is very well known by the police. He, and several persons around him, were constantly threatened with death. He has two children an one grandchild. Hasan Aydogan stems from the village of Akarcay in Almus/Tokat. He is 24 years old. Mehmet Mandal stems for the village of Menemen/Izmir, 40 years old and living in the region. These people, mentioned above, are still being looked for. Regarding all the cases of disappearances in our country and the participation of state servants in these, confirmed in the Susurluk report, regarding the personalities of our clients, known to the police and constantly threatened with death or disappearance, it cannot be considered normal that nothing is known about the whereabouts of these persons and that we have found no trace of them in our inquiries. Regarding these facts, our fear increases that these people were made "disappeared". In the light of our statements above, we demand from your department/association, that the necessary inquiries are made by the responsible institutions and offices and that we are informed about the results and the actual situation. After we have concluded our own inquiries, we will inform the public about it whether or not people have been made "disappeared" after their arrest. With respect, Lawyer Metin Narin Lawyer Behic Asci -- 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 May 12 18:58:24 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 12 May 1998 18:58:24 Subject: AKIN Press Release on Mr. Birdal Message-ID: For Immediate Release (#33) May 12, 1998 Silencing Critics: Top Human Rights Activist Gunned Down in Turkey Akin Birdal, the President of Turkey based Human Rights Association, was gunned down today. At about noon, he was visited by two armed men who attacked him in his office. He was shot on the chest and his legs. Mr. Birdal was taken to Sevgi Hospital in Ankara and remains in critical condition. The perpetuators were given their usual name, "actor unknown assailants." Over 3.000 people have been murdered in Turkey since the early 1990s by the se so called actor unknown assailants. An overwhelming majority of them are political activists, human rights workers, journalists, in short, Kurdish and Turkish intellectuals, who are urging Turkey to move in the direction of peace and democracy and embrace reconciliation and civil society. For their good counsel, they have been targeted by the bullets of assassins. Many in Turkey know that the military is behind these death squads. Many in the West continue to accept, at least on the surface, the declarations that emanate from Ankara, "actor unknown assailants" have claimed these lives. For the sake of trade and misguided old friendship, no one is raising a voice to urge the Turkish generals to move back from their deadly march into the abyss. Last month, a Kurdish rebel leader surrendered to the Turkish military. Unseen, his alleged "confessions" leaked by the army have included names of a number of prominent individuals, including Akin Birdal, as the paid pipers of PKK. Such a practice has a name in the annals of this country: McCarthyism; in Turkey, it is an ongoing sport, practiced by the faceless generals to silence the humanizing elements in the society. Last January, Mr. Haluk Gerger, another human rights activist in Turkey held a Press Conference at the Human Rights Association in Ankara to tell the assembled crowd that he was on his way to Ayas Gudul Prison to serve his ten months prison term for an article he had written about PKK. Mr. Akin Birdal, noting that irony of the situation, remarked that elsewhere. writers get in line to see plays or look at the works of art. In Turkey, he said, they go to prison. Today, these same forces wanted to send Mr. Akin Birdal to the grave. We condemn the vile attack on Mr. Birdal and join his friends and his family in wishing him a quick recovery. ---- American Kurdish Information Network (AKIN) 2623 Connecticut Avenue NW #1 Washington, DC 20008-1522 Tel: (202) 483-6444 Fax: (202) 483-6476 E-mail: akin at kurdish.org Home Page: http://www.kurdistan.org ---- The American Kurdish Information Network (AKIN) provides a public service to foster Kurdish-American understanding and friendship -- 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.xs4all.nl Thu May 14 11:44:10 1998 From: dhkc at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl (dhkc at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl) Date: 14 May 1998 11:44:10 Subject: Congress: Revolution and Power in Neo-Colonies - online Message-ID: Hello, We are very pleased to announce the availability of the report of the congress on "Revolution and Power in the Neo-Colonies", which was held in the early spring of 1998 in the Netherlands, on the World-Wide Web. URL: http://www.ozgurluk.org/dhkc/congres Participating organisations: Revolutionary Peoples Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C); Turkey Communist Action Group (CAG); UK Communist Party of the Philipines (CPP); Philippines Frente Patriotico Manuel Rodriges (FPMR); Chile Partido Mapu; Chile Movimento Revolucionario Tupac Amaro (MRTA); Peru Iranian People's Fedayee Guerillas (IPFG); Iran All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) (AUCPB); Former Soviet Union Parti du Travail de Belgique (PTB); Belgium Peoples' Democatic Party (PRD); Indonesia This was the invitation: 8<----- Comrades, We invite you to the meeting "Revolution and Power in the Neo-Colonies". The concept is to exchange ideas and search for possibilities to co-operate. As the representatives of peoples who fight against imperialism and its collaborationist oligarchies, our aim is to develop concrete basis for the revolutionary co-operation and comradeship. We live in a world where two thirds of the entire population live in poverty, inhuman conditions and without freedom. The war between imperialism and the oppressed people did not come to an end. The last 50 years have been defined by this war. And today, the same war continues to determine the future of the world. The form of the world in coming years depends on what extent we shall make imperialism retreat and how many more victories and fronts we gain in the people's fight for freedom. We believe that the main role belongs to us - people's liberation movements and revolutionary parties/organizations - how we think, how we fight and which targets we concentrate on. Our crucial point in common is these common responsibilities we bear on our shoulders. Threats and attacks of imperialism, mainly the USA, continue in every corner of the world. After the collapse of the USSR, we lived through and witnessed its intensified bandit attacks. However, the expectation of a "unipolar world" proved false. On the contrary, between the imperialist countries' clashes for power and rivalry continue to increase in number. The main threats to imperialism are peoples struggling for freedom and their armed liberation forces. After a NATO meeting it was announced that "the 21st Century will be the century of uprisings" which shows the degree of danger from their point of view. Therefore, bourgeois economists, diplomats and contra-guerrilla chiefs concentrate on the elimination of the liberation movements of the oppressed people and specifically, armed liberation forces. For that reason, methods of destruction through violence, deception, provocation, false promises, psychological warfare, the effects of ideological attacks etc. are used. On the other hand, tendencies towards insularity, nationalism, giving up weapons and searching for compromise are noticed amongst the liberation movements as a result of isolation, the damage done by the authorities' attacks and the negative effect created by the collapse of the USSR. Despite all this, the negative impact of the last 10 years is disappearing and the struggle of the peoples is extending worldwide. The basic necessities of the revolutionary forces are to trust in their own strength and determination for a revolutionary power. In today's world, in this period of history, our words and attitude are very important, now more than ever. That is why the main political concept of our meeting has been chosen accordingly. The common responsibilities we carry on our shoulders will be the concrete basis for a collective revolutionary determination and co-operation between our peoples and real comradeship. This is what history expects us to do. Between the revolutionary parties and organizations of different countries, because of their origins or some other reasons, there may be differences. However, we wish to hold the meeting on a platform where the Marxist-Leninist perspective is the guideline and compromise with imperialism is rejected. Revolutionary greetings, International Relations Committee DHKP-C -- 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 Fri May 15 18:28:28 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 15 May 1998 18:28:28 Subject: TDN on Fascist violence in Turkey Message-ID: Turkish Daily News, May 14, 1998 Ultranationalist attacks viewed with concern * Recent murders and attacks committed by ultranationalists in Malatya, Bolu and Istanbul create public anxiety _________________________________________________________________ Galip Ridvanoglu Ankara - Ultranationalists have begun to occupy a primary place on Turkey's agenda due to a recent series of murders and attacks, reminiscent of pre-1980 events. The Ulku Ocaklari Association (Ultranationalist Youth Organization) was also known as the youth branch of the Nationalist Action Party (MHP) before 1980. At that time many members were arrested and sentenced to various penalties due to the crimes they committed. The Republican People's Party (CHP) recently brought the issue of the current attacks to Parliament. CHP's Deputy Chairman Sinan Yerlikaya, in a letter to Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz, requested the closure of the Ulku Ocaklari. Yerlikaya stated, "We are expecting you to find out those responsible for the recent fascist attacks." The Freedom and Solidarity Party (ODP) and the Socialist Power Party (SIP) also requested that the Ulku Ocaklari be closed. ODP administrators claim that the police are backing the ultranationalists. In recent years many university students have been injured due to ultranationalist attacks. Student associations claim that the police favor the ultranationalists by treating them leniently. Umit Cihan Tahro, a university student, was killed earlier this year by ultranationalists in Malatya because he did not fast during Ramazan. On the first of May, a demonstrator escaping from the police entered the ultranationalist MHP Okmeydani branch building in Istanbul and was beaten by party members who allegedly tried to throw him out of the third floor window. Two students passing in front of the Bolu Ulku Ocaklari Association building on May 3 were attacked by a group of ultranationalists, some of whom are reported to be members of the association. One of the students, Kenan Mak, died. According to allegations, the latest attack happened on May 5. Bilal Vural, a worker living in Istanbul, was killed by ultranationalists in the Seyrantepe district. His family and acquaintances claimed that Vural was brought several times to the Ulku Ocaklari building where ultranationalists forced him to become a member. They also claimed that Vural was threatened and beaten by ultranationalists, adding that he was killed because he was a People's Democracy Party (HADEP) member. Reactions to Murders ODP Chairman Ufuk Aras stated that Ulku Ocaklari associations have become centers for assassination plots where attackers are sheltered. The Teachers' Union declared that the events were not simple street fights but rather were planned attacks. The union members, calling on officials to take urgent action, said in a statement, "Those responsible for these attacks committed them in the streets as they were not able to do so on university campuses. We want them to take their dirty hands off our universities and our students." Many civilian associations also condemned the attacks. Meanwhile, CHP Icel Deputy Fikri Saglar brought a question to Parliament to be answered by the prime minister. Saglar, pointing out the distinction between Ataturk nationalism and racist nationalism, mentioned that racist nationalism was accepted as a threat to domestic peace. Saglar expressed that the continuation of the attacks, despite this fact, inevitably brought up in people's minds the possibility that these attacks are supported or favored by some groups within the state. Saglar asked Yilmaz whether an investigation into these events had already started and whether he had made any attempt to ban the Ulku Ocaklari Association and similar ultranationalist organizations. CHP Ankara Deputy Yilmaz Ates claimed that the murder of Kenan Mak in Bolu was not a random act of violence. Ates brought a question to the Interior Ministry in Parliament concerning their plans to clarify the events. Justice Minister Oltan Sungurlu, responding to the question on behalf of the interior minister, evaluated the Kenan Mak murder as a fight among university students. Sungurlu stated that the police were following the events very closely and argued that there had been no mysterious murders during the time the present coalition government had been in power. Meanwhile Ulku Ocaklari Association Chairman Atilla Kaya, in a press meeting on Friday at the association's headquarters, claimed that they had no connections with the group who murdered Kenan Mak. Kaya, however, did not deny that the group was sympathetic to their association. Kaya argued that some people wanted to defame the association by accusing them of being responsible for the latest violent attacks which have heightened public tension. With regards to the demonstrator who tried to escape from the police in Istanbul, taking shelter in an MHP building where he was beaten by MHP members, Kaya claimed that the members present actually wanted to save him from committing suicide. Kaya added that if he was in their place, he would have washed the demonstrator's face, made him sit and served him tea. As a result of the murders claimed to have been committed by Ulku Ocaklari members, which is known to be affiliated with the MHP, MHP administrators defended themselves. They stated that they had no connection with the murders. MHP Deputy Chairman Sebahattin Cakmakoglu, in a comment on a private television channel, stated the possibility that the murder committed in Bolu was a conspiracy. Cakmakoglu said that the MHP never shelters those who willingly take part in such violent actions. Cakmakoglu said that even if some people could have engaged in violence as a result of their momentary hotheadedness, the MHP intended to keep their youths away from such events. -- Press Agency Ozgurluk For justice, democracy and human rights in Turkey and Kurdistan! Website: http://www.ozgurluk.org mailto:ozgurluk at xs4all.nl / mailinglists: petidomo at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Sat May 16 10:14:01 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 16 May 1998 10:14:01 Subject: Turkish State starts disinformation-campaign about attack at Mr. Bir Message-ID: 16 may, 1998 IHD and TIHV criticize Yilmaz's remarks on Birdal attack _________________________________________________________________ Ankara - Turkish Daily News The Human Rights Association (IHD) and the Turkish Human Rights Association (TIHV), referring to Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz's remarks that the armed attack on IHD Chairman Akin Birdal was an "internal reckoning," has claimed that with his statement the prime minister had openly declared that those who were responsible from the attack would not be brought to light, the Anatolia news agency reported on Friday. According to the statement issued in the name of IHD headquarters, Birdal had been selected as a target because of his determined stance on backing peace, democracy and freedom and the prime minister's efforts to distort the facts would be in vain. It claimed that with such remarks the prime minister continued to designate the IHD as a target. It further claimed that the shooting had been a planned attack carried out by counter-guerrillas in a professional manner and urged the prime minister to resign should he fail to solve this incident. Experts reportedly say that the attackers were not professionals since they had acted in a panic, fired 13 bullets but missed all the vital areas, and they left fingerprints. The statement issued by TIHV Chairman Yavuz Onen claimed that previous governments had also made irresponsible statements after similar incidents. Some newspapers quoted Yilmaz as saying that the armed attack against Birdal was an "internal reckoning." "We had worried about something else. But it does not look that this was so. I mean, it is not what we feared. One understands that this looks like an inner clash among people in the same camp. The men [the two attackers] had come [to Birdal's office] for a matter related to the May Day [incidents]. Also, it is obvious that they are affiliated with the PKK [the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party]," the prime minister said. Meanwhile, Birdal's health condition is reportedly improving with time, Anatolia said. Doctors are treating Birdal with physical therapy to improve the movement of his right arm and fingers. -- Press Agency Ozgurluk For justice, democracy and human rights in Turkey and Kurdistan! Website: http://www.ozgurluk.org mailto:ozgurluk at xs4all.nl / mailinglists: petidomo at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Sat May 16 11:24:28 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 16 May 1998 11:24:28 Subject: Disappearances in Turkey Message-ID: NO NEWS ABOUT FOUR REVOLUTIONARIES The Susurluk state continues to make people disappear, a police which it started in 1980 when Hayri Eren "went lost". On March 31, Neslihan Uslu, Metin Andac, Hasan Aydogan and Mehmet Mandal were arrested in Izmir and nothing has been heard from them since although inquiries were made at all the police stations in Izmir and the cities and regions in the area. Neslihan Uslu was chief editor of the magazine Devrimci Genclik (Revolutionary Youth) in 1994-1995. Hasan Aydogan is 24 years old and was born in Tokat/Almus. Metin Andac stems from Bergama and Mehmet Mandal is 40 years old. With this information, TAYAD, the Solidarity Association of the Prisoners' Relatives, protested against the disappearances and massacres with a press statement on April 19. TAYAD stated to fear that these four people have been made "disappeared" after they were arrested. This new incident, a new case of disappearance after countless others, led to a reaction of the TAYAD members. They stated: "Our four friends, missing now for 18 days, participated in the struggle for democracy and were known to the police. Therefore our fear." After the press statement, Behic Asci, lawyer of the People's Lawyers Office, spoke. He said: "All our questions have been unanswered till now. We asked at all the police stations". Furthermore he stated that the police in Izmir have been known for disappearances in the past and that the lawyers know about their methods and would not let go. Documentation The fascist regime in Turkey continues the "disappearances" FOUR NEW DISAPPEARANCES Let's hold