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INFO-TURK

22e Année - N°238

Juin/June 1998
38 rue des Eburons - 1000 Bruxelles
Tél: (32-2) 215 35 76 - Fax: (32-2) 215 58 60
E-mail:  info.turk@ping.be
 Chief Editor /Rédacteur en chef: Dogan Özgüden - Responsible editor/Editrice responsable: Inci Tugsavul
 
 

BLIND HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST WAS RETURNED TO JAIL

 Associated Press, June 1st, 1998
 A blind human rights activist who was released from a Turkish prison following an international outcry was returned to his cell on Monday, the Anatolia news agency said.
 Esber Yagmurdereli was re-arrested after he declined to provide a medical report for a possible pardon because of his ill health, the agency reported.
 He was freed in November after the government, bowing to pressure from international human rights activists, gave him a one-year furlough from prison to recover from high blood pressure and other illnesses.
 He was serving a 22-year sentence on charges of supporting terrorism and spreading separatist propaganda.
 Yagmurdereli, insisting he was innocent, has rejected the offer of a pardon and has refused to undergo the required medical check-up.
 "Freedom of expression should not be a crime," he told reporters as police took him away. "We have to fight for it."
 Yagmurdereli, a lawyer-turned-activist, was first imprisoned in 1978 on charges of trying to overthrow the government. He was freed on parole in 1991. He was arrested again in October after criticizing the government on a television show.
 Turkey's human rights record has long been a stumbling block to its goal of membership in the European Union, a top priority for the new government. France, Germany and Britain had asked Turkey to free Yagmurdereli.

ARGENTINIAN "SATURDAY MOTHERS" VISIT BIRDAL

 Turkish Daily News, June 2, 1998
 Two visiting Argentinean women, campaigners for the cause of Argentina's political disappearances, recently lent their support and commiseration for Akin Birdal, who is still recovering from the May 12 attempt on his life.  Rosa Tarlovsky de Roisinblit and Estella Barnes de Carlotto, who are known as "Plaza de Mayo Mothers" -- akin to Turkish "Saturday Mothers" -- told reporters in front of the hospital on Monday that they came to deliver messages of solidarity to Birdal.
 Birdal was wounded in an armed attack and since then has been receiving treatment in Sevgi Hospital. Following a series of police operations, police finally succeeded in arresting the attackers, who are now in prison.
 Roisinblit and Carlotto were in Istanbul to show their support for the Turkish Saturday Mothers, who have been meeting in a crowded pedestrian street in Istanbul every Saturday for three years to raise awareness for their "disappeared relatives."
 Both women have been struggling to raise awareness for their children who died twenty years ago after being subjected to torture.
 "Disappearances under custody were clarified neither by former Prime Minister Carlos Menem nor his successors. I feel bad when I get on a bus because the ones sitting next to us might be the murderers of our children," Roisinblit said.
 The mothers and grandmothers of the disappeared people in Argentina have been meeting every Thursday in front of the Prime Minister's office in the Plaza de Mayo. They are acting on behalf of their sons and daughters. To date fifty-nine disappeared people in Argentina have been found.

TURKISH TEEN CONVICTED FOR WEB INSULT

 Associated Press, June 2, 1998
 In Turkey's first cyberspace conviction, an 18-year-old was given a 10-month suspended sentence for insulting the police on the Internet, a newspaper said Tuesday.
 The court ruled that Emre Ersoz had falsely accused police of beating blind people during a demonstration, the daily Radikal said.
 Ersoz' accusation was made in a message posted on an Internet web site, a current affairs forum run by a major Turkish Internet server, Turknet.
 Radikal said his sentence was suspended on the condition he is not convicted of the same charges in the next five years.

MUSEUM OF CRIMES OF THOUGHT OPENIN IN TURKEY

 The Izmir Initiative for Freedom of Expression announced on June 2, 1998, that a museum of crimes of thouth will be opened in Izmir.
 The concept behind the Museum project is to create a permanent gallery whose only exhibits are materials criminalized and proscribed by law. In a modern, democratic society, no thought should be considered a crime.
 The Museum's main sponsor, the he Izmir Initiative for Freedom of Expression, is comprised of non-governmental organizations participating in the Appeal for Freedom of Expression. This campaign publishes booklets of criminalized articles each week in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, distributing them in front of State Security Courts. By publishing the banned articles, the sponsors are committing a crime to draw attention to free speech restrictions. (Article 162 of Turkish Penal Code: re-publishing an article which is defined as a crime constitutes a new crime. The publisher is to be sentenced equally with the writer.)
 The first step is to establish the Museum's ìExistanceî. Advocacy and preventing further prosecution of thought crimes will be following steps.
 The Museum is not an authorised project. There are some logical - and some absurd - reasons that could prevent us from completing this project. The initial exhibit represents a ìGallery towards a Museumî and there are no legal reasons to obstruct its formation. Furthermore, the participation of Dutch MP Dankert will ensure that any official obstacles create an international incident. We donít expect any problems for the openning. But later? Who knows?
 The "opening" is only opening the door of an empty gallery which contains only symbolic samples in each room: a banned book, a broken record, a burned film etc. But this is an appeal to all of society to cooperate in fulfilling the mission to create a "Museum of Crimes of Thought".

IHD AND DBP CHAIRMEN ON TRIAL FOR SUPPORTING PKK

 Turkish Daily News, June 3, 1998
 The trials of Human Rights Association Chairman Akin Birdal and Democracy and Peace Party (DBP) Chairman Refik Karakoc continued in the State Security Court (DGM) in Ankara, the Anatolia news agency reported. Both chairmen are accused of voicing support for armed outlawed organizations during a speech they made in Rome, and face between four-and-half months to seven-and-half months of imprisonment.
 Both men were absent, but their lawyers took part in the hearing. Birdal, who was wounded by armed assailants is currently undergoing treatment at a hospital.
 An indictment prepared by DGM Prosecutor Ali Riza Konuralp said that both Birdal and Karakoc attended a conference on the Kurdish issue held by the Italian Human Rights Association in April 1997, and they "praised" the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been fighting for independence against Turkish authorities since 1984.
 Lawyers for Karakoc defended their client, saying that he spoke during the conference as a party chairman. They said Karakoc had only criticized political parties for pursuing hypocritical policies.
 Meanwhile, Birdal's lawyer, Yusuf Alatas, referred to his client's ongoing treatment at the hospital when requesting that Birdal be excused from trial until he recovers. The judge later postponed the case.
 Another trial concerning the abolishment of the IHD continued on Tuesday in Ankara. The case was filed by the Ankara governor's office on the grounds that one of the articles in the IHD's charter was unconstitutional.
 Candar testifies at DGM
 The journalist, Cengiz Candar, who was accused of helping the PKK by the organization's recently captured leader, Semdin Sakik, testified at the DGM in Istanbul.
 Candar's testimony lasted an hour. He reportedly called Sakik's revelations a "slander." The journalists, Mehmet Ali Birand and Yavuz Gokmen, were also questioned by Prosecutor Muzaffer Yalcin at the same court on the same accusations.

HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST YAGMURDERELI BACK IN JAIL

 Turkish Daily News, June 3, 1998
 Before the Luxembourg Summit, when Turkey had high hopes of being named as a candidate for European Union (EU) membership, Turkish authorities were going out of their way to appease European demands for improvement in our human rights record.
 Even the president and the prime minister stopped arguing about the fight against separatist terrorism and agreed to set free some newspaper editors who had been imprisoned for expressing their views...
 Of course, even then, Turkey reserved the right to jail journalists and writers and to label them as "terrorists" instead of intellectuals and human rights activists. But at least the Turkish authorities had eased their tough stand and were prepared "to do something."
 At the time, we warned everyone that this was all window dressing. The authorities were not trying to improve Turkey's human rights situation because the Turkish people deserved to live under better conditions, but because they were trying to impress European governments... Editors were released because their prison sentences were suspended and the real cause of their imprisonment, which was the law curbing freedom of expression, remained intact and thus remained a threat to freedom and liberties in this country...
 Last November it was under such circumstances that the authorities released blind human rights activist Esber Yagmurdereli, who was taken to prison to serve a 22-year sentence on charges of separatist propaganda... Under intense pressure from European governments, Turkey decided to release Yagmurdereli on health grounds, saying he was suffering from heart and bronchial problems... This was unprecedented.
 Since the Luxembourg Summit things have started to sour. When it became clear that Turkey would not even be named a candidate state for EU membership in the foreseeable future, the authorities made a U-turn and the human rights situation in Turkey started to deteriorate, despite sincere goodwill efforts of people like Professor Hikmet Sami Turk, the state minister who deals with human rights issues.
 Now authorities are frequently opening court cases against human rights activists, Islamists and other intellectuals who allegedly disseminate Kurdish propaganda. Many are found guilty and sent to prison. The pressures on Turkey's leading human rights activist, Akin Birdal, and the assassination attempt against him, show clearly the negative trends in Turkey.
 So Yagmurdereli seems to be heading for a similar treatment. He was sent back to jail on Monday because he refused to report to authorities for routine medical checks. Yagmurdereli has refused to go through with the checks and says he does not want to be made a special case.
 There are three important issues here. One is the fact that the authorities do sot seem to understand that human rights, freedom and liberties are a part of the daily life of real democratic societies and that the current clampdown in Turkey is pushing us further away from a civilized state system.
 The second is the fact that by keeping Turkey out of European integration, the EU countries have hardly done a service to democratic progress in Turkey and the handful of democrats who are struggling to establish a civic society in this country.
 The third issue is that with their negative mentality and actions, the Turkish authorities are giving more credibility to the EU decision not to allow Turkey to become a candidate for full membership on the grounds that we have a very bad human rights record, especially in view of the fact that we claim we are a democracy.

EARLY ELECTIONS IN APRIL 1999?

 TDN Parliament Bureau, June 4, 1998
 Motherland Party (ANAP) leader and Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz and Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman Deniz Baykal have both agreed on the resignation of the current minority coalition government and on the holding of joint general and municipal elections in April 1999.
 Both leaders announced their agreement on Wednesday at a press conference following their meeting which lasted for more than one hour. The agreement came as both leaders met for the ninth time.
 Yilmaz said he would step down as prime minister at the beginning of next year. His earlier agreement with Baykal to hold joint elections on March 29 was vehemently opposed by the leaders of his coalition government's other partners, the Democratic Left Party (DSP) and the Democratic Turkey Party (DTP). However the newest agreement still needs the consent of his coalition partners to take effect.
 Yilmaz, who provided the main details of the agreement package, said that the ruling coalition partners and the CHP would propose that Parliament hold elections next April, "most likely on the 18th," in his remarks.
 Yilmaz also indicated that a different caretaker government system would lead the country to the elections, a system which he said would be discussed with President Suleyman Demirel in the coming days.
 The prime minister announced that the parliamentary group chairmen of the governing coalition partners and the CHP would come together to redetermine the priority bills to present to Parliament, adding that his coalition would cooperate with the CHP in having these laws passed.
 The ANAP chief said he preferred that his government stay in office until the end of 2000, but he reached a different agreement with Baykal. He stated that parliamentary approval of the above laws had become more significant for him and expressed his appreciation for the accord he had agreed upon with Baykal.
 CHP Chief Baykal, who spoke after Yilmaz, said that the country will be saved from a possible political crisis if their agreement is implemented smoothly.
 The last meeting between the two leaders occurred on April 23, when they announced that they had come to a common agreement. At that time, Baykal had demanded that the government step down in October 1998, the beginning of the new parliamentary term, and that both elections be held in March 1999.
 Although Yilmaz bowed to Baykal's demands, coalition partners DSP leader Bulent Ecevit and DTP leader Husamettin Cindoruk rejected the idea, saying it resembled an anti-democratic political intervention. Yilmaz, therefore, backed down from his earlier decision.
 Meanwhile, an earlier press conference held by ANAP Deputy Chief Mehmet Kececiler a few hours before the two leaders came together, created doubts that the latest agreement package will really be complied with.
 Kececiler said that although Yilmaz would agree to step down, the party's lower branches would strongly reject it. He added that the CHP's demand to sideline ANAP from power was unacceptable. "The president's designation of the leader of a caretaker government reminds me of one of those anti-democratic periods. No one should expect the current coalition to resign by itself. Instead, it should be brought down by Parliament." Kececiler's views are similar to earlier ones expressed by the other coalition leaders.
 The CHP's Central Executive Board also met before today's summit and assessed Kececiler's remarks. The board has decided that the agreement between the two leaders is not likely to be maintained. For this reason, Baykal reportedly said after the meeting that he had doubts about the viability of the accord.

PROJET D'UN TEXTE RELATIF AU PEUPLE KURDE AU CONSEIL DE L'EUROPE

 L'Assemblée générale du Conseil de l'Europe, dont la Turquie est membre, se prononcera sur un rapport relatif à la question kurde les 22 et 26 juin 1998.
 Le texte qui a été élaboré par la Commission des migrations, des réfugiés et de la démographie, a d'ores et déjà été présenté lors de la réunion de la commission le 29 mai 1998 à Paris. "Le rapport est destiné à éclaircir les raisons de l'exode forcé au Sud-Est de la Turquie et au nord de l'Irak, tout particulièrement exercé contre le peuple kurde, et par conséquent de déterminer à partir de ces éléments les besoins de première nécéssité de la population civile".
 Ledit rapport souligne "l'exode de masse forcé du peuple kurde des villages kurdes et l'incendie des maisons", la "présomption d'une politique d'éclatement du peuple kurde" et demande à la Turquie "de se conformer aux principes du Conseil de l'Europe".
 Il releve qu'"il est nécessaire d'abandonner les armes à l'encontre du peuple kurde" et "de signer la décision-cadre relative à la protection des minorités nationales ", appelle à la "levée du système des protecteurs de villages" et demande que soit allouées "des indemnités pour préjudice matériel" au profit des personnes qui ont vu leurs "biens détruits par les forces de sécurité turque au Sud-Est.

