2-3-99-TDN-EU-court-questions-tky</TITLE= ><!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"><BASE=20 href=3Dhttp://www.mnsi.net/~mergan95/2-3-99-TDN-EU-court-questions-tky.ht= m><!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <META content=3D"Karzan Ruzvonee" name=3DAuthor> <META content=3D'"MSHTML 4.72.2106.6"' name=3DGENERATOR> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>DER EUROPÄISCHE = GERICHTSHOF URTEILT=20 ÜBER DIE GERICHTSBARKEIT DER TÜRKEI</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>HANS BRANSCHEIDT</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>-----Ursprüngliche=20 Nachricht----- Von: Ilkka Jaakkola <<A=20 href=3D"mailto:ilkka.jaakkola at kolumbus.fi">ilkka.jaakkola at kolumbus.fi</A>= > An:=20 Harawazi sähköpostilista <<A=20 href=3D"mailto:harawazi-l at utu.fi">harawazi-l at utu.fi</A>> Datum: = Mittwoch, 3. März 1999 08:35 Betreff:=20 2-3-99-TDN-EU-court-questions-tky </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> European Court = questions=20 independence of State Security Courts=20 Complainants charge Turkey violated their freedoms of speech and = thought=20 and rights to a fair and independent trial=20 Ankara - Turkish Daily News / March 2, 1999=20 In three separate sessions the European Court of Human Rights once = again=20 questioned the independence and neutrality of Turkey's State = Security Courts=20 (DGM), the Anatolia news agency reported on Monday.=20 The Court listened to both parties in the three sessions held after = Kamil=20 Tekin Surek, Gunay Arslan and Munier Ceylan filed complaints against = Turkey.=20 The complaints stated that DGM trials violated freedom of speech and = thought=20 as well as the right to a fair and independent trial, in violation = of=20 Article No. 6.9.10 of the Human Rights Agreement, which Turkey has = signed.=20 All three complainants were prosecuted by the Istanbul DGM. Surek was = charged=20 with making separatist propaganda for an article on Southeast = Anatolia that=20 appeared in the magazine "Both News and Interpretation is = Real."=20 Arslan was prosecuted on the same charges stemming from his book,=20 "Mourning History, 33 Bullets." Ceylan, former chairman of = Petrol-Is, was accused of making provocations based on ethnic and = regional=20 differences in an article published in the newspaper "New=20 Country."=20 Last year, in cases brought to the European Court of European Human = Rights by=20 Ibrahim Incal of the now-closed People's Labor Party (HEP) and = Cengiz=20 Ciraklar, who was arrested in connection with a student = demonstration in=20 Izmir, the Court found Turkey guilty and ordered the country to pay=20 financial compensation, maintaining that Incal and Ciraklar were = correct to=20 suspect the independence and neutrality of the DGMs, each of which = have one=20 military judge serving on its panel. ******************* Click=20 Back To Return To Headlines News </BODY></HTML> ------=_NextPart_000_0054_01BE6567.2ED991C0-- ## CrossPoint v3.1 ## From K.RAUCHFUSS at LINK-DO.comlink.apc.org Wed Mar 3 16:36:00 1999 From: K.RAUCHFUSS at LINK-DO.comlink.apc.org (K.RAUCHFUSS at LINK-DO.comlink.apc.org) Date: 03 Mar 1999 16:36:00 Subject: Fw: TURKEY: OCALAN LAWYERS AT RISK (fwd) Message-ID: <7CBiZOOb$RB@walker.link-do.soli_> Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit ## Nachricht vom 03.03.99 weitergeleitet ## Ursprung : K.RAUCHFUSS at WALKER.link-do.soli.de ## Ersteller: Branscheidt at medico-international.de DIE SCHICKSALE DER RECHTSANW?LTE ABDULLAH ?CALANS HANS BRANSCHEIDTS MESSAGE -----Urspr?ngliche Nachricht----- Von: Jouni Piril? <jopirila at utu.fi> An: harawazi-l at utu.fi <harawazi-l at utu.fi> Datum: Mittwoch, 3. M?rz 1999 13:45 Betreff: TURKEY: OCALAN LAWYERS AT RISK (fwd) nothing really new, but just to show Amnesty's reaction as well. jouni. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 26 Feb 1999 22:43:07 -0600 (CST) From: Amnesty International <amnesty at oil.ca> To: undisclosed-recipients: ; Subject: TURKEY: OCALAN LAWYERS AT RISK * News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International * News Service: 041/99 AI INDEX: EUR 44/20/99 26 FEBRUARY 1999 PUBLIC STATEMENT TURKEY ?CALAN LAWYERS AT RISK Amnesty International condemned today the persecution of the lawyers representing Abdullah ?calan, leader of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK). Ahmet Zeki Ok?uoglu and Hatice Korkut -- who visited him yesterday --are particularly at risk. Both lawyers were reportedly kicked and punched as they arrived at the quay-side at M?danya to set off for the prison island of Imrali , where Abdullah ?calan is being held. Both lawyers and their families have received telephone threats. Reportedly even people with the same surname have been harassed. In response to the threats faced by the lawyers involved in the case, Amnesty International called upon the Turkish Government to support clearly and decisively the principle of the right to defence and the duty of the lawyer to act. This is clearly set out in Article 18 of the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, which states "lawyers shall not be identified with their clients or their clients' causes as a result of discharging their functions". Another alarming episode involved four lawyers working on Abdullah ?calan's case who held a press-conference at the Press Museum in the Cagaloglu district of Istanbul today. They were jostled by an angry crowd on entering the museum and one of them, Osman Baydemir, was arrested in connection with a statement he had made some weeks ago. After the press-conference, the lawyers were unwilling to leave the building as there was a group of people shouting right-wing slogans and threats. After initially declining to offer any guarantees for the lawyers' safety, the police eventually brought a vehicle to the museum and accompanied them to relative safety. The lawyers are reported to have suspended their representation of Abdullah ?calan, saying that they cannot continue in their duty under the current circumstances, and that his trial cannot be considered fair unless he is properly assisted by competent and committed defence counsel. ENDS.../ Amnesty International, International Secretariat, 1 Easton Street, WC1X 8DJ, London, United Kingdom **************************************************************** 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 <majordomo at oil.ca> with "subscribe amnesty-L" in the message body. To unsubscribe, send a message to <majordomo at oil.ca> with "unsubscribe amnesty-L" in the message body. If you have problem signing off, contact <owner-amnesty-L at oil.ca> Past and current Amnesty news services can be found at http://www.amnesty.org/news/ ## CrossPoint v3.1 ## From Branscheidt at medico-international.de Tue Mar 2 16:26:00 1999 From: Branscheidt at medico-international.de (Branscheidt at medico-international.de) Date: 02 Mar 1999 16:26:00 Subject: Fw: 1-3-99-Reu-lawyer-say-apo-tortured Message-ID: <7C7g70dr$RB@walker.link-do.soli_> This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_001D_01BE64FB.9B189140 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable BESTE GR=DCSSE VON HANS BRANSCHEIDT -----Urspr=FCngliche Nachricht----- Von: Ilkka Jaakkola <ilkka.jaakkola at kolumbus.fi> An: Harawazi s=E4hk=F6postilista <harawazi-l at utu.fi> Datum: Dienstag, 2. M=E4rz 1999 09:29 Betreff: 1-3-99-Reu-lawyer-say-apo-tortured Ocalan Lawyer Says Ocalan had been tortured.=20 Reuters=20 01-MAR-99=20 ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Lawyers for jailed Kurdish guerrilla chief Abdullah = Ocalan said=20 Monday they intend to turn his trial into an inquiry into Turkey's = 14-year-old fight against=20 the rebels.=20 Since seizing its most wanted man, Turkey has come under international = pressure to=20 ensure Ocalan gets a fair trial, a right his defense team says has = already been violated.=20 "This case should be turned into one where the war is judged and that is = what we are=20 going to do," Ocalan lawyer Eren Keskin told Reuters in an interview.=20 Some 29,000 people have been killed since Ocalan's Kurdistan Workers = Party (PKK)=20 took up arms for Kurdish self-rule in 1984.=20 Ankara holds Ocalan responsible for those deaths and has charged the = portly 51-year-old=20 with treason -- a crime which carries the death penalty.=20 "Ocalan did not kill 30,000 people, nor give the order for them to be = killed.=20 There is a war and it is the war that needs to be judged," Keskin said = in her dowdy=20 downtown Ankara office.=20 Turkey accuses the PKK of conducting a bloody "terrorist" campaign = financed by=20 extortion and drug smuggling.=20 Rights activists say Turkey's armed forces have carried out a "dirty = war" against the PKK,=20 burning and emptying villages to deprive the organization of logistic = support -- a charge=20 Ankara denies.=20 "War itself is a violation of human rights. Ocalan has violated human = rights in this war.=20 But the Turkish state has done so even more," said Keskin.=20 Another of Ocalan's lawyers accused Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit = Monday of=20 obstructing a fair trial by failing to provide security for the defense = team.=20 Two of the lawyers who traveled to the prison island last week to see = their client for the=20 first time 10 days after his arrest were met by angry protests on the = quayside.=20 They said the meeting was curtailed after 20 minutes and held in the = presence of a public=20 prosecutor and two masked men.=20 "One of the masked men stood behind Ocalan looking at the lawyers and = another stood=20 behind them staring at Ocalan," said Keskin. "This is unacceptable = intimidation."=20 Keskin, a glamorous 40-year-old with long dark hair and bright red = lipstick, said she had=20 received death threats.=20 "As soon as I say anything, I am held up as a target by the press," she = said. "It is not safe=20 for us."=20 Keskin said the constant reference to Ocalan in Turkish media as "the = head terrorist," or=20 "the killer of 30,000" prejudiced the trial and was against Turkish law. = She said television footage of the rebel chief paraded in front of = cameras blindfolded and=20 flanked by masked men showed Ocalan had been tortured.=20 "He has been given drugs against his will and is constantly blindfolded = ... Torture isn't=20 just electric shocks and beatings."=20 Ecevit has promised the trial will be fair, but has turned down requests = by the Council of=20 Europe and European Union representatives to observe the proceedings.=20 A Norwegian MP said Turkey had agreed to let delegates from Norway = attend hearings=20 and Ecevit announced a package of aid to the ailing southeast to = undercut PKK support.=20 Despite such efforts to assure the outside world of Turkey's good = intentions, Keskin said=20 she believed Ocalan would face the gallows at the end of his trial even = though no one has=20 been executed in Turkey since 1984.=20 "He will definitely receive the death penalty and the parliament and = president will=20 probably approve it."=20 **********************=20 Click Back To Return To Headlines News=20 ------=_NextPart_000_001D_01BE64FB.9B189140 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META content=3Dtext/html;charset=3Diso-8859-1 = http-equiv=3DContent-Type><TITLE>1-3-99-Reu-lawyer-say-apo-tortured</TITL= E><!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"><BASE=20 href=3Dhttp://www.mnsi.net/~mergan95/1-3-99-Reu-lawyer-say-apo-tortured.h= tm><!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <META content=3D"Karzan Ruzvonee" name=3DAuthor> <META content=3D'"MSHTML 4.72.2106.6"' name=3DGENERATOR> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff> <DIV>BESTE GRÜSSE VON = HANS=20 BRANSCHEIDT</DIV> <DIV>-----Ursprüngliche=20 Nachricht----- Von: Ilkka Jaakkola <<A=20 href=3D"mailto:ilkka.jaakkola at kolumbus.fi">ilkka.jaakkola at kolumbus.fi</A>= > An:=20 Harawazi sähköpostilista <<A=20 href=3D"mailto:harawazi-l at utu.fi">harawazi-l at utu.fi</A>> Datum: = Dienstag, 2. März 1999 09:29 Betreff:=20 1-3-99-Reu-lawyer-say-apo-tortured </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>Ocalan Lawyer Says Ocalan had = been=20 tortured. Reuters 01-MAR-99=20 ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Lawyers for jailed Kurdish guerrilla chief = Abdullah=20 Ocalan said Monday they intend to turn his trial into an inquiry = into=20 Turkey's 14-year-old fight against the rebels.=20 Since seizing its most wanted man, Turkey has come under = international=20 pressure to ensure Ocalan gets a fair trial, a right his defense = team says=20 has already been violated.=20 "This case should be turned into one where the war is judged and = that is=20 what we are going to do," Ocalan lawyer Eren Keskin told = Reuters in an=20 interview.=20 Some 29,000 people have been killed since Ocalan's Kurdistan Workers = Party=20 (PKK) took up arms for Kurdish self-rule in 1984.=20 Ankara holds Ocalan responsible for those deaths and has charged the = portly=20 51-year-old with treason -- a crime which carries the death penalty. = "Ocalan did not kill 30,000 people, nor give the order for them = to be=20 killed. There is a war and it is the war that needs to be = judged,"=20 Keskin said in her dowdy downtown Ankara office.=20 Turkey accuses the PKK of conducting a bloody = "terrorist"=20 campaign financed by extortion and drug smuggling.=20 Rights activists say Turkey's armed forces have carried out a = "dirty=20 war" against the PKK, burning and emptying villages to deprive = the=20 organization of logistic support -- a charge Ankara denies.=20 "War itself is a violation of human rights. Ocalan has violated = human=20 rights in this war. But the Turkish state has done so even = more," said=20 Keskin.=20 Another of Ocalan's lawyers accused Turkish Prime Minister Bulent = Ecevit=20 Monday of obstructing a fair trial by failing to provide security = for the=20 defense team.=20 Two of the lawyers who traveled to the prison island last week to see = their=20 client for the first time 10 days after his arrest were met by angry = protests on the quayside.=20 They said the meeting was curtailed after 20 minutes and held in the = presence=20 of a public prosecutor and two masked men.=20 "One of the masked men stood behind Ocalan looking at the = lawyers and=20 another stood behind them staring at Ocalan," said Keskin. = "This=20 is unacceptable intimidation."=20 Keskin, a glamorous 40-year-old with long dark hair and bright red = lipstick,=20 said she had received death threats.=20 "As soon as I say anything, I am held up as a target by the = press,"=20 she said. "It is not safe for us."=20 Keskin said the constant reference to Ocalan in Turkish media as = "the=20 head terrorist," or "the killer of 30,000" prejudiced = the=20 trial and was against Turkish law.=20 She said television footage of the rebel chief paraded in front of = cameras=20 blindfolded and flanked by masked men showed Ocalan had been = tortured.=20 "He has been given drugs against his will and is constantly = blindfolded=20 ... Torture isn't just electric shocks and beatings."=20 Ecevit has promised the trial will be fair, but has turned down = requests by=20 the Council of Europe and European Union representatives to observe = the=20 proceedings.=20 A Norwegian MP said Turkey had agreed to let delegates from Norway = attend=20 hearings and Ecevit announced a package of aid to the ailing = southeast to=20 undercut PKK support.=20 Despite such efforts to assure the outside world of Turkey's good = intentions,=20 Keskin said she believed Ocalan would face the gallows at the end of = his=20 trial even though no one has been executed in Turkey since 1984.=20 "He will definitely receive the death penalty and the parliament = and=20 president will probably approve it." ********************** = Click Back To Return To Headlines News </BODY></HTML> ------=_NextPart_000_001D_01BE64FB.9B189140-- ## CrossPoint v3.1 ## From K.RAUCHFUSS at LINK-DO.comlink.apc.org Tue Mar 9 17:42:00 1999 From: K.RAUCHFUSS at LINK-DO.comlink.apc.org (K.RAUCHFUSS at LINK-DO.comlink.apc.org) Date: 09 Mar 1999 17:42:00 Subject: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Fw:_STOP_THE_DEPORTATION_OF_RECEP_=D6Z_AND_All_DEPORT Message-ID: <7CcolaBr$RB@walker.link-do.soli_> Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit ## Nachricht vom 08.03.99 weitergeleitet ## Ursprung : K.RAUCHFUSS at WALKER.link-do.soli.de ## Ersteller: Branscheidt at medico-international.de BITTE UNTERZEICHNEN UND ODER WEITERVERBREITEN. DANKE HANS BRANSCHEIDT -----Urspr?ngliche Nachricht----- Von: Georg Classen <georg.classen at berlin.de> An: Pro Asyl <proasyl at proasyl.de> Datum: Donnerstag, 4. M?rz 1999 21:15 Betreff: STOP THE DEPORTATION OF RECEP ?Z AND All DEPORTATIONS TO TURKEY >Subject: > URGENT ACTION: Stop the deportation of Recep?z > Date: > Thu, 4 Mar 1999 20:25:16 +0100 > From: > "[ueber die grenze]" <grenze at CRG.NET> > To: > COYOTE-L at relay.crg.net > > > > >URGENT ACTION +++++ PLEASE FORWARD THIS MESSAGE +++++ URGENT ACTION > >no one is illegal campaign >phone: ++49/172/8910825 ><grenze at jff.de> ><http://www.contrast.org/borders> > >STOP THE DEPORTATION OF RECEP ?Z >AND All DEPORTATIONS TO TURKEY > >Recep ?z, a kurdish activist, is threatened by deportation to Turkey. He >was arrested on the way to a demonstration in Berlin on February 17th, >actually he is imprisoned in Bueren, and started a hungerstrike there. > >We ask everyone who receives this e-mail to immediately send a protest >fax to the following > >Minister of Interior Affairs of Northrine-Westfalia, Dr. Fritz Behrends >Haroldstr. 5, 40213 D?sseldorf phone ++49/211/87101, Fax ++49/2118713355 > >Minister of Interior Affairs of Federal Republic of Germany, Mr. Otto >Schily >Graurheindorfer Str 198 53117 Bonn, phone ++49/228/584030, Fax >++49/228/584066 > >Chancellor of Federal Republic of Germany, Mr. Gerhard Schroeder >Bundeskanzleramt, Adenauerallee 139-141, 53113 Bonn, phone >++49/228/562522,-2523 >Fax ++49/228/562357 > >Please sign also the appeal of the Berlin refugee Council: > > >Appeal > >"... No matter how you look at it. It is all about the question whether >the German government is willing to deport offenders to a country of >torturers or not. Schily says this is not possible, but at the same time >he is trying through the backdoor to find a way to get rid of Kurdish >refugees as did Manfred Kanther before. (...) Schily?s wants a promise >from the Turkish government about sparing deported Kurdish people from >torture. But this kind of negotiation is absurd. The officials in Bonn >all know that this won?t save deportees from imprisonment and torture. >It can?t even serve as a front to hide behind for the German government. >If you want to deport Kurdish refugees this way you must be honest and >declare openly that you are acting against the European Human Rights >Convention. (...)" (Heribert Prantl, S?ddeutsche Zeitung, 24.2.1999) > >Recep ?z, a Kurd from Turkey, is no offender. But nevertheless, he is >threatened by deportation. He wanted to participate in a demonstration >by Kurdish people in Berlin when he was arrested by the the police >without any legal papers. His application for political asylum has been >rejected as hundreds of other Kurdish refugees that are now hiding in >church asylum. All of them have been rejected as political refugees >because the German officials claim that they could not prove an >individual persecution by the Turkish state. "In most of the cases >(rejected asylum seekers from Turkey) we have been investigating torture >and imprisonment could have been prevented, if the applications for >poltical asylum had been taken more seriously by the German officials". >(Refugee-Council Lower Saxony/PRO ASYL in their latest documentation of >the endagering of Kurdish refugees deported back to Turkey, February >1999, P.3) > >Today the situation in Turkey is even more serious. New waves of arrests >after the escape of ?calan to Italy and especially after his >imprisonment in Turkey need to be taken into account when judging about >the deportations of Kurdish refugees. Until now this has only happened >in individual cases. > >Recep ?z has started a hungerstrike since his arrest February 17th to >protest against all deportations of Kurdish refugees to Turkey. He has >started a struggle for his right to stay in Germany in the name of all >who are threatened by torture and imprisonment. > >We are demanding the immediate suspension of all deportations of Kurdish >refugees from Germany. This is the only way to guarantee Article 3 of >the European Convention of Human Rights for Kurdish refugees. We are >also demanding the release of Recep ?z and a permit to stay in Germany >for him and all Kurdish refugees in Germany as long as torture is a >common practice in Turkey. We also believe that this is the only >possibilty to stop the escalation of violence and a first step towards >an "international solution" of the Turkish/Kurdish conflict. > >Signed by the Refugee-Council Berlin, Anti Racist Initiative, Berlin, >G?nter Grass (author), Hans Brandscheid (medico international), Heiko >Kauffmann (speaker of PRO ASYL), Gyas Sayan (MP, PDS, City State of >Berlin), Kostas Papanastasiou (actor and architect), United for >Intercultural Action, Amsterdam, Ewald Groth (MP, B?ndnis 90/the Greens, >the State of Nordrhein-Westfalen), Berrin ?zlem Otyakmaz (Mona - >International Womens Contact and Counselling Center), Knut Rauchfuss >(Refugee Medical Help, Bochum), Central America Commitee, Bochum, Centro >Latino e.V., Regional Office Peace Train Musa Anter, VSP - Union of >Socialist Politics, Ulla Jelpke (MP, PDS, Bundestag Bonn), Caroline >Bouquerel-Pajaziti (French Translater, EU- Bruxelles), Georg Classen, >Berlin, Anti Discrimination Office, Berlin, Peter Tepper, Ingeborg >Hunzinger, Heidrun Hegewald, Dr. Hanna Behrend, Dr. Manfred Behrend, >Gina Pietsch, (all from Berlin ), > >Please, send further signatures to the Refugee-Council Berlin and copies >to the Antiracist Initiative, tel: ++49/30/7857281, fax: ++49/30/7869984 > >Fl?chtlingsrat Berlin (Refugee-Council Berlin) >Fennstr. 