them accountable, don't let them be murdered Committee "End the Disappearances" During the 70's and 80's, disappearances were a reality in the Latin American countries. Tens of thousands of people disappeared in Guatemala since 1966. After the military took over power there, thousands of people were made "disappeared". In September of that same year, now in Chile, tens of thousands of revolutionaries and opposition members were massacred or made disappeared by the Pinochet-government. Thousands of people were subjected to severe torture and then thrown out of helicopters into the ocean during the junta of Videla. According to the official numbers, 3.000 people dies in Nicaragua in 1979. The situation in El Salvador isn't any different. Since 1990, the number of disappearances in Turkey has risen to more than 600. The policy of disappearances increases together with the people's opposition. Exact numbers aren't possible. But people are being arrested quite openly, subjected to torture, massacred, and their bodies are destroyed. By this, Turkey tries to keep up its rule of terror. DISAPPEARANCES ARE PART OF THE POLITICS OF THE FASCIST STATE OF TURKEY This policy has been applied since decades, but it's real increase started after 1990. The people's opposition is growing and the fascist state tries to prevent this. Tens of thousands of people break through the de-politicisation since the coup of September 12, 1980, and take to the streets. Revolutionary organizations are rapidly gaining strength. In such a phase, all the state institutions are organized according to the needs of the contra-guerrilla. Torturers are given medals, the liberty of the state to murder is secured. When there is a trial the torturers are acquitted and later given a promotion. There isn't a single police chief or prison director in the country now who hasn't been on trial yet. TORTURE, MURDER, RAPE, MASSACRES AND DISAPPEARANCES ARE THE NEVER CHANGING FACE OF PRESENT TURKEY "Will you talk, you pimp?" "Boy, we'll bring your mother and father here." "His girlfriend is here, let's finish her first." "Well, bring her in then." One or two people leave the room. The shackles at my feet are loosened and I'm put on a chair after I'm handcuffed. "Now listen carefully boy, you couldn't find this is a porn." "Here she is, chief." One of them lifts the blindfold. I see Fikriye standing in the door between two policemen. "Okay, start", says the one they call the chief. Shortly after voices are heard: "Undress". Among the screaming, a female voice is heard: "Don't do it, stop." They have to undress her with violence. I even forget to breath and it seems I'm suffocating. "I'm above all of you, I'll be first." "You're always doing the same thing, how would it be if we would get a taste for it", another one says. The poor girl begs them: "Don't do it". These are the words of a man who's girlfriend was raped by the police because he refused to speak. The same person was threatened with death and disappearance. However, he refused to give a statement and later he was detained by the court because he showed a "organization attitude". Neither torture, nor rape, murder, massacres and disappearances can be seen as merely exceptions. Nowadays all the prisons are equipped with torture instruments. The reality, exposed last year, shows that the state has a budged for this and orders the instrument at international firms. THE CREATIVITY OF THE TORTURERS The most known methods of torture are: beating up people, the Falaka (beating of the footsoles and the palms of the hands), pushing around, beating the head against the wall (in 1981, the Devrimci Sol member Ahmet Karlangac was massacred in this way), the Palestinian swing (hanging up backward), normal hanging, electroshocks while standing, hanging are tied down, applying weights to the feet while hanging, crushing the testicles, beating with a sandbag, sexual abuse, rape (of women and men), rape with police truncheons, bottles et cetera, burning the skin with cigarettes, cutting with razor blades, tearing out fingernails and teeth, tearing out the hair and the mustache, high-pressure waterhoses, keeping the head under water, laid down on a pile of ice, pushing people into car tires, putting soaked people in front of fans, forcing them to eat shit, pushing the head into the sewer, throwing them from a rise, letting people stand for hours and hours, keeping them from sleeping. Sometimes the nails and toes are crushed, but this isn't applied widely because it leaves traces. The torture tries to inflict pain without leaving traces. It's his goal to break the will of the victim. A PSYCHOLOGY OF UNCERTAINTY That's their aim: everybody should live in fear, trust nobody, thinking something can happen anytime. A society without resistance is to be created. Therefore torture, execution and massacres are something every opposition member should be prepared for, it's a price which has to be paid, whether people are organized or not. Whenever people are not satisfied with the system, they are potentially guilty. When the resistance among society is not organized against this policy of disappearances, the state will be able to push through its will without effort. WE HAVE TO ORGANIZE THIS RESISTANCE This is not just the task of the revolutionaries and democrats in Turkey. It's also the task of the progressives and the intellectuals in the rest of the world. It's a must for being human. The fascist regime in Turkey is supported by the imperialist states. The imperialist states, including the European states, are behind the fascist regime politically, military and economically. We have to break this support and we have to show the character of the fascist regime in Turkey to Europe and the entire world. The more we succeed in doing so, the fascist regime will be forced to take international public opinion seriously. This means it's also in our hands to stop the bloodshed. SINCE HAYRETTIN EREN Hayrettin Eren was a member of Devrimci Sol. He was arrested in 1980, shortly after the fascist coup. His arrest wasn't documented. He was massacred under torture. His body disappeared. Several inquiries were met with "He isn't with us". In this way the state freed itself from its responsibility without leaving a trace. 18 years have past since then. More than 600 people were made disappeared by the state since then. On March 31, 1998, Neslihan Uslu, Metin Andac, Hasan Aydogan and Mehmet Ali Mandal were arrested in Izmir. All state institutions deny to have arrested them. Their lawyers and families addressed the state prosecutors, all the police headquarters in the region, the courts, the soldiers and the policemen. Their response was: "We didn't arrest them, we know nothing". They want to destroy them. The state, until now making mostly individual arrested people disappear, now tries to get rid of four revolutionaries at the same time. This also show the character of the fascist state. NESLIHAN USLU Started her studies at the Law Faculty at the University of Istanbul in 1986. During that time she joined Dev-Genc (Revolutionary Youth). In 1988 she was expelled from university because of the political activities on the campus. One year later she enrolled again, now at the Literature Faculty. In 1989 she was one of the founders of IYOE-DER (Association of the Istanbul High School Youth). She worked in the commissions for culture, law, relatives and finances. She participated in all the youth actions at the University of Istanbul. She was a person who dedicated her life to the struggle. She organized actions, designed leaflets, pasted posters, published brochures... One can say she had just enough money in her pocket to pay for the bus ticket. Besides that, she worked for the magazine Devrimci Genclik. She called the youth to the struggle. During Newroz 1992, she was among the people who occupied the building of the government party Dogy Yol in Besiktas to demand accountability for the massacres against the Kurds. She was brutally beaten up and wounded. After she was in hospital for a short while, she was arrested. When she was released, she continued her work. While working for Devrimci Genclik, she received fines and prison sentences several times. She had to let go of her task when a prison sentence almost became inevitable. When this sentence was changed into a fine, she started to work for the Kurtulus magazine. When she was wanted in 1995, she took other tasks and responsibilities upon herself. When she was arrested in Izmir on March 31, 1998, she had 10 revolutionary years behind her. Now they want to make her disappear. METIN ANDAC 64 years old, a farmer. Born in the village of Narlica near the city of Bergama. Held in custody numerous times. Prior to the coup of September 12, 1980, he worked in Izmir. He participated in the TARIS resistance which marked those years. He was an union representative. When the firm Eurogold came to Bergama in 1998, he was one of the first opponents. In the beginning, the people were happy because of the "new jobs". But soon the first cases of cyanide poisoning occurred. Metin Andac took water and soil samples and had them tested. The technicians in the first laboratory he went to said they couldn't find anything after they were bribed by Eurogold. But Metin Andac didn't give up. Again and again he had samples tested. In the end it was proven that the water was poisoned. Thereupon he began to organize meeting, at first in his own village, but later in neighboring villages as well. That's how the first resistance started. Joint decisions were taken by the people. This was the core of the People's Council which was established later. During that phase he became the representative of the magazine Isci Hareketi (Workers' Movement). He was tortured in Manissa as well, the city which became known worldwide for torturing 16 and 17 year old youngsters. He was tortured by the same people. He was arrested and started hunger strikes. When he was released, he initiated a referendum and the people decided: "Eurogold, get out". A court decision quickly followed. But Eurogold wasn't closed. Thereupon the farmers, led by Metin Andac, destroyed the pits. In response, the gendarmes spread terror in the villages. Metin Andac was tortured in his own house, together with his children, his wife and his grandchildren. Andac was released again and applauded by 3.000 people. But shortly after detention was ordered again. Metin Andac didn't surrender. The real culprit was the state, supporting Eurogold. He was among the people all his life. When he was arrested on March 31, 1998, together with three of his friends who were at least 30 years younger, he took the sympathies of the people with him. He was part of the people. MEHMET ALI MANDAL Born in Menemen - Izmir. From a poor family. He began to work at a very young age. When his family went to Germany in 1974 to work, he went with them. He was deported after a while and returned to Turkey. Again he became a worker. Shortly after the September 12 coup, he went to Greece. He participated in all the demonstrations, every campaign, and every protest against fascism. He participated in all the work, from writing leaflets to distributing them. While he worked in construction, he spent days and night with translations for the magazine. He was married and had two children. But he was a revolutionary. He was arrested on March 31, on his way to Izmir to carry out a task. Since then we've not heard from him again. HASAN AYDOGAN Born in 1974 in Central-Anatolia, in Tokat. Because of the poverty of his family he had to leave school as a child. He sold Simit (a kind of pastry) in the street and worked in plastic and brick factories. When he was 16, he got to know the revolutionaries. He was in prison for a while. After he was released, a detention order was issued immediately and he was wanted. He was arrested in Izmir on March 31 where he took care of the security of his friends. Now they try to make him disappear. THE FASCIST REGIME IN TURKEY CONTINUES ITS POLICY OF DISAPPEARANCES AND MASSACRES The state of Turkey, guilty of human rights violations, has committed a new crime. The Susurluk state increases its attacks against the growing revolutionary struggle. It doesn't keep to its own laws, nor to international treaties. It tries to legitimize disappearances during custody. They try to make 4 revolutionaries disappear. Neslihan Uslu, Metin Andac, Hasan Aydogan and Mehmet Ali Mandal, 5 revolutionaries we have not heard from since March 31. These 4 revolutionaries were last seen when they were arrested. They try to make them disappear. Neslihan was chief editor and proprietor of the magazine "Revolutionary Youth in the struggle for independence, democracy and socialism" for a long time. Furthermore she worked as a editor for the Kurtulus magazine. Uslu, working as a journalist quite some time, was arrested dozens of times, subjected to all kinds of torture and threatened with death. With the accusation that she had ties to the DHKP-C (Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front), she was sentenced and was wanted by the police. Metin Andac was a revolutionary, known by name to the people of Bergama. Together with the people of Bergama, he fought against the imperialist firm Eurogold which digs for gold, using cyanide. He protected the soil in his land. He was arrested several times by the state and tortured. Hasan Aydogan was sentenced by the State Security Court of Kaysen to 3 years and 9 months imprisonment for being a member of the DHKP-C. He spent 1 .5 year in prison. He is still wanted by the police. Mehmet Ali Mandal lived in Greece for a long time and was a worker in this country. He lives in Izmir-Menemen. Although it is known that they have been arrested, all the judicial inquiries at the justice department, the department of home affairs, and many other state institutions have been without result. It was "They are not with us" every time. The only exception was the police headquarters in Izmir who admitted: "We arrested them and after taking their statements, we've handed them over to the state prosecution at the State Security Council where they were released". But later they denied this statement again. The fascist government in our country has transformed Turkey into a country of disappearances and massacres. This last outrage shows the measure of brutality in Turkey and Kurdistan once again. Our people are to "disappear" because they stood up against exploitation, the torture and injustice in the country and because they were fighting for an independent and democratic country and a life in honor and dignity. LET US TAKE CARE OF THEM! Supporting these 4 revolutionaries means supporting mankind and honor. It means standing up against a regime which commits crimes against humanity. We call upon all who see themselves as democrats and progressives to inquire to the whereabouts of the 4 revolutionaries. THE WHEREABOUTS OF THE FOUR REVOLUTIONARIES WHO THEY WANT TO HAVE DISAPPEARED MUST BE REVEALED! THEY WERE ARRESTED IN GOOD HEALTH, WE WANT THEM BACK WITH US IN GOOD HEALTH AS WELL! STOP THE DISAPPEARANCES IN TURKEY -- 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 May 17 08:14:56 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 17 May 1998 08:14:56 Subject: Sakik's Words Echo Beyond The War Zone Message-ID: *** 13-May-98 *** Title: RIGHTS-TURKEY: Sakik's Words Echo Beyond The War Zone /UPDATE/ By Nadire Mater ISTANBUL, May 12 (IPS) - The violence spawned by the alleged accusations of a former Kurdish guerilla leader claimed a new victim Tuesday, when two assailants shot and wounded a leading Turkish human rights activist in his Ankara office. Akin Birdal, president of Turkey's independent Human Rights Association, was reported Tuesday night to be in critical condition with six bullet wounds in the leg, chest and shoulder. The attack was quickly attributed to far-right nationalist gunmen responding to the widely reported 'confessions' of Semdin Sakik, a former top leader of the Kurdish insurgency in Turkey, who was grabbed by a Turkish special forces unit in February. Sakik's allegations, made while in the 'care' of the military fdor the last four weeks, have been cited as the justification for a series of attacks against the 'enemies' of the Turkish state. -- starting with the Army's current blitz on Sakik's former f orces, the guerillas of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK). Allegedly backed with Sakik's information -- though the army deny it -- forty thousand troops backed by tanks and airpower smashed into the PKK's heartland on Apr. 24 and are still razing the area. But Sakik did not save his words for his brother Kurds alone. His alleged 'confessions' also implicated almost every single prominent critic of the military and its scorched earth policy in Turkey's disputed south eastern provinces. Dozens of the military's critics were fingered: Birdal and two of Turkey's best know prisoners of conscience, pro-Kurdish party MPs Leyla Zana and Hatip Dicle among them. All were named by Sakik, according to the media leaks, as allegedly being 'paid age nts' of the PKK. Others on Sakik's list included journalists and even the world renowned 'Saturday Mothers', the women who weekly take to the central Istanbul streets to protest the 'disappearances' of members of their family while in police custody. The attacks began soon after his 'confessions' were leaked to the media. Shortly after it was reported that Sakik had described the pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party (HADEP) as the ''PKK's conscription bureau,'' HADEP members in Istanbul and the north west city of Bolu were attacked by pro-army members of the neo- fascist Nationalist Action Party (MHP). Two died and two were seriously injured. And the Saturday Mothers themselves came under police attack Saturday, with 11 arrests and several injuries. Wounded Human Rights Association chairman Birdal had expressed fears that he would be arrested following the publication of Sakik's alleged 'confession' that Birdal was a paid PKK sympathiser. Instead two men entered Birdal's Ankara office Tuesday and opened fire. According to reports on the privately run NTV TV network the attack has been claimed as the work of the so-called Turkish Revenge Brigade, a little known ultranationalist group. Unknown assassins have already claimed the lives of dozens of opposition journalists, rights workers and MPs in Turkey. Generally those targeted are reputed for their calls for a peaceful end to the Kurdish conflict. ''It's a witch hunt,'' said Saruhan Oluc, Freedom & Solidarity Party (ODP) deputy chairman before the shooting was reported. ''The Human Rights Association leader is targeted at a time when parliamentary committees is exposing torture in police stations and prisons,'' he said. ''Relatives of the 'disappeared' are targeted even as people continue to disappear under custody. Now we are faced with attacks justified on racial discrimination. ''We observe that everything fits the pattern of a preconceived plan, designed to instigate civil strife in order to end talk of a political solution to the Kurdish Question.'' Journalists 'named' by Sakik have faced different problems. Among them, Mehmet Ali Birand and Cengiz Candar, two reputed foreign affairs analysts from the national daily Sabah have been forced to go on leave by their