FREEDOM OF THOUGHT ON TRIAL

 Turkish Daily News, June 5, 1998
 Intellectuals who endorsed and affixed their signatures to a book entitled, "Freedom for Thought - 2," containing the speeches for which lawyer Esber Yagmurdereli and union worker Mahmut Konuk were sentenced, have gathered together, demanding freedom of any kind of thought without condition or discrimination. The State Security Court (DGM) chief prosecutor, however, said writing was more dangerous than distributing food and clothes to outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants.
 Admitted to having committed a crime
 The case concerning the 14 intellectuals, including journalists, writers, union workers and academics, who signed the book, was heard in Ankara DGM No. 1. All the intellectuals and their lawyers, except Associate Professor Haluk Gerger, who was sentenced to 20 months in jail by another court on grounds of having made public his opinion, were present at the hearing.
 Also attending the hearing were legal experts who participated in the Human Rights Research Tour organized by the USA Legal Experts Committee and the Fordham Faculty of Law, the Modern Journalists' Association (CGD) and the Turkish Journalists Union (TGC) executives and members.
 Postponed defense for Birdal
 The intellectuals, who had not defended themselves at the first hearing on May 12 after Human Rights Association (IHD) Chairman Akin Birdal was shot in order to protest the attack, defended themselves for the first time on Thursday.
 The indictment prepared by the chief prosecution of the DGM accused the defendants of "aiding the illegal armed gang, the PKK, by disseminating propaganda for it although aware of the book's characteristics." The prosecution regarded the act of writing to be "...as dangerous as providing shelter, food and clothes for the illegal organization's members."
 Freedom of all thought
 One of the defendants, Associate Professor Fikret Baskaya, stated in his defense that he had deliberately and willingly signed the book. Health and Social Service Laborers' Union (SES) Chairman Veysi Ulgen demanded from the court that thought should no longer be regarded as a crime. "Although we don't agree on it, every kind of thought must have the freedom to be expressed," he said.
 "We make our living from our thoughts"
 During their defense, defendants Can Dundar, M. Tali Ongoren, Temel Demirer and Varlik Ozmenek, who are all journalists and writers, drew attention to the fact that they survive on the money they earn by expressing their thoughts.
 Dundar stated that he does not believe thoughts can be eradicated by being prohibited. "Thought cannot be categorized as beneficial or harmful. Thought can be consistent or inconsistent, which can only be revealed by discussion. As is put in the indictment, we did not support violence. Indeed, the mentality that prohibits thought provides support for violence."
 Varlik Ozmenek, reminding listeners about the fabricated press reports on the attack on Akin Birdal, criticized the made-up indictment, saying: "Just like the targeting of Akin Birdal by nonexistent statements, we could have become targets because of this indictment, which blames us for aiding the illegal organization [the PKK]. If somebody [a press member] had written this indictment, the same incident could have happened."
 Ongoren in his defense emphasized the fact that he had been working as a journalist for 45 years. "I know very well the value of thinking, of expressing your opinions. For this reason I assert that every kind of thought must able to be expressed."
 Journalist Temel Demirer said he opposed the categorization of the convenience and inconvenience of thought and that he would accept the sentence of the DGM, adding that he had not asked for his acquittal.
 Why can't 'Yesil' be captured?
 Confederation of Civil Servants' Unions (KESK) Human Rights Secretary Tayfun Isci wanted the Court to eliminate conditions obstructing the expression of differing opinions. Union workers I. Hakki Tombul, Ersat Yazili, Mustafa Kadioglu and Yusuf Ozden said that they had displayed "democratic" civil disobedience and signed the book that includes the articles regarded as crimes, which is a prerequisite of being a citizen.
 Former deputy Mahmut Alinak asked in his defense why Mahmut Yildirim, code-named Yesil, who is a counter-guerrilla, as well as businessmen who live a luxurious life abroad have not been captured, while they were being judged for their opinions.
 The DGM chairman postponed the hearing until another day to allow for the securing of necessary documents.
 The DGM indictment requires the imprisonment of the 14 intellectuals for seven years and six months on the basis of Article 169 of the Criminal Code which governs the actions of aiding illegal organization members and providing them shelter. However at the first hearing, the court said the crime could be regarded within the framework of Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law, which regulates "separatist propaganda," thus giving the defendants the right to additional defenses.

TURKEY AND GREECE LAUNCH $4.1 BILLION RIVAL AIR WARFARE SYSTEMS

 Turkish Daily News / June 6, 1998
 NATO members Turkey and Greece are launching rival programs together worth some $1.4 billion this month to buy airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft that would give the two foes their first advanced airborne surveillance capability.
 Acquisition of the aircraft is vital for the two neighbors in being able to monitor each other's military movements of any nature around the Aegean region.
 Turkey's Undersecretariat for Defense Industries (SSM) will ask four foreign AEW aircraft manufacturers to forward their sales proposals, formally kicking off the country's $850 million program after a delay of nearly one year, officials and industry sources said.
 "We are expecting to receive the Turkish invitation for the tender before the end of this month," Chick Ramey, a spokesman for Boeing, one of the U.S. bidders in Ankara's deal, told the Turkish Daily News in a telephone interview.
 "The move was initially planned for last year but was delayed due to the fact that our preparations lasted longer than we expected," a Turkish government official told the TDN. "We hope we are finally doing it this month."
 The four companies to be involved are Israeli Aircraft Industries (IAI), maker of the Phalcon system, and three U.S. contenders, Lockheed Martin Corp., producer of the AEW version of the C-130J transport aircraft; Northrop Grumman Corp., maker of the E-2C Hawkeye; and Boeing, offering its Boeing-767 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS).
 Turkey will buy four AEW aircraft and ground stations, to be delivered by 2003.
 The SSM, Turkey's main government agency for defense industry and procurement, which coordinates the AEW program, is due to short-list two of the four bidders next year. A decision for the winner is expected in early 2000, the Turkish government official said.
 Government sources said the AEW deal would be primarily a direct purchase, with some smaller contributions from Turkish industry, most notably Tusas Aerospace Industries (TAI), which co-produces F-16 fighters and CN-235 light transport aircraft under contract with the United States and Spain, respectively.
 When co-production, which is always favored by Ankara, is not possible on a defense contract, the government usually seeks more than an 80 percent offset. An offset is a type of compensation involving industrial work in return for a defense-related purchase.
 "One main reason Turkey wants to acquire AEW capability is to keep an eye on rival Greece, which already has radar stations on its Aegean islands near Turkey's western and southwestern coasts and also is launching its own AEW program," one industry source here said.
 Greek government officials also said last week that Athens was asking three foreign teams to submit plans for two AEW aircraft and ground radar. Athens is expected to spend some $550 million for the deal.
 "Due to their bitter rivalry, Turkey and Greece follow almost the same pattern in seeking to modernize their air forces. In addition to the AEW deal, for example, Greece voiced interest in the U.S.-made F-15 fighters, and Turkey followed the move," the industry source said.
 Turkey and Greece are involved in a number of rows over the Aegean's sovereignty and the Cyprus problem. They came to the brink of war in January 1996, and only heavy U.S. diplomatic pressure prevented an armed confrontation.
 Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman also are taking part in the Greek competition with the models they are offering to Turkey.
 The third bidder in the Greek deal will be Ericsson Radar Electronics AB of Sweden, which will offer the PSR-890, Erieye airborne early warning system.
 Ericsson is not bidding for the Turkish program because of tense defense relations between Sweden and Turkey. Stockholm imposed an arms embargo on Ankara in 1995 to protest alleged human rights violations. Turkey followed by banning all future arms deals with Sweden.
 "It's not clear at this point if the chances of Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman in the Turkish deal could be affected by their participation in the Greek program. But in the past, Lockheed Martin, for example, has sold the F-16 to both Turkey and Greece," the industry source said.
 "In the event of a merger between Boeing and Northrop Grumman, the two can offer a joint product to Turkey, which may increase their chances," he stated.
 But Boeing's Ramey said that there were currently no plans for a joint proposal by Boeing and Northrop Grumman.

DISCUSSIONS ON THE KURDISH QUESTION AT TURKISH PARLIAMENT

 Turkish Daily News,June 7, 1998
 A "migration report" prepared by the Parliamentary Migration Commission after six months of work was finally discussed in Parliament last week. The report, which sparked a discussion in Parliament on the Kurdish problem, Kurdish identity and education in Kurdish following a very long break, revealed the taboos and different perspectives on the issue. A polemic ensued during discussions on the issue of "who" had evacuated the 3,478 villages in the region, and ambitious statements contained within the report were criticized. The debates in Parliament also showed how sensitive deputies are about the subject. Only 20 out of 550 deputies attended the parliamentary discussions.
 Republican People's Party (CHP) Istanbul Deputy Algan Hacaloglu, who put forward a motion for researching the migration and who initiated the establishment of a migration commission, requested deputies discuss the problems in the region without regard to the taboos surrounding the issue. In addition to the education, health and economic services which have to be put in place in the region, people's cultural expectations also must be satisfied, Hacaloglu said. The deputy expressed his wishes for the people of the region, including special Kurdish education, Kurdish TV, opportunities for developing Kurdish culture and the right to publish in the Kurdish language.
 Stating that more than 25,000 people have been killed in struggles in the Southeast, Hacaloglu said people dying in the region were Turkey's people, and that the blood flowing was the blood of brothers. The state must be sensitive about not violating the law while combatting terrorism, Hacaloglu added.
 True Path Party (DYP) Speaker and Erzurum Deputy Zeki Erturgay, who took the podium after Hacaloglu's speech, said the description, "Turkish nation," would be sufficient for characterizing the people of Turkey. Erturgay noted that enemies would benefit from descriptions associated with separatism and reminded the journalists that he had expressed his reservations about the report as a member of the Migration Commission. "Thirty-five percent of the migration in the region is due to economic reasons; 60 percent of it is because of the oppression of the separatist organization; and the remaining 5 percent is due to the compulsory applications of the provincial administration," he said. Erturgay accused the report of committing calumny against the state.
 Erturgay's speech questioning the fundamental logic and reasoning of the 171-page report was responded to by Virtue Party (FP) member Huseyin Yildiz and FP Diyarbakir Deputy and Commission Chairman Hasim Hasimi. Yildiz said that a multitude of unsolved murders had occurred in the region and that the negative conditions in the Southeast had been advantageous to gangs, resulting in various incidents such as the assassination attempt against Human Rights Association (IHD) Chairman Akin Birdal. Yildiz indicated that a compulsory migration had being carried out by the state, however the state hadn't presented any other living options to the people who have been forced to migrate, which does not coincide with the norms of universal law.
 Don't consider the problem from Ankara
 Commission Chairman Hasimi criticized the people who had rebuffed the commission's report of looking at the problems from a distance. "We cannot solve the tragedy in the Southeast by watching it from Ankara," said Hasimi, reminding the deputies that the state had to defend its own people. Hasimi added that the people in the region urgently needed help.
 Interior Minister Murat Basesgioglu came to the dais aiming to reply to all the speeches which had been given before him, and just like the DYP speaker, viewed the report as having bad intentions. In his talk, full of advice for the people who had organized the report, Basesgioglu said that singling out the state as the origin of the region's problems would not be beneficial for any politician. Asserting that the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) was responsible for the evacuation of the villages, Basesgioglu read some parts of the report and criticized it, reminding listeners that seven opponents had expressed their reservations to the commission's report.
 Thus Turkey's biggest dilemma, the Kurdish problem, which is related to the migration issue, has finally been discussed in Parliament. Although the legislative body consists of 550 deputies, only 20 of them attended the parliamentary discussion on the migration report, which indicates the deputies' "sensitivity" to the subject. While FP Mardin Deputy Huseyin Yildiz was relating how villagers were forced to migrate under the orders of a sergeant-major, some deputies sitting in the ANAP and DYP seats shouted: "What migration? Which village has been evacuated?" Consequently, Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Kamer Genc, who was leading the session, had to intervene, saying, "If you want to see evacuated villages, come with me to Tunceli and see the migration and the food embargo in the region."
 Report prominent on international level as well
 The report concerning the migration and its outcome in the Emergency Rule Region (OHAL) will constitute evidence for suits filed at the European Court of Human Rights. In addition, legal experts also feel the 171-page report will serve as major evidence within Turkey.
 After the Susurluk report, which served as evidence for people at the European Court of Human Rights whose relatives had been killed in unsolved murders, another report once again constitutes evidence against Turkey. The migration report, coordinated by FP Diyarbakir Deputy Hasim Hasimi portrays the security forces as the main reason for the evacuation of the villages. The report states that a multitude of villages have been evacuated as a result of the arbitrary actions of the security forces and also includes some radical proposals, such as recognizing the Kurdish identity, which appeared in Parliament's records for the first time in the Republic of Turkey's history. Causing intensive debate in the domestic political realm, the report increasingly attracts international attention as well.
 It has been learned that German Interior Minister Klaus Kinkel called Hasimi and wanted a copy of the commission report. U.S. Assistant Secretary of Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor John Shattuck got the report from Hasimi while he was in Turkey for an official visit. Meanwhile, it has been translated into various languages, and European diplomats have been persistently asking Hasimi for a copy. The European Parliament, trying to make use of the atmosphere caused by the report, is making efforts to organize a "migration conference."
 The European Council's Parliamentary Assembly is striving to establish the infrastructure of the conference. In order to make contact with European colleagues, Hasimi will go to Germany on June 16 where it is thought that he will meet the German labor minister to talk about migration problems. The Migration Commission report has revealed that the amount of migration from Turkey to Germany originating in the Southeast is 85 percent. During talks with the Germany's labor minister, Hasimi will probably present Turkey's migration problem as a domestic German problem as well. Moreover, Hasimi has been invited to the Kurdish Conference taking place in Vienna this June where he will give a speech entitled, "Kurdish People and Migration," with several politicians, academics and writers attending.
 Arslantas: An important source
 Lawyer Sedat Arslantas, an expert on cases that have been tried in the European Court of Human Rights, said that the report constitutes a major argument for the European Union Commission. He stated that the criterion of a crime for the court is different from domestic law in Turkey. "The European Court of Human Rights takes into consideration the reliability of the evidence presented before it. For instance, the Susurluk report was a very significant piece of evidence because it was produced by a high state organ. Similar to that, the migration report is an important source since it was put out by a parliamentary commission."
 The report, written in December, was recently printed and was waiting on Parliamentary Speaker Hikmet Cetin's desk for action to be taken as regards its discussion. FP Deputy Hasimi spoke to Cetin in order to get a debate started on the report in Parliament as soon as possible, and finally, on June 2, it was at the top of Parliament's agenda.
 What does the report include?
 The report was prepared by talking with the people of the region, with the victims of migration and with experts and state officials. The deputies who worked on it are as follows: FP Diyarbakir Deputy Hasim Hasimi (commission chairman), Motherland Party (ANAP) Diyarbakir Deputy Sebgetullah Seydaoglu (commission deputy chairman), CHP Istanbul Deputy Algan Hacaloglu (speaker), DYP Ardahan Deputy Saffet Kaya (secretary), FP Bingol Deputy Husamettin Korkutata, DYP Erzurum Deputy Zeki Erturgay, Democratic Left Party (DSP) Manisa Deputy Cihan Yazar, ANAP Konya Deputy Ahmet Alkan, FP Van Deputy Mustafa Bayram, ANAP Balikesir Deputy Husnu Sivalioglu, FP Mardin Deputy Huseyin Yildiz, Democratic Turkey Party (DTP) Istanbul Deputy Metin Isik and DSP Istanbul Deputy Erdogan Toprak.
 The report contains ambitious demands such as the recognition of the Kurdish identity and permission for private educational institutions to teach in Kurdish. It also requests removal of the OHAL administration, the special forces and the village guard system. The report states that a total of 401,328 people had to migrate from 3,428 residential areas, of which 905 are villages and 2,523 are hamlets. It reads: "Since 1990, in several provinces, peasants have been prohibited from taking their sheep or other animals to the meadows with them, which has harmed stock breeding, the only means of living. The residential areas were evacuated by security forces upon the order of the OHAL governor's office, within the context of Law No. 2935 because of the worry that in particular the villages which had not accepted the guard system couldn't be protected, or with the suspicion that they could aid the PKK. However this operation has not been carried out within the context of the law but under the security forces' arbitrary actions."
 The report states that the migration victims are creating problems in the regions to which they have moved. It also includes opinions of former OHAL governors and bureaucrats who are currently working in the area. Some statements from the bureaucrats are very interesting. For instance, former Diyarbakir Governor Dogan Hatipoglu said that it was impossible that the villages' evacuation had occurred only as a result of the PKK threat, but rather that the evacuation operations were ordered by the security forces and/or state officials, or at least, they had been informed about them.