31 >D - 12439 Berlin, >ph. : -30/6317873 >fax: -30/6361198 > > > >-------------cross the border-- >--ueber die grenze ------------ >http://www.contrast.org/borders >--phone: ++49/89/172/8910825--- >-----mar 12-14 n5m3 amsterdam-- >-mar 26-28 conference munich--- >---aug 7-15 camp borderline---- ## CrossPoint v3.1 ## From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Sun Mar 14 12:18:42 1999 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 14 Mar 1999 12:18:42 Subject: DHKC Statement 82 Message-ID: <bac1c849.m10MHH5.000Gy5C@ozgurluk> DEVRIMCI HALK KURTULUS CEPHESI Press Office Date: March 14, 1999 Declaration: 82 THOSE WHO COMMIT THE MASSACRES AGAINST THE PEOPLE HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE FREEDOM OF THE KURDISH PEOPLE, NOR WITH THE ESSENCE OF REVOLUTION AND PROGRESS The actions, aimed against the people without making any difference, never reached a dimension and never got out of control as they have now, although we have seen similar ones in recent years. Without making any difference, without dividing between guilty and not guilty, collaborators, at the side of the people or the people's enemies, bombs are left behind on squares which are filled with people, molotov cocktails are thrown, and people massacred. Overt massacres are being organised. This has nothing to do with being revolutionary, with progress, the Kurds or rights and liberties. These methods have historically been the methods of fascist governments and contra - -guerrilla organisations. With such methods, imperialism and its fascist collaborators have always tried to destroy the legitimacy of the revolutionaries when the revolutionary struggle was developing. For the revolutionaries, the notions of friend and enemy have always been clear. Whatever the nature of an organisation, acting with nationalist or social demands, they have to determine clearly who is the enemy and who the friend. Massacring an oppressed people in the name of another, and planning and carrying out actions for this goal, clearly means serving the enemy. When it is claimed that the actions which have been carried out in the past by the contra-guerrilla itself have been carried out in the name of the oppressed Kurdish people, this means betrayal of the Kurdish people. It must be doubted that the oligarchy really tries to prevent such acts. Quite on the contrary, it is as if they are saying: "Let them do what they want. Let the people see what they think of justice, let the people see what they will do when they are in power". For fascism, these actions large create the conditions for its contra-revolutionary propaganda and all kinds of provocations. The mass basis for fascism is being enlarged by portraying all revolutionaries as sick people who massacre the people, not aware of what they are doing. While the conditions for revolutionary work among the people are being mangled, they want to incite the people against the revolutionaries. Whatever the case, such actions achieve the same as the provocations by the contra-guerrilla. The so-called NATIONALIST KURDISH REVENGE FORCE have claimed responsibility for these actions. Nothing has been known about such an organisation. Its sudden appearance is rather doubtful. If such an organisation really does exist, and if these actions are theirs, they still have nothing to do with revenge. When it is about revenge, the state should be the target, not the common people. When the people are targeted, and not the state, this means that something else is hidden behind it. And even nationalism cannot achieve a connection. When those who commit massacres against the people, or have such acts committed, claim to do so in the name of the Kurdish people, they must, without wasting any time, account for their acts in front of all our peoples, including the Kurdish people, they must accept the responsibility for what they have done and they must stop with this kind of actions immediately. Otherwise they will have to account for history and for the people. REVOLUTIONARY JUSTICE AND THE REVOLUTIONARY CONCEPT WILL UNDOUBTEDLY DESTROY THE PROVOCATIONS OF THE CONTRA-GUERRILLA! REVOLUTIONARY PEOPLE'S LIBERATION FRONT http://www.ozgurluk.org/dhkc List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Sun Mar 14 13:33:26 1999 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 14 Mar 1999 13:33:26 Subject: Turkey: Fourth aniversary Gazi Uprising - 600 in custody (TDN) Message-ID: <bac1c849.m10MIUF.000Gy5C@ozgurluk> Security tight for Gazi district, 600 in custody Istanbul - Turkish Daily News Security was tightened in the Gazi district of Istanbul Friday to prevent any violence from breaking out during the fourth anniversary of riots that left 17 people there dead. Nearly 7,000 police were assigned to the area and a military unit of 900 men was sent in as backup. Police units controlled all of the entrances to the area and from 10:00 a.m. no one was permitted to enter. Nearly 600 people were taken into custody as part of the security operation and were sent to police headquarters on Vatan Avenue for questioning. Istanbul Police Chief Hasan Ozdemir was present at the scene and said that the police would not permit any illegal demonstrations. A group that had gathered outside the Association for the Introduction and Preservation of Haci Bektasi Veli Culture were told that they could not stage a walk to the Gazi Cemetery. Journalists were not allowed to enter the area. Lawyers from the People's Legal Bureau were refused permission. Security was also tightened in Umraniye's 1 Mayis district and the Gulsuyu and Gulensu districts. No incidents were reported. -- Ozgurluk! http://www.ozgurluk.org List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From theorganizer at labornet.org Tue Mar 16 15:42:25 1999 From: theorganizer at labornet.org (theorganizer at labornet.org) Date: 16 Mar 1999 15:42:25 Subject: URGENT: APPEAL FOR CANANEA MINEWORKERS Message-ID: <bac1c849.199903162329.PAA01403@igc2.igc.apc.org> URGENT: APPEAL FOR CANANEA MINEWORKERS *** Note: Please endorse this sign-on Open Letter to the Mexican authorities in support of the mineworkers and their families in Cananea, Mexico. Add your name and/or that of your union or organization. You should send your endorsement directly to Gemma Lopez Limon at "Ricardo Flores Magon" Human Rights Committee, Mexicali (Mexico). Her e-mail address is <glopez at faro.ens.uabc.mx>. She will forward your statement to the Mexican authorities. Please include your organization and title, if possible, and mention if these are to be listed for identification purposes only. Also, please send a copy of your e-mail endorsement to <owc at igc.org>. ***** IN THIS MESSAGE: (1) Open Letter to Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo (2) Mineworkers End Bitter Three-Month Strike (3) Background to the Strike ***** (1) Open Letter to Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo in Support of the Cananea Mineworkers (Mexico) Respect the workers? collective-bargaining agreement! Restore immediately all water distribution to the townspeople! Dr. Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon President of Mexico, Palacio Nacional 06067 Mexico, D.F. Fax: 011-525-516-5762 Dear President Zedillo: We are writing to express our deepest concern for the safety and well-being of the mineworkers and their families in Cananea, Sonora. These workers ended their bitter three-month strike on February 15, after the Mexican Army threatened to use violence against them. They went out on strike last November 18 to demand a halt to the projected 1000 layoffs demanded by the Compa?ia Mexicana de Cananea ? which is owned by billionaire Jorge Larrea and his Grupo M?xico. The laid-off mineworkers were promised the full severance package stipulated by their collective bargaining agreement. No sooner had the strike ended, however, than the company reneged on its promise, offering the laid-off workers a pittance of the severance pay and benefit package they were entitled to. The company, moreover, blacklisted 120 workers on the grounds they were strike "organizers" -- thereby denying them the right to return to their jobs. These workers were not in units slated to be closed under the company?s downsizing plan. And those workers who returned to their jobs were paid less than $2 per week, after the company illegally discounted large sums from their paychecks for "damages and costs incurred during the strike." This represents an open violation of Mexico?s labor legislation. We are writing to urge you to insist that Mexican labor law and the workers? collective-bargaining agreement are fully respected and implemented in Cananea! We also understand that on March 9 -- in retaliation against the townspeople of Cananea, who ardently supported the strikers -- the Compa?ia Mexicana de Cananea cut off all water distribution to the town. Historically, the mining company has been responsible for all water distribution to the population. As of this writing [March 16], the town has not had any running or drinking water for seven days. The townspeople fear an outbreak of hepatitis and cholera as toilets cannot be flushed and people are forced to use contaminated water. This situation is intolerable! On March 11, the Women's Front of Cananea, together with thousands of townspeople, occupied the two water plants in the town and opened the valves to distribute water to the people. Within a few hours, the Compa?ia Mexicana de Cananea cut off all electrical power to the water plants, thereby halting off all water distribution to the community. As of this writing, all water distribution -- including to the mines and processing plants -- remains cut off. We call on the company and the authorities to resolve this conflict based on the respect for the collective-bargaining agreement and the democratic and trade union rights of the mineworkers of Cananea. And we call on the Governor of Sonora and the Mexican Ministry of Interior (Gobernaci?n) to urge the Compa?ia Mexicana de Cananea to restore immediately all water distribution to the townspeople of Cananea. Thank you for your time and immediate attention to this extremely alarming situation. Sincerely yours, cc. Lic. Armando Lopez Nogales Governor of the State of Sonora Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico Fax: 011-562-17-41-26 cc. Manuel Ernesto Romero, General Secretary, District 65, National Mineworkers Union (Cananea) Fax: (011) 52-65-663-26543 ***** (2) Mineworkers End Bitter Three-Month Strike By GEMMA LOPEZ LIMON MEXICALI, Mexico ? Close to three months after they went out on strike to preserve their jobs against a deadly downsizing onslaught, the 2000 mineworkers of Cananea were forced back to work without obtaining any of the demands for which they had fought. Cananea is a small copper mining town in the northern Mexican state of Sonora. Over the weekend of Feb. 13-14, the strikers had occupied the mines and mining facilities, insisting they would not leave until the company, the Grupo Mexico, had met their demands. "The Cananea mine is ours," a striking mineworker told the workers? general assembly. "It belongs to our community and to the people of Mexico ? not to the billionaires and their foreign friends. Our strike is about keeping our jobs, our livelihood ? and our dignity." In response to the workers? occupation, the Army and Judicial Police were mobilized and given orders to remove the strikers from company property by any means necessary. Late in the afternoon of Sunday, Feb. 14, faced with the threat of large-scale violence at the hands of the Army and police, the strikers agreed to return to work. For the next two weeks, the strikers slated to be laid off as a result of the closure of four production facilities were told that the company would not pay the estimated 1000 laid-off workers (out of a total workforce of 2070) the severance payments they were entitled to under their collective-bargaining agreement. As of this writing [March 16], only 315 of the 1000 laid-off workers have accepted their severance packages. "What they?re offering is an insult," said Javier Canizares Lopez, outreach coordinator for the strike. "We were promised full severance pay; it?s in our contract. Again they are reneging on their promises." Canizares explained that the 300 workers who have taken their severance pay are angry as hell, but simply were pushed to the wall and had to take whatever money they could get. "These workers are being paid less than one-fourth of the money that is owed to them," Canizares explained. "Nor are they getting the life-long healthcare coverage and social security they are entitled to. Though they took their money, they haven?t given up the struggle. They are still in the fight along with the rest of us to make sure we get our rightfully earned money from the company." The company, moreover, has openly violated Mexican Labor Law by refusing to allow 120 workers back to work on the grounds they were strike organizers. These are not workers in units scheduled to be closed. "The company is out to break our union and our collective- bargaining agreement," Canizares said. "Workers here are so angry, they may be pushed to go back out on strike. If they send in the Army again, at least we have a chance to fight back. If we do nothing, it?s slow death." Given the urgency of the situation, the Cananea mineworkers are calling on the national and international labor movement for support. They are urging trade unions, union activists and supporters of trade union rights the world over to send email messages and/or faxes to the Mexican authorities to demand that the company fully respect the union?s collective-bargaining agreement. [See Open Letter above.] *** (3) Background to the Strike Cananea, Sonora, remains alive in the memories of the Mexican people. The historic strike of the Cananea mineworkers in 1906, which was brutally repressed by the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz, heralded the outburst of the Mexican Revolution of 1910. It was the tenacious struggle of the mineworkers and their families that resulted in the nationalization of the Cananea mines ? the largest copper mine in Mexico and third largest in the world. In 1989, the Mexican Army invaded Cananea: five thousand soldiers occupied the town to prevent any resistance from the mineworkers to the impending closure of the mines, based on the fraudulent claim of bankruptcy. The mines are vital to the community; 90 percent of the people depend on the mines for their livelihood. It took the protracted fight of the mineworkers and the Women?s Front of Cananea to force the authorities to reopen the mines. In 1990, the Mexican government privatized the mines, selling them for US$450 million to Jorge Larrea, one of the richest men in Mexico. The real value of the mines was estimated at US$3 billion. >From that moment on, the problems began to mount for the workers. Within months, close to 40 percent of the workforce ? that is, 1300 workers ? was laid off. This left only 2070 mineworkers in Cananea. Larrea, a close friend of former President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, now in exile in Ireland, is the principal shareholder of the recently privatized Sonora railway system. Soon after he bought the company, Larrea and his Grupo Mexico laid off 700 workers in Empalme and a similar number in Benjamin Hill, both of which are virtual ghost towns today. Today Larrea is seeking to buy the entire port of Guaymas. In recent months, the company escalated its assault upon the mineworkers and the community. It began by openly violating fundamental aspects of the collective-bargaining agreement ? all in the name of cost-cutting. Over the years, the Cananea workers had won the best bargaining agreement in the mining industry. But that was not all. The company decided to close down the treatment plant, where the industrial waste from the processing plant is treated before flowing into the local river. The employer also announced the closure of the smelting and storage plants, warning that 700 additional workers would be laid off. These decisions represented a death sentence to the town of Cananea. On November 18, 1998, the local mineworkers? union -- Section 65 of the National Mineworkers Union of the Mexican Republic -- reached the conclusion that enough was enough and decided to go out on strike. They followed all the provisions of Mexican labor law to ensure this would be a legal strike. But this was not to be. The state of Sonora authorities ruled almost immediately that the strike was illegal because some of the paperwork had been filed "improperly." The Cananea strike, moreover, was opposed from the get-go by the national leadership of the Mineworkers Union, which is tied to the ruling party in Mexico, the PRI. The national union leadership refused any support to the Cananea strikers on the grounds their strike was illegal, and urged the local leadership to call off the strike and accept the bosses? terms. But the strikers? determination was not swayed. For months, they endured constant harassment and repression at the hands of the state authorities. Strike support committees were formed in various cities across Northern Mexico and in Arizona. Statements of support began pouring in from around the world, organized largely by the Organizing Committee for the Open World Conference in Defense of Trade Union Independence and Democratic Rights. One solidarity statement was sent by the leadership of the Romanian mineworkers? union in the Jiu Valley, whose march to Bucharest had forced the government to agree to halt the closure of two "unproductive" mines. These solidarity statements were read at strikers? general assemblies, buoying the workers? determination to continue the struggle till victory. The showdown On Thursday, Feb. 11, the executive board of the striking union local ? Section 65 of the National Mineworkers Union of the Mexican Republic ? returned to Cananea after a trip to Mexico City, where they had met with leading government authorities as well as the national leadership of their union. In Mexico City the local union leaders had been told by functionaries of the Ministry of the Interior that if the strikers did not return to work by Feb. 16, their collective-bargaining agreement would be rescinded ? which meant that the owners of the copper mine, the Grupo Mexico, would be authorized to fire all the 2000 strikers and bring in a new scab workforce. The Mexican Army, the authorities continued, would be given orders to escort the scabs to their new jobs. That was not all the Section 65 leaders learned during their trip to the nation?s capital. Napoleon Gomez Sada, the general secretary of the National Mineworkers Union, told the Cananea delegation that the national union leadership had already signed a return-to-work agreement with the federal and state authorities. They told the union?s local leadership that the strikers had no option but to return to work by Feb. 16. News of this agreement, signed behind the backs of the strikers and their elected officers, angered the Cananea mineworkers. On Saturday, Feb. 13, a general assembly of the strikers voted to occupy the mines and all company installations. And, for the first time, they voted to call for the renationalization of the mine. By the next morning, the town of Cananea had been taken over by squadrons of the Judicial Police. News reached the strikers that the Army had encircled the town, waiting for orders to move in and dislodge the strikers from the occupied facilities. Then, in the early afternoon, a delegation consisting of strike leader Manuel Ernesto Romero, the mayor of Cananea, two top bureaucrats from the National Mineworkers Union in Mexico City, and the heads of the Army and Judicial Police for the region, went pit by pit and installation by installation to order the workers to end their occupation and return to work by 8 a.m. the following day. Faced with the threat of large-scale violence at the hands of the Army and police, the workers returned home. ? G.L.L. From escape6 at hotmail.com Fri Mar 19 06:49:18 1999 From: escape6 at hotmail.com (escape6 at hotmail.com) Date: 19 Mar 1999 06:49:18 Subject: Glasgow / London meetings & events Message-ID: <bac1c849.36F2D374.70@hotmail.com> <HTML> UK Meetings and events</h1>There will be a bookstall or sale at most of these events <ul><li> <A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/capitolhill/1931/radfest.html/"> Glasgow Easter Rising Conference</A> to discuss ideas and action in the build up to the 18th June mass international protest against G7 (it is also a follow up to the Bradford May Day '98 conference). Sat 3-Sun. 4 April. Govanhill Neighbourhood centre, Daisy St., Queens Park station, Glasgow. Sat. 10am-5.30pm, discussion groups on global economy and UK break-up, plus forums with Hillel Ticktin on capitalism's contradictions and speakers on Zapatistas, Mumia campaign, JSA, social ecology etc... Sun. 11am-5.30pm, discussion groups on consumerism and resistance/June18. Free. For more details e.g. transport, accommodation etc.. contact <A HREF="mailto:radfest at yahoo.com">radfest at yahoo.com</A>, ph. 0141 427 6398. <li> <A HREF="http://www.isf.org.uk/ISFMeet.htm">International Socialist Forum meetings</A>: 11 April, Erica Shipley on the Chinese Revolution / 2 May, Review of the ISF and its future. All meetings Sun. 2pm, Conway Hall, <A HREF="http://www.streetmap.co.uk/streetmap.dll?tile2map?TQ38SW13&Street+Map+for+Red+Lion+Square,+WC1&~&~&~">Red Lion Sq.</A> (Holborn tube), London. <A HREF="mailto:isf at isf.org.uk">isf at isf.org.uk</A> <li> IRAQ DEMONSTRATION 1-2 million killed - No more bombings, Lift the sanctions</A> - 1pm Speakers Corner to 3pm Trafalgar Sq. Sat. 17 April. Phone 0171 436 4636. <li> MAYDAY PARTY - Tower of London. Sat. 1 May. Contact BM Makhno, London WC1N 3XX <li> <A HREF="http://www.gn.apc.org/june18/home.html">JUNE 18 / G8 DEMONSTRATION</A> - City of London and world-wide. Fri. 18 June. Click <A HREF="http://www.gn.apc.org/june18/meet.html">here</A> for details of the next planning meeting. Contact <A HREF="mailto:rts at gn.apc.org"> rts at gn.apc.org</A> or phone Reclaim the Streets on 0171 281 4621. <li> ANARCHIST BOOKFAIR - anarchist and libertarian Marxist bookstalls. Sat. 16 Oct. 10am-6pm. . <A HREF="mailto:m.peacock at unl.ac.uk">m.peacock at unl.ac.uk</A>, ph.0171 247 9249 To receive notification of future events e-mail <A HREF="mailto:e scape6 at hotmail.com">escape6 at hotmail.com</A> or send a donation (payable to 'Haringey Solidarity Group') to Escape c/o PO Box 2474, London N8 OHW, UK. </BODY> </HTML> From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Sun Mar 28 14:58:29 1999 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 28 Mar 1999 14:58:29 Subject: DHKC- European Representation - Attack against Yugoslavia Message-ID: <bac1c849.m3lnghjhmy.fsf@big.home.ozgurluk> Imperialism is the one that's guilty The attack of imperialism against Yugoslavia is illegitimate Imperialism has attacked Yugoslavia. The peoples of Yugoslavia are engaged in a struggle of survival against the daily bombardments of the imperialists . The peoples of the world have seen such scenarios before. The imperialists have already attacked the people in the past. They claimed to do so for the "protection" of one people against the other. The last example has been Iraq . With the pretext of protecting the Kurdish people, thousands of tons of bombs were dropped on the Arab people. The people were massacred. Now we see such a scenario in Yugoslavia. Again it is said that one people has to be "protected" against the other. Now they claim to protect the Albanian people . That's a lie. Imperialism cannot protect people. All they do on this field is false and only serves for delusion. Did imperialism protect the Vietnamese people? Did it protect Iraq? Did it protect the Kurdish people? Did it protect the peoples in the Middle East, in Latin America or Africa? Every part of the world which has come under the control of imperialism and the collaborating regimes first got to know the monopolies, the firms and the markets, and later the weapons and bombs of imperialism as well... History has always shown this. Now the Balkans are being disintegrated into atoms. Imperialism itself is the divider. This is practised by inciting conflicts of religion and creed. Why are there, after imperialism intervenes , conflicts between peoples that have lived in peace for ages before? Why are there new states and mini-states emerging? The only reason is the attempt to incite the peoples against each other and thus destroying their unity, weakening them. This is the continuation of the operation which started with the collapse of the socialist system. Imperialism fears a movement with a revolutionary basis which is directed against it, they fear it like their own Angel of Death. However, at the same time it opposes every kind of nationalist movement which is directed against imperialism. It does not even tolerate one voice to stand up against it. And although this is the case, it poses like the protector of nations, as the defender of the right of self-determination, as the champion of human rights. But its only and basic goal is the exploitation of the labour and the property of the peoples , the neo-colonialisation of their motherlands, and it is prepared to carry out massacres to reach its goal. PEOPLES OF THE WORLD ! The policy of imperialism is to start animosity between the people. This policy can only be stopped by unity amongst the people, their struggle and their power. Imperialism cannot solve these problems, but the peoples which fight against imperialism and who have created their unity can. This is the only guarantee for a peaceful co-existence of the peoples. OPPRESSED PEOPLE ! Albanians, Serbs, Bosnians, Arabs, Kurds, Turks, Asians, Africans, Latin Americans... The peoples which have to suffer from the cruelty and the exploitation of imperialism all over the world must oppose imperialism at the side of their brothers and sisters who are attacked by imperialism. Down with imperialism ! Long live the fraternity between the peoples of the world ! Revolutionary People's Liberation Front European Representation March 26, 1999 http://www.ozgurluk.org/dhkc List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Tue Mar 30 11:36:23 1999 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 30 Mar 1999 11:36:23 Subject: ["DHKC-INFORMATION CENTER" <dhkc@dircon.co.uk>] ATTACK Message-ID: <bac1c849.m3n20uvhtp.fsf@big.home.ozgurluk> WHO ATTACKED? WHY? WHAT IS THE MATTER? On 24 March 1999, PKK (Kurdish Workers Party) supporters attacked DHKC (Revolutionary People's Liberation Front) supporters in London. 