Mainstream-News on Turkey

Sat May 23 15:59:53 BST 1998

Turkish Daily News, May 23

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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.

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!
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