EUROPEAN HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD TO TIHV

 The seventh European Human Rights Award is to be given to the Human Rights Foundation (TIHV) in Turkey.  The Ministers Committee of the Council of Europe released a written statement on Thursday saying that this year the award will be given to the TIHV and to Clara Lubich, who is the founder of the Focolare Movement in Italy, as well as to the Committee for the Administration of Justice (CAJ) in Northern Ireland.
 The statement said the TIHV deserved the award because of its prominent efforts in the protection of human rights.
 The Focolare Movement, established in 1943, is dedicated to the achievement of unity, peace and brotherhood at any cost, and is active in 180 countries.
 CAJ is a nongovernmental organization in Northern Ireland, which strives to improve the justice system and assure that the government carries out its duties according to international law.

THE EUROPEAN COURT CONDEMNED AGAIN TURKEY

 Reuters, June 9, 1998
 The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday ruled against Turkey in two different cases involving Kurdish separatists and freedom of expression.
 In the first case, the court awarded 250,000 francs ($41,900) in damages to Kurdish journalist Salih Tekin of the daily Ozgur Gundem, who was arrested and allegedly tortured by police in 1993.
 The Turkish government denied mistreating the 34-year-old reporter but the court said the facts had been established "beyond reasonable doubt."
 The court, an arm of the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe, also faulted Ankara for failing to carry out an in-depth investigation of Tekin's allegations when he filed suit against the authorities.
 In the second case, the court awarded 30,000 francs in damages to Kurdish activist Ibrahim Incal, 45, who was fined and sentenced to six months in prison in 1993 for trying to distribute political tracts.
 Incal had been hauled before a military tribunal and convicted on charges of inciting hate. The court condemned the Turkish justice system for both the choice of court and the conviction.

IHD CHAIRMAN BIRDAL RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL

 Turkish Daily News, June 9, 1998
 Human Rights Association (IHD) Chairman Akin Birdal, who was wounded by armed assailants more than three weeks ago, was released from the hospital in Ankara on Monday.
 Birdal, who appeared weak and pale after extensive treatment and several operations, was carried on a stretcher to an ambulance parked outside Sevgi hospital. He thanked all those people who "showed a full solidarity for human rights, peace and democracy in Turkey."
 A few weeks after the published revelations of a captured terrorist leader alleged that Birdal had assisted Kurdish separatists in return for payment, the IHD chairman was attacked by two gunmen who riddled his body with bullets. Birdal miraculously survived, considering that six bullets were recovered from his body.
 In separate raids in the weeks after the attack, police rounded up the alleged assailants as well as four others suspected of planning the assault. It is widely believed that the suspects -- who "confessed their crimes during a preliminary interrogation," according to Interior Minister Murat Basesgioglu -- are linked with the alleged state gangs which were disclosed after a controversial traffic accident in western Turkey in late 1996.
 "Birdal underwent a number of orthopedic surgeries last week," Sabri Dokuzoguz, Birdal's doctor, told journalists waiting outside the hospital, and added that the extensive treatment of damaged nerves in his left arm will continue for several more weeks.
 Dokuzoguz said Birdal was getting better each day and will receive the rest of his treatment at home. Doctors will be imposing a 15-day ban on visitors for Birdal, in order to protect him from the possible risk of infection. "You'll see him walking a few months later," Dokuzoguz added.

TURKEY DROPS FRANCE FROM MAJOR DEFENSE DEAL

 Turkish Daily News, June 10, 1998
 The Turkish government has dropped France's Thomson CSF from a $150 million defense tender in retaliation for a move by the French Parliament's lower house to pass a bill that accuses the Turks of an "Armenian genocide," a government official said Tuesday.
 Thomson CSF had been expected to compete with the U.S. Argos Systems, a subsidiary of Boeing Co., and Spain's Construcciones Aeronauticas SA (CASA), for the contract to do systems integration work in developing nine maritime patrol aircraft for the Turkish Navy and the Coast Guard Command.
 The decision marks the first time a French firm has been excluded from a major Turkish defense tender. Defense sources have warned similar moves could follow if Paris goes ahead with putting the Armenian bill into effect.
 "Under these circumstances, Turkey will not send an invitation to Thomson CSF to bid for the tender for our maritime patrol aircraft program," the official told the Turkish Daily News.
 "But we will reconsider the company's competitive offer if the Armenian bill does not take effect," the official added. The invitation is expected to be sent to the remaining two foreign companies later this summer.
 French sources said last Friday that the official recognition of the "Armenian genocide" by the French National Assembly had caused a delay in signature of a contract between French group Aerospatiale and the Turkish Defense Ministry for making the anti-tank Eryx missile.
 The contract, amounting to $441 million had been slated for conclusion during the Eurosatory '98 land weaponry show near Paris. It was to define conditions for industrial application of a deal signed in March for joint production in Turkey of about 10,000 short-range Eryx missiles for the Turkish Army.
 Regarding the maritime patrol aircraft deal, the Defense Industry Executive Committee, Turkey's highest decision-making body on large-scale defense procurement matters, in January selected the Spanish-designed and locally-produced CN-235 light transport planes as the frame for the systems.
 A contract is expected to be signed soon with CASA and Turkey's Tusas Aerospace Industries (TAI) for the nine aircraft worth $108 million alone.
 TAI already has manufactured 50 other CN-235s for the Turkish Air Force and the Army under a previous $700 million contract with CASA. The Navy will get six of the new planes and the remaining three will go to the Coast Guard.
 The company to win the systems integration contract, together with TAI, will develop the CASA CN-235 into a maritime patrol aircraft, which will boost Turkey's naval monitoring capabilities mainly in the Aegean Sea.
 Defense sources said one maritime patrol aircraft for the Navy was expected to cost around $32 million while less sophisticated versions for the Coast Guard would have an estimated price of $20 million per piece.
 France, one of Ankara's main arms suppliers, won Turkish defense contracts worth $550 million last year. The deals include joint production of AS-532 Cougar utility and search-and-rescue helicopters and the sale of five minesweepers.
 French companies are also vying for two of Turkey's top defense programs, joint production of 145 attack helicopters worth $4 billion and 1,000 main battle tanks worth $5 billion.
 Defense Minister Ismet Sezgin warned France last week: "When selecting a country to award a defense contract, we consider a number of criteria, including how potential arms suppliers act regarding our theses on international platforms."
 The French National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament, on May 29 approved the bill, officially recognizing the Armenian genocide under the Turkish Ottoman empire during World War I.
 But to take effect, the bill must also be approved by the French Senate, or upper house, in a vote expected to be held later this month, and ratified by President Jacques Chirac.
 President Suleyman Demirel has sent a letter to Chirac, asking him to use his "personal influence" to urge the Senate to reject the bill.
 According to Armenian historians, up to one million Armenians were killed in massacres and deportations between 1915-1917. Turkey says the Armenian death toll has been greatly exaggerated, that many Turks were also killed and that there was no planned genocide.
 "You cannot label a whole nation systematic murderers and expect to get large amounts of money from them at the same time," the government official said

DETAINED GERMAN PROTESTS VIRGINITY TEST

 Reuters, June 11, 1998
 A German woman accused of belonging to a Kurdish rebel group told a Turkish court Thursday that forcible virginity tests carried out on her while in custody amounted to sexual assault, her lawyer said.
 "We have documentation that she was tested and we regard this as a sexual assault," Eren Keskin told Reuters.
 But the court in the eastern city of Van rejected an appeal for those responsible to be tried, ruling that gynecological examinations were routinely conducted on prisoners who had made allegations of rape and torture.
 The defendant, Eva Juhnke, said at an earlier hearing that she had been tortured while in custody.
 "During her detention she was subjected to a variety of torture. She was blindfolded and bound and at one time threatened with being thrown out of a helicopter," Keskin said.
 Gynecological tests are not uncommon in rural Turkey where virginity is prized and family honor depends on a daughter's chastity.
 The European Union cited a poor human rights record among other things when it put Turkey's membership application at the bottom of the pile last December.
 Turkish troops captured Juhnke in northern Iraq last October and took her back to Turkey for trial on charges of belonging to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
 At an earlier hearing, Juhnke said Turkey had no jurisdiction over her and demanded that her trial be moved.
 Asked where she had been captured, she said "Southern Kurdistan" -- a term used by Kurdish nationalists for northern Iraq. The court ruled that no such country existed and that she could be tried in Turkey.
 Turkish troops frequently cross into northern Iraq to strike at PKK guerrillas who use the area to launch attacks on Turkey. The region has been outside the control of the Iraqi government since the 1991 Gulf War.
 More than 28,000 people have been killed in 13 years of conflict between security forces and the PKK, fighting for self-rule in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast.

THE RP CLOSURE AT THE EUROPEAN HUMAN RIGHTS COURT

 Turkish Daily News, June 11, 1998
 The now-closed Welfare Party (RP) has asked the European Human Rights Court (EHRC) to expedite its case. Former justice minister Sevket Kazan told the Anatolia news agency that previous applications sent to the court by Turkish parties had taken a long time to be heard and the RP hoped the court would speed up the process in this case.
 Kazan noted that the RP's case was drawing a lot of attention in Europe and that it was his impression, after meeting with court authorities, that the hearing for the RP case would be moved forward. The RP's application is currently being examined by the court's rapporteurs. The court will then invite both sides, the Turkish state and the RP, to present their case.
 Former Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan is involved in the process and several foreign human rights organizations have invited him to participate in conferences on the issue. Erbakan will travel to Germany, Holland and Belgium at the invitation of two European nongovernmental organizations, according to Kazan.

UNE VIOLENCE POLICIERE HONTEUSE CONTRE LES GREVISTES DE LA FAIM A BRUXELLES

 Communiqué d'Info-Türk, le 12 juin 1998
 Alors que le régime d'Ankara continue à donner chaque jour un nouvel exemple de la violation des droits de l'homme, les forces de sécurité belges, malgré plusieurs protestations, poursuivent leur complicité avec leurs collègues au service de ce régime.
 Un groupe de ressortissants de Turquie ayant entamé une grève de la faim à Bruxelles afin de briser le silence qui pèse sur la politique de disparition menée par l'Etat turc a, le 12 juin, subi devant le parlement européen une violence policière digne de la police turque.
 A l'origine de la grève de la faim se trouve la disparition de quatre opposants du régime d'Ankara, Neslihan Uslu, Mehmet Ali Mandal, Hasan Aydogan et Metin Andas, qui ont été arrêtés le 31 mars à Izmir.
 Deux mois après leur ravissement, le 1er juin 1998, le Comité Stop aux disparitions a organisé une grève de la faim dans l'église Notre-Dame du Bon Secours au centre Bruxelles pour attirer l'attention sur ces disparitions. Ayant constaté que la presse n'ait réagi que timidement malgré l'urgence de la situation, les grévistes de la faim, au douzième jour de leur action, le 12 juin 1998, se sont rendus au parlement européen pour rencontrer des parlementaires susceptibles d'engager des recherches sur les disparus.
 Voici ce que nous a communiqué le Comité Stop aux disparitions:
 "Sur place, notre délégation a été immédiatement chassée manu militari par le service de sécurité du bâtiment. Les grévistes de la faim se sont ensuite rassemblés devant le parlement, toujours désireux de rencontrer des parlementaires. Ces derniers étaient alors en train de déjeuner.
 "Cette fois-ci, les policiers ont chargé sur le rassemblement avec une violence digne de leurs collègues de Turquie. Dans le combi de la police, une gréviste a été étranglée par un policier. Elle en garde une lésion profonde. Par ailleurs, un des grévistes a été menotté et un autre gréviste a eu la jambe droite écrasée dans la porte grillagée du combi. Une gréviste de la faim, dont la soeur avait été assassinée par l'armée, déjà affaiblie par son jeûne, a subi un malaise et malgré son état de faiblesse, elle n'a pas été transportée à l'hôpital.
 "Dans le garage du commissariat et tout au long de la garde à vue, les grévistes de la faim on fait l'objet de propos dégradants.
 "Au commissariat, l'un des grévistes a été roué de coups par quatre agents enragés. Ensuite, les agents de police ont recouru à l'humiliation en forçant les grévistes à se déshabiller, lors de fouilles prétendument légales.
 "Après quatre heures de détention, c'est la tête haute que tous les grévistes de la faim ont regagné l'église."
 Ce qui est le plus scandaleux est que cette violence policière belge est perpétrée dans une ville où était tenue un jour avant une conférence de presse internationale sur les disparitions dans le monde.
 Les parents des disparus -  argentins, algériens, français et belges- y étaient réunis autour d'une seule revendication: Les responsables de ces disparitions soient jugés devant un tribunal international pour le crime contre l'humanité!
 Comment s'explique la violence policière du vendredi qui est en pleine contradiction avec l'accueil de la conférence internationale du jeudi?
 Alors, se posent deux questions:
 Les bourreaux du régime d'Ankara, selon les autorités belges, ne sont-ils pas de criminels contre l'humanité?
 L'accord de coopération policière entre Ankara et Bruxelles est-il toujours en vigueur malgré le départ du général De Ridder?