editors and security analyst Mahir Ka ynak of the weekly Aktuel has been fired, ''in compliance with the demand of the military''. Sakik's 'confessions' were broad. One reported confession attributes the 1986 assassination of Swedish premier Olaf Palme to a PKK hitman. The theory was long ago rejected by the Swedish police and the main eyewitness, Palme's wife. One of 19 sons of the Sakik family, Semdin Sakik has already lost two of his brothers, also PKK guerrillas, killed in the war. Another brother, Sirri, became a Turkish MP in 1991 as a member of the pro-Kurdish Democracy Party. The party was banned in 199 4. Sakik publicly split with PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan this year, who put him on televised trial shortly before the Turks snatched him. ''You are not living anymore,'' Ocalan told Sakik during the broadcast hearings. ''You are right, my leader,'' Sakik rep lied. He managed to escape from PKK custody in Syria and fled to Northern Iraq, to an area controlled by Iraqi Kurdish rebel leader Mesoud Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) forces. The KDP granted refugee status to Sakik and officially refused to hand him over to the Turkish army. However, Sakik, in spite of KDP warnings, moved from the relative safety of the Iraqi countryside to the northern Iraqi border town of Dohuk, where he was caught -- or as some speculate, agreed to be 'rescued' by the Turkish special forces. PKK leader Ocalan has no doubt. He told Kurdish satellite Med-TV last week that Sakik had betrayed the Kurds, ''deliberately giving himself to the Turkish army and guiding the operation against his own people.'' ''Sakik might have turned informer but the causes of the conflict remain,'' says Umit Firat, an independent Kurdish analyst in Istanbul. ''Without political will to forge a solution, there is no way out.'' (END/IPS/NM/RJ/98) List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Sun May 17 11:00:40 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 17 May 1998 11:00:40 Subject: Turkey outlines dates in $3.5 bln attack helicopter program Message-ID: TDN, 16 May, 1998 Turkey outlines dates in $3.5 bln attack helicopter program * The first-stage winner will be announced in March 1999 and Turkey plans to see the first helicopter in the air by Nov. 2002 _________________________________________________________________ Metehan Demir Ankara - Final countdown for Turkey's $3.5 billion defense project to produce 145 third-generation attack helicopters has started as the key dates for the plans have been set by the country's defense industry authorities. The latest plan is for a short-list consisting of two or three companies to be announced between Sept. 6-9 of this year by the Defense Industry Executive Board, which includes the prime minister, the chief of General Staff and the defense minister. In September the Defense Industry Executive Board will evaluate the short-list and send the names of the short-listed firms to the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), which will be the main contractor for the project. Later, after the short-listed companies meet with TAI officials during a period expected to last between four to six months, the TAI will prepare and submit reports to the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries (SSM), who will evaluate them and make a final decision. The winner of the initial contract will be announced by the Defense Industry Executive Board in Feb. or March 1999. Turkey plans to see the first helicopter in the air by November 2002. Turkey's first stage in the bidding process will include 50 helicopters out of a total of 145, followed by an additional 50 and a final 45. The tender for the first 50 helicopters is expected to amount to around $2 billion, out of a $3.5 billion total tender. First tender winner seems favored for the next stages Despite official SSM pronouncements that other tenders will be accepted during the remaining two stages, experts say that the winner of the contract for the first 50 helicopters will have a greater chance for the next 95 helicopters since, after establishing costly production lines and infrastructure, it would not be logical to set up different production lines with another company. Turkey began the process with the SSM's Request for Proposals (RFP) on May 30, 1997, which had a closing deadline of Dec. 31, 1997. The competitors The five official competitors are the American manufacturer Boeing's AH-64D Apache Long Bow; American Bell Helicopter-Textron's AH-1Z King Cobra (the manufacturer of the Super Cobra, which is currently being used in the Turkish military); French Eurocopter's Tiger; Italian Agusta's A129-International; and Russian Kamov's KA-50/2. The firms submitted their proposals on the last day of 1997 in response to an official request from the SSM. The Boeing-Sikorsky partnership, the producer of the reconnaissance-attack stealth helicopters RAH-66 Comanche did not respond to the SSM's request for proposals, while the Russian helicopter firm Rostvertol, manufacturer of the Mi-24 and Mi-28, decided to withdraw from the tender. Several Turkish firms, such as the military electronic company, Aselsan, are being considered for participation in the helicopter production project as local subcontractors. There are currently five committees within the SSM and one in the military which have been analyzing and evaluating the proposals. The SSM committees, which were especially set up for the project, are as follows: system performance specification; technology transfer; administration; offset agreements; and finance. The military also has a special consultation and monitoring committee. Not only a defense project but a trump card Turkey does not see its helicopter program as merely a defense industry project, but also as a political trump card to be used in relations with the United States, France, Russia and Italy, the countries competing for the tenders. In addition to the helicopter project, the tank project is also one of Turkey's strongest trump cards in its attempt to urge those countries to work in favor of Turkey in the European Union (EU) and the international arena. There are rumors that there will be at least one American company on the short list, and that France's Eurocopter, as well, has a better chance than its other European rivals. France has long supported Turkey within the EU, and this attitude may help it in the lucrative Turkish defense market. But the recent involvement of Israel as a project partner of both Kamov and Agusta may change the current balance, as Turkish-Israeli ties are developing both strategically and militarily. Experts note that Russia and Italy have increased their chances in the tender stakes by setting up partnerships with Israel. Russia, however, has some disadvantages. For months, Turkey has been urging Russia not to sell the controversial S-300 missiles to Greek Cyprus. If that sale goes through, it will compromise Russia's future bidding on the giant Turkish tenders. This concern will also be voiced during the upcoming visit of Chief of General Staff Gen. Ismail Hakki Karadayi to Russia next week. Warning to US firms Turkey has strongly urged all the candidate firms, including the U.S. producers, to provide the country with production and export licences, as well as full transfer of technology and source codes for the helicopters. Ankara wants to be sure that it does not face any difficulty over the notification of the helicopter production-project permission in the United States Congress if an American firm wins the tender. Meanwhile, the U.S. Congress has noted that it wants to see the contract before it approves the production licence. Some experts say that if the United States drags its feet on this issue, even if an American company comes up with the winning tender, Ankara may decide not to award them the contract. In the long term, Turkey also plans to increase the strength of its fleet of both assault and general purpose helicopters to 750 and to sell helicopters to third countries, including the Turkic states. -- 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 IHD-ANK at INFO-IST.comlink.apc.org Sun May 17 14:14:00 1998 From: IHD-ANK at INFO-IST.comlink.apc.org (IHD-ANK at INFO-IST.comlink.apc.org) Date: 17 May 1998 14:14:00 Subject: PRESS RELEASES OF HUMAN RIGHTS ASSOCIATION Message-ID: <6u0UkhvZqoB@xp-ihdan.info-ist.comlink.apc.org> Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit 14 May 1998 PRESS STATEMENT CONCERNING THE ARMED ASSAULT AGAINST MR. BIRDAL, PRESIDENT OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS ASSOCIATION On 12 May 1998, at about 12:25, our President Mr. Akin Birdal was severely wounded because of an armed assault by two unknown assailants, at his office at the Human Rights Association's Headquarters. The intelligence police officers, who normally are present every day in front of our association's building to observe people coming and going , were absent on that day. Also it is quite obvious that the perpetrators were feeling very safe, given the fact that they left the place of the crime armed. It is also quite alarming that the security officers, who were informed about the assault, arrived at the place of the crime and started with a "technical" examination, instead of speeding up the process of getting our severely wounded President, lying on the floor, to the hospital. The ambulance, which was called immediately after the incident, was very late in arriving which caused our President loosing much blood. After our President was hospitalized, the necessary steps to save and document any evidence was not carried out at the office of the President. The room was not sealed for investigation, and whatever evidence present was not investigated carefully. It was not until the next day that the police, upon the urging of our officers, investigated the bullets holes. Computerized pictures of perpetrators were drawn. But their clothes are not in accordance with the eye-witnesses testimony. We have grave concerns for Mr. Birdal's safety at the hospital because entrance to the hospital is not under the strict security measures as we have heard from various sources. The police officers, who guard the entrance to the intensive care unit at the hospital where our President is being hospitalized, are attached to the Anti Terrorism Branch of Ankara Security Department and are easily identified through their moustache which indicates their association to a certain political group. They also behave towards our association's officers and members in a disturbing way. Our members who are on duty at the hospital are not allowed to secure the elevator exit to the intensive care unit. Therefore our own security can only be carried out partially. The investigation is being carried out by the Anti Terrorism Branch and we have first indications that it is being distorted. At the Security Department, the eye-witnesses were shown pictures of several HRA officers and also HADEP officers known to us. This leads us to believe that the investigation is intended to conceal the identity of the perpetrators. According to human rights defenders, this assault was an obvious contra- guerilla action, as in previous unresolved assaults. We are concerned that the perpetrators of this assault will not be revealed and those accountable will be protected. If this is the case, then we will hold not only the Interior Ministry, but also the government and all mechanisms embodying the government accountable for this. As Human Rights Association's officers and human rights activists, we declare that, in order to investigate this assault objectively and with the necessary care, an independent commission has to be set up in which our association's officers would be part of. We also declare that the Human Rights Association will continue with its determined struggle for human rights, democracy, freedom and peace. CENTRAL EXECUTIVE BOARD OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS ASSOCIATION 15 May 1998 PRESS RELEASE OF HUMAN RIGHTS ASSOCIATION'S HEADQUARTERS Human Rights Association (HRA)'s Headquarters has decided to give a statement to the public in response to the statements of Prime Minister Mesut Y?lmaz which was published in the press today. Prime Minister Mesut Y?lmaz has called the armed assault against our President, Ak?n Birdal as an "internal conflict". The national and international public is quite surprised about Mr. Y?lmaz's interpretation. With his undecisiveness and trepidation up to date has been unable to bring out in the open the gang activity enmeshed in the state, and also having caused this matter to have dropped from the agenda, he now introduces this as an "internal conflinct" of the HRA which struggles for each individual's right to lead a dignified life. We call upon Mr. Y?lmaz and all government officials to act according to the responsibilities inherent to the office of statesmen. The real conflict is between those who work for peace, democracy and freedom in Turkey and those who wish to maintain the system of suppression and exploitation. Our President Mr. Ak?n Birdal and HRA have been chosen as a target because of the HRA's unwavering stand and determination on the side of peace, democracy and freedom. This is known worldwide. Therefore, the Prime Minister's attempts to manipulate and disort the incident will be in vain. >From the Prime Minister's statements and attitude we are led to believe that those accountable will not be revealed. In addition, the Prime Minister, with this statement, continues to present the HRA as target again. The armed assault against Mr.Ak?n Birdal was premeditated and carried out professionally. Mr. Mesut Y?lmaz should immediately explain to the public "what he is afraid of". (he stated ' it is not what I am afraid of' ) Mesut Y?lmaz and his government will not be released of their accountibility for this incident by declaring this an "internal conflict". The HRA believes that the source of this armed assault is what the Prime Minister "is afraid of". Mesut Y?lmaz and his government will not be released of their accountibility for this incident by declaring this an "internal conflict". The HRA believes that the source of this armed assault is what the Prime Minister "is afraid of" What Mr. Y?lmaz is afraid of and unable to declare is that the armed assault was carried out by contra-guerilla. Mr. Mesut Y?lmaz, who earlier promised on his honour to bring in the open the "Susurluk Case" before the people of Turkey, should bring out in the open this incident, otherwise he should resign. ## CrossPoint v3.02 ## From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Sun May 17 13:31:56 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 17 May 1998 13:31:56 Subject: AI: Turkey: Irresponsibility of authorities leads to armed attack Message-ID: * News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty * International * AI INDEX: EUR 34/21/98 12 MAY 1998 Turkey: Irresponsibility of authorities leads to armed attack on President of Human Rights Association By persistently attempting to discredit the Turkish Human Rights Association (HRA), the Turkish authorities created the climate for today's shooting of Akin Birdal, President of the HRA, Amnesty International said today. "The Turkish authorities have consistently failed to investigate or condemn earlier fatal attacks on officials of the Association," the organization said. "In fact, successive Turkish governments have remained mute when such attacks took place, while the Foreign Ministry endeavoured to take every opportunity to undermine the HRA -- and Akin Birdal in particular. It appears that this may have been official policy." Two unidentified assailants burst into the offices of the Association in Akara this morning and opened fire on Mr Birdal. He suffered six bullet wounds and is in a critical condition in hospital. It appears that this unprovoked attack is the result of the Turkish authorities'irresponsible handling of alleged confessions by Semdin Sakik, a former military commander of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) who recently defected to the Kurdish Democratic Party/Iraq (KDP/Iraq) of Masoud Barzani, and was subsequently abducted by the Turkish security forces in Northern Iraq and brought back across the border. The Turkish press then published confessions alleged to have been made by Semdin Sakik, in which numerous prominent personalities critical of the government were implicated as having actively supported the PKK. Akin Birdal was one of the targets of such accusations. More than 10 officials of the HRA have been killed since 1991. In most cases, the assailants were unidentified, although the attacks took place at the same time as intense police harassment, coinciding with a succession of prosecutions of the organization for its legitimate activities. Muhsin Melik, founder of the Sanliurfa branch of the HRA, was able to identify his attackers as police officers before he died of his wounds on 2 June 1994. "It appears that such murders of HRA members were not properly investigated, and in no cases was the HRA satisfied that the true perpetrators had been arrested -- indeed, it appeared that perpetrators were being protected," Amnesty International said. The text of what was apparently a secret Interior Ministry circular in January 1997 referred to human rights groups as being used by the PKK, and recommended that local Governors, Gendarmerie General Command and Police Headquarters should "take measures to eliminate the impression of credibility" of people who "incite the public". The uncorroborated allegations attributed to Semdin Sakik were given enormous publicity -- in direct breach of the normal practice of public prosecutors who have the right to keep preliminary investigation secret. The bitter conflict between government forces and the PKK in southeast Turkey has claimed more than 28,000 lives since 1984. In this highly-charged context, government silence in the face of such gross allegations was irresponsible and has given licence to the attackers. "It is time that the Turkish Government, at its highest levels, condemns such attacks. It should publicly acknowledge the important contribution made by the HRA and other human rights organizations, and ensure that the perpetrators of this attack are apprehended and brought to justice," Amnesty International said. In February this year an Amnesty International delegate observed a hearing at Ankara State Security Court in one of the many prosecutions faced by Akin Birdal for exercising his right to freedom of expression. ENDS... **************************************************************** You may repost this message onto other sources provided the main text is not altered in any way and both the header crediting Amnesty International and this footer remain intact. Only the list subscription message may be removed. **************************************************************** To subscribe to amnesty-L, send a message to with "subscribe amnesty-L" in the message body. To unsubscribe, send a message to with "unsubscribe amnesty-L" in the message body. If you have problem signing off, contact List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Sun May 17 18:44:19 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 17 May 1998 18:44:19 Subject: Turks March Against Shooting of Human Rights Chief Message-ID: _________________________________________________________________ TURKS MARCH AGAINST SHOOTING OF HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF _________________________________________________________________ 09:38 a.m. May 17, 1998 Eastern ANKARA, May 17 (Reuters) - Thousands of Turks marched on Sunday under the watchful gaze of riot police to protest over the shooting last week of the country's leading human rights campaigner. In Ankara, squads of police wearing plastic body armour waited along the route of over a thousand marchers toward the small hospital where Akin Birdal, head of the Human Rights Association (IHD) is receiving treatment. Birdal was shot six times in the chest and leg by two gunmen in his Ankara office on Tuesday. ``Akin's improvement is continuing. All we have to do now is wait,'' IHD official Tayfun Gorgun told the crowd which broke up after flowers had been laid outside the hospital. The marchers' progress through the city had been punctuated with chants of anti-fascist slogans and shouts of, ``Don't be silent. If you are silent, your turn will come.'' Over a thousand demonstrators gathered in front of the IHD's headquarters in central Istanbul before dispersing. Several hundred police and water cannon were stationed in a nearby square. In Diyarbakir, regional capital of the mainly Kurdish southeast, police broke up a similar demonstration organised by Turkey's largest Kurdish party, making around ten arrests. Justice Minister Oltan Sungurlu said the search for Birdal's attackers would end shortly. ``Those who carried out the armed attack on IHD chairman Birdal will be caught soon,'' Anatolian news agency quoted him as saying. The agency also said the main opposition Islamist Virtue Party had submitted a motion to parliament calling for the assembly to set up an investigation into the case. Birdal has been an outspoken critic of Turkey's shaky human rights record and frequently accused the state of conducting a ``dirty war'' against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels in the southeast. More than 28,000 people have been killed in the 13-year conflict. The veteran activist had been receiving death threats after purported accusations by captured PKK defector Semdin Sakik were leaked to the press linking Birdal to the guerrilla group. Rights groups blamed the shooting on these reports and linked the assassination attempt to a security scandal which exposed state ties to rightist death squads. IHD officials deny any connection to the PKK. Turkey's human rights record has often come under fire from the West and was one of the factors cited by the European Union for excluding the country from a list of potential EU candidates last December. Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. * * * ** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, material appearing here is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for research and educational purposes. ** +:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+ +: A N T I F A I N F O - B U L L E T I N :+ +: NEWS * ANALYSIS * RESEARCH * ACTION :+ +: RESISTING FASCISM * BY ALL MEANS NECESSARY! :+ +:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+ To subscribe e-mail Tom Burghardt Visit AFIB on the World Wide Web: http://burn.ucsd.edu/~aff/afib.html ++++ stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal ++++ ++++ if you agree copy these 3 sentences in your own sig ++++ ++++ see: http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/spg-l/sigaction.htm ++++ List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From K.RAUCHFUSS at LINK-DO.comlink.apc.org Sat May 9 17:45:00 1998 From: K.RAUCHFUSS at LINK-DO.comlink.apc.org (K.RAUCHFUSS at LINK-DO.comlink.apc.org) Date: 09 May 1998 17:45:00 Subject: Offener Brief von Dino Frisullo Message-ID: <6tYUxl-r$RB@walker.link-do.soli_> Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Offener Brief von Dino Frisullo an die Zeitung ?lkede G?ndem "Zuerst m?chte ich all jene Freunde gr??en, die ich im Gef?ngnis zur?cklassen mu?te. Ich wei?, da? sie nicht die M?glichkeit haben werden, diese Zeilen zu lesen, da diese Zeitung - die einzige Zeitung in der T?rkei, die ?ber ihre Schwierigkeiten und ihre Hoffnungen spricht - verboten ist, verboten f?r sie und f?r alle Menschen in der kurdischen Region. Aber vielleicht werden sie diesen Brief in der Zukunft einmal zu Gesicht bekommen. Ich stehe nun bei ihnen in gro?er Schuld. Im Gef?ngnis war ich ihr Gast und ihr Zeuge. Auch die ?rmsten von ihnen erlaubten mir nicht, auch nur eine einzige Lira auszugeben. Sie gaben mir ihre Gastlichkeit und ihre Freundschaft, wie sie es als kurdische Menschen f?r gew?hnlich tun, aber mehr noch: sie schenkten mir ihr Vertrauen, ihre Lebensgeschichten, die einen Teil der gesamten Leidensgeschichte des kurdischen Volkes bilden. Ich werde ihre Stimme sein, die Stimme der kurdischen H?ftlinge in Europa. Ich werde f?r sie schreien, wie ich es im Gerichtssaal getan habe, werde ausrufen, da? alle von ihnen unter Druck gesetzt werden, mit dem Milit?r zu kollaborieren und da? alle von ihnen, politische, wie auch gew?hnliche Gefangene, Frieden und W?rde ersehnen. Ich werde in ganz Europa erkl?ren, da? der Knast, wo ich einen Monat lang gefangen gehalten wurde, kein 'normales' Gef?ngnis ist, wo es irgendein 'normales' Verh?ltnis zwischen Strafe und begangenem Verbrechen g?be, das Gef?ngnis von Diyarbakir ist vielmehr ein Teil des Krieges mit der systematischen und totalen Unterscheidung und Diskriminierung von 'Politischen', 'Gest?ndigen' und 'Normalen' und der allt?glichen Benutzung der Aussagen der 'Gest?ndigen' f?r milit?rische Operationen. Ich werde versuchen einzelne F?lle vor den Europ?ischen Menschenrechtsgerichtshof zu bringen. Und ich werde versuchen, die breite Bewegung f?r meine Freilassung und die Solidarit?t mit mir, in eine Bewegung zu verwandeln, die in der kurdischen Frage den internationalen Druck erzeugt, der f?r den Beginn eines Friedensdialoges n?tig ist. Ich kann diese Hunderte von Jagdbombern nicht vergessen, die ?ber Diyarbakir in Richtung auf die Berge zuflogen und nicht jene Panzer, 'Made in Italy' oder aus Deutschland oder den USA, die an Newroz auf die Kinder feuerten. Und in jedem Fall werde ich nach Diyarbakir zur?ckkehren, um mich meinem Proze? zu stellen. Ich m?chte allen Menschen aus Diyarbakir danken, f?r die gro?e Fr?hlichkeit und das Fest in Batikent und f?r die Aufmerksamkeit, die sie meinem Proze? erwiesen. Jeden Tag erhielt ich einen Beweis dessen, durch die Verwandten von Mith?ftlingen, sogar ?ber meine W?rter. Schlie?lich, am Tag meiner Verhandlung, wurde eine Gruppe von Frauen durch die Polizei geschlagen, nur weil sie meiner Freilassung beiwohnen und sie feiern wollten, weil diese Freilassung auch ein Sieg f?r sie war. Ich werde dies alles niemals vergessen, auch nicht den Einsatz meiner Anw?lte aus Diyarbakir und Istanbul und der kurdischen JournalistInnen, speziell von MED-TV. Im Fernsehen auf unserer Zelle konnte ich t?glich die Berge von L?gen und militaristischer Rhetorik erfahren, die immer erb?rmlicher werden und mit denen die kurdischen und t?rkischen demokratischen Organisationen und jedwede Hoffnung auf ein Ende des schmutzigen Krieges zugesch?ttet werden sollen. Semdin Sakik ist niemals in das Gef?ngnis von Diyarbakir gebracht worden. Seine Zelle dort war reines Theater. Er selbst verblieb die ganze Zeit in den H?nden des Milit?rs und der JITEM. Seine Stimme ist deren Stimme und seine 'Enth?llungen' sind ein Teil des Krieges. Auch das werde ich in Europa erkl?ren. Schlie?lich m?chte ich ?lkede G?ndem danken. Ich habe meinen zweiw?chigen Hungerstreik auch mit dem Ziel durchgef?hrt, Eure Zeitung f?r mich und die anderen Gefangenen frei zug?nglich zu machen. Dies wurde verweigert und auch Eure Artikel ?ber meinen Fall wurden mir erst nach der Entlassung ?bergeben. Aber ich wei?, da? Eure Zeitung das Herz der kurdischen Menschen ist, und das Herz aller freiheitsliebenden Menschen. Heute scheint die Nacht sehr dunkel zu sein, aber Newroz, der neue Tag, wird kommen, ?ber dem Berg Gebar ..." Dino Frisullo, 29.04.1998 From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Thu May 21 08:59:39 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 21 May 1998 08:59:39 Subject: Turkey: 40000 workers march Against Privatization Message-ID: /** labr.global: 416.0 **/ ** Topic: 40000 workers marched Against Privatization ** ** Written 2:11 PM May 16, 1998 by onder at tr-net.net.tr in cdp:labr.global ** 40000 workers marched Against Privatization Around 40000 workers who are member of TURK-IS (biggest confederation In Turkey), marched against Privatizations in Turkey on 16 th May 1998. Workers who came from all cities, marched around 2 km. And they realized a demonsration on SIHHIYE square in Capital city. Their slogans were "Stop Privatizations" , " No to Privatization of Energy" Public employees, Engineers Chambers and NGOs supported the demonsration. ** End of text from cdp:labr.global ** *************************************************************************** This material came from PeaceNet, a non-profit progressive networking service. For more information, send a message to peacenet-info at igc.apc.org *************************************************************************** List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From K.RAUCHFUSS at LINK-DO.soli.de Thu May 21 20:34:00 1998 From: K.RAUCHFUSS at LINK-DO.soli.de (K.RAUCHFUSS at LINK-DO.soli.de) Date: 21 May 1998 20:34:00 Subject: Lebensgefahr fuer MenschenrechtlerInnen Message-ID: <6uMXRzYb.RB@walker.link-do.soli.de> Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Regionalb?ro Friedenszug "Musa Anter" und Medizinische Fl?chtlingshilfe Bochum e.V. gemeinsame Pressemitteilung "MenschenrechtlerInnen weiter in Lebensgefahr" ?rztedelegation der IPPNW und der Medizinischen Fl?chtlingshilfe Bochum aus Ankara zur?ckgekehrt Auf Initiative der Medizinischen Fl?chtlingshilfe Bochum e.V. und der deutschen Sektion der "Internationalen ?rztInnen gegen den Atomkrieg / ?rztInnen in sozialer Verantwortung" (IPPNW) haben in der vergangenen Woche je ein Vertreter der beiden Organisationen Ankara besucht. Am 12. Mai hatten dort zwei Attent?ter der in der T?rkei operierenden rechtsradikalen Todesschwadronen den prominenten Menschenrechtler Akin Birdal mit sieben Sch?ssen lebensgef?hrlich verletzt Die Medizinische Fl?chtlingshilfe Bochum e.V. war durch den Bochumer Arzt Knut Rauchfuss vertreten. F?r die IPPNW nahm der Hamburger Professor Dr. Gerhard Garweg an der Delegation teil. Die Mediziner haben sich in Gespr?chen vor Ort ein Bild ?ber den aktuellen Gesundheitszustand des Schwerverletzten machen k?nnen. Au?erdem f?hrte die Delegation Gespr?che mit den behandelnden ?rtzInnen und der ?rztekammer. Nach ihrer R?ckkehr legte die Delegation einen Bericht vor, den wir im folgenden in Kurzform dokumentieren. ****************************************************************** "Wir werden mit ganzer Kraft weitermachen" Akin Birdal auf dem Weg der Besserung - MenschenrechtlerInnen weiter in Lebensgefahr Als die beiden Attent?ter die R?umlichkeiten des Menschenrechtsvereines IHD betraten, konnten sie sich sicher f?hlen. Die Polizeieinheiten, die normalerweise das Viertel kontrollieren, in dem sich neben dem IHD auch Konsulate und Ministerien befinden, waren ebenso abger?ckt, wie jene, die zur t?glichen Bespitzelung des Vereines abgestellt sind. Auch war den Auftragskillern bekannt, da? sich ihr Opfer, Akin Birdal, der Vorsitzende des Menschenrechtsvereines, ohne die ?bliche Abschirmung durch seine Stellvertreter in seinem B?ro befand. Unter dem Vorwand, ein Freund der Beiden sei auf der Kundgebung am 1. Mai in Ankara verhaftet worden, verschafften sie sich Zutritt zu Birdals B?ro. Doch der IHD-Vorsitzende durchschaute das Spiel schnell. Morddrohungen in den Tagen zuvor hatten ihn mi?trauisch gemacht. Auch war Birdal bekannt, da? es am 1. Mai in Ankara nicht zu Verhaftungen gekommen war. "Den Ausschlag gab die Tatsache, da? beide ihre T-shirts ?ber der Hose trugen", erkl?rt Nazmi G?r, Stellvertreter Birdals, "das tun hier ?blicherweise nur Zivilpolizisten und andere Leute, die eine Waffe im Hosenbund verbergen m?chten." Birdal schaltete blitzschnell, er forderte sie auf, sich von seiner Sekret?rin die Adresse des zust?ndigen Vereins in Ankara geben zu lassen und dirigierte sie zur T?r, als beide ihre Waffen zogen und die ersten Sch?sse auf den Menschenrechtler abfeuerten. Ins Bein getroffen, fiel dieser zu Boden. Es gelang ihm jedoch, sich gegen die T?r zu werfen und diese halb zu schlie?en. Die Attent?ter feuerten durch die T?r, die einen gro?en Teil der Sch?sse abfing. Drei weitere Kugeln trafen Birdal in die Brust, wurden jedoch so abgelenkt, da? sie keine inneren Organe sch?digten. Im Glauben ihren Auftrag ausgef?hrt zu haben verlie?en die Attent?ter unbehelligt das Geb?ude. "Insgesamt sieben Kugeln haben Akin Birdal getroffen und die Schlagadern des linken Beines und des rechten Armes komplett zerst?rt," berichtet der Chefarzt der Intensivstation des benachbarten Sevgi-Krankenhauses. "Obgleich er viel Blut verlor und bei seinem Eintreffen hier im Krankenhaus einen Herz-Kreislauf-Stillstand hatte, ist es wie ein Wunder, da? weder Lunge noch Leber verletzt wurden." Drei Spezialteams heben den Vorsitzenden des Menschenrechtsvereines operiert. Bereits nach 22 Stunden war der Schwerverletzte wieder bei Bewu?tsein und konnte ?ber den Tathergang berichten. Doch die sogenannten Sicherheitskr?fte zeigen sich wenig interessiert, zu einer Aufkl?rung des Verbrechens beizutragen. Nicht nur auf Spuren am Tatort mu?ten sie immer wieder von Anw?lten des IHD hingewiesen werden. AugenzeugInnen berichten ?bereinstimmend, da? die angefertigten Phantombilder kaum mit ihren Aussagen ?bereinstimmen. Jene Einsatzkr?fte, die dazu abgestellt wurden, das Krankenhaus zu bewachen geh?ren zu einem gro?en Teil der faschistischen MHP an und provozieren mit deren Gru? die MenschenrechtlerInnen, die nun auf eigene Faust versuchen, den Eingang zur Intensivstation abzuschirmen. Erst nach mehrfacher Aufforderung erkl?rte sich die Polizei bereit, die Telefone des Krankenhauses abzuh?ren, auf denen st?ndig anonyme Bombendrohungen eingingen. Zu dem Anschlag bekannt hat sich die "T?rkische Rachebrigade", eine jener Todesschwadronen, die Anfang der neunziger Jahre durch die t?rkische Regierung ausgebildet wurden, um sich mit ihrer Hilfe unliebsamer Oppositioneller insbesondere in den kurdischen Gebieten zu entledigen. Insgesamt 14 Mitglieder des IHD fielen seit seinem Bestehen Anschl?gen durch sogenannte "unbekannte T?ter" zum Opfer. Propagandistisch war auch dieses Attentat in den vergangenen Wochen bereits medienwirksam vorbereitet worden. Zeitungen und Fernsehen hatten unter Berufung auf angebliche Aussagen des inhaftierten ehemaligen PKK-F?hrungsmitgliedes, Semdin Sakik, das Ger?cht verbreitet, Birdal werde von der PKK finanziert und erhalte seine Anweisungen unmittelbar aus deren Hauptquartier in Syrien. Neben Birdal werden derzeit t?glich weitere Angeh?rige demokratischer Institutionen, Organisationen, Vereine und Parteien, sowie Personen des ?ffentlichen Lebens mit neuen, angeblich von Sakik stammenden Enth?llungen diffamiert Nach mehreren Drohungen hatte Birdal nicht nur erfolglos Polizeischutz beantragt, auch die Weigerung ihm einen Pa? f?r eine Reise nach Deutschland auszustellen, legt nahe, da? seine Anwesenheit zum geplanten Attentatszeitpunkt gew?hrleistet sein sollte. Dar?ber k?nnen auch die Krokodilstr?nen nicht hinwegt?uschen, die t?rkische Politiker im Krankenhaus vor laufenden Kameras vergossen. Nur zwei Tage nach dem Attentat bezichtigte Ministerpr?sident Yilmaz den IHD der Tat. Akin Birdal hat die Sch?sse erstaunlich gut ?berlebt. Bereits nach drei Tagen bestellte er s?mtliche Tageszeitungen auf die Intensivstation. Doch dies hei?t nicht, da? sich der Menschenrechtsvereinsvorsitzende nunmehr "nicht l?nger in Lebensgefahr" befindet, wie mehrfach gemeldet wurde. Nicht nur Akin Birdal steht weiterhin auf der Abschu?liste des Staates. Das Attentat hat gro?e Verunsicherung unter den Demokratischen Kr?ften hinterlassen. "Wer von uns wird der N?chste sein?", ist die Frage, die in diesen Tagen h?ufiger als sonst in der T?rkei gestellt wird. Birdals Stellvertreter Nazmi G?r hat seit dem Attentat keine Nacht mehr bei seiner Familie geschlafen. "Ich m?chte sie da nicht hineinziehen, falls es mich trifft," sagt G?r. Auch Osman Baydemir aus Diyarbakir und ebenfalls einer von Birdals Stellvertretern mu? st?ndig mit dem Schlimmsten rechnen. Am vergangenen Wochenende wurde er nachts auf dem Heimweg von zwei Unbekannten verfolgt, konnte jedoch mit einem Taxi entkommen. Akin Birdal wei? um die Bedrohung. Aus dem Krankenhaus wandte er sich in einer ersten Erkl?rung an die Freundinnen und Freunde des IHD: "La?t Euch nicht entmutigen Freunde. Wenn ich aus dem Krankenhaus zur?ck bin, werden wir mit voller Kraft weitermachen !" (Knut Rauchfuss) From K.RAUCHFUSS at LINK-DO.soli.de Thu May 21 20:42:00 1998 From: K.RAUCHFUSS at LINK-DO.soli.de (K.RAUCHFUSS at LINK-DO.soli.de) Date: 21 May 1998 20:42:00 Subject: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?1=2E_Presseerkl=E4rung_Demo_6=2E6=2E98?= Message-ID: <6uMXa4A6.RB@walker.link-do.soli.de> Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit KUNDGEBUNG F?R FRIEDEN UND EINIGKEIT KURDISTANS Reinoldistr. 