MASS RESISTANCE OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
On the day Turkey applied for
full membership to the European Community, April 14, 1987, thousands of
students throughout the country refused their lunches in protest of the
lack of democratic practices in the country and in the universities. In
Izmir and Istanbul, groups of students started a protest march towards
capital in hopes of submitting a letter to the Speaker of the National
Assembly which consists of the complaints of students.
The unrest among the students
reached to a big dimension because of draft law which stipulates that
all student associations will come under the control of the university
deans and in each faculty students will have only one association.
Four days earlier, a group of the
Middle East Technical University (ODTU) students had gathered in front
of the university presidential building and continued their protest
with a sit-in in the garden. When a student started to sing a protest
song, he was taken away by the gendarmerie.His comrades trying to
prevent this harassing were also clubbed and taken to police stations.
Protest actions have rapidly
spread to six university cities: Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Bursa,
Eskisehir and Adana. On April 15, in Istanbul, police used clubs to
disperse more than 1,000 students and detained 73 among them. In
Eskisehir, university students boycotted lunch and poured their food
trays into the garbage. They also marched for 800 meters and carried
banners which said they want a democratic university rather than rifle
butts and police clubs. Eskisehir was the meeting place for the
students marching from Istanbul and Izmir to Ankara.
On growing actions the government
bowed to students' demands. Premier Ozal personally intervened in the
matter and the Education Commission in Parliament withdrew the draft
law. Ozal aid that the government was not prepared to counter any
students' protest at this stage. He claims also that the students had
been provoked by various groups who saw some advantage in creating the
unrest and warned against the "possible subversive aims" of these
people.
Despite the government's step
back, on April 16, students continued their protests and about 250 of
them were detained in the capital after a march.
In Istanbul, the police used
clubs to break up a demonstration with more than 1,000 students.
Hundreds of students in different university cities of Turkey were
taken into custody for holding unauthorized demonstrations.
As for the marchers coming from
Istanbul, Izmir and Eskisehir, they were halted by the police at the
entrance of Ankara.
State Security Courts ruled for
the arrest of 52 students in Ankara, 31 in Istanbul and 300 in
Izmir. While they were being questionned by courts, their comrades
again went on hunger strikes for protesting against police terror. "The
oppressive regime in Turkey is trying to keep the students from
speaking out against its policies. We want the release of our friends.
We want the government to show respect toward civil liberties and
freedom of thought," said the strikers.
GROWING WORKERS' STRIKES
As social unrest grew among
workers who complain of low wages and the employers' refusal to sign a
collective bargaining agreement on the new pay increases, several more
trade unions have gone on strike in Turkey. With 9,000 more petroleum
workers, affiliated to Petrol-Is, walking out in 56 plants, the number
of workers who are on strike has reached 13,000 at the end of April
1987.
The Turkish Road Workers Union
(YOL-IS) has announced that nearly 115,000 workers will soon go on
strike.
Strikes are expected also in the
sectors of wood, food, plastic and metal works.
According to a survey published
by the U.S. Labor Statistics Department, Turkish labour is indeed among
the cheapest in the world:
Countries
Labor cost per hour ($)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
United States
12.88
Norway
12.22
Belgium
11.73
FRG
9.60
France
7.80
Italy
7.66
Gt Britain
7.35
Japan
6.45
Hong Kong
1.75
Portugal
1.53
Taiwan
1.50
South Korea
1.41
TURKEY
1.04
(Turkish Daily News, 23.1.1987)
The Petroleum Workers' Union
(Petrol-Is) announced on April 10 that wage-earners have lost 57% of
their purchasing power since the military coup of 1980.
While the monthly food
expenditures of a 4-person family (parents and two children) is
reaching 120,000 TL (150 $) and the rent of a too modest habitation
100,000 TL (125$) at the end of April 1987, a petroleum worker having a
20-year length of service receives only 73,000 TL (91.25$).
As for the legal minimum wage,
paid at least to half a million workers, it is in one word ridiculous:
28,086 TL (35$). Whit this wage, a worker has to work for 1 hour and 28
minutes for buying 1 Kg bread, 18 hours and 54 minutes for 1 kg meat
and 180 hours and 17 minutes for a pair of shoes. (Cumhuriyet,
2.3.1987).