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL STATEMENT ON DISAPPEARANCES

 On June 5, 1998, Amnesty International issued the following press release:
 Amnesty International has received no reply from the Turkish Government concerning the "disappearance" of  Neslihan Uslu, Hasan Aydogan, Metin Andac[,] and Mehmet Mandal, who were last seen in Izmir on 31 March. This case was raised by the Secretary General Pierre Sane[/] on  27 April in a letter to the Turkish Prime Minister, Mesut Yilmaz, urging that reports of their "disappearance" be promptly and impartially investigated, and findings be made public. Amnesty International also submitted the case to the United Nations (UN) Working Group on enforced and involuntary disappearance.
 On 20 December 1996 the Turkish Government established the "Bureau  for  the investigation of Disappearances" but it appears that its real purpose is not to establish the fate of the "disappeared" but to discredit those concerned organizations and people whose call for thorough investigation along the lines indicated by the UN Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance is an enduring embarrassment to the authorities.
 Less than a month after its foundation the Bureau has published its findings on scores of allegations of "disappearance", but these findings consist of one or two lines of official denial that the individual was  ever  detained. No serious investigations seem to have been carried out. For example, the report mentioned that Tevfik Kusun, who "disappeared" on 29 November 1996 after being taken from the building site where he worked was not held in police custody, but failed to mention that his body was found by a local highway on 7 January 1997. Similarly, the report stated that police archives had no record that Mahmut Mordeniz, who "disappeared" on  28  November 1996, was detained but failed to note that family and others witnessed his detention by people who introduced themselves as police,  that  a local police unit confirmed that he had been detained, and that his  wife  also "disappeared" the same day.
 Such gross omissions, of which these are typical examples, confirm that the Bureau is no more than a publicity exercise.
 Meanwhile, the Saturday Mothers, who hold a vigil for the "disappeared" in Istanbul city centre once a week, are again suffering police harassment. On 8 May police barred the mothers from reaching their meeting place, and detained several relatives of "disappeared" persons and bystanders, two of whom were beaten . Since then the relatives'  traditional  place of meeting for silent vigil has been occupied every Saturday by a large contingent of uniformed police officers.
 Relatives of the "disappeared" are unlikely to abandon their protest until the authorities conduct the thorough and impartial investigations which international standards require. Amnesty International will continue to support those relatives in their quest for an answer, and to press the authorities for information about the fate of Neslihan Uslu, Hasan  Aydogan,  Metin Anda? Mehmet Mandal and the other scores of "disappearances" which the organization has brought to the Turkish Government's attention since 1991.  Background  In its letter to the Turkish Prime Minister, Amnesty International also stated that fears that Neslihan Uslu, Hasan Aydogan, Metin Anda? and  Mehmet  Mandal, have "disappeared" are heightened by that fact that they are know to the police and have reportedly been threatened with death and "disappearance" on numerous occasions. Their lawyers have made inquiries  in  person to Izmir State Security Court, Izmir State Prosecutor, Police Headquarters and local gendarmerie stations, but were told that the four persons are not held in any of these places. Their names are also not on the registers of Buca and Bergama prisons.
 Neslihan Uslu, as editor of the journal Devrimci Gen?lik, published  in  Izmir, has frequently been detained by the police, been subjected to  raids  and threatened with death and "disappearance". She had told her lawyers that on one occasion during detention the police told her "we will kill  you  and throw you into a corner and nobody will know about it". She has a number of previous convictions under the Anti-Terror Law for her work as editor of Devrimci Gen?lik and there is an arrest warrant for her issued  by  Istanbul State Security Court No 5.
 Hasan Aydogan served 18 months in Kayseri Prison for membership of  the  Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP/C) and is wanted to serve an outstanding sentence of three years and nine months for assisting the same organization.
 Metin Anda? was involved in popular protests against Eurogold, a mining company which is allegedly using cyanide in gold exploration work  in  the Bergama region. In 1995 he was convicted by Izmir State Security  Court   of providing assistance to an illegal organization (DHKP/C) and served a prison sentence in Buca Prison.
 Mehmet Mandal, to Amnesty International's knowledge, has never been detained or prosecuted.
 Amnesty International has raised previous cases of people with a history of prosecution for DHKP/C membership who "disappeared" -- for example, L?tfiye Ka?ar, who "disappeared" on 11 October 1994. This and several other cases are still unresolved.
 Article 13 of the UN Declaration on the Protection of All Persons  from  Enforced Disappearance states that relatives of the "disappeared", as  well  as others with knowledge or legitimate interest, have the right to complain to a "competent and independent State authority" which should  have  the powers and resources to conduct effective investigation. This  includes  the power to compel attendance of witnesses, to protect witnesses, to compel the production of relevant documents, and that the findings of such an investigation be made available on request to persons concerned.

ANOTHER FAMOUS JOURNALIST, RAGIP DURAN,  IN PRISON

 Today, on June 16, 1998, another famous Turkish journalist, Ragip Duran, was imprisoned for ten months to begin serving his sentence, which was confirmed last October by the Court of Cassation. So, Turkish prisons will have the "honour" of depriving another distinguished intellectuel in addition to 130 others such as Ismail Besikci, Haluk Gerger, Edip Polat, Huseyin Karatas, Nurettin Sirin, Mahmut Konuk who are currently held behind iron bars.
 Duran is the Istanbul correspondent for the French-language daily "Liberation" and has worked for several newspapers and news agencies, including  Agence France-Presse, the British Broadcasting Corporation, "Ozgur Gundem" and other Turkish daily newspapers. He also teaches media ethics at the University of Galatasaray.
 Duran was convicted in December 1994 of propagandizing on behalf of an outlawed organization under Article 7 of the Anti-Terror Law. The charge stemmed from his interview with Abdullah Ocalan, leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which appeared in the now-defunct daily "Ozgur Gundem" on 12 April 1994.
 The Committee to Protect Journalists(CPJ), on June 10, 1998, called on Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz to examine all possible legal options to rescind the 10-month prison sentence handed down against veteran journalist Ragip Duran for violating Turkey's Anti-Terror Law.
 "One of Turkey's finest journalists is being sent to jail as punishment for his thoroughly professional reporting on one of Turkey's biggest stories", said William A. Orme, Jr., CPJ's executive director. "We hope and expect that the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg will review this case and rule as it must that the prosecution of Ragip Duran constitutes an illegal denial of his rights as a journalist and as a citizen of Turkey to freedom of expression, as guaranteed by European and international human rights covenants to which Turkey is a signatory."
 Duran, who was born in 1954, has worked as a journalist since 1978 in Istanbul, Paris and London. In the past he has worked with Agence France Presse (AFP) and BBC. He has up to now been working for the French daily Liberation and has also presented short programs for French radio stations. He has been active in the work of the Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontieres and the CPJ in New york. In addition Duran has been teaching courses on "International events and the Media" and on media ethics at Galatasaray University as well as in a private school. He has also been working as a conference translator since 1978. He is considered a specialist on the Kurdish problem. Last year he published a book entitled "Apoletli Medya" (Pro-military Media). He won the "Hellman/Hammett Freedom of Expression" award given by the US-based Human Rights Watch and was made "Journalist of the Year" in 1991 by Turkey's Human Rights Association.
 Interview which costs 10 months in prison
 The CTP also issued the following translated text of Duran's 12 April 1994 interview with Ocalan, headlined  "Apo 91/ Ocalan 94":
 "I had interviewed the 'Kurdish Zapata of Damascus' three years before, in 1991. This time the setting had changed. Ocalan was answering journalists' questions in a house in Bar Elias, in Lebanon's northern Bekaa Valley. I have listened again to the seven-hour cassette recording of the interview made in Damascus, and compared it with my tape of the Bar Elias interview, which lasted 13 hours.
 "Three years ago, a leader whose military role overshadowed his political one stood in front of us. Guerrilla was the main card in his hand. This is still the case today. But Ocalan no longer takes 'guerrilla' to mean a 'militant at war', in its narrow sense. He says: 'Only five percent of our time is dedicated to the war against the enemy. Guerrilla is now basically a ground on which the new Kurd is being formed.'
 "The Ocalan of 1994 is a philosopher and moralist in addition to his military and political roles. He cites Zarathustra or Freud, he speaks of psychoanalysis, of spiritual degeneration, and of other human problems. Ertugru Kurkcu has said: 'When Ocalan speaks, you seem to hear great noises coming from his brain, there is no doubt that an intense activity is going on inside...'
 "A diplomatic arena has been added to the PKK's military and political planning, together with philosophic and psychological methodologies. It seems that they have almost created a state mechanism. Everyday Ocalan receives hundreds of reports from Turkey, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. What is the attitude of the leaders of the Western capitals regarding the Kurdish problem? How are the national and international press covering events? What are the probable developments? The written and spoken answers to these questions are sent to Ocalan from the PKK headquarters, which is equipped with the latest communication equipment. Thus, Ocalan is aware of all recent events.
 "In 1991, Ocalan spoke in general and abstract terms of the United States, France, or Germany. Today, his observations and analysis of international policy and different countries' diplomatic policies are at the level of discourse found in academic or political reviews in the West. This may be due to the fact that the Kurdish problem is now part of the international arena. Ocalan's policies are consistent, based on concrete analysis and filled with numerous details.
 "The general secretary of the PKK is in Lebanon, but he regularly listens to Turkish and international radio stations and television channels. Videocassettes of news or information programs he might have missed are also sent to 'the President.' This is the technical aspect of Ocalan's position, the infrastructure of which was not sufficiently developed in 1991. But the important thing is to make the right analyses and to follow a good policy with the help of all this information. Ocalan believes that 'politics is the art of concentration.'
 "I remember very well that during our 1991 interview in Damascus, Ocalan had addressed one of his guerrillas saying, 'What kind of man are you? You must show that you are a Kurd!' Moreover, when he criticized the Turkish Republic, he aimed his arrows at 'the Turk in general.' However, on 21 March 1994, when we wished him a Happy Feast, Ocalan replied: 'the Newroz is not only my feast but an international one!'
 In the new concept Ocalan is formulating of the 'rearrangement of Turco-Kurdish relations,' he gives a lot of importance to equality and fraternity. He is very critical of narrow minded Kurdish nationalism: 'The Kurd cannot exist without Turkey and Turkey cannot survive without Kurds!'
 "His relationship with the press has also changed a lot since 1991. Ocalan has his own way of analyzing the characteristics of each media sector. During interviews with journalists, he now adopts another language than the one he uses when addressing his guerrillasówhich is in fact only natural. He speaks of the 1968 leader of Dev-Genc (Revolutionary Youth), who is now a columnist at the "Ozgur Gundem" daily, as 'our ex-president.'
 "At times, the interview at Bar Elias turned into a casual debate while recording went on. Ocalan in 1994 is calmer and more at ease with himself than Apo 1991. He laughs and sometimes makes a joke or pun. But he has a problem: 'I can't seem to find anyone to speak with [in the Turkish government].'
 "He has said that the PKK does not resemble the PLO, and that he does not behave like Arafat. In 1991, in Damascus, I had met a Kurdish Zapata. In 1994, at Bar Elias, it was still a Kurd standing before me. Zapata was standing thereówas it also Garibaldi? "

ITALIAN REPORTER FINED IN TURKEY FOR NEWROZ RALLY

 Reuters, June 16, 1998
 A Turkish court on Tuesday found an Italian left-wing journalist guilty of provoking hatred in a Kurdish protest and fined him 6.1 billion lira ($23,000),suspended for five years.
 Reporter Dino Frisullo was arrested in March at a rally in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir to mark the Newroz spring festival, a traditional time of Kurdish dissent.
 Turkish television pictures showed Frisullo being carried on the shoulders of a crowd and holding a picture of a dead Kurdish rebel.
 Frisullo denied any link to the Kurdistan Workers Party guerrilla group, fighting for self rule in the southeast since 1984. More than 28,00 people have died in the conflict.
 "I am on the side of peace. I am not a terrorist," he told the state security court in Diyarbakir.
 The court deported Frisullo in April but he returned to Turkey to hear the verdict. The trial angered the Italian government, which voiced concern over Turkey's strict restraints on freedom of expression.

EURO-COMMISSION PROBES VIOLENCE IN TURKEY

 Reuters, June 16, 1998
 Members of the European Commission of Human Rights are gathering evidence in Turkey on allegations of killings and kidnappings by security forces four years ago, the Commission said on Tuesday.
 The Commission is looking into complaints from relatives that a man was killed during an operation by security forces in the southeastern village of Arikli, and another was tortured and killed after he was arrested by plain-clothes police.
 In another case, a woman named as Cicek alleged that her grandson and two sons disappeared after being arrested by security forces in the village of Dernek.
 Turkish authorities deny that security forces were involved in any of the cases.
 A four-member delegation will hear testimony from witnesses, villagers, public prosecutors and members of the security forces and will report to the commission in two weeks.
 The commission acts as a screening body for the European Court of Human Rights which has already condemned Turkey in various cases connected with security forces operations in the Kurdish southeastern provinces.
 The Court is part of the 40-nation Council of Europe, which monitors human rights and democracy across Europe and whose parliamentary assembly is expected to vote next month on a draft report highly critical of Turkey's treatment of Kurds.