3 DHKC supporters who were distributing newspapers and leaflets, entered a caf? where PKK supporters were present. The leaflets were about the recent massacre in Istanbul where 13 civilians were killed. This action was supposedly carried out by a group called the Kurdish Nationalist Revenge Forces which have not been heard of before. After the DHKC supporters left the building, a PKK supporter confronted them and said "you cannot distribute these leaflets here, we gave you no permission, we will confiscate them" The reply of the DHKC supporters was "you did not carry out the massacre therefore it has nothing to do with you, if there is a problem you need to speak to one of our responsible friends". When the situation got out of hand due to the reaction of the PKK supporters, our friends told them that they would not distribute the leaflets but would continue to sell their newspapers. Meanwhile, 3 more PKK supporters had arrived and snatched the leaflets. In a very short time, a total of 15-20 PKK supporters, including two pillagers who are well known by the people of their dirty deals, attacked the DHKC supporters with batons. During this pre-organised attack one of the attackers, who is known as their leader, was declaring that this "action" was being done by the ERNK (National Liberation Front of Kurdistan). Another one was swearing and saying "we will not let you sell papers in this area anymore". After the attack they retreated in an organised way. One of our friends was hospitalised and suffer temporary amnesia and others were injured. After the attack , DHKC supporters arrived and visited the area's shop keepers with the bloody papers and leaflets to inform them. This event is proof of a very dangerous mind. The mentioned leaflet was about the recent attacks targeting people. The title of the leaflet was: "Those who commit the massacres against the people have nothing to do with the freedom of the Kurdish people, nor with the essence of revolution and progress" This is very clear. Do PKK supporters have a different opinion? If they do, they should make it public. They say "we did not carry out the attack but our people did. Our people do not want you to distribute this leaflet" This is a comedy. None of the forces have the right to attack people on the behalf of people and try to legitimise it by self content judgement. Where does this understanding lead to? The truth is stubborn. We will continue to write and tell the truth with determination and persistence. These type of "actions" are wrong. The enemy takes advantage of it. Moreover, they have the potential to incite hatred between the peoples. No one with common sense can consider these as being legitimate or justified actions. The opposite means to have the responsibility before history and our peoples. The correct attitude of the PKK supporters would be to evaluate these type of actions as harming the rights and liberties of the struggle of the Kurdish people. But they have preferred to attack DHKC supporters in London , who openly declared such actions as harmful. This is a mixed up way of thinking , which declares everyone who does not agree with you as the enemy. This is irresponsible. This is the anxiety of covering up ones own weaknesses. Only those, who do not trust their own thoughts, try to prevent the thoughts of others by violence. There can be no gain with such attitude. The revolutionary movement has always been sensitive with these matters throughout its history. Despite the fact that our cadres and supporters were martyred during attacks my certain left groups, especially before 1980, there was no retaliation so as to avoid an armed clash within the left. Instead, the policy of exposing was preferred. Because such a clash would mean harming the revolution and could be used by the enemy. This time we will not behave differently. By all means the PKK supporters in London have made a mistake. Also the question of "while you are living side by side with fascists who were celebrating the kidnapping of Abdullah Ocalan, what is the aim of attacking DHKC supporters?" arises. After the event, a meeting was held with the representatives of the ERNK and other left organizations. The ERNK representatives accepted their wrong doing and gave their word not to repeat such a mistake again. But still refused to make their words public. Also in the past we have been confronted and attacked by PKK supporters during a panel of left organisations. WE ASK! What is your aim? Have you fulfilled it? DHKC do not consider those who take the side of people as enemies. DHKC considers them as friends. But without restricting ourselves, we shall continue to criticise those who make mistakes. There is no other way. We will not be held responsible for negative developments in the future. We are not such a force which can be silenced by force. Those who know us are our witnesses. DHKC REVOLUTIONARY PEOPLE'S LIBERATION FRONT REVOLUTIONARY PEOPLE'S FORCES IN THE UK 28 MARCH 1999 List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Tue Mar 30 12:27:21 1999 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 30 Mar 1999 12:27:21 Subject: Turkey 1998 Message-ID: <bac1c849.m3lngevfi9.fsf@big.home.ozgurluk> TURKEY 1998: The peoples of the world are engaged in a difficult war and each year has its difficulties. Victories are achieved, and there are defeats. In Turkey, the year 1998 was a year of beauty, as well as the harshness of war. It has been difficult because the oligarchy continued the attacks with its violence, thousands of people were arrested, detained, murdered. But there was beauty as well because we defended justice, dignity and independence against this violence. We never withdrew. We never ever thought of bowing for the "strength" of imperialism and the oligarchy. 1998 was a year in which we showed our responsibility towards history and our people with strength of mind. Every day of the year, it was in our mind, being the answer to the desire of our people for justice and its liberation; therefore we attacked the enemy, we organised ourselves, and we went into the mountains. And therefore we expanded our war. 1999 will be a year in which the war will develop and expand, led by the Front. This is not meant as a "prophecy", its a certainty, because the oligarchy is no longer able to prevent the expansion of the people's liberation war. VICTORY WILL BELONG THE OUR RESISTING AND FIGHTING PEOPLE, SOONER OR LATER! January 1998: January 1 - The economical crisis in Southeast Asia shocked the entire world economy and the stock markets. - The cigarette factories Samsun and Yeni Harman are, under the pretext of "privatisation", given away to the British-American Tobacco company. January 4 - In the neighbourhood of Bakirkoey, the People's Councils protest against the massacre in the UEmraniye prison. January 5 - Cihan Tarho, a student at the Malatya Inoenue University, is attacked by fascists with a knife. He dies as a consequence of his wounds on January 11. Actions are carried out in protest against his murder. Dozens of pupils are wounded because of fascist attacks in January. January 12 - The 120-page report about the Susurluk scandal, prepared by the chairman of the Investigation Committee of the prime-minister, Kutlu Savas, is presented. January 15 - Attack against the revolutionary female prisoners in the Usak prison. 40 prisoners are wounded at different part of their bodies. January 23 - The fifth session of the Gazi trial in Trabzon. Two accused policemen are released. Besides the People's Councils, the relatives of the martyrs, there was also a 20 people strong international delegation to monitor the trial. January 28 - The Kurtulus representative in Adana, Mehmet Topaloglu, and two fighters of the Akdeniz Armed Propaganda Rural Unit of the DHKC, Buelent Dil and Besat Ayyildiz, are murdered by the contra-guerrilla in a house in Adana. February 1998 February 2 - During the night, dozens of people are arrested after increased attacks against the People's Councils in the Istanbul neighbourhoods of Gazi, Birlik, Esenler, Bagcilar, Beykoz, UEmraniye, 1 Mayis, Kartal and Guelsuyu. - The chairman of the HADEP is arrested and detained. February 8 - The army of the oligarchy carries out a border crossing operation with 15.000 soldiers in Northern Iraq. February 9 - The local People's Councils carry out actions against the beer halls in Okmeydani under the slogan "We will remove these filthy institutions". February 15 - The peasants of Bergama rally in Istanbul/Kasimpasa with the slogan "Cyanide company get out". February 17 - The torturers of the Susurluk State, entering the central offices of the KURTULUS magazine with a fabricated search warrant in order to destroy the offices, are confronted with a barricade resistance. Numerous people gather outside the building in solidarity with the Kurtulus. The co-workers of the magazine are beaten up and arrested and held for 7 days in the torture chambers of the police stations. Several people are arrested at a later time. The office was totally wrecked. February 25 - The TIBSET workers, resisting for 206 days, are being attacked by the gendarmes. March 1998 March 3 - During an evening attack in Istanbul/Nurtepe, the police arrests 20 people in a bakery shop. The People's Council initiative of Nurtepe marches up to the Kagithane police station to stand up for the detainees. The police is forced to release their prisoners. March 4-5 - On March 4, empowered by the abolition of the fake Union Law, the police attacked the sit-down action of the 5.000 workers in the civil service with gas grenades, water cannons and armoured vehicles. The workers had gathered on the Kizilay square in Ankara. Despite the hindrances by the KESK (Civil Servants Union), on a line of compromises and negotiations, the workers, led by the Revolutionary Civil Servants Movement, continued their action on the Kizilay square the next day, shouting out their demands. March 11 - The Manisa Trial, in which policemen were accused of torturing DLMK-sympathisers (Fighting Committee for a democratic Gymnasium), ended with an acquittal because of "lack of evidence". March 12 - 20.000 people participated in the commemoration of the Gazi Massacre on March 12, 1995. A mass of 13.000 people marched behind the banners of the Front, the People's Councils and the Platform for Rights and Liberties. - The seven revolutionary, democratic pupils, murdered by the contra-guerrilla on March 16, 1978, were commemorated at the scene of the massacre, on Beyacit square. 2.500 people participated in this commemoration. - After the initiative by the Okmeydani People's Council again the bars, beer halls, and gambling halls, the Istanbul chief of police, Hasan OEzdemir, ordered the protection of the gambling halls by hundreds of policemen and armoured vehicles. - Newroz was celebrated in several neighbourhoods of Istanbul, as well as Ankara, Burdur, Kayseri, Malatya, Kars and Osmaniye, by Front sympathisers who ignited fires of rebellion. March 30 - The state carried out an attack against the prisoners in Buca prison. The murderers who participated in the Buca Massacre, brutally dragged away 10 DHKP-C prisoners from the visitors cabins. Thereupon the prisoners in Buca started their resistance by building barricades and causing a fire. Actions were started in prisons all over the country, demanding the return of the kidnapped prisoners. Dozens of prison guards were taken hostage. On April 1, the state saw itself forced to give in to the prisoners' demands. March 31 - The Susurluk State tried to carry out a mass scale disappearance action. Neslihan Uslu, Metin Andas, Mehmet Ali Mandal and Hassan Aydogan, arrested in Izmir. were "disappeared". April 1998 - Actions, commemorating the Martyrs of the Revolution who fell between March 30 and April 17, and commemorating the foundation of the Party-Front, were held in several neighbourhoods of Istanbul and throughout Anatolia. April 8 - A freedom action attempt by the DHKP-C prisoners in Bayrampasa prison, failed. - The torturing of the 2 .5 year old A.T., arrested together with his mother, accused of "being an organisation member", was confirmed by a report of the Physicians Chamber of Istanbul. - The "Murat Operation", said to be "the largest operation of the last 14 years", was started against the people in Kurdistan. - 12 revolutionary organisations from several countries participated in the conference "Revolution and Power in the neo-colonial countries", organised by the DHKP-C. April 21 - The trial about the "murder and torture of Baki Erdogan" ended before the Serious Crime Court in Adana. After the trial, the condemned policemen attacked the lawyers and journalists who were present in the courtroom as monitors. Several people were wounded. April 22 - It was announced that the RAF (Red Army Faction), active in Germany, has dissolved itself. May 1998 May 1 - The tens of thousands, marching in the Front's block during the MayDay parade in Istanbul, did not bow to the state attacks. Hundreds of people were arrested, hundreds were wounded. And also in Ankara, Izmir, Adana, Antep, Mersin, Bursa, Malatya, Trabzon, Hopa, Usa, Zonguldak and Kayseri, the people of the Front participated in the MayDay festivities as massive, disciplined and enthusiast blocks. The tens of thousands who marched in the ranks of the Front crossed the plans of the MGK, the union bureaucrats and the reformists. Before and after the demonstration, there were massive attacks carried out by the police in co-operation with the civic fascists. Numerous participants in the demonstration were severely wounded. May 2 - Kenan Mak, a student at the Bolu Izzet Baysal University, was murdered in a fascist attack. May 5 - Ahmet OEzdemir, member of the People's Council initiative in Esenler, committed suicide as a result of a brain trauma, caused by beatings on the head during the police attack against the Front's block in the MayDay demonstration. May 10 - The relatives of the disappeared, carrying out their sit-down action at the Galatasaray for the 155th. week, were attacked by the police. May 12 - The chairman of the IHD, Akin Berdal, was severely wounded after an armed attack by the contra-guerrilla against the IHD central offices in Ankara. May 13 - Demanding clarification of the fate of their disappeared comrades, the DHKC bombed the building of the fascist MHP in Okmeydani. May 20 - Hueseyin Kilic and Zeynep Korkmaz fell as martyrs after a unit, belonging to the Dersim Ibrahim Erdogan Armed Propaganda Rural Unit was ambushed. May 21 - Many people drowned after floods in the Black Sea region and in Hatay. May 26 - The police chief of Bueynkcekmece, Hueseyin Islamoglu, speaking in the name of "the division commander of the artillery units of Hadimkoey", threatened the printing-shop owner to stop printing the Kurtulus. May 29 - Demanding accountability for the disappearance of four Front sympathisers in Izmir, the DHKC carried out an armed action against the DSP-building (Democratic Leftist Party) in Kustepe. A policeman, Cumali Akkurt, was punished. May 31 - With the publication of the "Official Paper", the new changes of the YOEK Disciplinary Directorate came into force.. According to these, pupils who seek their rights, within and outside of the schools, respectively pupils who participate in actions, are to be punished and can be "excluded from school". June 1998 June 6 - The Gaziosmanpasa neighbourhood organisation of the DTP (Democratic Turkey Party) was destroyed by the DHKC-Revolutionary People's Forces who used bombs and Molotov-cocktails. A banner with the text "Where are our four people who disappeared - DHKC" was left behind at the scene. June 8 - The Platform for Rights and Liberties went to Ankara to ask for the whereabouts of the four revolutionaries who disappeared. A demonstration to the Gueven Park was started. After a meeting with a representative of the Interior Department, a statement was promised within 15 days. June 11 - The public service workers, organised in the KESK unions, protested against the wage increase of only 20% by laying down their work for one day. June 15 - Three DHKC guerrillas fell during an armed confrontation in the village of Ardic in Dersim-Hozat. The guerrillas Songuel Erkus, Alp Arslan and Dursun Cakir, belonging to the Dersim Ibrahim Erdogan Armed Propaganda Rural Unit, remained loyal to the tradition of the Party-Front to never surrender. June 21 - Demanding clarification of the fate of the four disappeared, the Revolutionary People's Forces occupied the OERF television and radio stations in Graz, Austria, and the offices of Amnesty International in Mannheim, Stuttgart and Frankfurt, Germany. A hungerstrike in support of the disappeared was held in Brussels and London. June 20-21 - Founding congress of the Genel-Is union, affiliated to the DISK. With only a slight majority, the reformists, MGK-unionists took the leading positions. June 27 - 145 people died during an earthquake in Adana/Ceyhan, 1517 people were wounded. There were aftershocks for days. The state abandoned the people, leaving them alone with the catastrophe, and only came up with hypocritical statements. The people carried out protest actions. July 1998 - The Platform for Rights and Liberties in Izmir announced that they are going to meet every Saturday on the Konak square for those who have disappeared. - The wage increases for the public servants ostensibly caused a coalition crisis, but in the end it was done what the IMF ordered. The civic servants received a meagre 20% increase. - Because of the 75th. anniversary of the republic, the governing DSP offered an "amnesty" for the social prisoners. July 6-15 - First issues of the papers Voice of the People in Gazi and Voice of the People in Okmeydani. July 7 - The People's Council initiative in Alibeykoey started a campaign against drugs. July 23 - The workers of all the American firms in Adana, Incirlik, Izmir and Adana went into strike to fight for their rights. July 25-26 - The martyrs of the Death Fast of 1996 were commemorated with several ceremonies in Istanbul, Ankara, Antakya, Mersin, Aydin and Denizli. August 1998 - Kurdish seasonal workers, coming to the Black Sea region to collect hazel-nuts, were not allowed into the cities because of fascist decrees by the governors of Ordu and Giresun. August 5 - TAYAD closed down. August 8 - The collaborator and traitor Ali Tokmak, responsible for the murder of 7 DHKC-guerrillas in Sivas, was punished with death in Okmeydani. - "Boran Firtinasi", the music cassette of Grup Yorum, telling the epic story of the 1996 Death Fast, appeared. August 13 - German imperialism bans DHKP-C activities within the German borders. Based on the same decree, the Kurtulus magazine is outlawed as "press organ of the DHKP-C". August 14 - Demanding accountability for the disappearance of the four Front people, the DHKC carried out bomb attack against members of the Special Police. - 80 people died after landslides and floods in the neighbourhoods of Beskoey, Suermene, Of and Koepruebasi, in Trabzon, and the neighbourhood of Rize in Ikizdere. - Cevre Radio closed down for three months after orders of the MGK. - The fascist Mafia gangster Alaatin Cakici was arrested in the French city of Nice, carrying a special red passport, handed to him by the MIT. August 20 - The USA bombed Afghanistan and Sudan. August 21 - The Idil Cultural Centre stormed by the police. 25 people arrested. - After publishing the tapes, containing telephone conversations between state minister Eyuep Asik and Mafia gangster Alaatin Cakici, the "dog fight" within the ranks of the oligarchy turns into a "Tape War". August 29 - The DHKC carries out a bomb attack against the ANAP building in the neighbourhood of Bakirkoey, demanding accountability for the disappearance of four Front sympathisers. August 30 - DHKC-guerrillas block the street in Tokat-Niksar. September 1998 September 1 - For the third time, the PKK announces a cease-fire. September 4 - The Platforms for Rights and Liberties of Istanbul and Ankara went to Izmir Cesme where the four Front sympathisers "disappeared". A sit-down action was held later, together with the Platform in Izmir and sympathisers in the region. A complaint was filed against the State Prosecution. September 5 - With a joint declaration of all revolutionary and patriotic organisations inside the prisons, the revolutionary prisoners started their boycott action against the State Security Courts. It was announced that the action, demanding the closing down of all DGM's and the cancellation of all its verdicts, was also supported by the revolutionary-democratic lawyers. September 9 - The DHKC-guerrillera Filizinal fell during an armed confrontation in Niksar-Resadiye. September 15 - As a result of the mining of the street between Hozat and Elazig by fighters of the Dersim Ibrahim Erdogan Rural Guerrilla Unit of the DHKC, demanding accountability for the four disappeared, one torturer dies, and three policemen are severely wounded. September 18 - The sell-out of the workers during the wage and tariff negotiations by the Tuerk-Metal Union and the MESS, all in the name of the 75.000 workers all over Turkey, and 16.500 in Bursa alone, caused the largest mass action of workers in recent years. - The TOFAS-workers froze production and blocked the traffic. Later the police tried to stop the workers who marched into the direction of the centre of Bursa. The workers of the Oyak Renault Car Factory, Robert Bosch and Maka Beltan also joined the action. Masses of workers left the Tuerk Metal Union, reaching a total of 10.000 all over the country. September 19 - Demanding accountability for the four disappeared Front sympathisers, the police station in Aksaray was destroyed by the DHKC with a anti-tank grenade. - Second congress of the KESK. The contra-revolutionary Dogu Perincek and the members of the IP (Workers Party), invited by the reformist-compromising KESK leadership, were thrown out of the hall by the Revolutionary Civil Servants Movement. The leadership remained in reformist hands. September 23 - The Baba Ishak Cultural Centre was opened in Kuecuek Armutlu. September 29 - Peasants from the regions of Denizli, Afyon, Aydin, Mugla, Balikesir and Usak protested in Bergama and Soeke against the high prices of cotton. October 1998 October 1 - Troops were gathered at the borders with Syria after a MGK decree of September 30. October 2 - The police stormed the printing-shop of the magazine Kurtulus for the People and arbitrarily confiscated 16.000 copies. Six co-workers of the Kurtulus were arrested and the Kurtulus was closed down for one month. - The High Institution for Privatisations decided to close down the SEKA factory in Izmit. Thereupon, the resistance which started in SEKA Izmit, was continued by the workers of the SEKA factories in Balikesir Giresun-Aksu and Silifke-Tasucu. Actions like the refusal to leave the workplace, demonstrations and meetings were carried out. After the resistance spread across the country , the High Institution for Privatisations withdrew its decision on October 31. October 7 - Using the pretext of a search, the police arrested 24 co-workers and readers of the Kurtulus. Two co-workers and the chief editor of the Devrimci Genclik were jailed. October 16 - The fascist dictator of Chile, Pinochet, was arrested in England on the request of Spain. October 19 - Using the argument that the preparations for a tunnel had been discovered in the cells of the DHKP-C and TKP(ML) prisoners, the administration of Ceyhan prison launched an attack against the prisoners. Dozens of prisoners were seriously injured. After this attack, the revolutionary prisoners in all other jails carried out actions like refusing the count, occupying the corridors, and taking hostages. As a result, the state was forced to recognise the demands of the Central Prison Co-ordination. - A tape was discovered, containing a telephone conversation in which the "employer" Korkmaz Yigit and Tuerbank hired the Mafia gangster Alaatin Cakici. October 22 - The contra-guerrilla organisation JITEM (Intelligence Service of the Gendarmes) was officially announced in Turkish parliament. October 24 - The attacks against the relatives of the disappeared continue, 24 people are arrested. - From October 24 till November 2, manoeuvres of the USA and South Korea against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. About 35.000 US-soldiers based in South Korea and more than 50.000 South Korean soldiers took part in the military manoeuvre "Eagle 98", using state of the art military weapons. In the manoeuvres that were held at the same time under the name of "Hwarang 98" more than 1,1 million regular and semi-regular armed forces of South Korea and the USA took part. October 30 - The Kurdish patriot Erdal Aksu, who kidnapped an aeroplane in protest against the massacres in Kurdistan, was murdered by the Special Team. October 31 - Instigated by the Revolutionary Civil Servants Movement, the 2nd. Congress of the Workers in the Civil Service was held in Istanbul. November 1998 November 3 - At the second anniversary of Susurluk, more than 10.000 people held the Susurluk State responsible by demonstrating in the streets of the Gazi neighbourhood, of Okmeydani, 1 Mayis, Alibeykoey, Nurtepe and Bagcilar. The loudest voices were heard from the avant-guard of the front from the slum areas. November 4 - The police, storming the Cultural Centres in Gazi and Okmeydani, as well as the Idil Cultural Centre, arrested dozens of people. The people of Gazi took to the street and stood up against the arrests. The police saw themselves forced to release the detained people. - Hurricane Mitch caused