17 - 19 44135 Dortmund Tel. : 0231 /5860362 bzw. 5860383 Fax : 0231/5860386 Dortmund, 21.05.1998 Europaweite Demonstration in Dortmund erwartet "Kundgebung f?r Frieden und Einigkeit Kurdistans" F?r Samstag den 06. Juni 1998 rufen zahlreiche Gruppen, Organisationen und Einzelpersonen aus der Friedens-, Menschenrechts- und Fl?chtlingsarbeit zu einer europaweiten Kundgebung in Dortmund auf.Unter dem Motto "F?r Frieden und Einigkeit Kurdistans" wollen sie gemeinsam ein Signal f?r eine friedliche L?sung des unerbittlichen Krieges gegen das kurdische Volk setzen, der allein in der T?rkei bislang mehr als 30.000 Menschen das Leben gekostet hat. T?glich fordern die Angriffe der t?rkischen Armee weitere Opfer unter der Zivilbev?lkerung. Weite Teile Kurdistans wurden zerst?rt und Millionen Fl?chtlinge sind gezwungen, ein erb?rmliches Leben in den Elendsvierteln der Gro?st?dte zu fristen oder ins Exil zu gehen. Auch im Westen der T?rkei haben die Auswirkungen des Krieges soziales Leid ?ber die Bev?lkerung gebracht. Dar?ber hinaus f?hrt die t?rkische Regierung auch dort den Krieg mit anderen Mitteln fort. Oppositionelle verschwinden am hellichten Tage, DemokratInnen werden verhaftet, gefoltert und ermordet, kritische Intellektuelle zu mehreren hundert Jahren Gef?ngnis verurteilt. Erst j?ngst wurde der Vorsitzende der Menschenrechtsvereines Opfer eines Attentats rechtsradikaler Todesschwadronen. Seit Jahren fordern Kurdinnen und Kurden, T?rkinnen und T?rken eine Beendigung des Krieges, Demokratie und Menschenrechte f?r ihr Land. Um dieser Forderung Nachdruck zu verleihen, werden Kurdinnen und Kurden aus ganz Europa am 6. Juni nach Dortmund kommen. Die Veranstalter, die beiden Landtagsabgeordneten Ewald Groth und Jamal Karsli (B?ndnis 90 / Die Gr?nen) und der Bochumer Arzt Knut Rauchfuss (Medizinische Fl?chtlingshilfe Bochum e.V.) rechnen mit mehr als 50.000 TeilnehmerInnen. Die Veranstaltung soll der Hoffnung auf ein Leben in Frieden und Gleichheit zwischen dem kurdischen und dem t?rkischen Volk Ausdruck verleihen. Die TeilnehmerInnen der Demonstration fordern daher: - Einen sofortigen Waffenstillstand in Kurdistan - Die Aufnahme von Gespr?chen ?ber eine politische L?sung des Konfliktes - Einen Stop von R?stungsexporten und Milit?rhilfe an die T?rkei - Die Einstellung der systematischen Menschenrechtsverletzungen durch die t?rkische Regierung - Einen bedingungslosen Abschiebestopp f?r Fl?chtlinge aus der T?rkei -Die Aufhebung des Bet?tigungsverbotes der kurdischen Vereine einschlie?lich der PKK Die Veranstalter rechnen mit einem friedlichen Verlauf der Demonstration. Damit soll auch und gerade in Dortmund unter Beweis gestellt werden, da? die Auseinandersetzungen von 1996 heute der Vergangenheit angeh?ren. Die kurdischen Vereine in Europa suchen die Unterst?tzung durch die hiesige Bev?kerung, nicht die Konfrontation. Krieg und Unterdr?ckung in Kurdistan und der T?rkei k?nnen nur durch die Zusammenarbeit aller Menschen, die f?r Demokratie und Menschenrechte eintreten, erreicht werden. In diesem Zusammenhang ist auch eine Behinderung des gleichzeitig stattfindenden gastronomischen Gro?veranstalutung "Dortmund ? la carte" in den gemeinsamen Vorgespr?chen zwischen Veranstaltern und Polizei durch eine Anpassung der Demonstrationsrouten ausgeschlossen worden. Die KundgebungsteinehmerInnen wollen gemeinsam mit den Dortmunder B?rgerInnen demonstrieren und feiern, nicht gegeneinander. Die Demonstrationsablauf ist daher wie folgt vorgesehen: Ab 9 Uhr morgens sollen sich die TeilnehmerInnen an zwei Aufstellorten versammeln. Als Sammelort f?r den Aufzug West wurde OW III a zwischen Westfalenstra?e und Sunderweg vereinbart. Der Aufzug S?d wird an Parkplatz D der Westfalenhallen beginnen. Beide Z?ge werden auf unterschiedlichen Routen zum Parkplatz E der Westfalenhallen ziehen.Als Zugweg f?r den Aufzug West wurden folgende Stra?en vereinbart: Sunderweg - Unionstr. - Kleine Heimstr. - Lange Str. - M?llerstr. - Lindemannstr. - Wittekindstr. - Im Rabeloh - Strobelallee - Parkplatz E Der Aufzug S?d wird folgenden Weg nehmen: An der Buschm?hle - Ruhrallee - Neutor - S?dwall - Hohe Stra?e - Ardeystr. - Parkplatz E Um 11 Uhr sollen beide Z?ge auf den genannten Routen in Richtung Parkplatz E aufbrechen. Dort wird die Kundgebung um 14 Uhr beginnen. Das geplante Kundgebungsende ist f?r 19 Uhr vorgesehen. Auf der Kundgebung wird ein Vertreter der Anmelder, Yasar Kaya, Zaher Habas und Hans Branscheidt sprechen. Als weitere RednerInnen sind der Dortmunder Oberb?rgermeister Samtlebe, Joschka Fischer (MdB), Dr. Heiner Geissler (MdB), Dr. Norbert Bl?m (MdB), Ulla Jelpke (MdB) u.a. angefragt. F?r ein reichhaltiges kulturelles Begleitprogramm ist gesorgt. Wir laden alle B?rgerinnen und B?rger Dortmunds zur Teilnahme an der Veranstaltung ein. Die Demonstration wird bisher unterst?tzt von: Ewald Groth (MdL, B?ndnis 90 / Die Gr?nen) ( Knut Rauchfuss (Arzt, Medizinische Fl?chtlingshilfe Bochum e.V.) ( Jamal Karsli (MdL, B?ndnis 90 / Die Gr?nen) ( Dr. Hisham Hammad (Arzt, Hohensburg) ( Ulla Jelpke (MdB PDS) ( Dr. Winfried Wolf (MdB PDS) ( medico international ( Prof. Dr. h.c. Ronald M?nch (Rektor der Hochschule Bremen) ( Aurora Lago (Coordinadora Estatal de Solidaridad con Kurdistan, Spanien) ( Regionalb?ro Friedenszug "Musa Anter" - Bochum ( Deutsch-Schweizer-Internationale Menschenrechtsdelegation 1998 ( Kon-Kurd (Konf?deration der Kurdischen Vereine Europas) ( Zentralamerika-Komitee Bochum ( Sozialistische Zeitung K?ln ( Vereinigung f?r Sozialistische Politik (VSP) ( Jan Adolphsen (Arzt, B?ro f?r Medizinische Fl?chtlingshilfe Berlin) ( Apell von Hannover ( Dr. Hans Branscheidt ( PDS Nordrhein-Westfalen ( Hans Otto Wiebus (Journalist, M?nchen) ( H. Eberhard Schulz (Anwalt, Bremen) ( Kambiz Bebahani (B?ndnis 90 /Die Gr?nen, Berlin) ( Berrin ?zlem Otyakmaz (Dipl.-Psychologin, Bochum) ( Dieter Balle (Journalist, Durmersheim) ( Internationalt Forum (Kopenhagen, D?nemark) ( Kurdistan Solidarit?t Bochum ( Guido Br?hl (Rechtsanwalt, M?hlheim) ( Andres Piqueras (SODEPAZ, Castello Spanien) ( Andres Tello Lape?a (Paz y Solidaridad, Zaragoza Spanien) ( Dagmar Wolf (Soziokulturelles Zentrum Bahnhof Langendreer, Bochum) ( Ivan Saldias Barrios (Colectivo Atelier, Santiago de Chile) ( u.v.a From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Thu May 21 21:29:23 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 21 May 1998 21:29:23 Subject: Turkey: 'State tries to get rid of its own institutions' Message-ID: 22 May 1998 Bayram Meral: 'State tries to get rid of its own institutions' * Although thousands of workers are fired, the president keeps his silence, Meral said _____________________________________________________________ Ankara - Turkish Daily News The Confederation of Turkish Labor Unions' (Turk-Is) Chairman Bayram Meral said that the state did not protect its own institutions and looked for ways of selling and getting rid of them. Meral criticized the government for initiating the discussion of the rise of the retirement age again, following demands of the IMF and the World Bank, and said, "They cannot impose on us retirement in the grave." Bayram Meral, chairman of Seluloz-Is (union of cellulose industry workers) Davut Bozkan and Democratic Left Party (DSP) Deputy Mumtaz Soysal participated in the press conference on the privatization of the Turkish Cellulose and Paper Industry (SEKA), which was held in the Turk-Is center in Ankara on Thursday. Meral said that the number of SEKA's employees is decreasing and its technology has not been renewed, and the government wants to give away that historically important institution to selected people. Meral claimed that privatization revenues so far were used up to cover the Treasury's deficits, and criticized President Demirel's words by stating, "Privatization cannot be stopped." Meral said that when Demirel was in opposition, he said that the basic pillars of the state could not be privatized and promised employment and food for everyone. But although thousands of workers have been fired, the president keeps his silence, Meral said. DSP Deputy Mumtaz Soysal said that privatization of SEKA was a direct attempt to loot the country and its natural resources. Soysal said that Turkey did not have a planned forestry policy, and the existing forested areas were being sold off, the Anatolia news agency reported. Soysal said that the president did not have the right to defend privatization, and that he should remain impartial when it came to the issue of privatization. Seluloz-Is Union's Chairman Davut Bozkan reiterated the criticism of the government for attempting to loot SEKA, and added, they had started a "No vote" campaign for parties supporting privatization. -- 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 May 22 06:31:16 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 22 May 1998 06:31:16 Subject: Documentation: Turkey - Armenian Genocide Message-ID: 26 May, 1998 Turkey to continue efforts to kill French Socialists' 'Armenian genocide' draft law <..> Nazlan Ertan Paris - Turkish Daily News Just at the moment when both the French and the Turks boasted of a "peak in bilateral ties," the proposal of a draft law on the "Armenian genocide" from the French Socialists has cast its shadow on relations, spurring letter-writing between capitals and last-minute lobbying efforts NEWS ANALYSIS A proposal made by a group of Socialist deputies for legislation on the "Armenian genocide" -- a rare occurrence, given that it is usually the government, not Parliament, which proposes laws -- comes at an unexpected time as far as Turco-French ties are concerned. The two countries have signed a landmark agreement, "France-Turkey 2000," and are presently working on action plans for middle-range common objectives. French diplomats and politicians repeatedly call for overcoming the deadlock in Turco-European Union ties caused by the Luxembourg summit's curt refusal to include Turkey in the EU's enlargement plans. Turkey's European vocation -- a term used frequently by Gaullist President Chirac and his Socialist cabinet of cohabitation -- is not only supported by government circles but also by the very visible French business groups operating in Turkey. The extent of the French support has drawn an angry reaction from Greece earlier this month -- to which Paris responded with an official protest. The blossoming in ties was sealed by Turkish President Suleyman Demirel's state visit earlier this year. Given this backdrop, the "Armenian draft law" has the effect of a cold shower. "It is my hope that everyone is aware of the severe blow this initiative will deliver to the ties," said Turkey's Ambassador to France, Sonmez Koksal, as he left the office of Parliament Speaker Laurent Fabius having delivered to the Socialist deputy a letter from his Turkish counterpart, also a Social Democrat. French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin also received a letter from Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz on Wednesday. Ambassador Koksal said that he would continue to emphasize the negative effects of such a draft on ties vis-a-vis "circles close to Turkey." While he would not elaborate as to who those circles would include, the Turkish and Turco-French associations and civil groups in France have been vocally against the resolution. According to observers, various business groups would also be mobilized. Asked whether he would have contact with Jewish groups -- who generally object to the use of the term genocide in reference to the killings of Armenians between 1915 and 1921 -- the Ambassador remained silent. He also said that he would meet the Secretary-General of the French Foreign Ministry, Bertrand Dufurcq. The French Foreign Ministry, which traditionally says that it falls on historians to determine whether a genocide has taken place, is reserved towards the proposal. "I want to maintain the belief that such a blow will not be delivered," Ambassador Koksal said. Yet, his task appears a difficult one: two key figures of the Socialist Party in Parliament, Speaker Fabius and Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Jack Lang, have in the past expressed their solidarity with the Armenian people and maintained that a "genocide" had indeed taken place. The two statesmen also have been tough critics of the EU's rapprochement with Turkey. Asked about Fabius's response, Koksal said that he understood that the Parliament speaker was not in a position to comment on the independent will of the Parliament. Moreover, deputies from other parties, such as ethnic Armenian deputy, Patrick Devedjian, from Rally for the Republic, may also vote in favor of the draft. The draft must then be taken up in the Senate, and finally, signed by the President -- provided it does not eventually become a simple Parliamentary recommendation. The first debate, scheduled for May 29, is merely the initiation of a process reminiscent of the debate on the infamous Armenian Resolution in the U.S. Congress. -- 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 May 22 09:14:36 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 22 May 1998 09:14:36 Subject: Wave of terror continues in Turkey Message-ID: WAVE OF TERROR CONTINUES IN TURKEY The attack on the president of the Human Rights Association Akin Birdal, attacks of the police on the May Day demonstration in Istanbul, resulting in hundreds of wounded and one death, arrests of the "Saturday Mothers", the mothers of the disappeared and prisoners at their weekly meeting in Istanbul on May 9, 1998, the killing of the student Kenan Mak in Bolu on May 2, 1998. All these events and many others bear the signature of the contra-guerrillas in Turkey, their Special Forces and "civil" fascist organisations, which by the secret order of the National Security Council (MGK) maintain the hegemony of a very few people over Turkey. Now, a new crime against humanity in Turkey has come to light: Neslihan Uslu , Hasan Aydogan, Mehmet Ali Mandal and Metin Andac have been missing since March 31, 1998. They are the latest of more than 600 disappeared people in Turkey. This method of the contra-guerrillas, to have persona non grata disappear, was originally developed in Latin America and spread to Turkey after the 1980 military coup, and its use increased from the middle of the 1990s. The most recent four who have "disappeared" were arrested by the police in Izmir on March 31, 1998. Since then, there has been no information about them. Although their arrest was witnessed, all responsible authorities, ranging from police headquarters to the prisons in Buca and Bergama (in the Izmir area) up to the Ministry of Internal Affairs deny knowing anything about their whereabouts. All four were victims of repression which went as far as receiving threats of death or disappearance. Neslihan Uslu (30 years old) had been chief editor of the magazine Devrimci Genclik. Because of her activities for this legal magazine,she suffered numerous arrests and torture. Metin Andac is 46 years old. As a farmer of the Bergama region (not far from Izmir), he took part in the resistance of the people there to the Eurogold company. Eurogold is extracting gold using cyanide. Metin was one of those who proved that the cyanide was poisoning water and the soil in Bergama. In spite of death threats he organised legal proceedings against Eurogold, which resulted in the banning of the use of cyanide. But Eurogold carries on. Mehmet Ali Mandal (40 years old) and Hasan Aydogan (24 years old) were also subjected frequently to state repression before their "disappearance". All four were threatened with death, arrested, often tortured before their disappearance, and some of them served long terms in prison accused of being members of the prohibited organisation the DHKP-C. Their leading role in the resistance of the people in Turkey against an unjust system is the reason that the state is now trying to make them disappear. There is some hope that they are still alive. On the initiative of the Committee "Stop Disappearances", among others Amnesty International and the Worldwide Organisation against Torture (Organisation Mondiale contre la Torture (OMCT)) appealed to the authorities in Turkey for the whereabouts of the disappeared to be made known and to demand their release or, in the event of an accusation against them, that they should appear before a court. The recent wave of terror is a result of the regime?s inability to find a way out of crisis in Turkey. After the Susurluk accident, in which the state?s connections with contra-guerrillas and the mafia came into the open, people in Turkey have lost their trust that a solution can be reached within the system to a degree never seen before. Their increasing demands for justice have been answered by the rulers with police batons, bullets and disappearances. The ending of the Susurluk trial, in which some of those bearing political responsibility, amongst others a former Minister of Internal Affairs, former Minister of Justice, former Police Chef of Turkey, were in the dock, has done nothing but prove the people?s suspicion that there is nothing to expect from the system but terror. In the final session on May 3, 1998 at the State Security Court in Istanbul, the accused were released. The next day, at a trial in the same court, 49 of the more than 250 people arrested on the legal May Day demonstration were put in prison because of "participating in a illegal meeting". STILL THERE IS HOPE Neslihan Uslu, Hasan Aydogan, Metin Andac und Mehmet Ali Mandal were arrested by the police on March 31, 1998 in Izmir/Turkey. Since then there has been no information about them. There is still hope that they are still alive. Amnesty International and Organisation Mondiale contre la Torture (OMCT) have already come out in support of the disappeared. It is also in your hands to succeed in making the four "disappeared" appear again. Please apply by fax to the authorities in Turkey and demand: ? to find out the whereabouts of Neslihan Uslu, Hasan Aydogan, Metin Andac and Mehmet Ali Mandal and to guarantee their psychological and physical integrity. ? their immediate release, or in the event of an accusation, their appearance before a court of law. ? to guarantee under all circumstances that they be treated according to the human rights as laid down in national and international law. Addresses: State President S?leyman Demirel Fax: +90 - 312 - 427 13 30 Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz Fax: +90 - 312 - 417 04 76 Minister of Internal Affairs Murat Basegioglu Fax: +90 - 312 - 418 17 95 Minister of Foreign Affairs Ismail Cem Fax: +90 - 312 - 419 15 47 Minister of Justice Olatan Sungurlu Fax: +90 - 312 - 417 39 54 Izmir Devlet G?venlik Mahkemesi (State Security Court) Fax: 0090 - 232 - 462 35 49 Izmir Emniyet M?d?rl?g? (Security Directorate) Fax: 0090 - 232 - 449 00 29 Please send a copy of your fax to the Committee "Stop Disappearances" Fax: ( +44) (171) - 254 12 88 Signed, Heike Schrader -- Press Agency Ozgurluk For justice, democracy and human rights in Turkey and Kurdistan! Website: http://www.ozgurluk.org mailto:ozgurluk at xs4all.nl / mailinglists: petidomo at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Sat May 23 11:44:44 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 23 May 1998 11:44:44 Subject: US Arms Sale to Turkey Message-ID: /* ---------- "US Arms Sale to Turkey" ---------- */ /** disarm.armstra: 801.0 **/ ** Topic: (Turkey)FMS Sale to Turkey ** ** Written 8:22 AM May 19, 1998 by sboman at cdi.org in cdp:disarm.armstra ** For personal, noncommercial use only see http://www.defenselink.mil/news/May1998/m05181998_m079-98_.html 079-M MEMORANDUM FOR CORRESPONDENTS May 18, 1998 The Department of Defense announced today the possible sale to the Government of Turkey of 30 HARPOON missiles, spare and repair parts, publications, and other related elements of program support. The estimated cost is $43 million. This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by improving the military capabilities of Turkey, while enhancing weapon system standardization and interoperability. Turkey will use these missiles to augment its present HARPOON missile inventory and enhance its anti-ship warfare capability. The missiles will be provided in accordance with, and subject to the limitation on use and transfer provided under the Arms Export Control Act, as embodied in the terms of sale. This sale will not adversely affect either the military balance in the region or U.S. efforts to encourage a negotiated settlement of the Cyprus question. Turkey, which already has HARPOONs in its inventory, will have no difficulty absorbing these additional missiles. The prime contractor will be McDonnell Douglas Aerospace, St. Louis, Mo. There are no offset agreements proposed to be entered into in connection with this potential sale. Implementation of this proposed sale will not require the assignment of any additional U.S. Government personnel or contractor representatives to Turkey. There will be no adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shelly Boman Center for Defense Information 1779 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Suite 615 Washington, DC 20036 Ph: (202)332-0600 Fx:(202)462-4559 Email: sboman at cdi.org Arms Trade Data Base Web Site: http://www.cdi.org/atdb WAIS Users: wais.cdi.org database atdb TO SUBSCRIBE OR UNSUBSCRIBE: send email to majordomo at cdi.org with one of the following lines in the body of the message subscribe armtrade [Put in YOUR email address] unsubscribe armtrade [Put in YOUR email address] ** End of text from cdp:disarm.armstra ** *************************************************************************** This material came from PeaceNet, a non-profit progressive networking service. For more information, send a message to peacenet-info at igc.apc.org *************************************************************************** List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Sat May 23 15:59:51 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 23 May 1998 15:59:51 Subject: Turkey: Bergama-Eurogold Update Message-ID: thursday May 21, 3:29 am Eastern Time Normandy says in dark on Turkey mine start ADELAIDE, May 21 (Reuters) - Australia's Normandy Mining Ltd (NDY.AX) said it did not know when its long-delayed Ovacik gold mine in Turkey might win development approval from the government. ``Turkey has been a long, hard road, (but) we remain confident we will get it going,'' Normandy executive chairman Robert Champion de Crespigny said late on Wednesday. Production at the US$46 million Eurogold gold project, jointly owned by Normandy and Canada's Inmet Holding Corp (IMN.TO - news), has been delayed since last December due to legal obstacles and opposition from local villagers. The Turkish government demanded the company stop work in early April after the country's top administrative court upheld a verdict cancelling its work permit. Eurogold this month sent its 120 local employees home on unpaid, indefinite leave, saying it would be possible for them to return to work only when production begins at the mine, located near the ancient town of Bergama, off Turkey's Aegean coast. ``We hope it is not two or three years, but it certainly is not going to be tomorrow and it certainly will not be before our end-of-year (July/June) results come out, so it is not imminent,'' de Crespigny said. Bergama villagers have argued the proposed cyanide leaching method to extract gold at the Ovacik mine was dangerous to health and the environment. "It is like running up a sand-dune," de Crespigny said. ``Something goes well and then we slip back again, and we have just slipped back. We are still confident we will get there,'' he added. -- Press Agency Ozgurluk For justice, democracy and human rights in Turkey and Kurdistan! Website: http://www.ozgurluk.org mailto:ozgurluk at xs4all.nl / mailinglists: petidomo at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Sat May 23 15:59:53 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 23 May 1998 15:59:53 Subject: Mainstream-News on Turkey Message-ID: Turkish Daily News, May 23 <...