THE KILLER IS HERE SOMEWHERE

 Turkish Daily News, June 16, 1998
 While speaking about Diyarbakir, the city of unsolved murders and missing persons, poet Hicri Izgoren has also criticized insensitive people. While death patrols the streets at night in Batman, or while it is uncertain in Diyarbakir from which direction the bullet will come, in short, while a geography bleeds from one end to the other, Izgoren said in his poem, "I am an unsolved murder now where everyone is a little bit of a perpetrator."
 During a symposium entitled, "Unsolved Murders and the Right to Live," organized by the Human Rights Organization (IHD) last weekend, attendees mentioned thousands of murders in which "everyone is a little bit of a perpetrator." The missing persons' relatives, who have lived out the tragedy which Turkey has experienced during the past 20 years, in the sad memories of those whom they have lost, caused Ankara to weep and experience sadness, wisdom and solidarity. With tears flowing down their cheeks, mothers, sisters, spouses and nephews spoke about the deaths they had experienced. They explained how the spouses, fathers, mothers or brothers whom they had sent to the newspaper stand, to the office, to the fields, to school, to court, to the hospital or to herd the sheep had not returned.
 The spirit of honest columnists of the Turkish press, Abdi Ipekci and Ugur Mumcu, the newly blossoming young writers Hafiz Akdemir, Yahya Orhan and Ferhat Tepe, as well as Musa Anter, symbolic figure of Turkish and Kurdish brotherhood, Namik Erdogan, one of the forthright and industrious figures of the bureaucracy, Savas Buldan, who became a father the day his funeral was held, and all the others were there.
 Hanife Tekdal, who has lost four members of her family to clashes in the Southeast, because of the unsolved murders said: "I have lost my sons Mehmet, Mustafa and Ali and my husband, Emin. Despite all this, I want peace so that more mothers will not cry, because they also have children."
 Derman Taranci, wife of journalist Namik Taranci, who was murdered in an unsolved case, said her husband had not been killed in an unsolved murder. Taranci claimed that the killer of her husband was known. "It is said that he was killed by gang members. Well, who is supporting the gang members?" she asked.
 Ulku Adali, wife of journalist Kutlu Adali from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC), drew attention to the fact that the overwhelming majority of those who had attended the symposium were women.
 Adali said it had been proven how sensitive the hearts of women were, and that they had not surrendered easily. She urged the participants to maintain their unity, stressing that the state was under suspicion and that it meant that the state was guilty if it remained silent.
 Bengi Heval Oz, daughter of Ankara Prosecutor Dogan Oz, who lost his life in an armed attack in 1978, and Nuket Izzet, Abdi Ipekci's daughter, also took part in the IHD's symposium, each presenting a submission.
 Political parties urge joint struggle
 On the second day of the symposium, representatives of political parties and democratic organizations delivered speeches. HADEP, ODP, EMEP, DKP, DBP and TSIP members focused on the political dimensions of the unsolved murders. Pointing out that in most parts of the world unsolved murders were being used as a method of political intervention, the representatives gave examples, particularly from Latin America and Algeria. They blamed the state for the murders and claimed that the killers were being protected. They pointed out that they would work together to raise social awareness on this issue.
 During that day's afternoon session, representatives of various other organizations spoke. The lecturers who talked in the name of the Contemporary Journalists Association (CGD) and the Medya-Sen stressed the insensitivity of the press as respects of the unsolved murders of journalists. The IHD administration announced that it would prepare a final communique at the end of the symposium.
 While all this was going on at the symposium, daily Aydinlik was publishing an interview with Mahmut Yildirim, known as "Yesil," who is claimed to be one of the architects of unsolved murders. In his interview, Yesil was calmly explaining that for the good of the country, he had carried out all the acts which had caused hundreds of people to attend the meeting at Ankara's Harb-Is Hall. Yesil was saying that top-level state officials could not touch him because he had information ranging from unsolved murders to drug smuggling. When the Plaza Del Mayo Mothers from Argentina visited Turkey, they had said, "The killer may be the person who is sitting next to you on the bus." The participants of the IHD symposium also said, "The murderer is somewhere nearby." How interesting that everything becomes likened to everything else.
 While Yesil was blackening the pages of daily Aydinlik with his ominous statements, the love of the mothers was lighting up Harb-Is Hall.

TURKEY STILL LEFT LOOKING AT EU CLUB FROM AFAR

 Reuters, June 16, 1998
 British Prime Minister Tony Blair tried to put  a more positive gloss on the European Union's rocky relations with would-be  member Turkey at the EU summit on Tuesday. But Greece, Ankara's long-time foe within the EU, put a halt to Blair's diplomatic manoeuvres, leaving Turkey with little more than it had before -- an arm's length rapport with the 15-nation club. Summit chairman Blair attempted to massage an official communique  into more palatable form, saying Turkey had been treated in the same way as  other prospective EU members.
 "We have subjected the candidature of Turkey to a very clear statement  that the same rules and criteria that apply to anyone else apply to them too,"  Blair told reporters at the end of the summit of 15 EU nations. Blair stressed the decision to ask the EU's executive Commission to look at  ways of finding cash for Turkey to help it prepare for eventual membership. "We have made specific reference to the Commission and its power to  come forward with its own proposal to unlock the financing which has been a  big part of the problem of our relations with Turkey."
 Asked if he had done enough to get the frosty relationship back on track,  Blair said: "That's a matter for Turkey." Greece, which has been long at odds with Turkey over the divided island of Cyprus, insisted there be no change of policy from the declaration made at a  similar summit in Luxembourg six months ago. "Our Greek colleagues put forward their case very strongly indeed," Blair  said.

TURKEY'S BULGING "THOUGHT CRIME" FILE

 GUL DEMIR AND NIKI GAMM, Turkish Daily News, June 17, 1998
 The problem of freedom of expression in contemporary Turkey reflects a gloomy paradox. Ever since the 1980 military coup, freedom of thought and expression has been under violent attack. Throwing journalists, writers and intellectuals into prison for what they write has become an ordinary occurrence. Even moderate voices in Turkey were silenced during the first four years after the military coup when the paradox began.
 Of course it was natural that nongovernmental organizations, political parties and labor unions would begin to give voice in opposition to this. As a result of the various campaigns which were organized, Articles 141, 142 and 163 of the Turkish Penal Code were abrogated in April 1991.
 These gains which were related to freedom of expression were won by many a politician, writer and defender of human rights who risked torture and prison sentences in order to oppose censorship. This change of the times Prime Minister Turgut Ozal announced to the world as "a speaking Turkey."
 These changes which were made to the Turkish Penal Code in April 1991 were made part of the Anti-Terror Law (Law No. 3713). The law encapsulated a broad definition of what terrorism was and even included opposition which did not rely on violence. For example to engage in "propaganda of whatever means to destroy nationalist feelings or weaken them was changed into "engaging in separatist propaganda" under Article 8 of the Anti-Terrorism Law.
 The second half of 1993 and the first months of 1994 saw a dramatic increase in the number of those arrested and imprisoned under Article 8. Among those imprisoned were lawyers, journalists, labor unionists, people engaged in politics, university faculty, writers and publishers.
 Ismail Besikci was punished under Article 8 for his book "Republican People's Party Program (1931) and the Kurdish Problem." Ismail Besikci is still in prison because of Article 8. Ayse Nur Zarakolu, the head of Belge Publications has been imprisoned many times for books which she has published and has drawn a prison sentence three times. At present Ass. Dr. Fikret Baskaya from the Economics Faculty of Bolu Abant University was arrested on March 17, 1994. The reason for his being arrested was that he was found to have violated Article 8 with his book entitled, "Westernization, Modernization, Development -- the Bankruptcy of the Paradigm." The Kurds are examined in one section of the book and recognized as a separate ethnic group -- this was enough for Baskaya to be sent to Haymana Prison. The Turkish United Nations Association's former secretary general Haluk Gerger was arrested because of Article 8.
 Changes to Article 8 make matters worse
 Towards the end of 1995, President Suleyman Demirel approved changes to Article 8. Taking up the issue of changes to Article 8 was speeded up because it was made very clear to Turkey that some developments were expected on the human rights front for the sake of its foreign relations and especially when the European Union (EU) Commission brought it up during the period leading up to the Customs Union.
 The change to Article 8 reduced the prison sentence from five years to three but "separatist propaganda" still draws a prison sentence. In a situation in which the crime has been committed for the first time, the right to apply a monetary fine or postpone punishment is left to the discretion of the court. In short, the single change to Article 8 was the reduction of the penalty by half and the possibility of postponement.
 Some people who were arrested under Article 8 remain in prison despite the changes. The 20-month prison sentence which was meted out to former parliamentarian Ibrahim Aksoy for a variety of articles was reduced to 10 months thanks to the new version of Article 8. And in the case of Mehdi Zana, he drew a prison sentence of two years because of a speech which he made in the European Parliament in Brussels. Blind lawyer Esber Yagmurdereli was sent back to prison within the past month to serve out the remaining years of a sentence which had been previously imposed and which is tantamount to life imprisonment.
 Turkey's freedom of thought and expression remains a paradox for all of the parts of society which are in opposition to the system. Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Recep Tayyip Erdogan is in a situation in which he is to be punished for having read out some poetry.
 Officials of the Human Rights Association which has been carrying out a "Freedom of Thought" campaign for nearly 10 months has the following to say: " Behind this indication of a way of free life without prohibitions or censorship which constitutes the most important aspect of democratization in our geographic location lies the quite swollen balance sheet of prohibitions which have been applied for years. "According to what our association can learn in the last 40 years the number of publications banned exceeds 6,000. This figure marks the lowest possible number. More than 5,000 written publications and up to 1,000 cinema films and music cassettes have been banned. The section in the National Library which is devoted to banned publications now contains 7,851 publications. And after 1980, 2,500 publications, 200 cinema films and up to 50 music cassettes were added to the balance sheet." "After 1980 more than 100 tons of publications were destroyed. Of these 30 tons were officially burned and as for the remainder they were pulped in SEKA ovens and shredded. In addition legal cases carrying prison sentences amounting to thousands of years have been opened against those responsible for the forbidden publications. Hundreds of writers, intellectuals and artists are still being made to appear in court as defendants. They have been placed in many prisons. And finally journalist and writer Ragip Duran is being put in prison for seven months.
 According to an official statement from the Justice Ministry 10,949 people were tried between 1982 and 1990. "There is still in the neighborhood of 6,000 case files on those being tried for their thoughts continuing in the State Security Court and the Courts of Serious Crime and of First Instance as well as in the General Staff Military Courts.
 The laws and decrees which continue to block freedom of thought which fall under Articles 311, 312, 159, 155 and 175 of the Anti-Terror Law amount to around 155. "In the last two years alone nearly 500 inquiries have been opened against civilians at the request of the General Staff concerning the formers' views and writings and citing Article 159. One hundred and five people are under arrest for expressing their thoughts in writing or verbally. We think that it is a great shame for our country on the brink of entering the 21st century to be trying people who are defenders of human rights for their thoughts and putting them in prison and for counting thoughts as criminal. We want the obstacles to freedom of thinking, organizing and believing removed for this reason. We will issue a statement entitled 'Freedom for Thought' at 12:00 Wednesday June 17 in Istanbul's Sultanahmet Square as part of the 'Freedom for Thought Campaign.'"
 In a May announcement of the Press Council's High Committee, it was pointed out that "While expecting a reduction in pressure which has its source outside of the country, exactly the opposite happened." The "dark balance sheet" of the past six years is given below: Twenty-five journalists have been killed, 36 journalists were attacked with weapons, 104 journalists were exposed to attacks by security forces. In 599 cases related to publications of press organizations, the decision was made to either confiscate the publication or close the press organ. As for the numbers of the past year, two journalists were attacked with weapons, two journalists were struck in court in front of the judges, 26 journalists were taken into custody, nine journalists were arrested. The decision was taken to confiscate 16 newspapers.
 This terrifying overview of the press doesn't finish with this either. Some things cannot be written about or caricatured and the direct and indirect pressure and messages coming from various sources circulate in a whisper from time to time. From time to time the situation with the Turkish journalists who show how successful they are by being at the top of the list of countries throughout the world because of the number of journalists undergoing the greatest pressure comes on the agenda in Europe.
 Dogan Holding Executive Board Chairman Aydin Dogan has shown his success in being elected to membership in the World Association of Newsmen (WAN). Dogan has said, "The number of journalists under arrest in Turkey is not this. Many of the names which appear here are not journalists." Probably Aydin Dogan of necessity means the journalists who work without a union and without social insurance in his own newspaper. Because a journalist who is deprived of these rights does not have the title of journalist in Europe...
 At the moment it is thought that only a journalist's freedom of thought and speech is being threatened. Their social rights have been wrongfully snatched away from them by the big media patrons. We can understand whether or not Turkish journalism can be rightfully represented in Europe by following Aydin Dogan in the coming days. Turkish society wants to be saved from the obstacles blocking its intellectual and cultural development. It wants to be able to obtain the information it wants easily and to share its feelings and thoughts with others without any problems. One of the witnesses to this is that the Turk shows no inclination to not write or speak about what he or she thinks. Those who want to hear the opposite are increasing with every passing day. Quite to the contrary as while the number of those risk laying in prison and try to express their thoughts doesn't diminish in size. The figures show this.