the death of more than 7.000 people in Central America. November 5 - The DHKC once again asked "Where are the disappeared". The Sultanahmet court building was bombed and destroyed. November 6 - The November 6 Boycott, started in 1990 by the TOEDEF, has now spread across the entire country. November 7 - Hungerstrikes of the Kurtulus representatives in Kocaeli, Bursa, Denizli and Izmir in protest against the attacks against the paper. The co-workers and readers of the Kurtulus in Kocaeli, attacked by the police and civic fascist during the action, resisted and set up barricades. They were brutally beaten up, arrested and some of them were later sent to jail. - Thousands of workers in Kayseri, Yozgat, Nevsehir, Tunceli and Kirsehir joined the hungerstrike which was started by the seasonal workers of the General Directorate of Village Services in Erzurum and Antalya. November 14 - PPK-leader Abdullah OEcalan arrested in Italy. A statement of the DHKC Press Office reads: "The arrest of PKK-leader Abdullah OEcalan is part of the terror and annihilation policy of imperialism, applied against all the revolutionary organisation of the world and their leaders." November 16 - DHKC fighters bomb the Tax Department in Avcilar/Istanbul. November 19 - In protest against the arrest of OEcalan, 17 Kurdish patriots burn themselves during the last days of November. - The police force and civic fascist carry out attacks nation-wide against the hungerstrikes which are organised by the HADEP in solidarity with its leadership and the demand for peace. Hundreds of HADEP supporters are arrested. Two Kurdish patriots massacred during the chauvinist attacks. - A tremendous shock for the Susurluk State when it heard about the existence of a DHKC guerrilla unit in the mountains of Denizli. Thousands of soldiers, members of the Special Teams and tanks are directed to Denizli and the neighbouring region. After an operation which lasted for 10 days, that state directed all its forces against the village of Balkica, in the Goelgeli Mountains, where two DHKC fighters are spotted. After a gun fight of 20 hours, the commander of the unit, Erhan Yilmaz and the second commander, Mehmet Yildirim, fell as martyrs after shouting the words "We are from the Party-Front, we are from the DHKP-C, we will not surrender, you cannot break us, the members of the DHKP-C are immortal". December 1998 - Hurricane "George" kills and wounds thousands of people in the Dominican Republic, and there are more than 300.000 refugees. There are fears of a national famine because of the destruction of the agricultural and industrial infrastructure. More than 90% of the expected harvest of these months is destroyed. The material damages, the damages to the eco-system, the production losses, the damages to the infrastructure, irrigation works, schools, et cetera, are enormous. According to the first estimates, the damages are more than 2 billion US-dollars, without taking into account the severe damages to the eco-system. December 2 - In commemoration of the martyrs of Denizli, the Revolutionary People's Forces carry out actions like the hanging of banners and flags, and writing slogans, in several neighbourhoods of Istanbul. - A civic fascist gang attacks a revolutionary-democratic structure, the Kalaba Halkevi (People's House) in Kecioeren, a neighbourhood in Ankara. December 4, 7 and 10 - The Kurtulus representation in Hopa is stormed and destroyed for the third consecutive time by the police. The co-workers of the paper are arrested. December 17 - Using the delegation report to the UN as a pretext, American and English imperialism once again attack Iraq. -- 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 Mar 30 12:29:10 1999 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 30 Mar 1999 12:29:10 Subject: New cell type in Turkey Message-ID: <bac1c849.m3k8vyvfdo.fsf@big.home.ozgurluk> Subject: Individual cells in Turkey With the decisions of the National Security Council (MGK) of February 28, 1997, the building of special prison cells was begun. Notwithstanding the unsolvable problems in the prisons like health care, legal defence, family visits, social-political and cultural rights, 1 trillion TL (1 million dollars) was spent in three months for building these cells. Although it was assured that these cells were not intended for political prisoners, developments show differently. We will list the major problems, occurring on the agenda because the state violently takes away the rights of the prisoners in an attempt to legitimise these special cells. The building of these cells: After the MGK came up with this decision, the building of this new cell type was concluded rapidly in 30 prisons. These cells are meant for housing 2 or 4 persons, as well as for individual prisoners. The introduction of this new cell type was just concluded in the recently built Kartal prison on Istanbul. Individual cells were also created in the prisons of Sakaraya, Aydin, Ceyhan, Kuerkcueler, Malatya, Konya, Ni-de, Mu-la, U-al, Erzurum, Ordu, Trabzon and Afyon. The building was also ordered for the prison of Bergama, but the work has not been started yet. Confronted with the reactions of the people, the minister who ordered the decree stated on September 29, 1997, that these cells were only meant for ".... homosexuals, bisexuals, for persons whose lives are endangered, persons who prefer to be alone, prisoners with contagious diseases like hepatitis, tuberculosis or AIDS, those who are rejected by the other prison inmates, psychopaths, the mentally ill, the "cell" bosses, Mafia members". But it is already clear that political, as well as social, prisoners are locked up in these cells. For example, the DHKP-C prisoner Adem Ye-ilda- was transferred from the Malatya prison to Elbistan because his life was said to be in danger. The majority of the points which are mentioned in the decree cannot be put into practice anyway. The "cell bosses" participate in the control of the prisons in Turkey. One can only become a "boss" with the approval of the prison administration, mostly after paying slush money. And therefore there are no differences between the department, the "cell bosses", the Mafia bosses, and the prison guards. On January 3, 1998, the justice minister Oltan Sungurlu openly stated that the prison cells were not built for 40 people: "the controls can only be carried out by daily using the gendarmes. The prison guards can not enter the cells. At the side of the terrorists, the criminals also begin to commit these crimes. For a solution, we want the public's support and money..." The protection of life: The life of the prisoners is not guaranteed, especially not those of the political prisoners. The state controls the prisons, up to massacres. A trial was started against the prisoners who rebelled because of a massacre in UEmraniye prison, but those who planned and executed the massacre remained unpunished. A official protocol, made after the massacre in Buca prison, states that the soldiers were not in the possession of iron bars when they entered the cells, they just removed the barricades, and while the security forces were carrying out a search of the cells, the political prisoners threw themselves from the top of their bunk beds, causing the deaths and the wounded. Again no trial against those who were responsible for this massacre. The prisoners are finished off like terrorists and enemies. Like the lives of the political prisoners, the lives of the social prisoners is endangered in the prisons as well. Social prisoners who resist torture, or who resist oppression, are murdered as well. Health problems: Except for the Sagmalcilar prison, no other prison has a hospital or medical facilities. But even this one is not well equipped. The transport of ill prisoners to a hospital is hindered in several ways, using pretexts like a lack of money, no soldiers available. The soldiers also show a provocative attitude. The sick who are being brought to hospital nevertheless, are often not examined because of the presence of the soldiers. Physicians often claim not to be in duty. The prisons of Sakarya, U-ak, Buca, Bergama and Aydin haven't bought medicines for the past two months, claiming there aren't enough financial means. The prison administration often doesn't allow medicines in which are brought by lawyers or relatives. And thus the prisoners cannot even treat themselves. Temporary illnesses or wounds pass or heal before a medical treatment takes place. Prisoners with serious illnesses are just left to die. Because of the practised arbitrariness, prisoners die. Kalender Kayap -nar, imprisoned in Canakkale, suffered from cancer because he was not treated, and even after the disease had become incurable, his discharge from prison was refused. He was only released three days before his death. Serpil Kaya, a PKK-prisoner in the Sakarya prison, died last week because transportation to hospital was refused. Contagious diseases spread rapidly because of lacking protection. Four women in Sakarya suffer from tuberculosis. The number of tuberculosis sufferers in Buca prison is estimated at 78. Prisoners who suffered from incurable diseases because of their participation in the 1996 Death Fast are not treated at all, their cell mates have to help them. The prisoners in Cankiri, Sakarya and Buca were treated with infusions only once after the Death Fast was ended, and then sent back with the words "your situation has improved". Visiting problems: Most relatives aren't allowed in. Although it isn't legally obliged to produce a proof a kinship, this is often used as a pretext to deny visits. The relatives are verbally abused during all their visits. They are seen as potential criminals. For example, their fingerprints are checked in UEmraniye prison. In the Bartin prison, the visitors are asked if they are wanted by the police. The body searches the visitors are subjected to, are humiliating. Often the relatives are arrested after their visits and threatened not to come again. The legal defence: There are several problems which occur with the lawyers' visits. Although a lawyer has a right to speak with his client at all times, and without showing a power of attorney, this is often disregarded. Lawyers of political prisoners are subjected to a special treatment and regarded as enemies. Because of their visit, they are seen as potential criminals and searched. They are also often subjected to attacks by the gendarmes, security officers and policemen. Soldiers attempt to censure the defence pleas of prisoners in court. Visits between prisoners: The department tries to prevent visits between prisoners with several pretexts. In case social prisoners speak with political prisoners, they are immediately put in solitary confinement are transferred to another prison. The right of the social prisoners to receive open visits is not granted to the political prisoners. Social problems: It is tried to isolate the prisoners from events in the world outside. In many prisons, not even daily papers are allowed. Socialist papers aren't allowed at all. Food supplies are usually rotten and unhealthy in general. The daily meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) are estimated at 165.000 TL per prisoner by the Justice Department. Ridiculous, seen the fact that a loaf of bread costs 40.000 TL, and soup 250.000. The need for food can only be met by gifts from the families. However, reasoning that this would strengthen the solidarity between the political prisoners, the Justice Department issued a decree that outlaws the accepting of food, supplied by the families. The problems, listed above, reach different dimensions in all the prisons in Turkey. We say different dimensions, because the status inside the prisons is connected to the measure in which the tradition of struggle and resistance by the prisoners has forced the prison administration back and forced them to negotiate about their rights. The status which is created inside the prisons is never laid down on paper. The creation of this new cell type is now on the prisons' agenda. It is clear that the construction of these cells has nothing to do with "humanity", as the Justice Department claimed. Because prisoners are dying because of lacking medical treatment, their provisions are insufficient and irregular, and they are not transported to court because money for gas is supposedly lacking. The prisoners in Sakarya weren't brought to the court sessions during the last two months because the budget for gas was said to be finished. It was attempted to extort taxes from the families, supposedly for fare costs. On the other hand, 1 trillion TL is spent for the construction of cells, proof that this has nothing to do with "humanitarian conduct". This money could be spend for solving the problems inside the prisons, health problems, problems with medical treatment, supplies and transportation to court. In addition, the department's views about the new cell type equal, seen from the perspective of the social prisoners, a coffin. The common prisoners, also confronted with exploitation, oppression and the robbing of their personality, began to resist. In 1997, their was resistance in several prisons, like the ones in U-cak and Metris, where five people were murdered. The department, fearing such resistance, aims at putting away the common prisoners in coffins as well. The Justice Department is awaiting a suitable time to put the political and the common prisoners in these cells. It is also attempted to make preparations for new massacres in the prisons. -- 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 Mar 30 13:24:32 1999 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 30 Mar 1999 13:24:32 Subject: Turkey: commemoration of the March 12 massacre in 1995 in Gazi/Ista Message-ID: <bac1c849.m3677ivcu7.fsf@big.home.ozgurluk> Report on this year's commemoration of the March 12 massacre in 1995 in Gazi/Istanbul Already several days before March 12, on which there are commemorations and demonstrations held annually about the Gazi massacre of 1995, the police terror started in the Istanbul neighbourhood. Police post were deployed at the exit and entrance roads of the neighbourhood. On March 11, the police entered all the houses with force and countless people were arrested. Already one week before March 12, police forces searched all new buildings and cellars. Cross roads were controlled by the police. Policemen, special teams and soldiers were deployed. On the afternoon of March 11, the entrance and exit roads of Gazi were controlled by the police and numerous people were arrested. Special teams took position on roofs. The state's aim was to prevent this year's commemoration. On March 11, even more state forces were deployed. The relatives of the victims of Gazi made a dinner in the Alevi Community Centre (Cemevi) were many people gathered. The Cemevi board had invited the police chiefs who had been personally responsible for the 1995 massacre. This attitude caused protests from the relatives of the murdered and some declared: "Now we see how the board comes up for the martyrs". On March 12, at 10 a.m., the entrance to Gazi was banned, all vans and busses were stopped and the people were taken out with violence, searched and brought to cellars. The inhabitants of the neighbourhood were forced into their houses. The people's enemies directed their weapons against the people to intimidate them and to prevent them from participating in the commemoration. Members from the press tried to enter the neighbourhood as well. But only very few were allowed in and most only received permission when the demonstration was finished already. The people from Okmeydani and Alibeykoey were not allowed to pass the police barricades, and many were arrested. More than 2000 people tried to enter the neighbourhood and more than 1000 of them were arrested. All the streets and cross roads to the Cemevi were occupied by the police to prevent participation in the commemoration. And the Cemevi itself, where the commemoration was to start, was surrounded by police forces. However, some 600 people managed to gather in front of the building and at 11.30 a.m. they began to march behind the banner of the Gazi People's Council. They went into the direction of the tea-house where the first martyr of the 1995 massacre, Halil Kaya, had been killed. The demonstrators shouted the slogans: "DO NOT REMAIN SILENT, WHEN YOU KEEP SILENT, YOU'LL BE NEXT!" "THE PEOPLE OF GAZI ARE HERE, WHERE ARE THE MURDERERS!" "PEOPLE OF OURS, JOIN TO DEMAND JUSTICE!" "LONG LIVE THE PEOPLE'S JUSTICE!" "WE ARE THE PEOPLE, WE ARE RIGHT, WE WILL WIN!" A press statement was read at the first stop by the Commemoration Committee, protesting the 1995 massacre. Carnations were left behind and the march continued in the direction of the grave yard. While the crowd went on its way, they were surrounded by special forces who tried to intimidate the people with gestures. Other people, coming from cross roads and attempting to join the commemoration, were cut off. Thereupon the relatives of the martyrs, People's Council members and other political groups started a sit-down action to force the joining of these people. During this action, the Gazi Commemoration Committee - which had made promises to the police - urged the people to move on. They stated: "We will bring these people to the square, we've got everything under control. The police will allow these people through." Then the people who were waiting in the cross roads were attacked by the police and there were violent confrontations. Many people were wounded and arrested. Again there were slogans: "THE MURDERER OF GAZI IS THE SUSURLUK STATE!" "THE ATTACKERS CANNOT INTIMIDATE US!" "THE GAZI MARTYRS ARE IMMORTAL!" "LONG LIVE THE REVOLUTIONARY SOLIDARITY" The relatives sang lamentations at the graves of their murdered children, embracing each other. Carnations were left at the scene and then the relatives read poems. Speeches were held. A member of the Gazi People's Council emphasised in his speech that it wasn't all right to trust the police and that their courtesy was not sincere. He concluded his speech with the words: "The Gazi Trial belongs to us all and we must participate in it". After a statement of the Cemevi board and the father of Zeynep Polat, murdered in Gazi, the people returned to the Cemevi. There were slogans in front of the Cemevi and people sang. A final statement was read. -- 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 Mar 30 14:23:50 1999 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 30 Mar 1999 14:23:50 Subject: Turkey: commemoration of the March 12 massacre in 1995 in Gazi/Ista References: <bac1c849.m3677ivcu7.fsf@big.home.ozgurluk> Message-ID: <bac1c849.m3677ivcu7.fsf@big.home.ozgurluk> Report on this year's commemoration of the March 12 massacre in 1995 in Gazi/Istanbul Already several days before March 12, on which there are commemorations and demonstrations held annually about the Gazi massacre of 1995, the police terror started in the Istanbul neighbourhood. Police post were deployed at the exit and entrance roads of the neighbourhood. On March 11, the police entered all the houses with force and countless people were arrested. Already one week before March 12, police forces searched all new buildings and cellars. Cross roads were controlled by the police. Policemen, special teams and soldiers were deployed. On the afternoon of March 11, the entrance and exit roads of Gazi were controlled by the police and numerous people were arrested. Special teams took position on roofs. The state's aim was to prevent this year's commemoration. On March 11, even more state forces were deployed. The relatives of the victims of Gazi made a dinner in the Alevi Community Centre (Cemevi) were many people gathered. The Cemevi board had invited the police chiefs who had been personally responsible for the 1995 massacre. This attitude caused protests from the relatives of the murdered and some declared: "Now we see how the board comes up for the martyrs". On March 12, at 10 a.m., the entrance to Gazi was banned, all vans and busses were stopped and the people were taken out with violence, searched and brought to cellars. The inhabitants of the neighbourhood were forced into their houses. The people's enemies directed their weapons against the people to intimidate them and to prevent them from participating in the commemoration. Members from the press tried to enter the neighbourhood as well. But only very few were allowed in and most only received permission when the demonstration was finished already. The people from Okmeydani and Alibeykoey were not allowed to pass the police barricades, and many were arrested. More than 2000 people tried to enter the neighbourhood and more than 1000 of them were arrested. All the streets and cross roads to the Cemevi were occupied by the police to prevent participation in the commemoration. And the Cemevi itself, where the commemoration was to start, was surrounded by police forces. However, some 600 people managed to gather in front of the building and at 11.30 a.m. they began to march behind the banner of the Gazi People's Council. They went into the direction of the tea-house where the first martyr of the 1995 massacre, Halil Kaya, had been killed. The demonstrators shouted the slogans: "DO NOT REMAIN SILENT, WHEN YOU KEEP SILENT, YOU'LL BE NEXT!" "THE PEOPLE OF GAZI ARE HERE, WHERE ARE THE MURDERERS!" "PEOPLE OF OURS, JOIN TO DEMAND JUSTICE!" "LONG LIVE THE PEOPLE'S JUSTICE!" "WE ARE THE PEOPLE, WE ARE RIGHT, WE WILL WIN!" A press statement was read at the first stop by the Commemoration Committee, protesting the 1995 massacre. Carnations were left behind and the march continued in the direction of the grave yard. While the crowd went on its way, they were surrounded by special forces who tried to intimidate the people with gestures. Other people, coming from cross roads and attempting to join the commemoration, were cut off. Thereupon the relatives of the martyrs, People's Council members and other political groups started a sit-down action to force the joining of these people. During this action, the Gazi Commemoration Committee - which had made promises to the police - urged the people to move on. They stated: "We will bring these people to the square, we've got everything under control. The police will allow these people through." Then the people who were waiting in the cross roads were attacked by the police and there were violent confrontations. Many people were wounded and arrested. Again there were slogans: "THE MURDERER OF GAZI IS THE SUSURLUK STATE!" "THE ATTACKERS CANNOT INTIMIDATE US!" "THE GAZI MARTYRS ARE IMMORTAL!" "LONG LIVE THE REVOLUTIONARY SOLIDARITY" The relatives sang lamentations at the graves of their murdered children, embracing each other. Carnations were left at the scene and then the relatives read poems. Speeches were held. A member of the Gazi People's Council emphasised in his speech that it wasn't all right to trust the police and that their courtesy was not sincere. He concluded his speech with the words: "The Gazi Trial belongs to us all and we must participate in it". After a statement of the Cemevi board and the father of Zeynep Polat, murdered in Gazi, the people returned to the Cemevi. There were slogans in front of the Cemevi and people sang. A final statement was read. -- 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.comlink.apc.org Wed Mar 3 16:36:00 1999 From: K.RAUCHFUSS at LINK-DO.comlink.apc.org (K.RAUCHFUSS at LINK-DO.comlink.apc.org) Date: 03 Mar 1999 16:36:00 Subject: Fw: 2-3-99-TDN-EU-court-questions-tky Message-ID: <7CBiXMLb$RB@walker.link-do.soli_> ## Nachricht vom 03.03.99 weitergeleitet ## Ursprung : K.RAUCHFUSS at WALKER.link-do.soli.de ## Ersteller: Branscheidt at medico-international.de This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0054_01BE6567.2ED991C0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable DER EUROP=C4ISCHE GERICHTSHOF URTEILT =DCBER DIE GERICHTSBARKEIT DER = T=DCRKEI HANS BRANSCHEIDT -----Urspr=FCngliche Nachricht----- Von: Ilkka Jaakkola An: Harawazi s=E4hk=F6postilista Datum: Mittwoch, 3. M=E4rz 1999 08:35 Betreff: 2-3-99-TDN-EU-court-questions-tky =20 European Court questions independence of State Security Courts=20 Complainants charge Turkey violated their freedoms of speech and=20 thought and rights to a fair and independent trial=20 Ankara - Turkish Daily News / March 2, 1999=20 In three separate sessions the European Court of Human Rights once again = questioned=20 the independence and neutrality of Turkey's State Security Courts (DGM), = the Anatolia=20 news agency reported on Monday.=20 The Court listened to both parties in the three sessions held after = Kamil Tekin Surek,=20 Gunay Arslan and Munier Ceylan filed complaints against Turkey.