A WORKERS' RALLY PREVENTED
A planned march to Parliament of
the Confederation of Turkish Labour Unions (TURK-IS), on March 24,
1987, by police who set up barricades around the union's headquarters.
Barricades were broken up as the
would-be marchers, about 500 strong, tried to leave the headquarters.
They were confronted by policemen in crash helmets guarding metal
fencing which sealed off the nearby streets.
The incident was the first of its
kind in Turkey since the military coup. The TURK-IS Presidents Council
had decided earlier to make use of their citizenship rights, and march
to Parliament to deliver a letter demanding full democracy and labour
rights.
On this police brutality, the
union leaders burnt the letters addressing to Speaker of Parliament.
PROTEST THROUGH SELF-IMMOLATION
A 55-year old retired teacher,
Mehmet Bulgac, protesting the government's un respect to social rights,
poured gasoline on his body and ignited it yesterday before the Prime
Ministry building in a self-immolation act.
He left three letters
behind, one addressed to General Evren, the other two were for Premier
Özal and his wife. The police refused to disclose the contents of the
three letters.
Earlier, on March 9, 1987,
another teacher, 33-year old Emin Orpak, unable to pay his debt of
688,050 TL accumulated because of the insufficiency of his salary,
committed suicide by getting poison.
On the other hand, according to
the data given by the State Statistics Institute, 234 people had died
in 1984 because of hunger.
NEW PHASE IN THE KURDISH GUERILLA
The representative of the
National Liberation Front of Kurdistan (ERNK), during a press
conference held on May 6, 1987, in Brussels, announced that the Central
Committee of the front decided on April 30, 1987, to pass from the
phase of local armed actions up to the phase of a guerrilla war
throughout Kurdistan, and with this end in view, to equip the Popular
Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK), issued from the Liberation Unity
of Kurdistan (HRK).
ERNK underlines that this popular
war is being carried out under the leadership of the Workers' Party of
Kurdistan (PKK).
The Turkish General Staff
announced on March 18, 1987 that for over seven years 147 members of
the security forces had been killed by Kurdish militants. Of them eight
are army officers, 14 NCOs, 105 soldiers, 16 village protectors and 4
policemen. Also 250 civilian people have lost their lives during the
armed clashes. According to the same communiqué, the number of the
Kurds shot dead rises to 216.
After this date:
19.3, security forces shot dead 5
Kurdish militants in Beytusebab (Hakkari) and four in Dicle
(Diyarbakir).
20.3, at the village of Atli in
Mardin, three Kurdish militants shot dead.
21.3, Kurdish militants attacked
a military barrack in the district of Balveren. ERNK announced that 10
soldiers had been shot during this raid. Another clash in Sirnak ended
in the death of two soldiers and one Kurdish militant.
1.4, TKP-ML militants shot dead
two pro-government peasants in Tunceli.
5.4, in Egil (Diyarbakir), three
Kurdish militants were shot dead by security forces.
12.4, in Uludere, a Kurdish
militants was shot dead and two others wounded.
13.4, ARGK militants executed
seven village protectors at the village of Kavuncuk (Sirnak) as a
punishment for their collaboration with security forces.
13.4, a military vehicle fell
into an ambush laid by ARGK in Cukurca. One soldier was shot dead, a
NCO and three soldiers wounded.
17.4, an armed clash between
Kurdish guerrilla and an army unit ended in the death of a soldier and
two militants.
21.4, security forces killed five
Kurdish militants in two separate clashes: three ARGK militants in
Bingol and two TKP-ML militants in Tunceli.
27.4, a military vehicle fell in
a Kurdish ambush in Eruh during which a NCO was shot dead.
28.4, a ARGK attack on a military
depot in Kandilli (Erzurum) ended in the death of 7 soldiers.
29.4, ARGK militants shot dead 2
lieutenant and 10 soldiers in Semdinli (Hakkari). Same day the headman
of the village of Gulec (Tunceli) shot dead by Kurdish militants for
his anti-guerrilla position.