> Six people have been detained in relation to last week's armed attack against Human Rights Association (IHD) Chairman Akin Birdal. Among the six are the two people whom the police believe were those who injured Birdal. The alleged hit men, Bahri Eken and Kerim Deretarla, and the other plotters, Hasan Hasanoglu, Erkal Ulas, Ahmet Fulin and Cengiz Ersever, were apprehended in a series of police raids. Hasanoglu, Ulas and Fulin were captured in Ankara, while the others were seized in Istanbul late on Thursday, the police said. The ballistic investigation showed that two 9 mm handguns seized with the suspects were the ones used to shoot Birdal. The authorities are still searching for another man, Semih Tufan Guraltay, who is believed to have planned the attack. One of the captured suspects, Ersever -- no relation to Cem Ersever, a retired army and intelligence officer who was killed by unidentified attackers in 1993 -- is said to be a non-commissioned military officer employed in a gendarmerie station in Istanbul. The authorities said he was an associate of Mahmut Yildirim, code-named Yesil, a former intelligence officer who is blamed for the killing of a number of people in relation to the criminal actions of the alleged state gangs. The suspects are also said to be former ultranationalist activists who are employed by the mafia. Another captured suspect, Erkal Ulas, is said to have been involved in last year's armed attack against the Flash TV studios in Istanbul. REUTERS: TURK POLICE DETAIN SIX FOR RIGHTS SHOOTING _________________________________________________________________ 02:36 p.m May 22, 1998 Eastern By Pelin Turgut ISTANBUL, May 22 (Reuters) - Turkish police arrested six people believed to be linked to far-right gangs on Friday for the high profile shooting of the country's top human rights campaigner, the Interior Ministry said. Interior Minister Murat Basesgioglu said in a statement that police had detained two people accused of being the gunmen who shot and seriously wounded Human Rights Association leader Akin Birdal six times in the chest and leg on May 12. The four other suspects are accused of having organised the attack. But police are still searching for an alleged mastermind who they believe gave the order. The statement said the six arrested men had made full confessions. Police from Ankara arrived in Istanbul to escort them back to the capital for an identity parade. State-run Anatolian news agency said fingerprints of one of the suspects were found to be matching with the fingerprints at the scene. It named the suspect as Bahri Eken and said he had been convicted for burglary in the past. The suspects were linked to far-right criminal gangs blamed for a string of unsolved political killings, Anatolian said. Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz said the suspects had been involved in a attack on Flash TV television studios last year following a broadcast interview with an organised crime boss who implicated several leading figures in corruption. Shady links between state officials and mafia gangs were unearthed in the wake of a 1996 car crash in which a government deputy, top policeman, wanted gangster and former beauty queen were hauled from the wreckage. Only the MP survived. Yilmaz last week dismissed suggestions that the state might be implicated in Birdal's shooting, saying it was the result of an internal dispute within the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK). The prime minister vowed on coming to power to get to the bottom of murky state ties with underworld gangs. But opposition MPs say he has largely failed in his declared aim. The assault on Birdal followed leaks to the mainstream press of the purported testimony of a captured Kurd rebel commander linking Birdal to Kurdish guerrillas. Birdal's group denies any links to the rebels. Anatolian said the suspects had told police that they were planning another armed attack on an Istanbul office of the pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party. It did not elaborate. The shooting prompted streets protests in Turkey and widespread concern abroad. British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook visited Birdal in hospital this week and called for the attackers to be found swiftly and brought to justice. Hannes Swoboda, senior left-wing European Parliament deputy, also visited Birdal on Thursday. Birdal's lawyer on Friday said police had not informed him of the arrests, but cautiously welcomed the news. ``Akin Birdal says that he clearly remembers what his attackers looked like, and would easily be able to identify them,'' Sedat Aslantas said. Akin Birdal's doctors on Thursday said his condition was no longer critical. Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. ASSOCIATED PRESS: Turkey Says 5 Confessed to Shooting Friday, May 22, 1998; 6:59 p.m. EDT ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- A soldier and four others were arrested and confessed Friday to a shooting attack that critically wounded a prominent Turkish human rights activist, officials said. Gunmen critically wounded Akin Birdal, head of the independent Human Rights Association, at his Ankara office on May 12. The attack sparked demonstrations throughout Turkey. Birdal, 50, is known in the West for his opposition to torture and the forced evacuation of Kurdish villages in southeastern Turkey. He remained hospitalized. Five men were arrested in Istanbul on Friday, and confessed to the attack under questioning, Interior Minister Murat Basesgioglu said. Two handguns recovered during the arrests were those used in the attack, and fingerprints of one of the men were found in Birdal's office, the official Anatolia news agency reported. Police said the suspects were former members of an ultranationalist group, Anatolia reported. One of them, a soldier, worked for a terrorist known as ``Green,'' it said. An official probe into government links to terrorist groups resulted in a report earlier this year concluding that the government hired Green and other terrorists to kill journalists and activists perceived as a threat to the state. Green later turned into an uncontrollable ``death machine,'' the report said. His whereabouts remain unknown. The government has been blamed for making Birdal vulnerable by leaking statements by a captured Kurdish rebel commander, Semdin Sakik, who accused Birdal of having ties with Kurdish guerrillas. Birdal has denied the claims. The Kurdish rebels have waged a guerrilla war for autonomy since 1984. Nearly 37,000 people have died in the conflict. AND PROMPTLY: Turkey Confirms Iraq Offensive Friday, May 22, 1998; 5:01 p.m. EDT ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- Turkish troops have launched a new offensive against Kurdish rebels inside northern Iraq, Turkey confirmed Friday. Deputy Premier Bulent Ecevit told reporters the operation was launched after an appeal by an Iraqi Kurdish group that is allied with Turkish troops and controls areas along the Iraqi-Turkish border. Ecevit didn't say when the offensive began, whether it had ended, or give any further details. The Germany-based pro-Kurdish news agency DEM said the operation began Wednesday and was centered mainly in the Metina and Gare regions, close to the Turkish border. It did not say how many troops were involved. Turkish military officials refused to comment. Turkey has carried out many cross-border offensives against Turkish Kurdish guerrillas, who have been fighting for autonomy in southeastern Turkey since 1984. The rebels often launch hit-and-run attacks from bases in northern Iraq. The war between Turkish troops and Kurdish rebels has killed 37,000 people. -- 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 May 24 14:14:23 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 24 May 1998 14:14:23 Subject: ANTIFA INFO-BULLETIN, Number 165 Message-ID: For your information. This action was not caried out by the DHKP-C. The DHKP-C never used bombs, this to avoid innocent victims. > TURKISH FAR-RIGHT PARTY OFFICES BOMBED > _________________________________________________________________ > > 04:17 a.m. May 21, 1998 Eastern > > ISTANBUL, May 21 (Reuters) - Two small bombs exploded > outside the offices of a Turkish far right party on Thursday, > injuring a passer-by, Anatolian news agency said. > > The overnight attack took place at an office in Istanbul of > the Nationalist Action Party (MHP) where rightist militants badly > beat a left-wing protester in a widely publicised incident > earlier this month. > > A banner of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party- > Front leftist guerrilla group was hanging on a bus shelter > opposite the building after the bombing. > > A 54-year-old pedestrian was taken to hospital with shrapnel > wounds from the blasts, which shattered nearby windows. Two other > small home-made bombs were defused at the scene. > > Right-wing ``Grey Wolf'' militants hung a leftist from the > first-floor window of the MHP building while other rightists and > police beat him during street violence at a May Day protest three > weeks ago. > > Since then clashes between left and right have increased. > > Turkey's leading human rights campaigner, Akin Birdal, was > seriously wounded last week in a gun attack blamed by his group > on ultra-rightist gangs. He is now recovering in hospital. > > His shooting followed accusations in the media that he was > linked to outlawed Kurdish guerrillas. > > A Kurdish political party member and a university student > were also killed this month in attacks blamed on ``Grey Wolves,'' > named after a legendary she-wolf from Turkic Central Asia. > > Early on Wednesday, three petrol bombs were thrown at > another MHP office in Istanbul, causing minor damage. > > Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. -- 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 May 27 02:02:19 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 27 May 1998 02:02:19 Subject: Turkey: Human Right Violations in April 1998 Message-ID: IHD announces rights violations for April * Violations increased during that month _____________________________________________________________ Ankara - Turkish Daily News The monthly report by the Human Rights Association (IHD) regarding the violations of rights has been published. According to the IHD data, 225 people died during the armed conflict in the Emergency Rule Region (OHAL), and 12 people have been the victims of unsolved murders. In the report, which said that nine people have died due to extra-judicial means and torture, it has been claimed that 70 people faced torture. Osman Baydemir, deputy general manager of the IHD, said that the April issue of the human rights report was published following a 10-day delay because of the assassination attempt on Akin Birdal, head of the IHD. Baydemir evaluated the arrest of two people who allegedly attempted to kill Birdal as a positive development. Pointing out that the power behind the attack should be exposed, Baydemir said, "Similar attacks will follow this one, since the Susurluk scandal has not been cleared up and the illegal organizations that have been established within the state have not been clarified." Baydemir, who read the IHD's April report regarding the violations of rights, indicated that violations in April have increased when compared to March's data. The summary of the human rights violations in April is as follows: Violations regarding the right to live -- Unsolved murders 12 -- Deaths in extra-judicial murders, torture or custody 9 -- Deaths due to armed conflicts (soldiers, militants, village guards) 225 -- Activities against civilians - deaths 2 - injuries 28 -- Claimed missing persons 4 -- Actual or alleged torture 70 -- Taken into custody 5,579 -- Number of arrests 117 -- Attacked, or faced oppression or threat 47 -- Evacuated or burnt-down villages 0 -- Attacks on prisoners in prisons 8 Violations regarding work life One thousand three hundred ninety-eight people have been dismissed from their jobs. This includes workers dismissed illegally. Violations regarding freedom of thought and organizing -- Places that were bombed and burned 12 -- Mass organizations, political institutions and publishers that were closed 8 -- Mass organizations, political institutions and publishers that were attacked 34 -- Published materials that were seized or banned 22 -- Punishment of imprisonment or fine considered 230 -- Punishment of imprisonment or fine given 9 -- Number of prisoners of conscience 133 _________________________________________________________________ -- 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 May 29 13:18:40 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 29 May 1998 13:18:40 Subject: Turkey: The Struggle of the Mothers of the Disappeared Message-ID: THE STRUGGLE OF THE MOTHERS AGAINST DARKNESS, THEIR PAIN RESEMBLES NO OTHER PAIN Their names could be Elif, maybe Ayse, maybe Hatice... It could be Maria or Rosanne... Maybe Selvi or Bese... No matter what their names are, their also known with another name and this one is the same everywhere: mother. Yes, they're mothers... They have different languages, different religions, but what they've gone through and what they feel is the same... The feelings of a mother are love. The love of a mother for her child is one of the strongest loves. Her child is like a source of life. When the child feels a small pain, she feels it in her hearth a thousand times more. The oppressors in several countries have made the mothers feel another kind of pain during the last decades. Their children are "disappearing".... It's impossible to describe the pain these mothers feel. It's said that time heals all pain, but for the mothers of the disappeared it is different. The pain in their hearts darkens the days, it darkens the hours... The darkness has become a blackness. Are they still alive? Their bodies have never been found... "I want my son", "I want my daughter". "They have made my child disappear! Bring it back! I want it back alive, or at least give me the body". Who knows, these words could have been repeated in all languages of the world. In Chile, in Argentine, Columbia, Peru, all over the world. Their faces, their eyes, they are always the same. There is always some hope in their eyes, even though it isn't much. There is also hate, incomparable hate. There is pain, like no other pain. It's not easy to bear their looks. They are the same everywhere. Callous hands, wrinkles faces, white headbands, sometimes red ones. Some wear red flowers. They never give up. They ask everybody and everywhere for their children. There is still some hope... The thought of "maybe I'll find his body", although they don't want to think about that, keeps them going. "Maybe I'll find his grave"... Otherwise they couldn't bear the pain. They carried their children for months. They raised them for years and one day they are fetched away. They are thrown in deep well, in dark cellars... They can't breath anymore. A cry, a loud cry, then the songs of sorrow, touching. Tears stream from their eyes, unstoppable. Every drop flows over the wrinkles in the face, every drop a drop of pain... The question "Why" comes up with great anger, great hatred. It's wrong to compare this pain with the pain of loosing a child, it's different. Hope is drawn from the smallest of signs. A piece of clothing, a shoe, a shirt - maybe bloody -, a voice, a cry... When the telephone rings, "maybe it's...". When someone knocks at the door, "maybe someone brings news"... The hope never disappears. Is it so easy to forget? Is it easy to think they never existed? What heart could understand that? How can one understand that? How can we ask them to forget? How can we ask them it never happened? Still, there are those who expect them to do so. The photos in their hands, the flowers in their clothing, the white headbands are seen as a crime. They are beaten, dragged across the floor, brought to torture chambers, maybe the same ones where their sons, their daughters, their husbands were taken to. They want them to stop, they shouldn't search anymore, they must forget. Because the anger of the mothers is a terrible anger. Their hatred scares the enemies. The enemy fears these eyes, the thousand tones of pain, these thousand kinds of anger. They know one day, a day which is not so far anymore, this hatred will cause their end. They have arrested their children, their husbands, and they made them disappear. But every time the mothers show up with the pictures of those who they have made disappeared, they get frightened. As if they people they made disappear, the people they murdered, are still