Wave of terror continues in Turkey

[ozgurluk at xs4all.nl]

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 Süleyman 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 Güvenlik Mahkemesi (State Security Court)
Fax: 0090 - 232 - 462 35 49

Izmir Emniyet Müdürlügü (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                          
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