According to another press report
appeared on April 30, 1987 in the daily Cumhuriyet, within the
last 3-year period, 449 armed conflicts with ARGK guerillas have
resulted in the death of 149 security force members, 268 Kurdish
militants and 222 civilian people.
In a recent declaration,
General-President Kenan Evren admitted that the security forces have
not yet arrived to annihilate "separatist movement".
STATE TERRORISM IN TURKISH KURDISTAN
Following are the extracts from
an interview given to CEDRI in March 1987 by a European journalist who
is the Turkey correspondent for several well-known daily newspapers:
Question: In Europe there is much
talk of the "democratisation" of Turkey. You have travelled a lot in
the country and particularly in Turkish Kurdistan. What then are your
impressions?
"There is no way that one can
speak of democratisation. The measures introduced by the government
could be compared to those taken during the Second World War. People
have no rights. The presence of policemen and soldiers is so
overwhelming that there are about three soldiers for each civilian. In
certain villages the population is not allowed the right to possess
sufficient provisions. The press reports that each peasant only has the
right to the food he needs on a day to day basis. Otherwise, he is
suspected of supporting terrorists or separatists.
"Two weeks ago, the Turkish
newspaper Cumhuriyet wrote that 9 million persons were to be evacuated.
That is probably not true, but it is safe to assume that over 100,000
persons will be transferred by force. The government is trying to
establish a dead zone along the border with Iraq and Iran, what they
call a security zone. There exists a plan to relocate these people in
new towns which would be built in the plans where there are no forests
or mountains -so that it is easy to control the population, even by
plane. The houses are generally built out of corrugated iron and life
is impossible in them. There is another plan to turn these
deported Kurds into a sub-proletariat in the large cities of Western
Turkey -Izmir, Istanbul, Ankara and Adana, where there are no means of
gaining a livelihood. Unemployment in Turkey is over 20% and there is
no accommodation, work, nothing. They can only vegetate there.
Question: We have heard that
there is a curfew in many regions...
"Over 1500 special units were
brought to the region three months ago. They are called the "black
beetles" or "super-commandos". Many of them have been trained in West
Germany or in the United States and are equipped with ultra-modern
weapons. They are also notorious for their Alsatian dogs. After 10
o'clock at night or midnight, depending on the area, the civilian
population is not permitted to leave their houses. According to the
Chairman of the Social Democrat Populist Party (SHP), these dogs are
not fed throughout the day and are let loose in the villages at night.
The one who leaves his house is attacked by the dogs.
Question: What happens during a
razzia in a village?
"Early in the morning, policemen
and soldiers surround the village. The entire population is assembled
by force on the village square where some are tortured and the women
are often raped. Worst of all for the peasants is that all of their
harvest is confiscated, their possessions are stolen, even family
heirlooms. These objects are later sold by the soldiers to supplement
their miserable wages. These razzias are no more than torture, rape and
robbery. I was not able to visit these villages myself as it is
forbidden for foreigners to enter these regions and I was kept under
constant surveillance by the police. But I have met many inhabitants of
these villages who have sought refuge in towns.
Question: What is the situation
in the prisons in Kurdistan?
"There is Mardin prison which has
a sinister reputation. It is situated on a hill above the Syrian plain.
Right at the top there is a NATO base from which one can see the whole
of the Syrian plain and far into Iraq.This base was attacked by the PKK
last August. The prison is just below the base. There is not one single
tree in the area around the prison. The cells measure one meter by two
meters and temperatures rise to 50 degrees in summer while the winters
are very harsh. Recently a new prison was built in Kurdistan about
which nobody speaks. It is at Siirt and is to become the new torture
center for Kurds. Up until now, Diyarbakir prison fulfilled this
function, but many European delegations have come to Diyarbakir. This
is the reason why the new center was opened at Siirt six months ago.
Siirt is near the Syrian border. Kurds from this region have told me
that there are already over 3000 prisoners there. Hardly anyone knows
about the prison, even Amnesty International. In Diyarbakir prison
there are now about 4000 prisoners, in spite of the fact that it was
built for only 360 inmates.
Question: What do you think of
the recent bombing raids by the Turkish air force against Kurdish
villages in Iraq?