alive! As if the people they murdered under torture, they buried in the middle of the night in unknown graveyards or rubbish-dumps, or thrown into the sea from planes, are standing up again, demanding justice. Our mothers will never forget their children. They will go on looking for them with their pictures in their hands, with anger in their hearts and hope in their eyes... They will look for their children on rubbish-dumps, in unknown graveyards. They will get those who made their children disappear, and they will repeat the same question again and again: "Where is my child?" -- 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 May 29 21:29:21 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 29 May 1998 21:29:21 Subject: Turkey: Hunger strike in Erzurum penitentiary Message-ID: May 30 19989 Hunger strike in Erzurum penitentiary _________________________________________________________________ Ankara - Turkish Daily News An estimated 450 inmates in the Erzurum E-type penitentiary serving jail time for different terrorist activities have started a rotating hunger strike. The inmates began the hunger strike on Thursday on grounds of "their rights being violated due to the ban on relations between wards, the authorities expecting visitors to show ID cards, and frisking," as well as to protest the latest operation against separatist terrorists by security forces, the Anatolia news agency reported penitentiary officials as saying. If the restrictions are not lifted and if a compromise is not reached, the inmates will turn their rotating hunger strike into a fast which will continue to the point of death. Penitentiary officials said that the activists are trying to draw the public's attention, the hunger strike is only a front. "They have stocked food for days. The hunger strike is an excuse, their aim consistently being to create public confusion," asserted officials. -- 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 May 29 21:30:28 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 29 May 1998 21:30:28 Subject: Turkey: Haluk Gerger will enter the 21st century in jail Message-ID: May 30 1998 Haluk Gerger will enter the 21st century in jail * Criminal Court No. 8 of the Court of Appeals approved the sentence of 20 months' imprisonment for Associate Professor Haluk Gerger _________________________________________________________________ Ankara - Turkish Daily News Criminal Court No. 8 of the Court of Appeals approved the sentence handed down to the journalist and writer, Associate Professor Haluk Gerger. He will serve 20 months in jail. If Gerger's sentence is not changed, he will be in jail until February 2000. Haluk Gerger, a prisoner of conscience, is currently in Gudul penitentiary near the Ankara district of Ayas. Gerger was sentenced to a year and eight months of imprisonment and to pay a fine of TL 500,000 by the Istanbul State Security Court (DGM) because of his article in the daily Evrensel entitled, "Emergency Rule Region (OHAL) and Operation Providing for Comfort (OPC)." The Court of Appeals approved the sentence. Associate Professor Haluk Gerger had previously served 20 months in jail, and eight other cases have been brought against him because of his books and articles and his speeches in Cologne and Australia. British legal experts visit Gerger British Deputy Bar Chairman Mark Muller, Modern Legal Experts' Association (CGD) Chairman Ismet Demirdogen and journalist Ragip Duran visited Gerger in the penitentiary hoping to demonstrate the European legal experts' sensibility on the issue of criminals of conscience. CHD Chairman Demirdogen said that they have conducted a comprehensive report on journalists in prison which they will present to the European Parliament in the coming days. -- 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 May 29 21:30:29 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 29 May 1998 21:30:29 Subject: [asblour@igc.org] Special Bulletin: France recognizes Genocide Message-ID: This ASBAREZ ONLINE special bulletin is brought to you by http://www.asbarez.com via Armen-News mailing list 05/29/98 FRANCE RECOGNIZES GENOCIDE PARIS (Gamk, Reuters)--The National Assembly of France Friday unanimously passed a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide. The bill was passed as demonstrators outsideq the parliament building carried a huge banner which read: ``Thank you France for recognizing the Armenian genocide.'' Young Gaullist parliamentarian Patrick Devedjian, was one of the key movers behind the parliamentary bill whose single sentence stated, ``France recognizes the Armenian genocide of 1915.'' In remarks on the parliament floqor numerous French parliamentarians representing both the right and left parliamentary blocs expressed their support for the recognition of the events on 1915 as genocide. In Ankara, Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem said in a statement after the French vote: ``I strongly condemn this decision which encourages racism and incites racist terror against Turkey.'' ``This decision is an initiative aiming to torpedo relations between Turkey and France. It is clear the people who support this decision prefer their racist emotions to France's national interests,'' he said. Cem's statement however made no mention of any counter-measures to be taken by Turkey. Armenia's ambassador to France, Christian Ter Stepanian, said in a statement that the vote ``was a historic act of recognition and a new sign of France's deep attachment to the values of justice and of human rights.'' But Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Necati Utkan said on Thursday: ``It is not possible or correct to pin the genocide label on Turkey over the sorrowful eventsq which occurred during World War One.'' -- 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 May 29 21:30:32 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 29 May 1998 21:30:32 Subject: French lawmakers recognize Armenian genocide, antagonize Turkey Message-ID: French lawmakers recognize Armenian genocide, antagonize Turkey Associated Press, 05/29/98 15:22 PARIS (AP) - French lawmakers voted unanimously Friday to formally recognize the 1915 killings of ethnic Armenians in Turkey as a genocide - a move that drew sharp protests from Turkey. The motion now goes from the National Assembly to the Senate. If it passes there, France would become the first major European country to use the term ``genocide'' to describe the deaths of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians in Ottoman Turkey between 1915 and 1923. Genocide is the systematic annihilation of a racial, political or cultural group. Turkey denies that the deaths constituted genocide, insisting instead that they were the result of a civil war. Turkey strongly criticized the motion and suggested it will embolden Armenian militants, who killed 34 Turkish diplomats and relatives in the 1970s and early 1980s. ``Terrorist acts against Turkish diplomats in France will escalate,'' Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem said Friday. ``Therefore, we are asking the French government to increase security at Turkish diplomatic missions.'' Five of those fatal attacks were carried out in France, including a 1983 attack on Orly airport that left eight people dead and 54 injured. Turkey's president, Suleyman Demirel, said the motion had ``no meaning other than misrepresenting the historical facts.'' ``I invite the French Senate to use its common sense and correct this wrong decision,'' he added. Armenia's charge d'affaires in France, Christian Ter Spephanian, called the vote ``a message of hope for all peoples in the world who see their right to memory challenged.'' He said it could incite other countries ``to give the moral reparation the Armenian people legitimately aspire to.'' Animosity towards Turkey in particular and Muslims in general remains strong in Armenia, where Christianity is the state religion. A landlocked nation in the Caucasus Mountains, Armenia has been part of various empires, including the Mongol, Persian, Ottoman and Soviet. Armenia gained independence for a brief period after 1918, but was then incorporated into the Soviet Union. It regained independence during the Soviet collapse in 1991. -- Press Agency Ozgurluk For justice, democracy and human rights in Turkey and Kurdistan! Website: http://www.ozgurluk.org mailto:ozgurluk at xs4all.nl / mailinglists: petidomo at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Sat May 30 11:01:46 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 30 May 1998 11:01:46 Subject: Revolution in Turkey and the recent developments Message-ID: Note: MGK=National Security Council Kurtulus No 81 16. 5. 1998 Taken from the series "Let's unite, let's fight, let's win" Our truths and our duties On the First of May there were two plans, two wills were in conflict. The plans of the MGK and the plans of the revolutionaries. The places where the MGK's people demonstrated involved the pro-MGK trade unionists accepting all the initiatives and support of the police as part of the MGK's will. They were a part of the MGK's plans. The MGK trade unionists were required to be in those places. Members of the CHP and the IP were required to be in those places. However, there were the others... It is necessary to enquire about the places where they were. By itself, it is not a matter of "the places where they were". While forces were attacking the revolutionaries, in the other place nothing was done and they continued to dance their halays. It is a matter of the culture of revolutionaries and the united people's forces. This is a matter of being shoulder to shoulder against the enemy, a culture of solidarity against the enemy. This state of mind cannot be created through decisions: for a revolutionary, for a socialist, for progressives and patriots it is a natural characteristic. While the enemy is attacking, if there is a state of mind of not feeling the whish to stand to the side of the attacked, then this should be questioned. Thereis a definite tendency to distance oneself from revolutionism, progressiveness and socialism. The funeral ceremony of Ahmet ?zdemir, one of the revolutionaries who was exposed to the wild attack of the police on the First of May was held in Gazi. As usual, no reformist party took part. So, what was the profile of your solidarity? You even put the word in your party's name. So, what is the profile of your unity? The ones who do not even take part in funerals can not talk about unity and solidarity. The ones who are present at soldiers' funerals were not present at the funeral of a May Day martyr. It is necessary to ask them the question, which side are they on. Yes, everybody must be asked about his place. And that before time is late. The contra-guerrilla state wants to make four people of the Front disappear. There can not be a better indicater for the fact that the Susurluk state is continuing and even increasing his terror against the people and the revolutionaries. No section of the reformists has raised its voice. The intellectuals have remained silent. From the progresive and democratic camp and the trade unions there has been silence. Why? Because the attacked are people of the Front. Okay, will the attack stay limited to the Front? Everybody, in periods of rise in the amount of repression and terror has experienced and learned the answer. But the lesson has not been understood. Those who keep on telliong the story about the ones who remained silent towards Hitler fascism while they came for the Jews and the communists found that there was no remedy when they, the "democrats", were attacked, do not realise it is their own history. All these democratic associations, let alone the democratic associations allmoust all the political movements of Turkey's left - did they not see the executions and disappearances directed against Devrimci Sol since the beginning of the 1990s allways as something not connected to themselves? Yes, the ones that are trying to make four people of the Front disappear, immediately afterwards again attacked relatives of the disappeared who were carrying out an action. The fascists in Bolu, in Istanbul, in Adana committed murders one after the other. The last target of the contra-guerrillas was Akin Birdal. Actually it is very open: the ones who are the targets of the attacks by the Susurluk state have to unite. In Bolu, Kenan Mak who was killed by the fascists was a member of HADEP. In Adana, the persons killed in an attack by the fascists were members of EMEP. Akin Birdal is a defender of human rights. All these attacks were directed and organised by the MGK headquarters. And HADEP, EMEP, IHD afterwards were part of the MGK's plans on May Day. This is were the contradiction lies. There is no sense of talking about unitiy and solidarity without having any exprecion in practice. Unity and solidarity is to be side by side against the attacks of the enemy on the arena of 1st May, to be made possible. Unity, solidarity is defending the trenches of the relatives of the disappeared together. Unity, solidarity is to lay claim to the revolutionaries they want to make disappear. Unity, solidarity is to be able to paricipate together at the funeral of the martyrs of May Day. Unity and solidarity is to resist together against attacks by civil fascist bands and contra-guerrillas on all revolutionary, progressive, patriotic and democratic sections. With other words like we always have said and will say, the place to fullfill solidarity is life itself, is the field of struggle. All the words of those who do not stand side by side her, who can not stay side by side here are empty. The ones who only want unity in "elections", who only talk about a unity with regard to peace, who only want unity to have their names to be heard, they do not secure the unity of the people against fascism. Fascism directs attacks in all areas of life, on every section of the people , attacking all sections of the revolutionaries without regard for political affiliation, patriots and democrats, using every form of terror. Giving unity a content has to be appropriate to this. The MGK is attacking with police, genadarmes and special units. It is attacking with civil fascist bands. It is attacking by means of the trade unions. It is attacking by means of the system parties. The struggle has to be directed against the oligarchy and all forces which directly or indirectly try to surround the revolutionaries and destroy them . The people'sstruggle will develop in this way. Without saying this atack is on me or on them, against all attacks coming from MGK headquarters one must stand firm. Without hesitating we have to develope the forms struggle that can block those attacks. The ones who look out without acting to the attacks of the MGK or the people under the sway of the MGK against the revolutionaries or even hope that these attacks might open the field for them must not forget to look into what happened to "democrats" under Hitler fascism. The ones who stay silent about attacks on revolutionaries must not forget the same end is in store for them. Perhaps the forces of the MGK will open the way for them temporally. But this is only within the framework of making the revolutionary movement retreat. At the point when this has been achieved, there will not be a need for reformists any more. The reality of class struggle is thus clear and definite. This period has been experienced in dozens of countries, in dozens of times. The Front lays bare all our conditions, all our truths. The Front places the things that have to be done together or seperated as clear politics or proposels in front of everybody and continues the struggle on this realitiy. Without seeing our reality, or history with its positive and negative sides, the right way can not be found. The ones who know how to learn from history and from the truths of our country will continue and develop the struggle as the real representatives and defenders of the peoples. -- Press Agency Ozgurluk For justice, democracy and human rights in Turkey and Kurdistan! Website: http://www.ozgurluk.org mailto:ozgurluk at xs4all.nl / mailinglists: petidomo at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Sat May 30 11:15:03 1998 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 30 May 1998 11:15:03 Subject: RIGHTS-TURKEY: Military Implicated In Attack On Rights Activist Message-ID: Title: RIGHTS-TURKEY: Military Implicated In Attack On Rights Activist By Nadire Mater ISTANBUL, May 26 (IPS) - The would-be assassins who gunned down Turkey's top human rights activist got their training, in secret, from a non-commissioned officer with neo-fascist sympathies serving with a top anti-terrorist intelligence unit. Six men were arrested at the weekend in connection with a near- fatal gun attack on Akin Birdal, chairman of the country's Human Rights Association. Shot seven times, Birdal was badly wounded but survived. Two of the arrested group, Kerem Deretarla and Bahri Eken, have reportedly confessed all to investigators and will plead guilty to charges of attempted murder. In a remarkable confrontation, they were both brought before Birdal's hospital bed so he could confirm them as the men who gunned him down in his office on May 12. ''I looked into their very eyes,'' Birdal told IPS by phone Monday, ''but they could not do the same to me. They were the killers. But they are only tools, mere children. The real agents are behind them.'' Deretarla, just 17 years old, has told police that he was trained for the attack in a secret woodland camp north of Istanbul. His trainer was one Cengiz Ersever, a non-commissioned officer serving with the country's paramilitary gendarmes. Ersever was promptly arrested and is expected to plead guilty to the charges. Speaking to IPS from his bed in Ankara's private Sevgi Hospital, Birdal recalled the moment when the would-be killers struck. ''I knew,'' he said, speaking faintly and with difficulty. ''I was expecting that they would make an attempt on my life. ''They had come as visitors. But I suspected them, so I was alert and stood up as they were leaving the room, so I could move and defend myself.'' Birdal must undergo more surgery in the days to come. His left foot and right arm are still paralysed. According to the gunmen's own testimony, as widely reported here, he was targeted after the media printed the leaked testimony of former Kurdish guerrilla commander Semdin Sakik, who was snatched by a Turkish special forces unit earlier this year. In a wide ranging series of allegations attributed to Sakik -- som eof which he has since denied -- a long list of critics of the government and military were 'named' as 'Kurdish agents' and supporters of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) guerrilla forc e. According to the alleged testimony of Sakik, PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan was supposed to have said that while Birdal ''is not affiliated to the PKK, he is more PKK than anybody else in the organisation''. Without Birdal, Ocalan allegedly said, the PKK ''w ould not be able to establish the present influence we have in Europe''. The unsubstantiated claims, quickly denied by Birdal, gave a green light to Ersever, Deretarla and Eken, who had formed a covert death squad specifically to target such 'enemies of the state'. ''We decided to kill Akin Birdal when we read