=20 The complaints stated that DGM trials violated freedom of speech and = thought as well as=20 the right to a fair and independent trial, in violation of Article No. = 6.9.10 of the Human=20 Rights Agreement, which Turkey has signed.=20 All three complainants were prosecuted by the Istanbul DGM. Surek was = charged with=20 making separatist propaganda for an article on Southeast Anatolia that = appeared in the=20 magazine "Both News and Interpretation is Real." Arslan was prosecuted = on the same=20 charges stemming from his book, "Mourning History, 33 Bullets." Ceylan, = former=20 chairman of Petrol-Is, was accused of making provocations based on = ethnic and regional=20 differences in an article published in the newspaper "New Country."=20 Last year, in cases brought to the European Court of European Human = Rights by Ibrahim=20 Incal of the now-closed People's Labor Party (HEP) and Cengiz Ciraklar, = who was=20 arrested in connection with a student demonstration in Izmir, the Court = found Turkey=20 guilty and ordered the country to pay financial compensation, = maintaining that Incal and=20 Ciraklar were correct to suspect the independence and neutrality of the = DGMs, each of=20 which have one military judge serving on its panel.=20 *******************=20 Click Back To Return To Headlines News=20 ------=_NextPart_000_0054_01BE6567.2ED991C0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable 2-3-99-TDN-EU-court-questions-tky</TITLE= ><!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"><BASE=20 href=3Dhttp://www.mnsi.net/~mergan95/2-3-99-TDN-EU-court-questions-tky.ht= m><!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <META content=3D"Karzan Ruzvonee" name=3DAuthor> <META content=3D'"MSHTML 4.72.2106.6"' name=3DGENERATOR> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>DER EUROPÄISCHE = GERICHTSHOF URTEILT=20 ÜBER DIE GERICHTSBARKEIT DER TÜRKEI</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>HANS BRANSCHEIDT</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>-----Ursprüngliche=20 Nachricht----- Von: Ilkka Jaakkola <<A=20 href=3D"mailto:ilkka.jaakkola at kolumbus.fi">ilkka.jaakkola at kolumbus.fi</A>= > An:=20 Harawazi sähköpostilista <<A=20 href=3D"mailto:harawazi-l at utu.fi">harawazi-l at utu.fi</A>> Datum: = Mittwoch, 3. März 1999 08:35 Betreff:=20 2-3-99-TDN-EU-court-questions-tky </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> European Court = questions=20 independence of State Security Courts=20 Complainants charge Turkey violated their freedoms of speech and = thought=20 and rights to a fair and independent trial=20 Ankara - Turkish Daily News / March 2, 1999=20 In three separate sessions the European Court of Human Rights once = again=20 questioned the independence and neutrality of Turkey's State = Security Courts=20 (DGM), the Anatolia news agency reported on Monday.=20 The Court listened to both parties in the three sessions held after = Kamil=20 Tekin Surek, Gunay Arslan and Munier Ceylan filed complaints against = Turkey.=20 The complaints stated that DGM trials violated freedom of speech and = thought=20 as well as the right to a fair and independent trial, in violation = of=20 Article No. 6.9.10 of the Human Rights Agreement, which Turkey has = signed.=20 All three complainants were prosecuted by the Istanbul DGM. Surek was = charged=20 with making separatist propaganda for an article on Southeast = Anatolia that=20 appeared in the magazine "Both News and Interpretation is = Real."=20 Arslan was prosecuted on the same charges stemming from his book,=20 "Mourning History, 33 Bullets." Ceylan, former chairman of = Petrol-Is, was accused of making provocations based on ethnic and = regional=20 differences in an article published in the newspaper "New=20 Country."=20 Last year, in cases brought to the European Court of European Human = Rights by=20 Ibrahim Incal of the now-closed People's Labor Party (HEP) and = Cengiz=20 Ciraklar, who was arrested in connection with a student = demonstration in=20 Izmir, the Court found Turkey guilty and ordered the country to pay=20 financial compensation, maintaining that Incal and Ciraklar were = correct to=20 suspect the independence and neutrality of the DGMs, each of which = have one=20 military judge serving on its panel. ******************* Click=20 Back To Return To Headlines News </BODY></HTML> ------=_NextPart_000_0054_01BE6567.2ED991C0-- ## CrossPoint v3.1 ## From K.RAUCHFUSS at LINK-DO.comlink.apc.org Wed Mar 3 16:36:00 1999 From: K.RAUCHFUSS at LINK-DO.comlink.apc.org (K.RAUCHFUSS at LINK-DO.comlink.apc.org) Date: 03 Mar 1999 16:36:00 Subject: Fw: TURKEY: OCALAN LAWYERS AT RISK (fwd) Message-ID: <7CBiZOOb$RB@walker.link-do.soli_> Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit ## Nachricht vom 03.03.99 weitergeleitet ## Ursprung : K.RAUCHFUSS at WALKER.link-do.soli.de ## Ersteller: Branscheidt at medico-international.de DIE SCHICKSALE DER RECHTSANW?LTE ABDULLAH ?CALANS HANS BRANSCHEIDTS MESSAGE -----Urspr?ngliche Nachricht----- Von: Jouni Piril? <jopirila at utu.fi> An: harawazi-l at utu.fi <harawazi-l at utu.fi> Datum: Mittwoch, 3. M?rz 1999 13:45 Betreff: TURKEY: OCALAN LAWYERS AT RISK (fwd) nothing really new, but just to show Amnesty's reaction as well. jouni. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 26 Feb 1999 22:43:07 -0600 (CST) From: Amnesty International <amnesty at oil.ca> To: undisclosed-recipients: ; Subject: TURKEY: OCALAN LAWYERS AT RISK * News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International * News Service: 041/99 AI INDEX: EUR 44/20/99 26 FEBRUARY 1999 PUBLIC STATEMENT TURKEY ?CALAN LAWYERS AT RISK Amnesty International condemned today the persecution of the lawyers representing Abdullah ?calan, leader of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK). Ahmet Zeki Ok?uoglu and Hatice Korkut -- who visited him yesterday --are particularly at risk. Both lawyers were reportedly kicked and punched as they arrived at the quay-side at M?danya to set off for the prison island of Imrali , where Abdullah ?calan is being held. Both lawyers and their families have received telephone threats. Reportedly even people with the same surname have been harassed. In response to the threats faced by the lawyers involved in the case, Amnesty International called upon the Turkish Government to support clearly and decisively the principle of the right to defence and the duty of the lawyer to act. This is clearly set out in Article 18 of the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, which states "lawyers shall not be identified with their clients or their clients' causes as a result of discharging their functions". Another alarming episode involved four lawyers working on Abdullah ?calan's case who held a press-conference at the Press Museum in the Cagaloglu district of Istanbul today. They were jostled by an angry crowd on entering the museum and one of them, Osman Baydemir, was arrested in connection with a statement he had made some weeks ago. After the press-conference, the lawyers were unwilling to leave the building as there was a group of people shouting right-wing slogans and threats. After initially declining to offer any guarantees for the lawyers' safety, the police eventually brought a vehicle to the museum and accompanied them to relative safety. The lawyers are reported to have suspended their representation of Abdullah ?calan, saying that they cannot continue in their duty under the current circumstances, and that his trial cannot be considered fair unless he is properly assisted by competent and committed defence counsel. ENDS.../ Amnesty International, International Secretariat, 1 Easton Street, WC1X 8DJ, London, United Kingdom **************************************************************** 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 <majordomo at oil.ca> with "subscribe amnesty-L" in the message body. To unsubscribe, send a message to <majordomo at oil.ca> with "unsubscribe amnesty-L" in the message body. If you have problem signing off, contact <owner-amnesty-L at oil.ca> Past and current Amnesty news services can be found at http://www.amnesty.org/news/ ## CrossPoint v3.1 ## From Branscheidt at medico-international.de Tue Mar 2 16:26:00 1999 From: Branscheidt at medico-international.de (Branscheidt at medico-international.de) Date: 02 Mar 1999 16:26:00 Subject: Fw: 1-3-99-Reu-lawyer-say-apo-tortured Message-ID: <7C7g70dr$RB@walker.link-do.soli_> This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_001D_01BE64FB.9B189140 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable BESTE GR=DCSSE VON HANS BRANSCHEIDT -----Urspr=FCngliche Nachricht----- Von: Ilkka Jaakkola <ilkka.jaakkola at kolumbus.fi> An: Harawazi s=E4hk=F6postilista <harawazi-l at utu.fi> Datum: Dienstag, 2. M=E4rz 1999 09:29 Betreff: 1-3-99-Reu-lawyer-say-apo-tortured Ocalan Lawyer Says Ocalan had been tortured.=20 Reuters=20 01-MAR-99=20 ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Lawyers for jailed Kurdish guerrilla chief Abdullah = Ocalan said=20 Monday they intend to turn his trial into an inquiry into Turkey's = 14-year-old fight against=20 the rebels.=20 Since seizing its most wanted man, Turkey has come under international = pressure to=20 ensure Ocalan gets a fair trial, a right his defense team says has = already been violated.=20 "This case should be turned into one where the war is judged and that is = what we are=20 going to do," Ocalan lawyer Eren Keskin told Reuters in an interview.=20 Some 29,000 people have been killed since Ocalan's Kurdistan Workers = Party (PKK)=20 took up arms for Kurdish self-rule in 1984.=20 Ankara holds Ocalan responsible for those deaths and has charged the = portly 51-year-old=20 with treason -- a crime which carries the death penalty.=20 "Ocalan did not kill 30,000 people, nor give the order for them to be = killed.=20 There is a war and it is the war that needs to be judged," Keskin said = in her dowdy=20 downtown Ankara office.=20 Turkey accuses the PKK of conducting a bloody "terrorist" campaign = financed by=20 extortion and drug smuggling.=20 Rights activists say Turkey's armed forces have carried out a "dirty = war" against the PKK,=20 burning and emptying villages to deprive the organization of logistic = support -- a charge=20 Ankara denies.=20 "War itself is a violation of human rights. Ocalan has violated human = rights in this war.=20 But the Turkish state has done so even more," said Keskin.=20 Another of Ocalan's lawyers accused Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit = Monday of=20 obstructing a fair trial by failing to provide security for the defense = team.=20 Two of the lawyers who traveled to the prison island last week to see = their client for the=20 first time 10 days after his arrest were met by angry protests on the = quayside.=20 They said the meeting was curtailed after 20 minutes and held in the = presence of a public=20 prosecutor and two masked men.=20 "One of the masked men stood behind Ocalan looking at the lawyers and = another stood=20 behind them staring at Ocalan," said Keskin. "This is unacceptable = intimidation."=20 Keskin, a glamorous 40-year-old with long dark hair and bright red = lipstick, said she had=20 received death threats.=20 "As soon as I say anything, I am held up as a target by the press," she = said. "It is not safe=20 for us."=20 Keskin said the constant reference to Ocalan in Turkish media as "the = head terrorist," or=20 "the killer of 30,000" prejudiced the trial and was against Turkish law. = She said television footage of the rebel chief paraded in front of = cameras blindfolded and=20 flanked by masked men showed Ocalan had been tortured.=20 "He has been given drugs against his will and is constantly blindfolded = ... Torture isn't=20 just electric shocks and beatings."=20 Ecevit has promised the trial will be fair, but has turned down requests = by the Council of=20 Europe and European Union representatives to observe the proceedings.=20 A Norwegian MP said Turkey had agreed to let delegates from Norway = attend hearings=20 and Ecevit announced a package of aid to the ailing southeast to = undercut PKK support.=20 Despite such efforts to assure the outside world of Turkey's good = intentions, Keskin said=20 she believed Ocalan would face the gallows at the end of his trial even = though no one has=20 been executed in Turkey since 1984.=20 "He will definitely receive the death penalty and the parliament and = president will=20 probably approve it."=20 **********************=20 Click Back To Return To Headlines News=20 ------=_NextPart_000_001D_01BE64FB.9B189140 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META content=3Dtext/html;charset=3Diso-8859-1 = http-equiv=3DContent-Type><TITLE>1-3-99-Reu-lawyer-say-apo-tortured</TITL= E><!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"><BASE=20 href=3Dhttp://www.mnsi.net/~mergan95/1-3-99-Reu-lawyer-say-apo-tortured.h= tm><!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <META content=3D"Karzan Ruzvonee" name=3DAuthor> <META content=3D'"MSHTML 4.72.2106.6"' name=3DGENERATOR> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff> <DIV>BESTE GRÜSSE VON = HANS=20 BRANSCHEIDT</DIV> <DIV>-----Ursprüngliche=20 Nachricht----- Von: Ilkka Jaakkola <<A=20 href=3D"mailto:ilkka.jaakkola at kolumbus.fi">ilkka.jaakkola at kolumbus.fi</A>= > An:=20 Harawazi sähköpostilista <<A=20 href=3D"mailto:harawazi-l at utu.fi">harawazi-l at utu.fi</A>> Datum: = Dienstag, 2. März 1999 09:29 Betreff:=20 1-3-99-Reu-lawyer-say-apo-tortured </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>Ocalan Lawyer Says Ocalan had = been=20 tortured. Reuters 01-MAR-99=20 ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Lawyers for jailed Kurdish guerrilla chief = Abdullah=20 Ocalan said Monday they intend to turn his trial into an inquiry = into=20 Turkey's 14-year-old fight against the rebels.=20 Since seizing its most wanted man, Turkey has come under = international=20 pressure to ensure Ocalan gets a fair trial, a right his defense = team says=20 has already been violated.=20 "This case should be turned into one where the war is judged and = that is=20 what we are going to do," Ocalan lawyer Eren Keskin told = Reuters in an=20 interview.=20 Some 29,000 people have been killed since Ocalan's Kurdistan Workers = Party=20 (PKK) took up arms for Kurdish self-rule in 1984.=20 Ankara holds Ocalan responsible for those deaths and has charged the = portly=20 51-year-old with treason -- a crime which carries the death penalty. = "Ocalan did not kill 30,000 people, nor give the order for them = to be=20 killed. There is a war and it is the war that needs to be = judged,"=20 Keskin said in her dowdy downtown Ankara office.=20 Turkey accuses the PKK of conducting a bloody = "terrorist"=20 campaign financed by extortion and drug smuggling.=20 Rights activists say Turkey's armed forces have carried out a = "dirty=20 war" against the PKK, burning and emptying villages to deprive = the=20 organization of logistic support -- a charge Ankara denies.=20 "War itself is a violation of human rights. Ocalan has violated = human=20 rights in this war. But the Turkish state has done so even = more," said=20 Keskin.=20 Another of Ocalan's lawyers accused Turkish Prime Minister Bulent = Ecevit=20 Monday of obstructing a fair trial by failing to provide security = for the=20 defense team.=20 Two of the lawyers who traveled to the prison island last week to see = their=20 client for the first time 10 days after his arrest were met by angry = protests on the quayside.=20 They said the meeting was curtailed after 20 minutes and held in the = presence=20 of a public prosecutor and two masked men.=20 "One of the masked men stood behind Ocalan looking at the = lawyers and=20 another stood behind them staring at Ocalan," said Keskin. = "This=20 is unacceptable intimidation."=20 Keskin, a glamorous 40-year-old with long dark hair and bright red = lipstick,=20 said she had received death threats.=20 "As soon as I say anything, I am held up as a target by the = press,"=20 she said. "It is not safe for us."=20 Keskin said the constant reference to Ocalan in Turkish media as = "the=20 head terrorist," or "the killer of 30,000" prejudiced = the=20 trial and was against Turkish law.=20 She said television footage of the rebel chief paraded in front of = cameras=20 blindfolded and flanked by masked men showed Ocalan had been = tortured.=20 "He has been given drugs against his will and is constantly = blindfolded=20 ... Torture isn't just electric shocks and beatings."=20 Ecevit has promised the trial will be fair, but has turned down = requests by=20 the Council of Europe and European Union representatives to observe = the=20 proceedings.=20 A Norwegian MP said Turkey had agreed to let delegates from Norway = attend=20 hearings and Ecevit announced a package of aid to the ailing = southeast to=20 undercut PKK support.=20 Despite such efforts to assure the outside world of Turkey's good = intentions,=20 Keskin said she believed Ocalan would face the gallows at the end of = his=20 trial even though no one has been executed in Turkey since 1984.=20 "He will definitely receive the death penalty and the parliament = and=20 president will probably approve it." ********************** = Click Back To Return To Headlines News </BODY></HTML> ------=_NextPart_000_001D_01BE64FB.9B189140-- ## CrossPoint v3.1 ## From K.RAUCHFUSS at LINK-DO.comlink.apc.org Tue Mar 9 17:42:00 1999 From: K.RAUCHFUSS at LINK-DO.comlink.apc.org (K.RAUCHFUSS at LINK-DO.comlink.apc.org) Date: 09 Mar 1999 17:42:00 Subject: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Fw:_STOP_THE_DEPORTATION_OF_RECEP_=D6Z_AND_All_DEPORT Message-ID: <7CcolaBr$RB@walker.link-do.soli_> Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit ## Nachricht vom 08.03.99 weitergeleitet ## Ursprung : K.RAUCHFUSS at WALKER.link-do.soli.de ## Ersteller: Branscheidt at medico-international.de BITTE UNTERZEICHNEN UND ODER WEITERVERBREITEN. DANKE HANS BRANSCHEIDT -----Urspr?ngliche Nachricht----- Von: Georg Classen <georg.classen at berlin.de> An: Pro Asyl <proasyl at proasyl.de> Datum: Donnerstag, 4. M?rz 1999 21:15 Betreff: STOP THE DEPORTATION OF RECEP ?Z AND All DEPORTATIONS TO TURKEY >Subject: > URGENT ACTION: Stop the deportation of Recep?z > Date: > Thu, 4 Mar 1999 20:25:16 +0100 > From: > "[ueber die grenze]" <grenze at CRG.NET> > To: > COYOTE-L at relay.crg.net > > > > >URGENT ACTION +++++ PLEASE FORWARD THIS MESSAGE +++++ URGENT ACTION > >no one is illegal campaign >phone: ++49/172/8910825 ><grenze at jff.de> ><http://www.contrast.org/borders> > >STOP THE DEPORTATION OF RECEP ?Z >AND All DEPORTATIONS TO TURKEY > >Recep ?z, a kurdish activist, is threatened by deportation to Turkey. He >was arrested on the way to a demonstration in Berlin on February 17th, >actually he is imprisoned in Bueren, and started a hungerstrike there. > >We ask everyone who receives this e-mail to immediately send a protest >fax to the following > >Minister of Interior Affairs of Northrine-Westfalia, Dr. Fritz Behrends >Haroldstr. 5, 40213 D?sseldorf phone ++49/211/87101, Fax ++49/2118713355 > >Minister of Interior Affairs of Federal Republic of Germany, Mr. Otto >Schily >Graurheindorfer Str 198 53117 Bonn, phone ++49/228/584030, Fax >++49/228/584066 > >Chancellor of Federal Republic of Germany, Mr. Gerhard Schroeder >Bundeskanzleramt, Adenauerallee 139-141, 53113 Bonn, phone >++49/228/562522,-2523 >Fax ++49/228/562357 > >Please sign also the appeal of the Berlin refugee Council: > > >Appeal > >"... No matter how you look at it. It is all about the question whether >the German government is willing to deport offenders to a country of >torturers or not. Schily says this is not possible, but at the same time >he is trying through the backdoor to find a way to get rid of Kurdish >refugees as did Manfred Kanther before. (...) Schily?s wants a promise >from the Turkish government about sparing deported Kurdish people from >torture. But this kind of negotiation is absurd. The officials in Bonn >all know that this won?t save deportees from imprisonment and torture. >It can?t even serve as a front to hide behind for the German government. >If you want to deport Kurdish refugees this way you must be honest and >declare openly that you are acting against the European Human Rights >Convention. (...)" (Heribert Prantl, S?ddeutsche Zeitung, 24.2.1999) > >Recep ?z, a Kurd from Turkey, is no offender. But nevertheless, he is >threatened by deportation. He wanted to participate in a demonstration >by Kurdish people in Berlin when he was arrested by the the police >without any legal papers. His application for political asylum has been >rejected as hundreds of other Kurdish refugees that are now hiding in >church asylum. All of them have been rejected as political refugees >because the German officials claim that they could not prove an >individual persecution by the Turkish state. "In most of the cases >(rejected asylum seekers from Turkey) we have been investigating torture >and imprisonment could have been prevented, if the applications for >poltical asylum had been taken more seriously by the German officials". >(Refugee-Council Lower Saxony/PRO ASYL in their latest documentation of >the endagering of Kurdish refugees deported back to Turkey, February >1999, P.3) > >Today the situation in Turkey is even more serious. New waves of arrests >after the escape of ?calan to Italy and especially after his >imprisonment in Turkey need to be taken into account when judging about >the deportations of Kurdish refugees. Until now this has only happened >in individual cases. > >Recep ?z has started a hungerstrike since his arrest February 17th to >protest against all deportations of Kurdish refugees to Turkey. He has >started a struggle for his right to stay in Germany in the name of all >who are threatened by torture and imprisonment. > >We are demanding the immediate suspension of all deportations of Kurdish >refugees from Germany. This is the only way to guarantee Article 3 of >the European Convention of Human Rights for Kurdish refugees. We are >also demanding the release of Recep ?z and a permit to stay in Germany >for him and all Kurdish refugees in Germany as long as torture is a >common practice in Turkey. We also believe that this is the only >possibilty to stop the escalation of violence and a first step towards >an "international solution" of the Turkish/Kurdish conflict. > >Signed by the Refugee-Council Berlin, Anti Racist Initiative, Berlin, >G?nter Grass (author), Hans Brandscheid (medico international), Heiko >Kauffmann (speaker of PRO ASYL), Gyas Sayan (MP, PDS, City State of >Berlin), Kostas Papanastasiou (actor and architect), United for >Intercultural Action, Amsterdam, Ewald Groth (MP, B?ndnis 90/the Greens, >the State of Nordrhein-Westfalen), Berrin ?zlem Otyakmaz (Mona - >International Womens Contact and Counselling Center), Knut Rauchfuss >(Refugee Medical Help, Bochum), Central America Commitee, Bochum, Centro >Latino e.V., Regional Office Peace Train Musa Anter, VSP - Union of >Socialist Politics, Ulla Jelpke (MP, PDS, Bundestag Bonn), Caroline >Bouquerel-Pajaziti (French Translater, EU- Bruxelles), Georg Classen, >Berlin, Anti Discrimination Office, Berlin, Peter Tepper, Ingeborg >Hunzinger, Heidrun Hegewald, Dr. Hanna Behrend, Dr. Manfred Behrend, >Gina Pietsch, (all from Berlin ), > >Please, send further signatures to the Refugee-Council Berlin and copies >to the Antiracist Initiative, tel: ++49/30/7857281, fax: ++49/30/7869984 > >Fl?chtlingsrat Berlin (Refugee-Council Berlin) >Fennstr. 