"400 civilians were killed in the
recent bombings on Kurdish villages in Iraq. The explanation given of a
revenge action against the PKK is absurd. The PKK and Barzani's men are
guerrilla armies operating outside the villages. The last bombings in
1986 had already caused civilian victims. Many villages have been
destroyed and winter is very hard at the moment. Where are all the
inhabitants of these villages to go? Here in Europe nobody is
interested. It seems to be accepted that it is an act of vengeance.
"I think that the Turkish
airforce's bombing raids against the Kurds in Iraq are in fact the
first step in the invasion of Kirkuk and Mosul. This plan to control
the Kirkuk region became known in Turkey six months ago when a retired
general revealed it. This resulted in considerable discussion in the
press and in parliament and, ever since, there have been regular
articles explaining Turkey's legitimate claim to the region. In order
to justify this claim to public opinion they say that there are a
million Turks living in the area. Over the last three months there have
been many newspaper reports saying that this Turkish minority suffers
opression. It is possible that the Turks will once again play the role
of liberators of their minorities abroad; such an argument would
certainly find approval at least in Turkish public opinion.
"There was recently an important
meeting of various NATO generals at Diyarbakir which received no
publicity. A detailed plan was established: should the Iraqi army no
longer be able to resist against Iran, Turkey would occupy Kirkuk and
Mosul; the Soviet Union would oppose this and this would provide a
pretext for the United States to send their Rapid Deployment Force in
order to support their Turkish ally. They would be able to publicly
establish military bases in the region, using the pretext of the Soviet
threat. They have already begun the construction of certain
infrastructures, but only in this way could they justify the sending of
the RDF."
TURKISH PACIFISTS CONDEMNED AGAIN
Just after the introducing of the
Turkish demand for accession to the European Communities, the trial of
the Turkish Peace Association ended once more in condemnation of twelve
out of 71 accused leading members. On April 28, 1987, the Military
Tribunal of Istanbul sentenced:
Chairman Mahmut Dikerdem and Mrs.
Reha Isvan to 5-year prison term each,
Erdal Atabek, Metin Ozek, Aykut
Goker, Orhan Taylan, Huseyin Bas, Nedim Tarhan, Erol Saracoglu and
Ataman Tangor to 18 months and 15 days each,
Niyazi Dalyanci and Nurettin
Yilmaz to 6 months each.
The tribunal decided also closing
down of the Turkish Peace Association.
All defendants are accused of
having served to the Soviet Union's interests under the guise of peace
action.
The trials had begun on April 14,
1982 and ended in condemnation for the first time on November 14, 1983.
Since all of them had already
served the prison terms under arrest, they will not be imprisoned.
Nevertheless, the condemned pacifists have appealed against the verdict.
"CONDEMNATION" OF GREY WOLVES
Ex-colonel Alparslan Türkes,
chief of neo-fascist Grey Wolves and responsible No. 1 of the pre-coup
political violence, was condemned on April 8, 1987, to only a 11-year
prison term, by the military tribunal of Ankara.
At the end of the trial of the
Nationalist Action Party (MHP), 148 Grey Wolves, including all the
members of the party's administrative board, were acquitted.
The tribunal condemned only some
party activists for their armed actions: 5 to death sentences, 9 to
life-prison and 219 to different prison terms.
While all left-wing party leaders
and militants, even if they had never been involved in terror acts,
were being condemned for "political actions aiming at overthrowing the
constitutional regime", Turkes and his companions were not considered
liable to this charge and were condemned only for committing "common
crime" by setting up armed gangs. That is to say, contrary to the case
of left-wing leaders and militants, Turkes and Grey Wolves will never
be deprived of their public and political rights.
Turkes, released on April 9,
1985, has already taken part in political life by actively supporting
the Nationalist Labour Party (MCP).
When Turkes came to the first
congress of this party, on April 19, 1987, in Ankara, nine sheep were
sacrificed for him symbolizing the "nine lights", the neo-fascist
principles of his defunct party. Five thousand delegates sang the
"Basbug" (Führer) march as he entered the hall. They shouted also
slogans saying "We are on the way of God, together with Basbug".