AI: LA PRATIQUE DE LA TORTURE EST TOUJOURS LARGEMENT REPANDUE EN TURQUIE

 Amnesty Intenational a publié mercredi 18 juin 1998 son rapport 1998 des violations des droits de l'homme dans 141 pays du monde perpétrées entre janvier et décembre 1997. Selon ce rapport, la pratique de la torture est systématique et très répandue dans les commissariats de police et les gendarmeries turques et cela malgré un certain impact de la nouvelle législation relative aux procédures de détention.
 "Plusieurs centaines de personnes ont été arrêtées en raison de leurs activités politiques non violentes ( ) Six personnes au moins seraient mortes en détention. Au moins neuf personnes auraient 'disparu' alors qu'elles se trouvaient aux mains des forces de sécurité. Au moins 20 personnes ont été tuées dans des circonstances portant à croire qu'elles avaient été exécutées de façon extrajudiciaire" dénonce la séction du rapport consacrée à la Turquie.
 Toujours d'après ce rapport, la démission de Necmettin Erbakan de la coalition gouvernementale est le résultat de la pression des forces armées.
 Se référant aux manifestations non violentes, le rapport souligne que des syndicalistes et des étudiants ont fait fréquemment objet de placement en garde à vue et ont été détenus parfois pendant des heures ou des jours par la police.
 Le rapport dénonce également l'article 8 de la loi anti-terreur et l'article 159 du code pénal turc et cite à ce titre le procès de Munir Ceylan, syndicaliste, d'Ercan Kanar, président de la branche d'Istanbul de l'Association turque des droits de l'homme et de Sanar Yurdatapan, porte-parole de l'Initiative de l'Ensemble pour la Paix.
 Ces trois hommes ont accusé l'état-major de l'armée turque d'avoir couvert le massacre de Guclukonak où les forces de sécurité ont détenu puis exécuté 12 civils et gardiens de village.
 Enfin le dit rapport d'Amnesty qualifie Hatip Dicle, Orhan Dogan, Selim Sadak et Leyla Zana de "prisonniers de conscience".
 "Jugés dans des conditions contraires aux normes les plus élémentaires d'équité, ils ont été condamnés alors qu'aucune preuve concluante n'a jamais été présentée à l'appui des charges retenues contre eux. Ces quatre personnes ont, selon toute vraisemblance, été incarcérées en raison des critiques qu'elles avaient formulées concernant la politique du gouvernement dans les départements du Sud-Est, où la population est majoritairement kurde" souligne le document.

FULL TEXT OF AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT ON TURKEY

 (This report covers the period January-December 1997) Hundreds of people were detained because of their non-violent political activities; most were released after a short period of police detention but others were sentenced to terms of imprisonment. Torture continued to be widespread and systematic in police stations and gendarmeries, although new legislation on detention procedures had some impact. There were at least six reported deaths in custody. At least nine people reportedly ìdisappearedî in security force custody and at least 20 people were killed in circumstances suggesting that they had been extrajudicially executed. There were no judicial executions, although courts continued to pass death sentences. Armed opposition groups committed deliberate and arbitrary killings of prisoners and civilians.
 The government headed by Necmettin Erbakan of the Islamist Welfare Party in coalition with the right-wing True Path Party ended with his resignation in June, largely as a result of pressure from the armed forces. Later that month, a new coalition headed by Motherland Party leader Mesut Y.lmaz was formed together with the Democratic Left Party and Democratic Turkey Party. State of emergency legislation was lifted in three provinces in October, but remained in force in six provinces of the southeast, where the 13-year conflict between government forces and armed members of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) claimed the lives of 6,000 people, including civilians, during the year.
 Trade unionists, students and demonstrators were frequently taken into custody at peaceful public meetings or at their organizations' offices, and were held in police detention for hours or days because of their non-violent political activities.
 The trial under Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law, which outlaws any advocacy of ìseparatismî, of 184 members of Turkey's literary and cultural elite for publishing a book entitled Freedom of Thought (see Amnesty International Report 1997) was halted in October under the terms of a law which suspended judicial proceedings against editors for three years.
 Other articles of the Turkish Penal Code (TPC) were also used against writers, journalists and political activists whose statements criticized the Turkish state. In June the writer and lawyer Ahmet Zeki Okçuo©lu was imprisoned under Article 159 of the TPC for ìinsulting the institutions of the stateî, after the Supreme Court upheld a 10-month sentence handed down in 1993 by Istanbul Criminal Court No. 2 for his article published in the newspaper Azadi (Freedom). He was released in October. The trials under Article 159 continued against Münir Ceylan, a trade unionist; Ercan Kanar, president of the Istanbul branch of the Turkish Human Rights Association (HRA); and Óanar Yurdatapan, spokesperson for the Together for Peace initiative (see Amnesty International Report 1997). They had publicly accused the Chief of General Staff of covering up the Güçlükonak massacre, in which state forces allegedly detained and killed 11 civilians and village guards. The security forces presented the killings as having been committed by the PKK.
 Prisoners of conscience Hatip Dicle, Orhan Do©an, Selim Sadak and Leyla Zana, former parliamentary deputies for the Democracy Party, continued to serve 15-year sentences, imposed in 1994 for alleged membership of the PKK, at Ankara Closed Prison. No conclusive evidence was presented to support the charges against them during the course of a blatantly unfair trial and they appeared to have been imprisoned because of their criticism of state policy in the predominantly Kurdish southeastern provinces.
 People expressing political beliefs from an Islamic point of view were also held as prisoners of conscience. Former parliamentary deputy Hasan Mezarc. was serving an 18-month sentence imposed in 1996 under Law 5816 for insulting Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Turkish Republic. He was released in October. In April members of the Aczmendi religious order detained in October 1996 were sentenced to prison terms by Ankara State Security Court (SSC) for appearing in public in Ankara in turbans and cloaks _ garments which contravened the Dress and Hat Laws instituted by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Ilyas Eldi, Yakup AkkuÒ, Ahmet Arslan, Ömer Faruk, Bülent Baykal, and Servet Dündar were sentenced to four years' imprisonment after conviction under Article 7/1 of the Anti-Terror Law for ìmembership of an organization founded to transform the Republic by means of intimidation or threats.î In fact, the Aczmendi order does not advocate violence. Another 110 Aczmendi defendants received sentences of three years' imprisonment.
 The HRA was subjected to intense harassment. Three branches were shut down including the Diyarbak.r branch, which was closed on the grounds that ìits activities threaten the unity of the state.î Aziz Durmaz, president of the Óanl.urfa branch, was detained and reportedly tortured in June. He was committed to prison on apparently bogus charges of membership of an armed organization. He was a prisoner of conscience. Aziz Durmaz was released in November.
 Turkey does not recognize the right of conscientious objection to military service and there is no provision for alternative civilian service. In January the General Staff Military Court in Ankara sentenced Osman Murat Ülke, chairperson of the Izmir War Resisters' Association (ISKD) (see Amnesty International Report 1997), to six months' imprisonment and a fine for ìalienating the public from the institution of military serviceî by publicly declaring his conscientious objection and burning his call-up papers in 1995. In February the General Staff Military Court opened a new trial against Osman Murat Ülke and a further 11 defendants from the HRA and ISKD on charges of ìalienating the public from the institution of military serviceî in speeches that they had given during Human Rights Week in 1995. Osman Murat Ülke was conditionally released in May, but was rearrested in October at EskiÒehir Military Court after being convicted of ìpersistent insubordinationî, for which he received a five-month prison sentence, and ìdesertionî, for which he received a further five-month sentence.
 In March detention procedures were amended for people held under the Anti-Terror Law (which includes non-violent offences). The Turkish Government announced this as a measure to combat torture. The new law shortened the maximum terms of police detention from 30 to 10 days in provinces under state of emergency legislation, and from 14 to seven days throughout the rest of the country. The new provisions were a substantial
 improvement but still failed to meet international standards. The law provides for four days' incommunicado detention, described by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment as ìunacceptableî. Incommunicado detention is widely recognized as being conducive to torture.
 The revised detention procedures appeared to have some inhibiting effect on the practice of torture. Nevertheless, there were many well-documented reports of torture by police and gendarmes (soldiers carrying out police duties, mainly in rural areas) in many parts of the country. Male and female detainees frequently complained that they were sexually assaulted. The victims included those detained for common criminal offences as well as for offences under the Anti-Terror Law. Children and juveniles were again among the victims. Sixteen-year-old Murat Yi©it reported that he was tortured at a police station in Ankara while detained in January. He stated that he was blindfolded and stripped naked, drenched with cold water, beaten on the soles of his feet and given electric shocks to his penis and feet by police officers who wanted him to sign a confession to a series of burglaries. He was later released without charge. A medical report issued by Ankara Forensic Medicine Institute recorded injuries consistent with his statement.
 Hatun Temuzalp, a reporter for a left-wing journal, stated that she was tortured while held for interrogation at Istanbul Police Headquarters for seven days during March. Police officers insulted and threatened her, and pulled some of her clothes off. Her arms were tightly bound to a wooden bar and two people grabbed her, lifted her onto a chair, hung her up, and pulled the chair away. This happened repeatedly. After a period of intense pain she started to lose consciousness. A radiography report indicated a fractured shoulder blade. When brought before a judge, Hatun Temuzalp made a complaint of torture. She was released, but her interrogators were not prosecuted.
 In a judgment in September the European Court of Human Rights found that Turkish security forces had tortured Óükran Ayd.n while she was detained at Derik Gendarmerie Headquarters in Mardin in 1993. She was 17 years old at the time. The Court found that Óükran Ayd.n had been raped, paraded naked in humiliating circumstances and beaten, and that the Turkish authorities had failed to conduct an adequate investigation into her complaint. The Court ordered the Turkish Government to pay Óükran Ayd.n compensation of approximately US$41,000.
 There were at least six deaths in custody apparently as a result of torture. Fettah Kaya died at Aksaray Police Station in May, after being detained by vice-squad officers at the music hall where he worked. Police authorities reportedly claimed that the 23-year-old man had died of a heart attack, but a detainee who was in custody with him stated that both of them had been tortured by police, who struck them with sandbags.
 At least nine people were reported to have ìdisappearedî in the custody of police or soldiers. In February witnesses saw four armed men, apparently plainclothes police officers, stop Fikri Özgen outside his house in Diyarbak.r, check his identity and drive him away. His family made inquiries with all the relevant authorities, who denied that he was detained. In common with several other victims of ìdisappearanceî, Fikri Özgen had relatives reported to have PKK connections.
 At least 20 people were reported to be victims of political killings, many of which may have been extrajudicial executions. In January Murat Akman was killed during a house raid in Savur, Mardin province, shortly after two security force officers had been killed by the PKK. According to a family member who witnessed the killing, members of the Special Operations Team (a special heavily armed police force unit) came to the door, asking for Murat Akman. When he appeared and showed his identity card, they opened fire, killing him instantly. The family made an official complaint, but by the end of the year those responsible for the killing had not been brought to justice.
 The forcible return to their country of origin of recognized refugees and asylum-seekers, including Iraqi and Iranian nationals, continued throughout the year. On several occasions, Amnesty International expressed grave concern to the Turkish Government about these refoulements. No response was received.
 For the 13th consecutive year there were no judicial executions, although courts continued to pass death sentences.
 Armed separatist, leftist and Islamist organizations were responsible for at least 13 deliberate and arbitrary killings of civilians and prisoners. Armed members of the PKK were allegedly responsible for at least 10 of the killings. According to reports, in July PKK members killed Mehmet Özdemir at Üzümlü village, near Eruh in Siirt province, and also abducted Abdullah TeymurtaÒ from the same village before killing him. In October Merka Akay was taken from her home in Nusaybin, Mardin province, and strangled by PKK members. The Turkish Workers and Peasants' Army (TIKKO) reportedly claimed responsibility for the killing in June of Devrim Yasemin Ïld.rten and Behzat Y.ld.r.m in Istanbul, claiming that they were ìtraitors and collaboratorsî. The Islamic Raiders of the Great East_Front claimed responsibility for the bombing of a sewage treatment plant in Istanbul in June. Mehmet Óahin Duran, a worker at the plant, was wounded in the blast and subsequently died of his injuries. Amnesty International condemned these grave abuses and publicly called on armed opposition groups to ensure that their members were instructed to respect international humanitarian law and human rights standards.
 Throughout the year Amnesty International appealed for the release of prisoners of conscience and urged the government to initiate prompt and independent investigations into allegations of torture, extrajudicial executions and ìdisappearancesî. Reports published during the year included Turkey: Refoulement of non-European refugees _ a protection crisis.
 Amnesty International delegates observed several trial hearings, including the January hearing in the trial at Izmir SSC of a group of juveniles who had been tortured at Manisa Police Headquarters in 1996 and subsequently accused of membership of an armed organization, and the final hearing in May of a trial at Adana Primary Court in which Dr Tufan Köse, an employee of a rehabilitation centre for torture victims, was sentenced to a fine for refusing to give officials access to treatment records.
 Annual Report UPDATE: From January to June 1998
 The irresponsibility of the Turkish authorities created the climate for the shooting on 12 May of Ak2n Birdal, President of the Turkish Human Rights Association (HRA) Ak2n Birdal was wounded by six bullets from the guns of two assailants who entered the headquarters of the association in Ankara.
 The authorities have not only consistently failed to investigate or condemn earlier fatal attacks on officials of the association, but the judicial authorities had apparently contrived to leak spurious but highly dangerous allegations about Ak2n Birdal. These were contained in confessions alleged to have been made by a former military commander of the Kurdish Workersí Party (PKK) recently taken prisoner by the security forces. Although Turkish law provides that evidence collected during preliminary investigation is secret, these statements, which cited Ak2n Birdal as well as numerous other prominent personalities critical of the government as being implicated as having actively supported the PKK, were given enormous publicity.
 While Akin Birdal was struggling very close to death the Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz compounded the offence by describing the attack as an "internal dispute" among people connected with the PKK. In fact, seven men close to right wing political groups -- one of them a gendarmerie officer -- were shortly afterwards arrested and charged with planning and carrying out the attempted killing.