Sakik's testimonies in the dailies,'' the gunmen are said to have told the police. According to evidence presented to the courts here, Ersever signed the two up alongside 15 others to form a death squad code- named the Turkish Revenge Brigade. All were members of the neo-fascist Nationalist Action Party (MHP) whose youth wing, the Gray Wolves, have been implicated in the murders of thousands of dissidents over the last three decades. ''I have scores of others in my list. Those who are the enemies of the Turkish military and the police are also my enemies,'' Ersever reportedly told police interrogators. The original Turkish Revenge Brigades killed dozens of left-wingers during the civ il strife of the late 1970s. One brigade member, Mehmet Ali Agca, later tried to kill the Pope. Remarkably, Ersever's name has come up before in similar contexts. He was recently named by witnesses testifying at a parliamentary commission investigating the so-called Susurluk Affair. This followed a now notorious car crash on the Susurluk Highway that revealed top level links between the neo-fascists, the police and MPs from former prime minister Tansu Ciller's True Path (DYP) party. The parliamentary investigation, helped by testimonies from top officials such as Security Intelligence chief Hanefi Avci, exposed a vast network of covert death squads. These sqauds, in the course of the 15 year war between the army and the PKK, have be en linked with the deaths of some 2,500 dissidents. Ersever, formerly with the Gendarme's Intelligence and Counter Terrorism (JITEM) squad, was named by several witnesses and linked to another former PKK cadre turned informer, Mahmut Yildirim, codenamed 'Yesil' ('Green'). Yildirim in turn has been linked with a number of extra-judicial killings. Ironically Hanefi Avci was himself in court Monday, charged with 'revealing state secrets'. There he took the opportunity to tell the judge that though Ersever's links with Yildirim was known by the authorities, he was not prosecuted. ''Turkish Security, the Turkish Intelligence Organisation (MIT) and the Gendarme, all knew this person 'Yesil' well; followed him; filed their information about him, but did not move a finger to shackle him,'' noted Kutlu Savas, who led the investigation into the Susurluk Affair for prime minister Mesut Yilmaz. ''Why?'' he asked, ''The only logical answer to this question is that Yesil's operations and activities do not run contrary to the general priorities and preferences of the administration.'' A string of top officials implicated in the running of death squads, including former interior minister Mehmet Agar, Gendarme General Veli Kocok and others, so far have escaped prosecution. ''Since the state has declined to prosecute the key figures in the Susurluk Affair, the gang has come to believe in their own legitimacy and impunity,'' says journalist Oral Calislar of the Istanbul's daily Cumhuriyet. ''The mafiosi behind this gang have been convinced that they are free to pursue their activities.'' Calislar has also received death treats and currently lives and works under police guard. ''The attack triggered a revolt among public opinion,'' Birdal told IPS Monday. ''They had to investigate the attack and arrest the gunmen in the face of such a massive reaction.'' Thousands of protestors took to the streets in protest at Bridal's shooting and a string of high profile visitors to his bedside included British foreign secretary Robin Cook, in his capacity as holder of the European Union's presidency. ''Turkey is governed by a totalitarian system that does not recognise the rights of the opposition,'' Birdal said. ''I have been targeted for I have been expressing the common belief of so many millions, that basic human rights can only be implemented he re when peace reigns in Turkey.'' (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 K.RAUCHFUSS at LINK-DO.soli.de Sat May 30 21:50:00 1998 From: K.RAUCHFUSS at LINK-DO.soli.de (K.RAUCHFUSS at LINK-DO.soli.de) Date: 30 May 1998 21:50:00 Subject: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?3=2E=20Presseerkl=E4rung=20Demo=20am=206=2E6=2E=20=22 Message-ID: <6uvYckh6.RB@walker.link-do.soli.de> Subject: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?3=2E=20Presseerkl=E4rung=20Demo=20am=206=2E6=2E=20=22F=FCr=20Frieden=20und=20Einigkeit=20Kurdistans=22?= Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit ## Nachricht vom 31.05.98 weitergeleitet ## Ursprung : /CL/EUROPA/TUERKEI ## Ersteller: K.RAUCHFUSS at LINK-DO.soli.de KUNDGEBUNG F?R FRIEDEN UND EINIGKEIT KURDISTANS Pressemitteilung Dortmund, 29.05.1998 Demonstration f?r Frieden und Einigkeit Kurdistans findet statt Prominente G?ste haben Teilnahme zugesichert In einem Orientierungsgespr?ch am gestrigen Donnerstag, an dem u.a. der Oberb?rgermeister der Stadt Dortmund, G?nter Samtlebe, Polizeipr?sident Hans Schulze und Vertreter der Veranstalter der geplanten Demonstration teilnahmen, konnten die letzten Zweifel zerstreut werden. Alle Beteiligten gehen nun davon aus, da? einem friedlichen Verlauf der geplanten europaweiten Gro?kundgebung nunmehr nichts mehr im Wege steht und trennten sich mit der Absicht weiterhin engen Kontakt zueinander zu halten. Am Samstag, dem 6. Juni werden mehr als 50.000 Kurdinnen und Kurden aus ganz Europa nach Dortmund reisen, um dort f?r Frieden, Demokratie und Menschenrechte zu demonstrieren. Die "Kundgebung f?r Frieden und Einigkeit Kurdistans" wird von den beiden NRW-Landtagsabgeordneten Ewald Groth und Jamal Karsli und dem Bochumer Arzt Knut Rauchfuss veranstaltet: "Der Frieden ist heute n?tiger denn je. Die t?rkische Seite darf sich dem Verhandlungstisch nicht l?nger entziehen. Daher m?ssen die europ?ischen Staaten ihren Einflu? n?tzen, den entsprechenden Druck auf die t?rkische Regierung auszu?ben," hei?t es in dem Aufruf, den mittlerweile auch zahlreiche Organisationen, Gruppen, Parteien und Einzelpersonen unterzeichnet haben.Zu den Unterst?tzerInnen der Demonstration z?hlen u.a. die Bundestagsabgeordneten Angelika Beer, Ulla Jelpke, Dr. Winfried Wolf und Eva Bulling-Schr?ter.Weitere Solidarit?tsadressen kamen aus Spanien, der Schweiz, D?nemark, Italien, Pal?stina, Chile und nicht zuletzt vom Pr?sidenten der Nordirischen Partei Sinn Fein, Gerry Adams. Auch medico international, zahlreiche Fl?chtlingsinitiativen aus dem ganzen Bundesgebiet, der Republikanische Anw?ltinnen- und Anw?lteverein und die ASTEN der Universit?ten Dortmund und Bochum unterschrieben den Aufruf. Zu den Rednerinnen und Rednern, die ihre Teilnahme bereits zugesagt haben, z?hlen: - Saleb El Sana, Abgeordneter der Knesset- Mr. Anker J?rgensen, Ex- Ministerpr?sident D?nemark - Mr. Kostas Baduvas, ehemaliger griechischer Verkehrsminister - Yasar Kaya, Pr?sident des Kurdistan-Parlaments im Exil - Ulla Jelpke, MdB PDS - Hans Branscheidt, medico international - Dino Frisullo, Solidarit?t ohne Grenzen, Italien Vertreterinnen und Vertreter aller Bundestagsparteien und zahlreicher Institutionen und Organisationen sowie der Oberb?rgermeister der Stadt Dortmund G?nter Samtlebe sind angefragt. W?hrend sich der Krieg des T?rkischen Milit?rs gegen die kurdische Bev?lkerung immer weiter zuspitzt, w?hrend in halbst?ndigem Rhythmus Bomberstaffeln aus Diyarbakir starten, um D?rfer in der Umgebung von Bing?l und Sirnak zu zerst?ren, w?hrend auch im Westen der T?rkei Oppositionelle am hellichten Tage verschwinden, Demokraten verhaftet, gefoltert und ermordet werden, w?hrend kritische Intellektuelle Haftstrafen von mehreren hundert Jahren Gef?ngnis erhalten, werden wir ein europaweites, un?berh?rbares Zeichen f?r Frieden und Menschenrechte setzen. Seit Jahren fordern Kurdinnen und Kurden, T?rkinnen und T?rken - in der T?rkei wie im Europ?ischen Exil - einen sofortigen Waffenstillstand, die Aufnahme von Verhandlungen f?r eine friedliche L?sung der Kurdischen Frage sowie Demokratie und Menschenrechte f?r ihr Land. Wir d?rfen sie mit dieser Forderung nicht alleine lassen. Krieg und Unterdr?ckung in Kurdistan und der T?rkei k?nnen nur durch die Zusammenarbeit aller Menschen, die f?r Demokratie und Menschenrechte eintreten, erreicht werden. Daher rufen wir demokratische Organisationen, Gruppen, Parteien, Initiativen und Einzelpersonen aus ganz Europa auf, sich der Demonstration anzuschlie?en. Kontaktadresse: Reinoldistr. 17 - 19, 44135 Dortmund, Tel.: 0231 /58603-62 bzw. -83 und 0171-7127375 (Knut Rauchfuss) Fax: 0231/5860386 *************************************************************************** Die Demonstration wird bisher unterst?tzt von: Ewald Groth (MdL, B?ndnis 90 / Die Gr?nen) - Knut Rauchfuss (Arzt, Medizinische Fl?chtlingshilfe Bochum e.V.) - Jamal Karsli (MdL, B?ndnis 90 / Die Gr?nen) - Dr. Hisham Hammad (Arzt, Hohensburg) - Gerry Adams (President of Sinn Fein) - Dr. Azmi Al Shoaibi (Member of Palestinian Parliament) - Saleb El Sana (Abgeordneter der Knesset, Israel) - Anker J?rgensen (Ex-Ministerpr?sident D?nemark) - Kostas Baduvas (Ex-Verkehrsminister, Griechenland) -Ulla Jelpke (MdB PDS) - Dr. Winfried Wolf (MdB PDS) - Angelika Beer (MdB, B?ndnis 90 / Die Gr?nen) - Eva Bulling-Schr?ter (MdB PDS) - medico international - Dr. med. Gisela Penteker (IPPNW) - Kon-Kurd (Konf?deration der Kurdischen Vereine Europas) - Dino Frisullo (Solidarit?t ohne Grenzen, Italien) - Schweizerisches Arbeiterhilfswerk - Riza Baran (MdA Berlin) - Aurora Lago (Coordinadora Estatal de Solidaridad con Kurdistan, Spanien) - Republikanischer Anw?ltinnen- und Anw?lteverein - Apell von Hannover - Deutsch-Schweizer-Internationale Menschenrechtsdelegation 1998 - Vereinigung f?r Sozialistische Politik (VSP) - PDS Nordrhein-Westfalen - Internationalt Forum (Kopenhagen, D?nemark) - Prof. Dr. h.c. Ronald M?nch (Rektor der Hochschule Bremen) - Dr. Hans Branscheidt - ASTA der Ruhr-Universit?t Bochum - ASTA der Universit?t Dortmund - Pax Christi Basisgruppen Nassau und Lahnstein - Regionalb?ro Friedenszug "Musa Anter" - AZADI Rechtshilfeverein - Zentralamerika-Komitee Bochum - Sozialistische Zeitung - Rotes B?ro Aachen - Stuttgarter Komitee zur Unterst?tzung der Kurdischen Politischen Gefangenen - Fl?chtlingshilfe Kurdistan e.V. Landshut - AK Internationalismus Mainz - AK Kurdistan Solidarit?t Giessen - DKP Dortmund - SDAJ Dortmund - Informationsstelle Kurdistan K?ln - Fl?chtlingsplenum Aachen - Kurdistan Solidarit?t Bochum - Renate und H. Eberhard Schulz (Anw?ltInnen, Bremen) - Kambiz Bebahani (B?ndnis 90 /Die Gr?nen, Berlin) - Berrin ?zlem Otyakmaz (Dipl.-Psychologin, Bochum) - Dieter Balle (Journalist, Durmersheim) - Ursula Richter (K?nstlerin) - Wolfgang Richter (Dortmunder Friedensforum) - Hans Otto Wiebus (Journalist, M?nchen) - Manfrad Pegam (Lehrer, Bochum) - Guido Br?hl (Rechtsanwalt, M?lheim) - Andres Piqueras (SODEPAZ, Castello Spanien) - Mag Wompel (Soziologin) - Rebecca Pini (IG-Medien Bezirk Frankfurt/Main) - Charlotte Schmitz (Journalistin, Frankfurt) - R?diger L?tzer (Journalist, Berlin) - Angelika Lex (Anw?ltin, M?nchen) - Andres Tello Lape?a (Paz y Solidaridad, Zaragoza Spanien) - Dagmar Wolf (Soziokulturelles Zentrum Bahnhof Langendreer, Bochum) - Ivan Saldias Barrios (Colectivo Atelier, Santiago de Chile) u.v.a ## CrossPoint v3.1 ## From FreeLao at igc.org*** Sun May 31 15:32:32 1998 From: FreeLao at igc.org*** (FreeLao at igc.org***) Date: 31 May 1998 15:32:32 Subject: Radio Free Asia Message-ID: <3571da72.13989134@apc.news.igc.org***> Subject: Radio Free Asia - Supporting freedom and free speech in Asia or FREE propaganda service for repressive regimes? Summary: Radio Free Asia was set up by the US Congress supposedly to promote democracy and free speech in Asia, but throughout its checkered history there have been regular complaints alleging complicity with the repressive regimes it was set up to target. Now RFA has proven the complicity of the RFA President Mr Richard Richter, Executive Managing Director Dan Sutherland and Director of Human Resources Jacqueline Hopkins by dismissing the top Lao Service broadcaster and the only professional journalist in the section, Mr Vixay Keonakhone. The Director of the Lao Service Mrs Viengsay Luangkhot is well known in the Lao community to have had high level ties with the LPDR embassy in Washington for many years, and she has received a large volume of highly critical mail from the Lao community ever since she joined RFA. We call on the US Congress to set up Congressional Hearings to investigate this scandalous abuse of US$26 million per year of US taxpayers' funds. At 3pm on 21st May 1998 Miss Cindy Kim of Radio Free Asia instructed Mr Vixay Keonakhone, a broadcaster of the Lao Section of RFA, to attend a meeting at the Human Resources department of RFA at 3.30pm the same day. No further information was given, nor any indication that Mr Vixay should make any preparations for the meeting. At 3.30pm Mr Vixay found waiting for him in the office of Mrs Jacqueline Hopkins (Director of Human Resources) a panel of senior executives of RFA comprising Mr Dan Sutherland (Executive Managing Director), Mrs Hopkins, Mrs Tamara Bagley (Human Resources Specialist), and Mrs Viengsay Luangkhot (Director of Lao Section), who were assembled to interrogate Mr Vixay without any prior warning. The panel verbally put to Mr Vixay an absurdly frivolous collection of wholly unsubstantiated allegations criticising his work at RFA. In view of RFA's failure to provide reasonable advance notice in writing of the allegations Mr Vixay requested an opportunity to make a response to the allegations in writing at a later date, and the panel then agreed to provide Mr Vixay with notification in writing of the allegations against him no later than Tuesday 26th May 1998; Mr Vixay was instructed to respond to the allegations in writing no later than Thursday 28th May 1998. On 26th May Mr Vixay was informed without explanation that the allegations had been forwarded directly to the President of RFA WITHOUT even any copy being given to Mr Vixay and without any proposal to allow Mr Vixay any self-defence against the allegations. On 28th May 1998 Mr Vixay formally notified RFA that RFA had not provided the notification of the allegations against him - as a result of this failure Mr Vixay was unable to respond. At 3pm on 29th May, without further warning, Mr Vixay was given a letter from the President of RFA Mr Richard Richter, giving notice of termination of his employment. The letter specified that employment would be terminated after a period of 12 days notice, and that during the 12 days notice Mr Vixay was required to take administrative leave during which he was not permitted to attend the offices of RFA. He was required to remove all his belongings and papers from his desk immediately. NO EXPLANATION OR JUSTIFICATION WAS GIVEN IN THE LETTER OF DISMISSAL, AND NO INFORMATION WAS GIVEN ABOUT THE ALLEGATIONS MADE AGAINST HIM. The conduct of Mr Richter, Mr Sutherland, Mrs Hopkins and Mrs Luangkhot is in gross and blatant violation of US Labour law, and wholly unprofessional in every respect and in every detail. Mr Vixay Keonakhone was a highly professional journalist with 25 years experience who was dedicated to his job. He was the ONLY professional journalist on the Lao Section, and has worked in the Lao Section since its creation in 1997. At the time of the creation of the Lao Section Mrs Luangkhot was not in a position of Director of the section; after her appointment as Director of the section all the staff she has appointed are supportive of the communist regime, and none have established a track record for campaigning for democracy and freedom of speech in Laos. All professional journalists who have applied for a job at RFA Lao Section since the appointment of Mrs Luangkhot have been rejected, including several highly respected journalists. Despite adverse political conditions Mr Vixay has adopted a highly professional approach to his work in every respect, placing the utmost priority at all times on the quality and professionalism of the broadcasts, to the best of his ability and within the confines of the political censorship imposed by the Editor-in-chief and the Section Director. An example of such censorship is that Mrs Luangkhot refused to allow Mr Vixay to use the word "soon supatook" (concentration camp) for the death camps in which many tens of thousands of Lao have died under subhuman conditions since the takeover of power by the communists in 1975, and instead required Mr Vixay to use the Lao propaganda term "soon seminar" (seminar camp) which was a term invented by the communists in 1975 to avoid instilling fear and insurrection amongst the prisoners of the old regime while they were being sent to the death camps. Mr Vixay has trained all the broadcasting staff of the Lao Section, including its director Mrs Luangkhot, and has endeavoured to upgrade their journalistic professionalism. When other broadcasting staff have floundered and made embarassing slips that detracted from the professionalism of the broadcasts (including, on occasion, even inadvertant slips with highly undesirable sexual connotations), Mr Vixay has in every case drawn the attention of the broadcaster concerned to the slips and given them an opportunity to correct them in order to maintain the professionalism of the broadcasts to the best of his ability - even though he could have used such opportunities to undermine the reputation of incompetent staff and so encourage their dismissal. Instead Mr Vixay has put the top priority at all times on the quality of broadcasts, despite the negative constraints under which he was forced to operate. Radio Free Asia is an anti-democratic institution managed like a secret service and hiding under the guise of allegedly promoting democracy and free speech, used instead to promote the subversive objectives of the secret service agencies in partnership with the very transnational companies that are collaborating with repressive regimes around the world. This was not the intention of the US Congress in founding RFA or in approving its current spending of US taxpayers' funds totalling 26 million dollars per year, and we call on the US Congress to hold urgent Congressional Hearings to investigate the abuse of its mandate by Radio Free Asia and the anti-democratic activities of Board of Directors. Please note that despite the harsh criticisms included in this notice, we believe there are some highly dedicated and professional journalists working for various sections of Radio Free Asia, and this notice is directed only against those who are supporting the communist regimes. We invite all those working in the field of democracy campaigning to contact us if they have any evidence supporting similar abuses in other sections of RFA - Vietnam, China, Tibet, Burma, Cambodia and North Korea - including but not limited to: highly qualified individuals who have been refused a job at RFA, incidents involving censorship, inappropriate coverage of news by RFA, failures to cover important news, etc, as we believe the problems of the Lao Section also occur in other sections. We also urge all democracy campaign groups of any of the seven countries to which RFA broadcasts to fax a statement to us if they are seriously dissatisfied with the efforts of RFA to promote democracy and free speech through the broadcast of appropriate and accurate news in a professional manner. You can contact the Lao Coordinating Committee as follows: Fax: 1-703-449-8496 P.O. Box 57120, Washington DC, 20037.