TURCO-ISLAMIC MEETINGS
As detailed in our preceding
Bulletin, Saudi fundamentalism on the one hand, and the nationalism of
Turkes on the other hand, have been developing for over ten years a new
doctrine: "Turco-islamic synthesis".
The principal promoter of this
synthesis, the Foyer of Intellectuals, grouping in its ranks as well
Islamists as Grey Wolves, recently organized a 3-day meeting in Ankara:
The 4th Grand Scientific Convention of Nationalists.
The meeting, opened on April 24,
1987, was attended by three ministers of Ozal Government, many deputies
from all right-wing political parties and renowned right-wing
intellectuals. What is more, Prime Minister Ozal, his ministers,
Commander of Land Forces Necdet Oztorun sent their best wishes to the
convention.
Addressing to the convention, the
State Minister Kazim Oksay announced that his government uses all
possibilities for promoting religious services. For example, 346,000
youths have been educated at 4,067 Koran courses throughout Turkey and
there are for the time being 144,000 new students at these courses.
Chairman of the Foyer of
Intellectuals, Prof. Suleyman Yalcin described, in his speech, the
Turco-Islamic Synthesis in the following terms:
"Turco-Islamic Synthesis is the
expression of a fact existing for over 1,200 years. It promotes both
the conscience of being Turk and the faith in God and Islamic values.
Our foyer describes a Turk as a Moslem speaking Turkish."
During the convention, many
speakers drew attention to the "danger of being Europeanized and of
losing all national and moral values" in the case of adhering to the
European Communities.
Just after this convention, on
April 27, 1987, the University of Ankara, under the control of
Turco-islamists, held a symposium on the subject of "Turks in the World"
The university rector Tarik
Somer, at his opening speech, reminding the existence of 100 million
Turks out of Turkey, claimed that all of them are subjected to the
danger of assimilation or annihilation and pointed out to the necessity
of "the Turkish Republic's solidarity with all these Turks."
It should be reminded that Prof.
Tarik Somer is also one of the leading members of the Turkish Foyer
(Türkocagi), opened in Ankara on May 29, 1986, on the occasion of the
anniversary of the conquest of Constantinople (Istanbul) by Turks in
1453.
The inauguration of this foyer
was attended also by Premier Ozal and his ministers.
CAMPAIGN FOR MINI-ELECTIONS
The new legislative elections, in
virtue of the Constitution, are to be held in 1988. However, according
to rumors going around, Premier Turgut Ozal, plans to hold these
elections in 1987 with a view of benefiting from the rising of his
popularity after the European Communities took a moderate position
regarding Turkish demand of accession.
The mini-elections to be held on
June 7, 1987, in 81 new founded municipalities have a big importance
for such a decision. If this vote gives results favoring the Motherland
Party (ANAP), Ozal will not hesitate to take the decision of early
elections.
For the time being, Ozal's party
holds absolute majority in the National Assembly. Thanks to some shifts
in the 388-seat Parliament, the number of ANAP deputies has risen to
256.
By the end of April 1987, the
distribution of deputies to four parties as follows:
Motherland Party
(ANAP)
256
Social Democrat Populist Party
(SHP) 63
Correct Way Party
(DYP)
37
Democratic Left Party
(DSP)
24
Independents
18
STILL MARTIAL LAW IN 4 PROVINCES
The Council of Ministers,
following the directive of the National Security Council, has decided
on March 12, 1987 to extended the martial law for more four months in
four eastern provinces, Diyarbakir, Mardin, Hakkari and Siirt, and the
state of emergency in five other provinces.
Martial law had been declared on
December 26, 1978, and extended throughout Turkey after the military
coup of September 12, 1980.
EXECUTIONS STILL POSSIBLE
On February 26, 1987, the Turkish
Government, in a reply note signed by Premier Ozal, told the Justice
Committee of Parliament that under the present circumstances, lifting
the death sentences in the Turkish Penal Code, is not regarded as being
possible. The note said the issue should have been examined in detail
from all aspects, including the social structure of the Turkish nation,
as well as the reasons behind the death penalty, before giving a final
decision on the issue.
During his talks with Turkish
journalists in Houston (USA) on March 13, 1987, Premier Ozal said:
"There are many bandits caught by security forces. There are also many
PKK militants who have already been condemned to death sentence. Who
knows, the National Assembly may ratify tomorrow all these
condemnations."