31 >D - 12439 Berlin, >ph. : -30/6317873 >fax: -30/6361198 > > > >-------------cross the border-- >--ueber die grenze ------------ >http://www.contrast.org/borders >--phone: ++49/89/172/8910825--- >-----mar 12-14 n5m3 amsterdam-- >-mar 26-28 conference munich--- >---aug 7-15 camp borderline---- ## CrossPoint v3.1 ## From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Sun Mar 14 12:18:42 1999 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 14 Mar 1999 12:18:42 Subject: DHKC Statement 82 Message-ID: <bac1c849.m10MHH5.000Gy5C@ozgurluk> DEVRIMCI HALK KURTULUS CEPHESI Press Office Date: March 14, 1999 Declaration: 82 THOSE WHO COMMIT THE MASSACRES AGAINST THE PEOPLE HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE FREEDOM OF THE KURDISH PEOPLE, NOR WITH THE ESSENCE OF REVOLUTION AND PROGRESS The actions, aimed against the people without making any difference, never reached a dimension and never got out of control as they have now, although we have seen similar ones in recent years. Without making any difference, without dividing between guilty and not guilty, collaborators, at the side of the people or the people's enemies, bombs are left behind on squares which are filled with people, molotov cocktails are thrown, and people massacred. Overt massacres are being organised. This has nothing to do with being revolutionary, with progress, the Kurds or rights and liberties. These methods have historically been the methods of fascist governments and contra - -guerrilla organisations. With such methods, imperialism and its fascist collaborators have always tried to destroy the legitimacy of the revolutionaries when the revolutionary struggle was developing. For the revolutionaries, the notions of friend and enemy have always been clear. Whatever the nature of an organisation, acting with nationalist or social demands, they have to determine clearly who is the enemy and who the friend. Massacring an oppressed people in the name of another, and planning and carrying out actions for this goal, clearly means serving the enemy. When it is claimed that the actions which have been carried out in the past by the contra-guerrilla itself have been carried out in the name of the oppressed Kurdish people, this means betrayal of the Kurdish people. It must be doubted that the oligarchy really tries to prevent such acts. Quite on the contrary, it is as if they are saying: "Let them do what they want. Let the people see what they think of justice, let the people see what they will do when they are in power". For fascism, these actions large create the conditions for its contra-revolutionary propaganda and all kinds of provocations. The mass basis for fascism is being enlarged by portraying all revolutionaries as sick people who massacre the people, not aware of what they are doing. While the conditions for revolutionary work among the people are being mangled, they want to incite the people against the revolutionaries. Whatever the case, such actions achieve the same as the provocations by the contra-guerrilla. The so-called NATIONALIST KURDISH REVENGE FORCE have claimed responsibility for these actions. Nothing has been known about such an organisation. Its sudden appearance is rather doubtful. If such an organisation really does exist, and if these actions are theirs, they still have nothing to do with revenge. When it is about revenge, the state should be the target, not the common people. When the people are targeted, and not the state, this means that something else is hidden behind it. And even nationalism cannot achieve a connection. When those who commit massacres against the people, or have such acts committed, claim to do so in the name of the Kurdish people, they must, without wasting any time, account for their acts in front of all our peoples, including the Kurdish people, they must accept the responsibility for what they have done and they must stop with this kind of actions immediately. Otherwise they will have to account for history and for the people. REVOLUTIONARY JUSTICE AND THE REVOLUTIONARY CONCEPT WILL UNDOUBTEDLY DESTROY THE PROVOCATIONS OF THE CONTRA-GUERRILLA! REVOLUTIONARY PEOPLE'S LIBERATION FRONT http://www.ozgurluk.org/dhkc List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Sun Mar 14 13:33:26 1999 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 14 Mar 1999 13:33:26 Subject: Turkey: Fourth aniversary Gazi Uprising - 600 in custody (TDN) Message-ID: <bac1c849.m10MIUF.000Gy5C@ozgurluk> Security tight for Gazi district, 600 in custody Istanbul - Turkish Daily News Security was tightened in the Gazi district of Istanbul Friday to prevent any violence from breaking out during the fourth anniversary of riots that left 17 people there dead. Nearly 7,000 police were assigned to the area and a military unit of 900 men was sent in as backup. Police units controlled all of the entrances to the area and from 10:00 a.m. no one was permitted to enter. Nearly 600 people were taken into custody as part of the security operation and were sent to police headquarters on Vatan Avenue for questioning. Istanbul Police Chief Hasan Ozdemir was present at the scene and said that the police would not permit any illegal demonstrations. A group that had gathered outside the Association for the Introduction and Preservation of Haci Bektasi Veli Culture were told that they could not stage a walk to the Gazi Cemetery. Journalists were not allowed to enter the area. Lawyers from the People's Legal Bureau were refused permission. Security was also tightened in Umraniye's 1 Mayis district and the Gulsuyu and Gulensu districts. No incidents were reported. -- Ozgurluk! http://www.ozgurluk.org List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From theorganizer at labornet.org Tue Mar 16 15:42:25 1999 From: theorganizer at labornet.org (theorganizer at labornet.org) Date: 16 Mar 1999 15:42:25 Subject: URGENT: APPEAL FOR CANANEA MINEWORKERS Message-ID: <bac1c849.199903162329.PAA01403@igc2.igc.apc.org> URGENT: APPEAL FOR CANANEA MINEWORKERS *** Note: Please endorse this sign-on Open Letter to the Mexican authorities in support of the mineworkers and their families in Cananea, Mexico. Add your name and/or that of your union or organization. You should send your endorsement directly to Gemma Lopez Limon at "Ricardo Flores Magon" Human Rights Committee, Mexicali (Mexico). Her e-mail address is <glopez at faro.ens.uabc.mx>. She will forward your statement to the Mexican authorities. Please include your organization and title, if possible, and mention if these are to be listed for identification purposes only. Also, please send a copy of your e-mail endorsement to <owc at igc.org>. ***** IN THIS MESSAGE: (1) Open Letter to Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo (2) Mineworkers End Bitter Three-Month Strike (3) Background to the Strike ***** (1) Open Letter to Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo in Support of the Cananea Mineworkers (Mexico) Respect the workers? collective-bargaining agreement! Restore immediately all water distribution to the townspeople! Dr. Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon President of Mexico, Palacio Nacional 06067 Mexico, D.F. Fax: 011-525-516-5762 Dear President Zedillo: We are writing to express our deepest concern for the safety and well-being of the mineworkers and their families in Cananea, Sonora. These workers ended their bitter three-month strike on February 15, after the Mexican Army threatened to use violence against them. They went out on strike last November 18 to demand a halt to the projected 1000 layoffs demanded by the Compa?ia Mexicana de Cananea ? which is owned by billionaire Jorge Larrea and his Grupo M?xico. The laid-off mineworkers were promised the full severance package stipulated by their collective bargaining agreement. No sooner had the strike ended, however, than the company reneged on its promise, offering the laid-off workers a pittance of the severance pay and benefit package they were entitled to. The company, moreover, blacklisted 120 workers on the grounds they were strike "organizers" -- thereby denying them the right to return to their jobs. These workers were not in units slated to be closed under the company?s downsizing plan. And those workers who returned to their jobs were paid less than $2 per week, after the company illegally discounted large sums from their paychecks for "damages and costs incurred during the strike." This represents an open violation of Mexico?s labor legislation. We are writing to urge you to insist that Mexican labor law and the workers? collective-bargaining agreement are fully respected and implemented in Cananea! We also understand that on March 9 -- in retaliation against the townspeople of Cananea, who ardently supported the strikers -- the Compa?ia Mexicana de Cananea cut off all water distribution to the town. Historically, the mining company has been responsible for all water distribution to the population. As of this writing [March 16], the town has not had any running or drinking water for seven days. The townspeople fear an outbreak of hepatitis and cholera as toilets cannot be flushed and people are forced to use contaminated water. This situation is intolerable! On March 11, the Women's Front of Cananea, together with thousands of townspeople, occupied the two water plants in the town and opened the valves to distribute water to the people. Within a few hours, the Compa?ia Mexicana de Cananea cut off all electrical power to the water plants, thereby halting off all water distribution to the community. As of this writing, all water distribution -- including to the mines and processing plants -- remains cut off. We call on the company and the authorities to resolve this conflict based on the respect for the collective-bargaining agreement and the democratic and trade union rights of the mineworkers of Cananea. And we call on the Governor of Sonora and the Mexican Ministry of Interior (Gobernaci?n) to urge the Compa?ia Mexicana de Cananea to restore immediately all water distribution to the townspeople of Cananea. Thank you for your time and immediate attention to this extremely alarming situation. Sincerely yours, cc. Lic. Armando Lopez Nogales Governor of the State of Sonora Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico Fax: 011-562-17-41-26 cc. Manuel Ernesto Romero, General Secretary, District 65, National Mineworkers Union (Cananea) Fax: (011) 52-65-663-26543 ***** (2) Mineworkers End Bitter Three-Month Strike By GEMMA LOPEZ LIMON MEXICALI, Mexico ? Close to three months after they went out on strike to preserve their jobs against a deadly downsizing onslaught, the 2000 mineworkers of Cananea were forced back to work without obtaining any of the demands for which they had fought. Cananea is a small copper mining town in the northern Mexican state of Sonora. Over the weekend of Feb. 13-14, the strikers had occupied the mines and mining facilities, insisting they would not leave until the company, the Grupo Mexico, had met their demands. "The Cananea mine is ours," a striking mineworker told the workers? general assembly. "It belongs to our community and to the people of Mexico ? not to the billionaires and their foreign friends. Our strike is about keeping our jobs, our livelihood ? and our dignity." In response to the workers? occupation, the Army and Judicial Police were mobilized and given orders to remove the strikers from company property by any means necessary. Late in the afternoon of Sunday, Feb. 14, faced with the threat of large-scale violence at the hands of the Army and police, the strikers agreed to return to work. For the next two weeks, the strikers slated to be laid off as a result of the closure of four production facilities were told that the company would not pay the estimated 1000 laid-off workers (out of a total workforce of 2070) the severance payments they were entitled to under their collective-bargaining agreement. As of this writing [March 16], only 315 of the 1000 laid-off workers have accepted their severance packages. "What they?re offering is an insult," said Javier Canizares Lopez, outreach coordinator for the strike. "We were promised full severance pay; it?s in our contract. Again they are reneging on their promises." Canizares explained that the 300 workers who have taken their severance pay are angry as hell, but simply were pushed to the wall and had to take whatever money they could get. "These workers are being paid less than one-fourth of the money that is owed to them," Canizares explained. "Nor are they getting the life-long healthcare coverage and social security they are entitled to. Though they took their money, they haven?t given up the struggle. They are still in the fight along with the rest of us to make sure we get our rightfully earned money from the company." The company, moreover, has openly violated Mexican Labor Law by refusing to allow 120 workers back to work on the grounds they were strike organizers. These are not workers in units scheduled to be closed. "The company is out to break our union and our collective- bargaining agreement," Canizares said. "Workers here are so angry, they may be pushed to go back out on strike. If they send in the Army again, at least we have a chance to fight back. If we do nothing, it?s slow death." Given the urgency of the situation, the Cananea mineworkers are calling on the national and international labor movement for support. They are urging trade unions, union activists and supporters of trade union rights the world over to send email messages and/or faxes to the Mexican authorities to demand that the company fully respect the union?s collective-bargaining agreement. [See Open Letter above.] *** (3) Background to the Strike Cananea, Sonora, remains alive in the memories of the Mexican people. The historic strike of the Cananea mineworkers in 1906, which was brutally repressed by the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz, heralded the outburst of the Mexican Revolution of 1910. It was the tenacious struggle of the mineworkers and their families that resulted in the nationalization of the Cananea mines ? the largest copper mine in Mexico and third largest in the world. In 1989, the Mexican Army invaded Cananea: five thousand soldiers occupied the town to prevent any resistance from the mineworkers to the impending closure of the mines, based on the fraudulent claim of bankruptcy. The mines are vital to the community; 90 percent of the people depend on the mines for their livelihood. It took the protracted fight of the mineworkers and the Women?s Front of Cananea to force the authorities to reopen the mines. In 1990, the Mexican government privatized the mines, selling them for US$450 million to Jorge Larrea, one of the richest men in Mexico. The real value of the mines was estimated at US$3 billion. >From that moment on, the problems began to mount for the workers. Within months, close to 40 percent of the workforce ? that is, 1300 workers ? was laid off. This left only 2070 mineworkers in Cananea. Larrea, a close friend of former President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, now in exile in Ireland, is the principal shareholder of the recently privatized Sonora railway system. Soon after he bought the company, Larrea and his Grupo Mexico laid off 700 workers in Empalme and a similar number in Benjamin Hill, both of which are virtual ghost towns today. Today Larrea is seeking to buy the entire port of Guaymas. In recent months, the company escalated its assault upon the mineworkers and the community. It began by openly violating fundamental aspects of the collective-bargaining agreement ? all in the name of cost-cutting. Over the years, the Cananea workers had won the best bargaining agreement in the mining industry. But that was not all. The company decided to close down the treatment plant, where the industrial waste from the processing plant is treated before flowing into the local river. The employer also announced the closure of the smelting and storage plants, warning that 700 additional workers would be laid off. These decisions represented a death sentence to the town of Cananea. On November 18, 1998, the local mineworkers? union -- Section 65 of the National Mineworkers Union of the Mexican Republic -- reached the conclusion that enough was enough and decided to go out on strike. They followed all the provisions of Mexican labor law to ensure this would be a legal strike. But this was not to be. The state of Sonora authorities ruled almost immediately that the strike was illegal because some of the paperwork had been filed "improperly." The Cananea strike, moreover, was opposed from the get-go by the national leadership of the Mineworkers Union, which is tied to the ruling party in Mexico, the PRI. The national union leadership refused any support to the Cananea strikers on the grounds their strike was illegal, and urged the local leadership to call off the strike and accept the bosses? terms. But the strikers? determination was not swayed. For months, they endured constant harassment and repression at the hands of the state authorities. Strike support committees were formed in various cities across Northern Mexico and in Arizona. Statements of support began pouring in from around the world, organized largely by the Organizing Committee for the Open World Conference in Defense of Trade Union Independence and Democratic Rights. One solidarity statement was sent by the leadership of the Romanian mineworkers? union in the Jiu Valley, whose march to Bucharest had forced the government to agree to halt the closure of two "unproductive" mines. These solidarity statements were read at strikers? general assemblies, buoying the workers? determination to continue the struggle till victory. The showdown On Thursday, Feb. 11, the executive board of the striking union local ? Section 65 of the National Mineworkers Union of the Mexican Republic ? returned to Cananea after a trip to Mexico City, where they had met with leading government authorities as well as the national leadership of their union. In Mexico City the local union leaders had been told by functionaries of the Ministry of the Interior that if the strikers did not return to work by Feb. 16, their collective-bargaining agreement would be rescinded ? which meant that the owners of the copper mine, the Grupo Mexico, would be authorized to fire all the 2000 strikers and bring in a new scab workforce. The Mexican Army, the authorities continued, would be given orders to escort the scabs to their new jobs. That was not all the Section 65 leaders learned during their trip to the nation?s capital. Napoleon Gomez Sada, the general secretary of the National Mineworkers Union, told the Cananea delegation that the national union leadership had already signed a return-to-work agreement with the federal and state authorities. They told the union?s local leadership that the strikers had no option but to return to work by Feb. 16. News of this agreement, signed behind the backs of the strikers and their elected officers, angered the Cananea mineworkers. On Saturday, Feb. 13, a general assembly of the strikers voted to occupy the mines and all company installations. And, for the first time, they voted to call for the renationalization of the mine. By the next morning, the town of Cananea had been taken over by squadrons of the Judicial Police. News reached the strikers that the Army had encircled the town, waiting for orders to move in and dislodge the strikers from the occupied facilities. Then, in the early afternoon, a delegation consisting of strike leader Manuel Ernesto Romero, the mayor of Cananea, two top bureaucrats from the National Mineworkers Union in Mexico City, and the heads of the Army and Judicial Police for the region, went pit by pit and installation by installation to order the workers to end their occupation and return to work by 8 a.m. the following day. Faced with the threat of large-scale violence at the hands of the Army and police, the workers returned home. ? G.L.L. From escape6 at hotmail.com Fri Mar 19 06:49:18 1999 From: escape6 at hotmail.com (escape6 at hotmail.com) Date: 19 Mar 1999 06:49:18 Subject: Glasgow / London meetings & events Message-ID: <bac1c849.36F2D374.70@hotmail.com> <HTML> UK Meetings and events</h1>There will be a bookstall or sale at most of these events <ul><li> <A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/capitolhill/1931/radfest.html/"> Glasgow Easter Rising Conference</A> to discuss ideas and action in the build up to the 18th June mass international protest against G7 (it is also a follow up to the Bradford May Day '98 conference). Sat 3-Sun. 4 April. Govanhill Neighbourhood centre, Daisy St., Queens Park station, Glasgow. Sat. 10am-5.30pm, discussion groups on global economy and UK break-up, plus forums with Hillel Ticktin on capitalism's contradictions and speakers on Zapatistas, Mumia campaign, JSA, social ecology etc... Sun. 11am-5.30pm, discussion groups on consumerism and resistance/June18. Free. For more details e.g. transport, accommodation etc.. contact <A HREF="mailto:radfest at yahoo.com">radfest at yahoo.com</A>, ph. 0141 427 6398. <li> <A HREF="http://www.isf.org.uk/ISFMeet.htm">International Socialist Forum meetings</A>: 11 April, Erica Shipley on the Chinese Revolution / 2 May, Review of the ISF and its future. All meetings Sun. 2pm, Conway Hall, <A HREF="http://www.streetmap.co.uk/streetmap.dll?tile2map?TQ38SW13&Street+Map+for+Red+Lion+Square,+WC1&~&~&~">Red Lion Sq.</A> (Holborn tube), London. <A HREF="mailto:isf at isf.org.uk">isf at isf.org.uk</A> <li> IRAQ DEMONSTRATION 1-2 million killed - No more bombings, Lift the sanctions</A> - 1pm Speakers Corner to 3pm Trafalgar Sq. Sat. 17 April. Phone 0171 436 4636. <li> MAYDAY PARTY - Tower of London. Sat. 1 May. Contact BM Makhno, London WC1N 3XX <li> <A HREF="http://www.gn.apc.org/june18/home.html">JUNE 18 / G8 DEMONSTRATION</A> - City of London and world-wide. Fri. 18 June. Click <A HREF="http://www.gn.apc.org/june18/meet.html">here</A> for details of the next planning meeting. Contact <A HREF="mailto:rts at gn.apc.org"> rts at gn.apc.org</A> or phone Reclaim the Streets on 0171 281 4621. <li> ANARCHIST BOOKFAIR - anarchist and libertarian Marxist bookstalls. Sat. 16 Oct. 10am-6pm. . <A HREF="mailto:m.peacock at unl.ac.uk">m.peacock at unl.ac.uk</A>, ph.0171 247 9249 To receive notification of future events e-mail <A HREF="mailto:e scape6 at hotmail.com">escape6 at hotmail.com</A> or send a donation (payable to 'Haringey Solidarity Group') to Escape c/o PO Box 2474, London N8 OHW, UK. </BODY> </HTML> From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Sun Mar 28 14:58:29 1999 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 28 Mar 1999 14:58:29 Subject: DHKC- European Representation - Attack against Yugoslavia Message-ID: <bac1c849.m3lnghjhmy.fsf@big.home.ozgurluk> Imperialism is the one that's guilty The attack of imperialism against Yugoslavia is illegitimate Imperialism has attacked Yugoslavia. The peoples of Yugoslavia are engaged in a struggle of survival against the daily bombardments of the imperialists . The peoples of the world have seen such scenarios before. The imperialists have already attacked the people in the past. They claimed to do so for the "protection" of one people against the other. The last example has been Iraq . With the pretext of protecting the Kurdish people, thousands of tons of bombs were dropped on the Arab people. The people were massacred. Now we see such a scenario in Yugoslavia. Again it is said that one people has to be "protected" against the other. Now they claim to protect the Albanian people . That's a lie. Imperialism cannot protect people. All they do on this field is false and only serves for delusion. Did imperialism protect the Vietnamese people? Did it protect Iraq? Did it protect the Kurdish people? Did it protect the peoples in the Middle East, in Latin America or Africa? Every part of the world which has come under the control of imperialism and the collaborating regimes first got to know the monopolies, the firms and the markets, and later the weapons and bombs of imperialism as well... History has always shown this. Now the Balkans are being disintegrated into atoms. Imperialism itself is the divider. This is practised by inciting conflicts of religion and creed. Why are there, after imperialism intervenes , conflicts between peoples that have lived in peace for ages before? Why are there new states and mini-states emerging? The only reason is the attempt to incite the peoples against each other and thus destroying their unity, weakening them. This is the continuation of the operation which started with the collapse of the socialist system. Imperialism fears a movement with a revolutionary basis which is directed against it, they fear it like their own Angel of Death. However, at the same time it opposes every kind of nationalist movement which is directed against imperialism. It does not even tolerate one voice to stand up against it. And although this is the case, it poses like the protector of nations, as the defender of the right of self-determination, as the champion of human rights. But its only and basic goal is the exploitation of the labour and the property of the peoples , the neo-colonialisation of their motherlands, and it is prepared to carry out massacres to reach its goal. PEOPLES OF THE WORLD ! The policy of imperialism is to start animosity between the people. This policy can only be stopped by unity amongst the people, their struggle and their power. Imperialism cannot solve these problems, but the peoples which fight against imperialism and who have created their unity can. This is the only guarantee for a peaceful co-existence of the peoples. OPPRESSED PEOPLE ! Albanians, Serbs, Bosnians, Arabs, Kurds, Turks, Asians, Africans, Latin Americans... The peoples which have to suffer from the cruelty and the exploitation of imperialism all over the world must oppose imperialism at the side of their brothers and sisters who are attacked by imperialism. Down with imperialism ! Long live the fraternity between the peoples of the world ! Revolutionary People's Liberation Front European Representation March 26, 1999 http://www.ozgurluk.org/dhkc List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Tue Mar 30 11:36:23 1999 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 30 Mar 1999 11:36:23 Subject: ["DHKC-INFORMATION CENTER" <dhkc@dircon.co.uk>] ATTACK Message-ID: <bac1c849.m3n20uvhtp.fsf@big.home.ozgurluk> WHO ATTACKED? WHY? WHAT IS THE MATTER? On 24 March 1999, PKK (Kurdish Workers Party) supporters attacked DHKC (Revolutionary People's Liberation Front) supporters in London. 