RAPPROCHEMENT ENTRE ANKARA ET OSLO

 CILDEKT, le 19 juin 1998
 Le gouvernement conservateur norvégien s'apprête à vendre des missiles Penguin à Ankara après trois ans de tension des relations entre les deux pays. L'achat de ces missiles, produits par Kongsberg constitue une part importante des négociations qu'Ankara mène pour acquérir huit hélicoptères navals S-70 Seahawk américains d'un montant de $ 200 millions- 12 autres Seahawks étant prévus pour 2002.
 Les relations entre la Turquie et la Norvège avaient été gelées lorsqu'en 1995 Oslo a imposé un embargo sur les armes à Ankara en réponse aux violations des droits de l'homme exercées par la Turquie et qu'à leur tour les autorités turques ont décidé d'inscrire la Norvège dans leur "liste rouge" des pays interdits des marchés turcs.
 35 missiles Penguin devraient être achetés dans un premier temps pour un montant d'environ $ 35 millions par la Turquie.
 Par ailleurs, Ankara continue d'exercer une forte pression sur la France pour que le projet de loi reconnaissant le génocide arménien, adopté le 29 mai 1998 par l'Assemblée nationale, soit recalé au Sénat.
 À ce titre, les officiels turcs ont annoncé, mercredi 9 juin 1998, que Thomson CSF ne pourrait plus participer à un appel d'offre d'un montant de quelque 900 millions de francs destiné à équiper les avions de surveillance maritime turcs.  D'autres contrats militaires risquent de pâtir de ce refroidissement des relations puisque la Turquie a annoncé jeudi 11 juin, la suspension de toute négociations sur des contrats de défense d'un montant total de $10 milliards avec la France.
 "Un processus est en cours au parlement français à propos de cette loi. Tant que ce processus se poursuit, s'il y a des choses à signer, c'est suspendu. S'il y a des choses à négocier, c'est suspendu jusqu'à la fin de ce processus" a déclaré Necati Utkan, porte-parole de la diplomatie turque.
 

UNE ENQUETE SUR LA SITUATION DES PRISONS TURQUES

 CILDEKT, le 19 juin 1998
 Niki Gamm et Gul Demir, deux journalistes au quotidien Turkish Daily News, ont mené une enquête sur la situation accablante des prisons turques, publiée les 8 et 9 juin 1998, et ont soulevé à cette occasion des questions urgentes.
 Voici de larges extraits de cet article:
 "La réalité des prisons La réalité de la vie dans les prisons turques intéresse le grand public depuis le coup d'état militaire du 12 septembre 1980. La Commission de Prison de la branche d'Istanbul de l'Association des droits de l'homme (IHD) soutient que la situation n'a guère changé dans les prisons turques depuis cette date ( )
 Les détenus, qu'ils soient politiques ou non, survivent dans des conditions misérables, mais les premiers sont agressés non seulement physiquement mais également intellectuellement ( ) Les prisons où étaient détenus les prisonniers politiques ont été attaquées de nombreuses fois. Deux ou trois fois l'an, ces derniers mènent des grèves de la faim. La plus courte de ces grèves a duré 40 jours. Il semble qu'ils ne peuvent obtenir leurs droits que par ce moyen, bien que leurs demandes ne soient pas déraisonnables ( ) Ces gens là sont en prison pour des raisons politiques et nous devons nous attendre à voir des revendications politiques.
 Cela dit les problèmes ne seront résolus que quant les protagonistes se seront mis autour d'une table ( ) On ne peut prétendre que les tortures soient systématiques en prison. Cela étant, il existe de nombreux rapports sur de sérieux passages à tabac par la police ou par des gendarmes lors des transports de prisonniers politiques à l'hôpital ou au Tribunal ou encore durant les protestations. La police et les gendarmes saisissent l' opportunité pour "punir" les personnes qui ont été jugées ou condamnées pour avoir été membres d'organisations illégales.
 Un prisonnier détenu à la prison de Buca à Izmir en 1995 a déclaré ceci: "Lorsque j'étais à la prison de Buca, les prisonniers politiques du quartier six ont refusé de se soumettre au recensement de septembre 1995 pour protester contre la cruauté des gendarmes lors des transports au Tribunal. Un important groupe de gendarmes est entré par la force au quartier six. Après avoir calmé les prisonniers, ils les ont sortis un à un dans la cour et les ont battus avec des crosses, des matraques, des bâtons en fer et des chaînes ( )" Cet incident a causé la mort de Yusuf Bag, Turan Kilic et Ugur Sariaslan. Les rapports d'autopsie de Turan et de Kilic démontrent la violence sauvage de l'assaut: "Fracture du crâne associée au traumatisme général du corps, hémorragie interne, fractures de la cage thoracique, hémorragie et lacération du poumon droit". ( ) De fréquentes grèves de la faim
  Les prisons sont souvent d'actualité à cause des grèves de la faim. Alors que l'opinion publique perçoit cela comme une autopunition, les prisonniers en font usage pour améliorer les conditions pénitentiaires. La grève de la faim est l'unique instrument qu'ils possèdent pour montrer au public leurs conditions de vie, leurs privations et leurs problèmes. En effet, les détenus ont acquis certains droits grâce aux grèves de la faim, créant ainsi l'impression d'une méthode efficace ( ) Le système des "cellules" en prison- un vieux débat rouvert Après 1980, la construction de prisons est devenue un des plus "attractifs" investissements. Le nombre de prisons turques y compris celles qui sont en construction est autour de 700. Le débat actuel à propos de l'organisation des vieilles prisons et de la construction des nouvelles a soulevé une autre discussion: le système des "cellules" ( ) Ce genre de système peut être unique pour les États modernes. La question est quelle est l'intention réelle de l'État? ( ) Les responsables de l'Association des droits de l'homme sont sceptiques. Ils rappellent à ce sujet les nombreux assauts dans les prisons. "L'État qui devrait être responsable de la protection de la vie personnelle des détenus et condamnés, s'octroie également le droit de les attaquer et les tuer. Cela s'est passé dans les prisons de Diyarbakir, d'Umraniye et de Buca. Le système "cellulaire" est réellement inapproprié pour la Turquie ( )".
 Les amis et les familles de prisonniers Il y a deux systèmes de sécurité distincts en prison, l'un interne et l'autre externe. La sécurité interne concerne les civils; les familles y sont relativement bien traitées. Le problème majeur est la sécurité externe attachée au ministère de l'Intérieur, leur logique est la suivante "sont terroristes non seulement ceux qui sont en prison mais également leurs famille" ( ) ( ) Tout le monde y compris les enfants [et] les mères ( ) sont arrêtés. Le car de la police attend devant la porte pour arrêter non pas ceux qui rentrent en prison mais ceux qui en sortent ( )
 De nombreuses couleurs, tel que le rouge, le jaune et le vert sont abhorrées et interdites. Par une logique étrange et tordue, ils interdisent le rouge afin d'empêcher la confection de drapeau, et prohibent le blanc car il peut être peint. Les couleurs portées par les gendarmes et les gardiens ne sont également pas acceptées. ( ) Comme nous essayons de parler avec des visiteurs de la Prison de Bayrampasa, une femme s'est approchée de nous et a raconté sa propre expérience. "Je suis venue d'Erzincan en hiver pour une visite et ils ont refusé mon entrée parce que je portais une veste verte." Cette femme d'âge moyen ( ), mère d'un prisonnier, a ajouté qu'elle allait d'une prison à une autre car son fils était constamment transféré. "La situation est pire encore à la Prison d'Erzurum. La police menace les proches des prisonniers d'emprisonnement, s'ils venaient à désobéir ( ) c'est pourquoi, les familles viennent aux visites qu'une ou deux fois par an, le plus souvent pendant les fêtes religieuses. " ( ) Le problème de la santé Le problème majeur en prison est la santé, un problème général en Turquie. L'hépatite-B est largement répandue ( ) Il n'y a seulement quatre prisons en Turquie, dont Bayrampasa, qui ont une infirmerie. Il faut au moins un mois pour transférer quelqu'un à l'hôpital. Une des premières raisons est le manque d'ambulances et d'officiers de sécurité supervisant le transfert.
 Les problèmes continuent d'exister après l'arrivée du prisonnier à l'hôpital. Ils peuvent être refusés pour manque de lits ou de chambres de sécurité. Souvent, les patients sont soignés par des prisonniers qui sont médecins. Les prisonniers politiques qui espèrent être libérés pour raison de santé en vertu de l'article 399 se plaignent de son inapplication. Certains prisonniers de droit commun profitent même de cet article ( ) Selon l'IHD, en un mois, 3000 prisonniers ont été renvoyés de l'hôpital ( ) Le problème des enfants emprisonnés Les enfants sont traités comme des criminels de droit commun, même si cette distinction ne puisse pas leur être applicable. La branche d'Istanbul de l'IHD a récemment interviewé des enfants prisonniers et témoins à la Prison des Enfants et des Femmes de Bakirkoy en réaction aux accusations de tortures appliquées aux enfants ( ) L'IHD a déclaré que les enfants étaient non seulement battus mais également châtiés pour avoir informé le public. Les agressions sexuelles en Prison Les agressions sexuelles ne sont pas rares en prison, et pourtant il est imperceptible aux observateurs à l'extérieur ( )
 Il y a deux situations où les agressions sexuelles sont les plus fréquentes. Le premier est les agressions par les gardiens ou les soldats lors des transports de prisonniers aux Tribunaux ou aux hôpitaux. Le second, c'est la rumeur selon laquelle il y aurait une section spéciale en prison dont les membres se livrent aux agressions sexuelles ( ) Morts en prison Le nombre de personnes qui sont mortes dans les prisons turques est considérable. En 1996, 45 prisonniers de droits commun et politiques ont trouvé la mort; en 1997, 13. Jusqu'à fin mars 1998, 5 détenus sont morts en prison ( )
 Un autre aspect du système qui facilite les violations des droits de l'homme telle que la torture, est la dissimulation des preuves médicales et la présentation de faux rapports médicaux légaux. Les personnes relâchées à la suite d'une garde à vue sont envoyées chez un médecin légiste nommé par l'État. Les médecins qui sont des fonctionnaires de l'État peuvent être sous une sérieuse pression pour qu'ils concluent à un "rapport de bonne santé" ( ) Un médecin de l'hôpital d'État de Diyarbakir avait eu des suites après avoir déclaré à l'Association des médecins turcs: "Au cours de l'auscultation d'une personne après placement en garde à vue, la police a exigé un rapport de l'hôpital d'État établissant qu'elle n'avait pas été sous pression ni battue. Je ne pouvais pas dire "S'il vous plaît, enlevez vos vêtements; Je vais vous examiner' puisque la police aurait pensé que je pouvais agir contre elle. Et pourtant, il était évident que la personne avait été battue, suspendue etc. ( ) .
 D'après la branche d'Istanbul de l'Association des droits de l'homme les représentants légaux des familles sont parfois empêchés d'assister aux autopsies ( ) Parmi les 143 personnes qui ont fait appel à la Section d'Istanbul d'IHD pour obtenir un certificat de torture ou de mauvais traitements en 1997, seul 49 ont pu l'obtenir. Un médecin qui fournit un document de ce genre est conscient de se mettre en danger. Il n'est pas rare que le bureau du Procureur général mène des investigations sur un médecin qui a fait état de blessures et des traces d'agression sur le corps d'un patient sur le chef d'" atteinte à la réputation de l'État par des faux rapports".

PRO-KURDISH DAILY NEWSPAPER TARGET OF BOMB ATTACK

 Reporters sans frontieres, Paris
 In the early morning of 21 June 1998, a bomb exploded at the offices of the pro-Kurdish daily "Ülkede Gündem" in Batman, in south-eastern Turkey. Although no one was injured in the attack, the explosion did cause serious material damage.
 BACKGROUND: Since the newspaper was prevented, in December 1997, from being circulated in the region, correspondents for "Ülkede Gündem" have been the target of frequent harassment by police. In March 1998, the Batman correspondent for the daily, Mevlüt Bozkur, received death threats.
 Covering events in the south-east of Turkey is always a challenge for the media, including foreign correspondents. On 2 March 1997, Stephen Kinzer, Turkish correspondent for the "New York Times", was arrested in Batman. He was held at a police station for ten hours and interrogated for seven hours on suspicion of being a "PKK [Kurdistan Workers' Party] spy".
 On 24 November, police forced Gunnar Kohne, a German journalist from the Swiss newspaper "Facts", and Mark Simon, an American photographer, to stay in their Batman hotel for 20 hours - allegedly for their own safety. All these journalists had the necessary official documents to work as foreign correspondents in Turkey.
 As well, according to the Journalists Safety Service, Sayfettin Tepe, Batman correspondent for "Yeni Politika", died in police detention on 29 August 1995. Tepe had been detained on 22 August along with Ramazan Otunc and Aydin Bolkan, respectively Batman representative and correspondent for the same newspaper. Otunc and Bolkan were released on the same day. Tepe was kept in detention and taken to the Bitlis Security Directorate on the morning of 26 August. Tepe died while in detention at the Directorate on 29 August.

LA TURQUIE RAPPELLE SON AMBASSADEUR EN SUISSE

 CILDEKT, le 24 juin 1998
 Déjà en conflits avec ses voisins grec, chypriote, syrien, irakien, iranien et arménien, et en froid avec plusieurs capitales européennes et Moscou, la Turquie a trouvé encore le moyen de se brouiller avec la très neutre Confédération helvétique. Elle a rappelé "pour consultation" son ambassadeur à Berne a-t-on appris de sources diplomatiques, le 22 juin.
 La raison invoquée; la ville de Zurich a refusé la location de deux immeubles au consulat turc qui devant déménager ne se trouve pas où loger. Selon la ville, ce sont les citoyens des quartiers concernés qui refusent le voisinage d'une représentation consulaire turque en raison des "risques de nuisances".
 On évoque à ce propos l'assassinat en 1994 d'un manifestant kurde devant les grilles de l'ambassade turque à Berne par des tirs tirés de l'intérieur du bâtiment par les policiers turcs, assassinat resté impuni pour des raisons d'immunité diplomatique qui n'en a pas moins traumatisé l'opinion publique suisse sur les moeurs violentes de l'État turc y compris à l'étranger. D'où le refus des citoyens suisses d'accepter le voisinage de représentants turcs.
 Et comme dans le même temps le maire de Lausanne avait rejeté la requête turque de célébration du 75ème anniversaire du Traité de Lausanne signé en juillet 1923 dans la ville, les partisans du régime d'Ankara croient au "complot suisse contre l'unité de la Turquie".
 Pour le maire, ce traité qui est à la base de la reconnaissance internationale de l'État turc est aussi un texte qui a consacré le partage du Kurdistan et le déni des droits des Arméniens. Le maire a déclaré publiquement qu'il en a honte pour sa ville.
 La brouille turco-suisse risque donc de durer un certain temps.

"ON PREND LE PARLEMENT POUR UN MOINS QUE RIEN!"