By March 22, 1987, there were 136
death sentences to be ratified on the agenda of the Justice Committee
of the National Assembly. 76 out of the condemned are left-wing
militants, 11 right-wing militants and the rest are condemned for
common crimes. The number of those who were condemned for PKK
activities rose to 21.
"REPENTANCE LAW" MAY CONTINUE
Minister of Justice Mahmut Oltan
Sungurlu said on March 8, 1987, that so far 439 individuals have
applied to authorities to benefit from the law publicly known as "The
Repentance Law". He said 235 of those received reductions in their
sentences or were pardoned after having denounced their comrades.
In the law which will expire on
June 11, 1987, it has been decreed that the state would take every
precaution including an official change in the identity of the person
who repented and gave information about his organization.
The Minister said that he would
take the subject of extending the effectuality of the Law to the
ministerial council.
LEFT-WING PARTIES ON TRIALS
Since the military coup of 1980,
seven political parties which had been legal prior to the coup have
been object of legal proceedings, namely the Nationalist Action Party
(MHP), the National Salvation Party (MSP), the Workers' Party of Turkey
(TIP), the Socialist Workers' Party of Turkey (TSIP), the Workers' and
Peasants' Party of Turkey (TIKP), the Fatherland Party (VP) and the
Socialist Fatherland Party (SVP).
Although dissolved by the
military junta, five other legal political parties have not been
indicted, namely the Republican People's Party (CHP), the Justice Party
(AP), the Republican Reliance Party (CGP), the Democratic Party (DP)
and the Socialist Revolution Party (SDP). However some leading members
of these parties have been tried before military tribunals for their
personal declarations or acts.
MSP Chairman Erbakan and 22 other
officials have been acquitted on September 19, 1985.
Military prosecutors opened four
different cases against the members of the TIP. Three out of these four
trials ended in the condemnation of 47 defendants in total.
Two trials against the TSIP are
still going on.
TIKP Chairman Dogu Perincek and
24 other leading party officials were condemned to prison terms up to 8
years and these condemnations were ratified by the Court of Cassation.
Recently another case was opened against 14 other leading members of
the party.
Beside these legal party trials,
tens of thousands people have been tried before military tribunals
since the coup d'état and many defendants have condemned to capital
punishment or heavy prison terms. Below are the party
condemnations of the last two months:
7.3, In Ankara, another legal
proceeding against right-wing militants at military court ends in one
capital punishment, 2 life-prisons and different prison terms for seven
other defendants.
18.3, in Istanbul, l9 members of
the Workers' Party of Turkey (TIP) are sentenced to 5-year prison term
each by a military tribunal and 149 others acquitted.
30.3, in Istanbul, 11 members of
the Communist Party of Turkey/Union (TKP/B) are condemned by a military
tribunal to prison terms up to 8 years and 26 others acquitted.
14.4, in Ankara, the trial of
THKP/C Revolutionary Liberation ended in the condemnation of two
members to life-prison and 16 others to prison terms up to 15 years.
24.4, in Adana, three members of
the Revolutionary Communist Party of Turkey (TDKP) are condemned to
capital punishment, 7 others to prison terms up to 16 years.
NEW POLITICAL PROSECUTIONS
1.4, in Ankara, 20 people are
brought before the State Security Court on the accusation of having
carried out sabotages and assassinations. The prosecutor claims
life-prison for 11 defendants and different prison terms of the others.
11.4, in Istanbul, the trials of
14 people accused of anti-secular activities, of whom 11 are students
of religious schools, begins at the State Security Court. They are
liable to prison terms up to 15 years.
29.4, in Ankara, Secretary
General of the National Vision Organization in Europe, Hasan Damar is
brought before the State Security Court on the charge of anti-secular
activities abroad. He faces prison term up to 15 years.
Besides, in Ankara, 6 people have
been indicted for political activities under the directive of a
forbidden political party. The prosecutor of the State Security Court
claims prison terms up to 12 years for each. Their trials will starts
on May 5, 1987.