3 DHKC supporters who were distributing newspapers and leaflets, entered a caf? where PKK supporters were present. The leaflets were about the recent massacre in Istanbul where 13 civilians were killed. This action was supposedly carried out by a group called the Kurdish Nationalist Revenge Forces which have not been heard of before. After the DHKC supporters left the building, a PKK supporter confronted them and said "you cannot distribute these leaflets here, we gave you no permission, we will confiscate them" The reply of the DHKC supporters was "you did not carry out the massacre therefore it has nothing to do with you, if there is a problem you need to speak to one of our responsible friends". When the situation got out of hand due to the reaction of the PKK supporters, our friends told them that they would not distribute the leaflets but would continue to sell their newspapers. Meanwhile, 3 more PKK supporters had arrived and snatched the leaflets. In a very short time, a total of 15-20 PKK supporters, including two pillagers who are well known by the people of their dirty deals, attacked the DHKC supporters with batons. During this pre-organised attack one of the attackers, who is known as their leader, was declaring that this "action" was being done by the ERNK (National Liberation Front of Kurdistan). Another one was swearing and saying "we will not let you sell papers in this area anymore". After the attack they retreated in an organised way. One of our friends was hospitalised and suffer temporary amnesia and others were injured. After the attack , DHKC supporters arrived and visited the area's shop keepers with the bloody papers and leaflets to inform them. This event is proof of a very dangerous mind. The mentioned leaflet was about the recent attacks targeting people. The title of the leaflet was: "Those who commit the massacres against the people have nothing to do with the freedom of the Kurdish people, nor with the essence of revolution and progress" This is very clear. Do PKK supporters have a different opinion? If they do, they should make it public. They say "we did not carry out the attack but our people did. Our people do not want you to distribute this leaflet" This is a comedy. None of the forces have the right to attack people on the behalf of people and try to legitimise it by self content judgement. Where does this understanding lead to? The truth is stubborn. We will continue to write and tell the truth with determination and persistence. These type of "actions" are wrong. The enemy takes advantage of it. Moreover, they have the potential to incite hatred between the peoples. No one with common sense can consider these as being legitimate or justified actions. The opposite means to have the responsibility before history and our peoples. The correct attitude of the PKK supporters would be to evaluate these type of actions as harming the rights and liberties of the struggle of the Kurdish people. But they have preferred to attack DHKC supporters in London , who openly declared such actions as harmful. This is a mixed up way of thinking , which declares everyone who does not agree with you as the enemy. This is irresponsible. This is the anxiety of covering up ones own weaknesses. Only those, who do not trust their own thoughts, try to prevent the thoughts of others by violence. There can be no gain with such attitude. The revolutionary movement has always been sensitive with these matters throughout its history. Despite the fact that our cadres and supporters were martyred during attacks my certain left groups, especially before 1980, there was no retaliation so as to avoid an armed clash within the left. Instead, the policy of exposing was preferred. Because such a clash would mean harming the revolution and could be used by the enemy. This time we will not behave differently. By all means the PKK supporters in London have made a mistake. Also the question of "while you are living side by side with fascists who were celebrating the kidnapping of Abdullah Ocalan, what is the aim of attacking DHKC supporters?" arises. After the event, a meeting was held with the representatives of the ERNK and other left organizations. The ERNK representatives accepted their wrong doing and gave their word not to repeat such a mistake again. But still refused to make their words public. Also in the past we have been confronted and attacked by PKK supporters during a panel of left organisations. WE ASK! What is your aim? Have you fulfilled it? DHKC do not consider those who take the side of people as enemies. DHKC considers them as friends. But without restricting ourselves, we shall continue to criticise those who make mistakes. There is no other way. We will not be held responsible for negative developments in the future. We are not such a force which can be silenced by force. Those who know us are our witnesses. DHKC REVOLUTIONARY PEOPLE'S LIBERATION FRONT REVOLUTIONARY PEOPLE'S FORCES IN THE UK 28 MARCH 1999 List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Tue Mar 30 12:27:21 1999 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 30 Mar 1999 12:27:21 Subject: Turkey 1998 Message-ID: <bac1c849.m3lngevfi9.fsf@big.home.ozgurluk> TURKEY 1998: The peoples of the world are engaged in a difficult war and each year has its difficulties. Victories are achieved, and there are defeats. In Turkey, the year 1998 was a year of beauty, as well as the harshness of war. It has been difficult because the oligarchy continued the attacks with its violence, thousands of people were arrested, detained, murdered. But there was beauty as well because we defended justice, dignity and independence against this violence. We never withdrew. We never ever thought of bowing for the "strength" of imperialism and the oligarchy. 1998 was a year in which we showed our responsibility towards history and our people with strength of mind. Every day of the year, it was in our mind, being the answer to the desire of our people for justice and its liberation; therefore we attacked the enemy, we organised ourselves, and we went into the mountains. And therefore we expanded our war. 1999 will be a year in which the war will develop and expand, led by the Front. This is not meant as a "prophecy", its a certainty, because the oligarchy is no longer able to prevent the expansion of the people's liberation war. VICTORY WILL BELONG THE OUR RESISTING AND FIGHTING PEOPLE, SOONER OR LATER! January 1998: January 1 - The economical crisis in Southeast Asia shocked the entire world economy and the stock markets. - The cigarette factories Samsun and Yeni Harman are, under the pretext of "privatisation", given away to the British-American Tobacco company. January 4 - In the neighbourhood of Bakirkoey, the People's Councils protest against the massacre in the UEmraniye prison. January 5 - Cihan Tarho, a student at the Malatya Inoenue University, is attacked by fascists with a knife. He dies as a consequence of his wounds on January 11. Actions are carried out in protest against his murder. Dozens of pupils are wounded because of fascist attacks in January. January 12 - The 120-page report about the Susurluk scandal, prepared by the chairman of the Investigation Committee of the prime-minister, Kutlu Savas, is presented. January 15 - Attack against the revolutionary female prisoners in the Usak prison. 40 prisoners are wounded at different part of their bodies. January 23 - The fifth session of the Gazi trial in Trabzon. Two accused policemen are released. Besides the People's Councils, the relatives of the martyrs, there was also a 20 people strong international delegation to monitor the trial. January 28 - The Kurtulus representative in Adana, Mehmet Topaloglu, and two fighters of the Akdeniz Armed Propaganda Rural Unit of the DHKC, Buelent Dil and Besat Ayyildiz, are murdered by the contra-guerrilla in a house in Adana. February 1998 February 2 - During the night, dozens of people are arrested after increased attacks against the People's Councils in the Istanbul neighbourhoods of Gazi, Birlik, Esenler, Bagcilar, Beykoz, UEmraniye, 1 Mayis, Kartal and Guelsuyu. - The chairman of the HADEP is arrested and detained. February 8 - The army of the oligarchy carries out a border crossing operation with 15.000 soldiers in Northern Iraq. February 9 - The local People's Councils carry out actions against the beer halls in Okmeydani under the slogan "We will remove these filthy institutions". February 15 - The peasants of Bergama rally in Istanbul/Kasimpasa with the slogan "Cyanide company get out". February 17 - The torturers of the Susurluk State, entering the central offices of the KURTULUS magazine with a fabricated search warrant in order to destroy the offices, are confronted with a barricade resistance. Numerous people gather outside the building in solidarity with the Kurtulus. The co-workers of the magazine are beaten up and arrested and held for 7 days in the torture chambers of the police stations. Several people are arrested at a later time. The office was totally wrecked. February 25 - The TIBSET workers, resisting for 206 days, are being attacked by the gendarmes. March 1998 March 3 - During an evening attack in Istanbul/Nurtepe, the police arrests 20 people in a bakery shop. The People's Council initiative of Nurtepe marches up to the Kagithane police station to stand up for the detainees. The police is forced to release their prisoners. March 4-5 - On March 4, empowered by the abolition of the fake Union Law, the police attacked the sit-down action of the 5.000 workers in the civil service with gas grenades, water cannons and armoured vehicles. The workers had gathered on the Kizilay square in Ankara. Despite the hindrances by the KESK (Civil Servants Union), on a line of compromises and negotiations, the workers, led by the Revolutionary Civil Servants Movement, continued their action on the Kizilay square the next day, shouting out their demands. March 11 - The Manisa Trial, in which policemen were accused of torturing DLMK-sympathisers (Fighting Committee for a democratic Gymnasium), ended with an acquittal because of "lack of evidence". March 12 - 20.000 people participated in the commemoration of the Gazi Massacre on March 12, 1995. A mass of 13.000 people marched behind the banners of the Front, the People's Councils and the Platform for Rights and Liberties. - The seven revolutionary, democratic pupils, murdered by the contra-guerrilla on March 16, 1978, were commemorated at the scene of the massacre, on Beyacit square. 2.500 people participated in this commemoration. - After the initiative by the Okmeydani People's Council again the bars, beer halls, and gambling halls, the Istanbul chief of police, Hasan OEzdemir, ordered the protection of the gambling halls by hundreds of policemen and armoured vehicles. - Newroz was celebrated in several neighbourhoods of Istanbul, as well as Ankara, Burdur, Kayseri, Malatya, Kars and Osmaniye, by Front sympathisers who ignited fires of rebellion. March 30 - The state carried out an attack against the prisoners in Buca prison. The murderers who participated in the Buca Massacre, brutally dragged away 10 DHKP-C prisoners from the visitors cabins. Thereupon the prisoners in Buca started their resistance by building barricades and causing a fire. Actions were started in prisons all over the country, demanding the return of the kidnapped prisoners. Dozens of prison guards were taken hostage. On April 1, the state saw itself forced to give in to the prisoners' demands. March 31 - The Susurluk State tried to carry out a mass scale disappearance action. Neslihan Uslu, Metin Andas, Mehmet Ali Mandal and Hassan Aydogan, arrested in Izmir. were "disappeared". April 1998 - Actions, commemorating the Martyrs of the Revolution who fell between March 30 and April 17, and commemorating the foundation of the Party-Front, were held in several neighbourhoods of Istanbul and throughout Anatolia. April 8 - A freedom action attempt by the DHKP-C prisoners in Bayrampasa prison, failed. - The torturing of the 2 .5 year old A.T., arrested together with his mother, accused of "being an organisation member", was confirmed by a report of the Physicians Chamber of Istanbul. - The "Murat Operation", said to be "the largest operation of the last 14 years", was started against the people in Kurdistan. - 12 revolutionary organisations from several countries participated in the conference "Revolution and Power in the neo-colonial countries", organised by the DHKP-C. April 21 - The trial about the "murder and torture of Baki Erdogan" ended before the Serious Crime Court in Adana. After the trial, the condemned policemen attacked the lawyers and journalists who were present in the courtroom as monitors. Several people were wounded. April 22 - It was announced that the RAF (Red Army Faction), active in Germany, has dissolved itself. May 1998 May 1 - The tens of thousands, marching in the Front's block during the MayDay parade in Istanbul, did not bow to the state attacks. Hundreds of people were arrested, hundreds were wounded. And also in Ankara, Izmir, Adana, Antep, Mersin, Bursa, Malatya, Trabzon, Hopa, Usa, Zonguldak and Kayseri, the people of the Front participated in the MayDay festivities as massive, disciplined and enthusiast blocks. The tens of thousands who marched in the ranks of the Front crossed the plans of the MGK, the union bureaucrats and the reformists. Before and after the demonstration, there were massive attacks carried out by the police in co-operation with the civic fascists. Numerous participants in the demonstration were severely wounded. May 2 - Kenan Mak, a student at the Bolu Izzet Baysal University, was murdered in a fascist attack. May 5 - Ahmet OEzdemir, member of the People's Council initiative in Esenler, committed suicide as a result of a brain trauma, caused by beatings on the head during the police attack against the Front's block in the MayDay demonstration. May 10 - The relatives of the disappeared, carrying out their sit-down action at the Galatasaray for the 155th. week, were attacked by the police. May 12 - The chairman of the IHD, Akin Berdal, was severely wounded after an armed attack by the contra-guerrilla against the IHD central offices in Ankara. May 13 - Demanding clarification of the fate of their disappeared comrades, the DHKC bombed the building of the fascist MHP in Okmeydani. May 20 - Hueseyin Kilic and Zeynep Korkmaz fell as martyrs after a unit, belonging to the Dersim Ibrahim Erdogan Armed Propaganda Rural Unit was ambushed. May 21 - Many people drowned after floods in the Black Sea region and in Hatay. May 26 - The police chief of Bueynkcekmece, Hueseyin Islamoglu, speaking in the name of "the division commander of the artillery units of Hadimkoey", threatened the printing-shop owner to stop printing the Kurtulus. May 29 - Demanding accountability for the disappearance of four Front sympathisers in Izmir, the DHKC carried out an armed action against the DSP-building (Democratic Leftist Party) in Kustepe. A policeman, Cumali Akkurt, was punished. May 31 - With the publication of the "Official Paper", the new changes of the YOEK Disciplinary Directorate came into force.. According to these, pupils who seek their rights, within and outside of the schools, respectively pupils who participate in actions, are to be punished and can be "excluded from school". June 1998 June 6 - The Gaziosmanpasa neighbourhood organisation of the DTP (Democratic Turkey Party) was destroyed by the DHKC-Revolutionary People's Forces who used bombs and Molotov-cocktails. A banner with the text "Where are our four people who disappeared - DHKC" was left behind at the scene. June 8 - The Platform for Rights and Liberties went to Ankara to ask for the whereabouts of the four revolutionaries who disappeared. A demonstration to the Gueven Park was started. After a meeting with a representative of the Interior Department, a statement was promised within 15 days. June 11 - The public service workers, organised in the KESK unions, protested against the wage increase of only 20% by laying down their work for one day. June 15 - Three DHKC guerrillas fell during an armed confrontation in the village of Ardic in Dersim-Hozat. The guerrillas Songuel Erkus, Alp Arslan and Dursun Cakir, belonging to the Dersim Ibrahim Erdogan Armed Propaganda Rural Unit, remained loyal to the tradition of the Party-Front to never surrender. June 21 - Demanding clarification of the fate of the four disappeared, the Revolutionary People's Forces occupied the OERF television and radio stations in Graz, Austria, and the offices of Amnesty International in Mannheim, Stuttgart and Frankfurt, Germany. A hungerstrike in support of the disappeared was held in Brussels and London. June 20-21 - Founding congress of the Genel-Is union, affiliated to the DISK. With only a slight majority, the reformists, MGK-unionists took the leading positions. June 27 - 145 people died during an earthquake in Adana/Ceyhan, 1517 people were wounded. There were aftershocks for days. The state abandoned the people, leaving them alone with the catastrophe, and only came up with hypocritical statements. The people carried out protest actions. July 1998 - The Platform for Rights and Liberties in Izmir announced that they are going to meet every Saturday on the Konak square for those who have disappeared. - The wage increases for the public servants ostensibly caused a coalition crisis, but in the end it was done what the IMF ordered. The civic servants received a meagre 20% increase. - Because of the 75th. anniversary of the republic, the governing DSP offered an "amnesty" for the social prisoners. July 6-15 - First issues of the papers Voice of the People in Gazi and Voice of the People in Okmeydani. July 7 - The People's Council initiative in Alibeykoey started a campaign against drugs. July 23 - The workers of all the American firms in Adana, Incirlik, Izmir and Adana went into strike to fight for their rights. July 25-26 - The martyrs of the Death Fast of 1996 were commemorated with several ceremonies in Istanbul, Ankara, Antakya, Mersin, Aydin and Denizli. August 1998 - Kurdish seasonal workers, coming to the Black Sea region to collect hazel-nuts, were not allowed into the cities because of fascist decrees by the governors of Ordu and Giresun. August 5 - TAYAD closed down. August 8 - The collaborator and traitor Ali Tokmak, responsible for the murder of 7 DHKC-guerrillas in Sivas, was punished with death in Okmeydani. - "Boran Firtinasi", the music cassette of Grup Yorum, telling the epic story of the 1996 Death Fast, appeared. August 13 - German imperialism bans DHKP-C activities within the German borders. Based on the same decree, the Kurtulus magazine is outlawed as "press organ of the DHKP-C". August 14 - Demanding accountability for the disappearance of the four Front people, the DHKC carried out bomb attack against members of the Special Police. - 80 people died after landslides and floods in the neighbourhoods of Beskoey, Suermene, Of and Koepruebasi, in Trabzon, and the neighbourhood of Rize in Ikizdere. - Cevre Radio closed down for three months after orders of the MGK. - The fascist Mafia gangster Alaatin Cakici was arrested in the French city of Nice, carrying a special red passport, handed to him by the MIT. August 20 - The USA bombed Afghanistan and Sudan. August 21 - The Idil Cultural Centre stormed by the police. 25 people arrested. - After publishing the tapes, containing telephone conversations between state minister Eyuep Asik and Mafia gangster Alaatin Cakici, the "dog fight" within the ranks of the oligarchy turns into a "Tape War". August 29 - The DHKC carries out a bomb attack against the ANAP building in the neighbourhood of Bakirkoey, demanding accountability for the disappearance of four Front sympathisers. August 30 - DHKC-guerrillas block the street in Tokat-Niksar. September 1998 September 1 - For the third time, the PKK announces a cease-fire. September 4 - The Platforms for Rights and Liberties of Istanbul and Ankara went to Izmir Cesme where the four Front sympathisers "disappeared". A sit-down action was held later, together with the Platform in Izmir and sympathisers in the region. A complaint was filed against the State Prosecution. September 5 - With a joint declaration of all revolutionary and patriotic organisations inside the prisons, the revolutionary prisoners started their boycott action against the State Security Courts. It was announced that the action, demanding the closing down of all DGM's and the cancellation of all its verdicts, was also supported by the revolutionary-democratic lawyers. September 9 - The DHKC-guerrillera Filizinal fell during an armed confrontation in Niksar-Resadiye. September 15 - As a result of the mining of the street between Hozat and Elazig by fighters of the Dersim Ibrahim Erdogan Rural Guerrilla Unit of the DHKC, demanding accountability for the four disappeared, one torturer dies, and three policemen are severely wounded. September 18 - The sell-out of the workers during the wage and tariff negotiations by the Tuerk-Metal Union and the MESS, all in the name of the 75.000 workers all over Turkey, and 16.500 in Bursa alone, caused the largest mass action of workers in recent years. - The TOFAS-workers froze production and blocked the traffic. Later the police tried to stop the workers who marched into the direction of the centre of Bursa. The workers of the Oyak Renault Car Factory, Robert Bosch and Maka Beltan also joined the action. Masses of workers left the Tuerk Metal Union, reaching a total of 10.000 all over the country. September 19 - Demanding accountability for the four disappeared Front sympathisers, the police station in Aksaray was destroyed by the DHKC with a anti-tank grenade. - Second congress of the KESK. The contra-revolutionary Dogu Perincek and the members of the IP (Workers Party), invited by the reformist-compromising KESK leadership, were thrown out of the hall by the Revolutionary Civil Servants Movement. The leadership remained in reformist hands. September 23 - The Baba Ishak Cultural Centre was opened in Kuecuek Armutlu. September 29 - Peasants from the regions of Denizli, Afyon, Aydin, Mugla, Balikesir and Usak protested in Bergama and Soeke against the high prices of cotton. October 1998 October 1 - Troops were gathered at the borders with Syria after a MGK decree of September 30. October 2 - The police stormed the printing-shop of the magazine Kurtulus for the People and arbitrarily confiscated 16.000 copies. Six co-workers of the Kurtulus were arrested and the Kurtulus was closed down for one month. - The High Institution for Privatisations decided to close down the SEKA factory in Izmit. Thereupon, the resistance which started in SEKA Izmit, was continued by the workers of the SEKA factories in Balikesir Giresun-Aksu and Silifke-Tasucu. Actions like the refusal to leave the workplace, demonstrations and meetings were carried out. After the resistance spread across the country , the High Institution for Privatisations withdrew its decision on October 31. October 7 - Using the pretext of a search, the police arrested 24 co-workers and readers of the Kurtulus. Two co-workers and the chief editor of the Devrimci Genclik were jailed. October 16 - The fascist dictator of Chile, Pinochet, was arrested in England on the request of Spain. October 19 - Using the argument that the preparations for a tunnel had been discovered in the cells of the DHKP-C and TKP(ML) prisoners, the administration of Ceyhan prison launched an attack against the prisoners. Dozens of prisoners were seriously injured. After this attack, the revolutionary prisoners in all other jails carried out actions like refusing the count, occupying the corridors, and taking hostages. As a result, the state was forced to recognise the demands of the Central Prison Co-ordination. - A tape was discovered, containing a telephone conversation in which the "employer" Korkmaz Yigit and Tuerbank hired the Mafia gangster Alaatin Cakici. October 22 - The contra-guerrilla organisation JITEM (Intelligence Service of the Gendarmes) was officially announced in Turkish parliament. October 24 - The attacks against the relatives of the disappeared continue, 24 people are arrested. - From