ARBITRARY ARRESTS AND TORTURES
In March 1987, security forces
have launched a new man-hunting in Istanbul by claiming that
"ultra-left" groups of the pre-coup period started to reorganize with
the purpose of overthrowing the regime.
Police has arrested 18 young
people in different raids by charging them of reorganizing the
Revolutionary Left (DEV-SOL). Besides eight youths have been arrested
for underground activities planned by the Marxist-Leninist Armed
Propaganda Unity (MLSPB).
However, since police could not
produce any proof against some of the Dev-Sol detainees, the State
Security Court had to release all of them on March 18..
One of the victims of this
arbitrary arrest, publisher Ahmet Zengin, held a press conference on
March 20 in Istanbul and declared that police made this operation in
order to discredit the left-wing people and to intimidate young people
who are interested in socialist thought.
Parents of the other detainees
said that their children had been tortured under arrest by police.
Former university professor
Yalcin Kücük accused, during this press conference, the daily Turkish
press of publishing in a sensational way police's lies about the
detainees and said he would complain the responsables of the dailies
Hürriyet and Günes to international press organizations.
On the other hand, a high school
student in Adana, Refik Baytar said, in a petition addressed on April
26 to the leaders of SHP, that he had been expelled from school by
rightist direction for having defended the theories of Darwin, and
detained later on by police and tortured during 12 days in detention.
ILL-TREATMENT IN PRISONS
On March 8, 1987, a group parents
and relatives of political prisoners, in a petition addressed to the
Minister of Justice, said that prison conditions were still against all
hygienically rules and incompatible with human dignity.
Prisoners are kept in cells
invaded by snakes and rats and they are chained when they are taken to
hospital.
Protesting against ill-treatment,
political detainees carry on their hunger-strikes in different prisons.
Poet Nevzat Celik, defendant of
the Dev-Sol trial, went on hunger strike from April 6, 1987 in the
military prison Metris in Istanbul.
On April 25, political detainees
in the prison of Gaziantep boycotted meals in protesting against the
restriction of their families' visits.
Two days later, 11 left-wing
detainees in Kastamonu prison went on hunger strike for protesting
against the obligation to attend nationalist ceremonies organized by
prison administration.
HUNGER STRIKE OF FREED PRISONERS
While prisoners were carrying on
their protest actions, on March 29, nine former political detainees too
started a hunger strike in Istanbul.
Strikers said they still could
not enjoy their liberty though they had been released after having been
kept for years in prison. They declared that they are not allowed to
work neither in public nor private sectors. Moreover, police harass
them whenever happens whatever incident.
A FORMER PRISONER DIED IN FRG
A group of German, Turkish and
Kurdish democrats launched a campaign of solidarity with political
detainees in Turkey. A newsletter published by this group announces
that, in addition to ill-treatment to which they are subjected,
political prisoners cannot get necessary nutrition because of bad
quality of food served in prison. Many detainees whose families are
poor cannot afford to buy supplementary food from the prison canteen
and their health is getting worse and worse. They are also deprived of
any reading material such as newspaper or book.
According to the information
given by this group, a former detainee of the Canakkale prison, Mr.
Muammer Ozdemir, came to the FRG after his release and was immediately
taken under medical care because of his health deteriorated in prison.
But it was too late and Mr. Ozdemir unfortunately died on March
12, 1987, in Hannover.
Group says many political
prisoners are exposed to the same danger even after their release.
NEW PETITION OF INTELLECTUALS "ON RIGHTS AND BREAD"
A group of Turkish intellectuals
submitted, on April 27, 1987, a petition "on Rights and Bread", signed
by 13,100 persons, to "the President of the Republic", the Prime
Minister, the Speaker of National Assembly as well as to the leaders of
the four political parties represented in Parliament.
Recalling that Turkey goes
through the gravest economic crisis of the period of Republic and
criticizing the drastical economic measures imposed on January 24,
1980, the petition asks for a radical changment in economic and social
policies.
Famous Turkish intellectuals such
as Aziz Nesin, Chairman of the Turkish Writers' Union (TYS), Prof
Fehmi Yavuz, Prof Sadun Aren, lawyers Halit Celenk and Nevzat Helvaci
took part in the delegation of 13,100 signatories.