October 24 till November 2, manoeuvres of the USA and South Korea against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. About 35.000 US-soldiers based in South Korea and more than 50.000 South Korean soldiers took part in the military manoeuvre "Eagle 98", using state of the art military weapons. In the manoeuvres that were held at the same time under the name of "Hwarang 98" more than 1,1 million regular and semi-regular armed forces of South Korea and the USA took part. October 30 - The Kurdish patriot Erdal Aksu, who kidnapped an aeroplane in protest against the massacres in Kurdistan, was murdered by the Special Team. October 31 - Instigated by the Revolutionary Civil Servants Movement, the 2nd. Congress of the Workers in the Civil Service was held in Istanbul. November 1998 November 3 - At the second anniversary of Susurluk, more than 10.000 people held the Susurluk State responsible by demonstrating in the streets of the Gazi neighbourhood, of Okmeydani, 1 Mayis, Alibeykoey, Nurtepe and Bagcilar. The loudest voices were heard from the avant-guard of the front from the slum areas. November 4 - The police, storming the Cultural Centres in Gazi and Okmeydani, as well as the Idil Cultural Centre, arrested dozens of people. The people of Gazi took to the street and stood up against the arrests. The police saw themselves forced to release the detained people. - Hurricane Mitch caused the death of more than 7.000 people in Central America. November 5 - The DHKC once again asked "Where are the disappeared". The Sultanahmet court building was bombed and destroyed. November 6 - The November 6 Boycott, started in 1990 by the TOEDEF, has now spread across the entire country. November 7 - Hungerstrikes of the Kurtulus representatives in Kocaeli, Bursa, Denizli and Izmir in protest against the attacks against the paper. The co-workers and readers of the Kurtulus in Kocaeli, attacked by the police and civic fascist during the action, resisted and set up barricades. They were brutally beaten up, arrested and some of them were later sent to jail. - Thousands of workers in Kayseri, Yozgat, Nevsehir, Tunceli and Kirsehir joined the hungerstrike which was started by the seasonal workers of the General Directorate of Village Services in Erzurum and Antalya. November 14 - PPK-leader Abdullah OEcalan arrested in Italy. A statement of the DHKC Press Office reads: "The arrest of PKK-leader Abdullah OEcalan is part of the terror and annihilation policy of imperialism, applied against all the revolutionary organisation of the world and their leaders." November 16 - DHKC fighters bomb the Tax Department in Avcilar/Istanbul. November 19 - In protest against the arrest of OEcalan, 17 Kurdish patriots burn themselves during the last days of November. - The police force and civic fascist carry out attacks nation-wide against the hungerstrikes which are organised by the HADEP in solidarity with its leadership and the demand for peace. Hundreds of HADEP supporters are arrested. Two Kurdish patriots massacred during the chauvinist attacks. - A tremendous shock for the Susurluk State when it heard about the existence of a DHKC guerrilla unit in the mountains of Denizli. Thousands of soldiers, members of the Special Teams and tanks are directed to Denizli and the neighbouring region. After an operation which lasted for 10 days, that state directed all its forces against the village of Balkica, in the Goelgeli Mountains, where two DHKC fighters are spotted. After a gun fight of 20 hours, the commander of the unit, Erhan Yilmaz and the second commander, Mehmet Yildirim, fell as martyrs after shouting the words "We are from the Party-Front, we are from the DHKP-C, we will not surrender, you cannot break us, the members of the DHKP-C are immortal". December 1998 - Hurricane "George" kills and wounds thousands of people in the Dominican Republic, and there are more than 300.000 refugees. There are fears of a national famine because of the destruction of the agricultural and industrial infrastructure. More than 90% of the expected harvest of these months is destroyed. The material damages, the damages to the eco-system, the production losses, the damages to the infrastructure, irrigation works, schools, et cetera, are enormous. According to the first estimates, the damages are more than 2 billion US-dollars, without taking into account the severe damages to the eco-system. December 2 - In commemoration of the martyrs of Denizli, the Revolutionary People's Forces carry out actions like the hanging of banners and flags, and writing slogans, in several neighbourhoods of Istanbul. - A civic fascist gang attacks a revolutionary-democratic structure, the Kalaba Halkevi (People's House) in Kecioeren, a neighbourhood in Ankara. December 4, 7 and 10 - The Kurtulus representation in Hopa is stormed and destroyed for the third consecutive time by the police. The co-workers of the paper are arrested. December 17 - Using the delegation report to the UN as a pretext, American and English imperialism once again attack Iraq. -- 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 Mar 30 12:29:10 1999 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 30 Mar 1999 12:29:10 Subject: New cell type in Turkey Message-ID: <bac1c849.m3k8vyvfdo.fsf@big.home.ozgurluk> Subject: Individual cells in Turkey With the decisions of the National Security Council (MGK) of February 28, 1997, the building of special prison cells was begun. Notwithstanding the unsolvable problems in the prisons like health care, legal defence, family visits, social-political and cultural rights, 1 trillion TL (1 million dollars) was spent in three months for building these cells. Although it was assured that these cells were not intended for political prisoners, developments show differently. We will list the major problems, occurring on the agenda because the state violently takes away the rights of the prisoners in an attempt to legitimise these special cells. The building of these cells: After the MGK came up with this decision, the building of this new cell type was concluded rapidly in 30 prisons. These cells are meant for housing 2 or 4 persons, as well as for individual prisoners. The introduction of this new cell type was just concluded in the recently built Kartal prison on Istanbul. Individual cells were also created in the prisons of Sakaraya, Aydin, Ceyhan, Kuerkcueler, Malatya, Konya, Ni-de, Mu-la, U-al, Erzurum, Ordu, Trabzon and Afyon. The building was also ordered for the prison of Bergama, but the work has not been started yet. Confronted with the reactions of the people, the minister who ordered the decree stated on September 29, 1997, that these cells were only meant for ".... homosexuals, bisexuals, for persons whose lives are endangered, persons who prefer to be alone, prisoners with contagious diseases like hepatitis, tuberculosis or AIDS, those who are rejected by the other prison inmates, psychopaths, the mentally ill, the "cell" bosses, Mafia members". But it is already clear that political, as well as social, prisoners are locked up in these cells. For example, the DHKP-C prisoner Adem Ye-ilda- was transferred from the Malatya prison to Elbistan because his life was said to be in danger. The majority of the points which are mentioned in the decree cannot be put into practice anyway. The "cell bosses" participate in the control of the prisons in Turkey. One can only become a "boss" with the approval of the prison administration, mostly after paying slush money. And therefore there are no differences between the department, the "cell bosses", the Mafia bosses, and the prison guards. On January 3, 1998, the justice minister Oltan Sungurlu openly stated that the prison cells were not built for 40 people: "the controls can only be carried out by daily using the gendarmes. The prison guards can not enter the cells. At the side of the terrorists, the criminals also begin to commit these crimes. For a solution, we want the public's support and money..." The protection of life: The life of the prisoners is not guaranteed, especially not those of the political prisoners. The state controls the prisons, up to massacres. A trial was started against the prisoners who rebelled because of a massacre in UEmraniye prison, but those who planned and executed the massacre remained unpunished. A official protocol, made after the massacre in Buca prison, states that the soldiers were not in the possession of iron bars when they entered the cells, they just removed the barricades, and while the security forces were carrying out a search of the cells, the political prisoners threw themselves from the top of their bunk beds, causing the deaths and the wounded. Again no trial against those who were responsible for this massacre. The prisoners are finished off like terrorists and enemies. Like the lives of the political prisoners, the lives of the social prisoners is endangered in the prisons as well. Social prisoners who resist torture, or who resist oppression, are murdered as well. Health problems: Except for the Sagmalcilar prison, no other prison has a hospital or medical facilities. But even this one is not well equipped. The transport of ill prisoners to a hospital is hindered in several ways, using pretexts like a lack of money, no soldiers available. The soldiers also show a provocative attitude. The sick who are being brought to hospital nevertheless, are often not examined because of the presence of the soldiers. Physicians often claim not to be in duty. The prisons of Sakarya, U-ak, Buca, Bergama and Aydin haven't bought medicines for the past two months, claiming there aren't enough financial means. The prison administration often doesn't allow medicines in which are brought by lawyers or relatives. And thus the prisoners cannot even treat themselves. Temporary illnesses or wounds pass or heal before a medical treatment takes place. Prisoners with serious illnesses are just left to die. Because of the practised arbitrariness, prisoners die. Kalender Kayap -nar, imprisoned in Canakkale, suffered from cancer because he was not treated, and even after the disease had become incurable, his discharge from prison was refused. He was only released three days before his death. Serpil Kaya, a PKK-prisoner in the Sakarya prison, died last week because transportation to hospital was refused. Contagious diseases spread rapidly because of lacking protection. Four women in Sakarya suffer from tuberculosis. The number of tuberculosis sufferers in Buca prison is estimated at 78. Prisoners who suffered from incurable diseases because of their participation in the 1996 Death Fast are not treated at all, their cell mates have to help them. The prisoners in Cankiri, Sakarya and Buca were treated with infusions only once after the Death Fast was ended, and then sent back with the words "your situation has improved". Visiting problems: Most relatives aren't allowed in. Although it isn't legally obliged to produce a proof a kinship, this is often used as a pretext to deny visits. The relatives are verbally abused during all their visits. They are seen as potential criminals. For example, their fingerprints are checked in UEmraniye prison. In the Bartin prison, the visitors are asked if they are wanted by the police. The body searches the visitors are subjected to, are humiliating. Often the relatives are arrested after their visits and threatened not to come again. The legal defence: There are several problems which occur with the lawyers' visits. Although a lawyer has a right to speak with his client at all times, and without showing a power of attorney, this is often disregarded. Lawyers of political prisoners are subjected to a special treatment and regarded as enemies. Because of their visit, they are seen as potential criminals and searched. They are also often subjected to attacks by the gendarmes, security officers and policemen. Soldiers attempt to censure the defence pleas of prisoners in court. Visits between prisoners: The department tries to prevent visits between prisoners with several pretexts. In case social prisoners speak with political prisoners, they are immediately put in solitary confinement are transferred to another prison. The right of the social prisoners to receive open visits is not granted to the political prisoners. Social problems: It is tried to isolate the prisoners from events in the world outside. In many prisons, not even daily papers are allowed. Socialist papers aren't allowed at all. Food supplies are usually rotten and unhealthy in general. The daily meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) are estimated at 165.000 TL per prisoner by the Justice Department. Ridiculous, seen the fact that a loaf of bread costs 40.000 TL, and soup 250.000. The need for food can only be met by gifts from the families. However, reasoning that this would strengthen the solidarity between the political prisoners, the Justice Department issued a decree that outlaws the accepting of food, supplied by the families. The problems, listed above, reach different dimensions in all the prisons in Turkey. We say different dimensions, because the status inside the prisons is connected to the measure in which the tradition of struggle and resistance by the prisoners has forced the prison administration back and forced them to negotiate about their rights. The status which is created inside the prisons is never laid down on paper. The creation of this new cell type is now on the prisons' agenda. It is clear that the construction of these cells has nothing to do with "humanity", as the Justice Department claimed. Because prisoners are dying because of lacking medical treatment, their provisions are insufficient and irregular, and they are not transported to court because money for gas is supposedly lacking. The prisoners in Sakarya weren't brought to the court sessions during the last two months because the budget for gas was said to be finished. It was attempted to extort taxes from the families, supposedly for fare costs. On the other hand, 1 trillion TL is spent for the construction of cells, proof that this has nothing to do with "humanitarian conduct". This money could be spend for solving the problems inside the prisons, health problems, problems with medical treatment, supplies and transportation to court. In addition, the department's views about the new cell type equal, seen from the perspective of the social prisoners, a coffin. The common prisoners, also confronted with exploitation, oppression and the robbing of their personality, began to resist. In 1997, their was resistance in several prisons, like the ones in U-cak and Metris, where five people were murdered. The department, fearing such resistance, aims at putting away the common prisoners in coffins as well. The Justice Department is awaiting a suitable time to put the political and the common prisoners in these cells. It is also attempted to make preparations for new massacres in the prisons. -- 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 Mar 30 13:24:32 1999 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 30 Mar 1999 13:24:32 Subject: Turkey: commemoration of the March 12 massacre in 1995 in Gazi/Ista Message-ID: <bac1c849.m3677ivcu7.fsf@big.home.ozgurluk> Report on this year's commemoration of the March 12 massacre in 1995 in Gazi/Istanbul Already several days before March 12, on which there are commemorations and demonstrations held annually about the Gazi massacre of 1995, the police terror started in the Istanbul neighbourhood. Police post were deployed at the exit and entrance roads of the neighbourhood. On March 11, the police entered all the houses with force and countless people were arrested. Already one week before March 12, police forces searched all new buildings and cellars. Cross roads were controlled by the police. Policemen, special teams and soldiers were deployed. On the afternoon of March 11, the entrance and exit roads of Gazi were controlled by the police and numerous people were arrested. Special teams took position on roofs. The state's aim was to prevent this year's commemoration. On March 11, even more state forces were deployed. The relatives of the victims of Gazi made a dinner in the Alevi Community Centre (Cemevi) were many people gathered. The Cemevi board had invited the police chiefs who had been personally responsible for the 1995 massacre. This attitude caused protests from the relatives of the murdered and some declared: "Now we see how the board comes up for the martyrs". On March 12, at 10 a.m., the entrance to Gazi was banned, all vans and busses were stopped and the people were taken out with violence, searched and brought to cellars. The inhabitants of the neighbourhood were forced into their houses. The people's enemies directed their weapons against the people to intimidate them and to prevent them from participating in the commemoration. Members from the press tried to enter the neighbourhood as well. But only very few were allowed in and most only received permission when the demonstration was finished already. The people from Okmeydani and Alibeykoey were not allowed to pass the police barricades, and many were arrested. More than 2000 people tried to enter the neighbourhood and more than 1000 of them were arrested. All the streets and cross roads to the Cemevi were occupied by the police to prevent participation in the commemoration. And the Cemevi itself, where the commemoration was to start, was surrounded by police forces. However, some 600 people managed to gather in front of the building and at 11.30 a.m. they began to march behind the banner of the Gazi People's Council. They went into the direction of the tea-house where the first martyr of the 1995 massacre, Halil Kaya, had been killed. The demonstrators shouted the slogans: "DO NOT REMAIN SILENT, WHEN YOU KEEP SILENT, YOU'LL BE NEXT!" "THE PEOPLE OF GAZI ARE HERE, WHERE ARE THE MURDERERS!" "PEOPLE OF OURS, JOIN TO DEMAND JUSTICE!" "LONG LIVE THE PEOPLE'S JUSTICE!" "WE ARE THE PEOPLE, WE ARE RIGHT, WE WILL WIN!" A press statement was read at the first stop by the Commemoration Committee, protesting the 1995 massacre. Carnations were left behind and the march continued in the direction of the grave yard. While the crowd went on its way, they were surrounded by special forces who tried to intimidate the people with gestures. Other people, coming from cross roads and attempting to join the commemoration, were cut off. Thereupon the relatives of the martyrs, People's Council members and other political groups started a sit-down action to force the joining of these people. During this action, the Gazi Commemoration Committee - which had made promises to the police - urged the people to move on. They stated: "We will bring these people to the square, we've got everything under control. The police will allow these people through." Then the people who were waiting in the cross roads were attacked by the police and there were violent confrontations. Many people were wounded and arrested. Again there were slogans: "THE MURDERER OF GAZI IS THE SUSURLUK STATE!" "THE ATTACKERS CANNOT INTIMIDATE US!" "THE GAZI MARTYRS ARE IMMORTAL!" "LONG LIVE THE REVOLUTIONARY SOLIDARITY" The relatives sang lamentations at the graves of their murdered children, embracing each other. Carnations were left at the scene and then the relatives read poems. Speeches were held. A member of the Gazi People's Council emphasised in his speech that it wasn't all right to trust the police and that their courtesy was not sincere. He concluded his speech with the words: "The Gazi Trial belongs to us all and we must participate in it". After a statement of the Cemevi board and the father of Zeynep Polat, murdered in Gazi, the people returned to the Cemevi. There were slogans in front of the Cemevi and people sang. A final statement was read. -- 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 Mar 30 14:23:50 1999 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 30 Mar 1999 14:23:50 Subject: Turkey: commemoration of the March 12 massacre in 1995 in Gazi/Ista References: <bac1c849.m3677ivcu7.fsf@big.home.ozgurluk> Message-ID: <bac1c849.m3677ivcu7.fsf@big.home.ozgurluk> Report on this year's commemoration of the March 12 massacre in 1995 in Gazi/Istanbul Already several days before March 12, on which there are commemorations and demonstrations held annually about the Gazi massacre of 1995, the police terror started in the Istanbul neighbourhood. Police post were deployed at the exit and entrance roads of the neighbourhood. On March 11, the police entered all the houses with force and countless people were arrested. Already one week before March 12, police forces searched all new buildings and cellars. Cross roads were controlled by the police. Policemen, special teams and soldiers were deployed. On the afternoon of March 11, the entrance and exit roads of Gazi were controlled by the police and numerous people were arrested. Special teams took position on roofs. The state's aim was to prevent this year's commemoration. On March 11, even more state forces were deployed. The relatives of the victims of Gazi made a dinner in the Alevi Community Centre (Cemevi) were many people gathered. The Cemevi board had invited the police chiefs who had been personally responsible for the 1995 massacre. This attitude caused protests from the relatives of the murdered and some declared: "Now we see how the board comes up for the martyrs". On March 12, at 10 a.m., the entrance to Gazi was banned, all vans and busses were stopped and the people were taken out with violence, searched and brought to cellars. The inhabitants of the neighbourhood were forced into their houses. The people's enemies directed their weapons against the people to intimidate them and to prevent them from participating in the commemoration. Members from the press tried to enter the neighbourhood as well. But only very few were allowed in and most only received permission when the demonstration was finished already. The people from Okmeydani and Alibeykoey were not allowed to pass the police barricades, and many were arrested. More than 2000 people tried to enter the neighbourhood and more than 1000 of them were arrested. All the streets and cross roads to the Cemevi were occupied by the police to prevent participation in the commemoration. And the Cemevi itself, where the commemoration was to start, was surrounded by police forces. However, some 600 people managed to gather in front of the building and at 11.30 a.m. they began to march behind the banner of the Gazi People's Council. They went into the direction of the tea-house where the first martyr of the 1995 massacre, Halil Kaya, had been killed. The demonstrators shouted the slogans: "DO NOT REMAIN SILENT, WHEN YOU KEEP SILENT, YOU'LL BE NEXT!" "THE PEOPLE OF GAZI ARE HERE, WHERE ARE THE MURDERERS!" "PEOPLE OF OURS, JOIN TO DEMAND JUSTICE!" "LONG LIVE THE PEOPLE'S JUSTICE!" "WE ARE THE PEOPLE, WE ARE RIGHT, WE WILL WIN!" A press statement was read at the first stop by the Commemoration Committee, protesting the 1995 massacre. Carnations were left behind and the march continued in the direction of the grave yard. While the crowd went on its way, they were surrounded by special forces who tried to intimidate the people with gestures. Other people, coming from cross roads and attempting to join the commemoration, were cut off. Thereupon the relatives of the martyrs, People's Council members and other political groups started a sit-down action to force the joining of these people. During this action, the Gazi Commemoration Committee - which had made promises to the police - urged the people to move on. They stated: "We will bring these people to the square, we've got everything under control. The police will allow these people through." Then the people who were waiting in the cross roads were attacked by the police and there were violent confrontations. Many people were wounded and arrested. Again there were slogans: "THE MURDERER OF GAZI IS THE SUSURLUK STATE!" "THE ATTACKERS CANNOT INTIMIDATE US!" "THE GAZI MARTYRS ARE IMMORTAL!" "LONG LIVE THE REVOLUTIONARY SOLIDARITY" The relatives sang lamentations at the graves of their murdered children, embracing each other. Carnations were left at the scene and then the relatives read poems. Speeches were held. A member of the Gazi People's Council emphasised in his speech that it wasn't all right to trust the police and that their courtesy was not sincere. He concluded his speech with the words: "The Gazi Trial belongs to us all and we must participate in it". After a statement of the Cemevi board and the father of Zeynep Polat, murdered in Gazi, the people returned to the Cemevi. There were slogans in front of the Cemevi and people sang. A final statement was read. -- 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