13,788 DEPRIVED OF NATIONALITY
According to the daily Cumhuriyet
of April 6, 1987, the number of the Turkish citizens who have been
deprived of Turkish nationality by government has risen to 13,788.
While 4,843 people were subjected to this repressive measure during the
3-year period of the military government, the so-called "democratic"
government of Ozal has deprived more 8,945 people of nationality within
the last 3-year period.
Of them 201 have been subjected
to this measure because of their anti-regime stand abroad. The decision
concerning 120 people has been decreed by the Ozal Government.
Within the last 6-year period,
26,000 Turkish citizens have been called for yielding to authorities
under the menace of being deprived of nationality.
1,683,000 LABELLED "SUSPECT"
The Ministry of Interior
announced on April 13, 1987 that 1,683,000 Turkish citizens have been
labelled "suspect" at the end of a nation-wide security investigation.
About 300,000 of these black-listed people are neither given national
passport for travelling abroad nor allowed to work in all public and
certain private sectors.
Among them are also many renowned
intellectuals such as Mehmet Ali Aybar (lawyer and socialist leader),
Genco Erkal (theater director), Murat Belge (academic and editor),
Selda Bagcan (singer), Timur Selcuk (singer), Zeki Okten (film
director), Bekir Yildiz (writer) and Attila Ozkirimli (critic).
RECENT PERSECUTION OF INTELLECTUALS
1.3, in Ankara, Mr. Emin Deger,
lawyer of the Chairman of the Turkish Writers' Union (TYS) Aziz Nesin,
is indicted by the prosecutor of the Republic. He is accused of
insulting the "President of the Republic" Kenan Evren in the petition
of the legal proceeding he had opened, on behalf of Nesin, against
Evren.
2.4, in Istanbul, publishers of
political review Yeni Cozum, Ertugrul Mavioglu, Nihat Aslanturk, Nezir
Karakus and Cemal Ates, are brought before the State Security Court on
the charge of reorganizing Dev-Sol, a pre-coup left-wing organization.
3.3, in Istanbul, a criminal
court begins to try Mr. Nejat Bayramoglu, responsible editor of Playboy
(Turkish edition) for "publication harmful to minors".
8.3, in Ankara, 46 teachers are
condemned to 2-month prison term each for their participation in a
protest action in 1978.
20.3, in Istanbul, political
reviews Zemin and Yeni Gündem are confiscated by the decision of the
State Security Court. Both are accused of communist or separatist
propaganda.
24.3, Pinar Kür's novel entitled
"Woman to be hanged" is confiscated by the decision of a criminal
court. The novel have been printed five times since 1979.
27.3, in Istanbul, a criminal
court decided to destroy all copies of the Turkish translation of Ilya
Ehrenburg's novel, "Wave coming from depth".
28.3, in Istanbul, a book on the
Chinese way of making law is confiscated by criminal court's decision.
29.3, in Denizli, three
booksellers face prison terms up to 23 years for having sold some
postal cards considered "harmful to minors".
30.3, another issue of the
political review Yeni Cozum is also confiscated by court decision.
2.4, in Istanbul, Dr. Haydar
Dumen's book on sexual problems is confiscated by criminal court's
decision. The book had been printed 15 times since 1967.
7.4, in istanbul, author Kursat
Istanbullu and his publisher Isfendiyar Erzik are brought before
criminal court for the book entitled "Those disappeared in detention."
They face prison terms up to 7 years. Same day, the responsible editor
of the Turkish edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica, Hilda Hulya
Potuoglu is tried before the State Security Court of Istanbul.She faces
a prison term up to 15 years for having published the map of historical
Armenia.
10.4, Mrs. Fatma Yazici,
responsible editor of the weekly 2000'e Dogru, is brought before a
criminal court in Istanbul on the charge of insulting the "President of
the Republic" in an article concerning an apartment bought by General
Evren.
15.4, in Diyarbakir, Mehmet
Senol, correspondent of the weekly Yeni Gundem, is condemned to
one-year prison term for writing "inaccurate news".
21.4, novelist Pinar Kür and her
publisher Erdal Oz are tried before a criminal court of Istanbul for
the former's novel entitled "Unfinished Love".