 CILDEKT, le 24 juin 1998
 Lors de sa dernière réunion la Commission des droits de l'homme du Parlement turc avait décidé de convoquer les experts du Groupe de Travail de l'Ouest (BCG)- organe constitué par l'état-major turc- et du Groupe de Travail Civil (SCG), attaché au Premier ministre, chargés tous les deux de suivre les activités nuisibles à l'État, notamment les périls islamiste et séparatiste, afin de les interroger sur leurs "activités" et "objet". `
 De vives protestations ont éclaté, jeudi 18 juin 1998, lorsque les députés siégeant au sein de la commission ont constaté que de simples lettres avaient été envoyées à des fins explicatives par le ministère de la Défense et le cabinet du Premier ministre.
 "Ils se croient supérieurs au Parlement. Ceci une preuve manifeste de la démocratie militaire. Le BCG prend le parlement pour moins que rien.  Il a été crée par le soutien des socio-démocrates. Si vous n'êtes pas capables d'emmener le BCG jusqu'ici, trouvez avant tout un nom à votre travail. Peut-être qu'on vous donnera 10 sur 10" ont crié, furieux, les députés du Parti de la Vertu (FP).
 Face à ces contestations, Sema Piskinsut, présidente de cette commission a demandé et obtenu le huit-clos des débats grâce au vote des parlementaires du Parti de la Gauche démocratique (DSP) et du Parti de la Mère-Patrie (ANAP), tout deux, partis de coalition au pouvoir.
 Les deux lettres ont ensuite été lues devant la commission: Le ministère de la défense précisait qu'"un groupe de travail était en cours de création pour des questions disciplinaires et d'organisation, internes au quartier général de l'état-major" et le cabinet du Premier ministre se défendait d'avoir un tel organe en affirmant; "nous n'avons pas dans nos services des organes appelés 'Groupe de Travail de l'Ouest' (BCG) ou 'Groupe de Travail Civil' (SCG)."
 Loin d'être convaincus, les parlementaires du FP et du Parti de la Juste Voie (DYP) ont décidé d'envoyer un second courrier en des termes plus explicatives "Existe-t-il un quelconque groupe de travail ou commission dans le but d'observer les activités intégristes, de développer la prévention et la lutte contre elles et de faire des propositions sur le plan législatif?"

LE PROCUREUR EN CHARGE DU DOSSIER DE DURAN A ETE ELOIGNE DE SES FONCTIONS.

 CILDEKT, le 24 juin 1998
 Alors que Ragip Duran, correspondant de Libération en Turquie a commencé à purger sa peine de 10 mois de prison pour un article publié dans un quotidien pro-kurde en avril 1994, un scandale a éclaté dans les coulisses de la justice turque.
 Le procureur de la République de la Cour de Sûreté de l'État d'Istanbul, Isa Geyik, celui là même qui avait constitué le dossier contre Ragip Duran, a été remercié suite à son implication dans une affaire de corruption.
 En effet, suite à la collaboration entre les polices néerlandaise et turque qui ont effectué des écoutes téléphoniques, l'ex-procureur Geyik a été pris avec d'autres magistrats pour avoir reçu un pot de vin de $100 000 et 3 millions de DM en échange de leur bienveillance pour les narco-trafiquants. Ceux-ci, accusés de trafic d'héroïne, ont été libérés un à un.

LE REGIME TURC A DU MAL A MOBILISER SES PARTISANS

 CILDEKT, le 24 juin 1998
 À la suite de l'adoption par l'Assemblée nationale française reconnaissant le génocide des Arméniens en 1915. Ankara et ses média ont déclenché une vaste campagne de protestations contre la France. Des milliers de lettres-types reproduisant mot à mot le même texte y compris avec ses fautes d'orthographes adressées aux autorités françaises pour les impressioner, suspension des contrats et puis la menace d'une manifestation géante à Paris des 350 000 Turcs de France et des 2,5 millions de Turcs d'Europe.
 La montagne a finalement accouché d'une toute petite souris. Malgré des semaines de battage médiatique, malgré des cars et un train mis gracieusement à la disposition de "Turcs patriotes" ramenés par les consulats et les ambassades et les association qui leur sont inféodées, le samedi 20 juin, on ne dénombrait sur l'esplanade des Invalides qu'un petit millier de manifestants turcs brandissant une profusion de drapeaux turcs.
 Cela n'a pas empêché les quotidiens "patriotes" comme Hürriyet d'annoncer triomphalement à la Une "la marche géante de 5 000 Turcs à Paris".
 Même son de cloche triomphaliste dans la plupart des médias nationalistes turcs qui avaient pourtant annoncé en pages antérieures la manifestation de 50 000 (estimation AFP) à 60 000 kurdes et turcs demandant la paix , il y a quelques jours en Allemagne.
 Le quotidien Milliyet plus mesuré, estime à 2.500 le nombre de manifestants turcs à Paris et fait état d'affrontements violents avec des contre-manifestants "arméniens et séparatistes".
 Le traitement ultranationaliste par les média turcs d'un événement s'étant déroulé à Paris, sous le regard des observateurs, donne une idée de l'ampleur de lavage de cerveaux ou de "bourrage de crâne patriotique" qu'ils pratiquent sur les événements se déroulant en Turquie ou au Kurdistan.

OPINIONS STILL BEHIND IRON BARS IN TURKEY

 Turkish Daily News, June 24, 1998
 The Solidarity Association for Human Rights of Oppressed Peoples (Mazlum-Der) has released its "Violations of Human Rights Report" at a press meeting. The report lists human rights violations in May 1998.
 Yilmaz Ensarioglu, head of the Mazlum-Der, started his speech with get well wishes for Akin Birdal, chairman of the Human Rights Association (IHD), who was shot by two gunmen a month ago. Ensarioglu said that the state should not be satisfied with the arrests of only the two gunmen, but should also investigate the people behind the scenes who made Birdal a target.
 Emphasizing that nothing was done in order to improve or protect human rights in May, Ensarioglu said, "just the opposite, we see that every month people feel they are being surrounded more and more by restrictive policies."
 Referring to the recent student protests against the headscarf ban at Istanbul University, Ensarioglu said, "Because of the judiciary's failure to solve problems, rectors and academicians are forced to act like judges and attorneys. There is a great effort to prevent the establishment of free and autonomous universities. There is an attempt to terminate the will and identity of the youth."
 Reminding journalists that the media was again under pressure during May, Ensarioglu said: "An increasing number of people are either being tried or imprisoned for freely expressing their opinions. The deputy chairman of the Liberation and Solidarity Party (ODP), Saruhan Oluc, journalist Ragip Duran, and imam Halit Zivlak were imprisoned last month, and there are hundreds of other intellectuals waiting their turn to be punished because of their ideas."

LE CONSEIL DE L'EUROPE A FINALEMENT ADOPTÉ LE RAPPORT SUR LES KURDES

 Le Conseil de l'Europe a, jeudi 25 juin 1998, approuvé à main levée le rapport intitulé "Situation humanitaire des réfugiés et des personnes déplacées kurdes dans le Sud-Est de la Turquie et le nord de l'Irak" de sa Commission des migrations, des réfugiés et de la démographie.
 Ce rapport avait l'ambition de "comprendre les causes des importants déplacements de populations, essentiellement d'origine kurde, tant à l'intérieur qu'en provenance du nord de l'Irak et du Sud-Est de la Turquie, et d'évaluer leur situation et leurs besoins humanitaires" et appelait pour que "le gouvernement turc prenne des mesures afin qu'un dénouement pacifique puisse mettre un terme au conflit armé dans lequel il est engagé dans le Sud-Est du pays".
 A l'issue d'un débat très animé, la directive 545 a été adoptée. Cette directive stipule que l'Assemblée devrait "jouer un rôle plus important dans la promotion de la paix et de la réconciliation dans les régions kurdes du Sud-Est de la Turquie et ailleurs ( ) [et] charge sa commission pour le respect des obligations et engagements des États membres d'examiner la question de la minorité kurde dans le cadre de la procédure suivie relative à la Turquie".
 Après quatre heures de débat et le vote de nombreux amendements turcs Mme Vermot-Mangold, rapporteuse du texte, a déclaré "Je ne reconnais plus ce rapport complètement dilué".
 Ainsi, l'idée d'une conférence internationale sur la question kurde proposée par la rapporteuse a été remplacée par l'envoi d'une délégation du Conseil dans la région pour écouter des témoignages sur les événements.
 Autre point important, le rapport final ne demande plus que soient poursuivis les membres des forces armées accusés de violations des droits de l'homme, mais appelle pour que soit traduit en justice "quiconque" violant les droits de l'homme.
 De plus, le rapport condamne la "violence et le terrorisme perpétré par le PKK" aussi bien que "l'évacuation et l'incendie des villages par les forces armées turques".  Le texte final appelle tout de même Ankara à prendre des mesures pour faciliter l'exercice des droits culturels et politiques des Kurdes et demande à la Turquie de dissoudre le système des protecteurs de village payés par le gouvernement.
 Au cours des débats il a été reproché à Mme Vermot-Mangold de "créer un problème kurde" et de se placer sur un plan politique et pas seulement humanitaire.
 La délégation turque a qualifié le rapport de "politique, partial et incomplet". Ils ont regretté les critiques proférées à l'égard des militaires turcs qui selon eux sont présents dans la région pour protéger les villageois. Ils ont également parlé d'"informations fausses et tronquées".
 Parmi les orateurs, Lord Judd (Royaume-Uni) a souligné à quel point l'atmosphère était "passionnée et tendue".
 M. Christodoulides (Chypre) a salué "l'objectivité et le courage politique" de Mme Vermot-Mangold "en raison de la réaction de la délégation turque, qui est allée jusqu'à présenter un contre-rapport et à déposer plus de cinquante amendements en vue de dénaturer le projet de recommandation".
 M. Varela (Espagne) a rajouté que "la délégation turque a fait tenir aux autres parlementaires un petit livre destiné à contredire ce document en rejetant toute la faute sur le PKK".
 M. Brunetti (Italie) a relevé les chiffres éloquents de la commission d'enquête du Parlement turque dans un rapport mis sous scellés par le gouvernement turc; 37 000 victimes en 15 ans, plus de 3 millions de réfugiés. "Il s'agit donc d'un exode biblique, dont les effets sont ressentis jusqu'en Italie" a-t-il ajouté.
 Mme Dumont (France) a pour sa part repris les termes du rapport: "la question kurde n'est plus aujourd'hui un simple problème intérieur. Elle devenue un problème international de droits de l'homme, qui concerne donc la communauté internationale". Cette dernière a également déploré le fait que les droits civils et politiques des Kurdes soient bafoués. "Le mot est impropre, car encore faudrait-il que ces droits aient existé. Ces droits n'existent pas" a-elle-ajouté.
 Par ailleurs, certains députés ont appelé à ce que les députés kurdes emprisonnés en Turquie depuis 1994 retrouvent leurs libertés.
 Il a été reproché également à Mme Vermot-Mangold  de ne pas s'être rendue en Turquie par crainte pour sa vie. Ce à quoi Mme Gelderblom-Lankhout (Pays-Bas) a partiellement répondu en évoquant son voyage en 1994 dans le nord de l'Irak qui a nécessité son passage par la Turquie: "Qui, du parlement ou de l'armée, dirige vraiment le pays, l'armée fait l'objet de multiples rumeurs, allant jusqu'à être accusée de trafic illégal d'êtres humains. Les parlementaires turcs ici présents maîtrisent-ils vraiment ce qui se passe en Turquie?"
La Recommandation du Conseil de l'Europe
 1. L'Assemblée parlementaire rappelle et réitère sa Recommandation 1150 (1991) sur la situation de la population kurde irakienne et d'autres minorités persécutées, sa Recommandation 1151 (1991) relative à l'accueil et à l'installation des réfugiés en Turquie, sa Résolution 1022 (1994) relative à la situation et aux besoins humanitaires de la population kurde irakienne déplacée, sa Recommandation 1348 (1997) relative à la protection temporaire des personnes obligées de fuir leur pays, sa Recommandation 1211 (1993) relative aux migrations clandestines: passeurs et employeurs de migrants clandestins et sa Recommandation 1306 (1996) relative aux migrations des pays en voie de développement vers les pays européens industrialisés.
 2. L'Assemblée note que l'un des problèmes graves que rencontrent aujourd'hui la plupart des pays membres du Conseil de l'Europe est la question générale des migrations clandestines dues aux différences sociales, économiques et démographiques entre les pays en développement et les pays industrialisés ainsi que, dans les régions concernées, à des causes humanitaires.
 3. L'Assemblée note avec une vive inquiétude la situation humanitaire précaire des populations díorigine kurde et díautres origines au nord de l'Irak. L'insécurité et la situation économique et sociale difficile qui prévalent dans ces régions ont entraîné des déplacements et des mouvements de population internes et externes, à grande échelle.
 4. L'Assemblée note aussi avec une vive inquiétude les incidences que les affrontements armés et l'état d'urgence ont, actuellement, sur la situation humanitaire dans les provinces du sud-est de la Turquie.
 5. L'Assemblée condamne fermement les violences et le terrorisme perpétrés par le Parti des Travailleurs du Kurdistan (PKK), qui ont contribué aux déplacements et aux mouvements de populations, et exhorte cette organisation à cesser toutes activités armées. L'Assemblée condamne également l'évacuation et l'incendie de villages par les forces armées turques.
 6. L'Assemblée est préoccupée par l'augmentation du nombre de demandeurs d'asile et de migrants en situation irrégulière d'origine kurde dans certains pays européens.
 7. L'Assemblée condamne les affrontements armés entre les diverses organisations politiques kurdes, qui exploitent à des fins personnelles la population kurde et empêchent l'envoi et une distribution plus efficaces des aides humanitaires.
 8. L'Assemblée considère que la gravité de la situation humanitaire des populations de la région justifie pleinement que le Conseil de l'Europe et díautres organisations internationales compétentes se saisissent de cette question et estime que tous les gouvernements concernés devraient être instamment invités à prendre des mesures effectives pour améliorer la situation et, dans le cas de la Turquie, pour se conformer pleinement aux principes du Conseil de l'Europe.
 9. L'Assemblée souligne une nouvelle fois avec une grande inquiétude que le problème du trafic illicite d'êtres humains attise également le racisme, la xénophobie et l'intolérance.
 10. L'Assemblée insiste de nouveau sur le fait que ce phénomène préoccupe beaucoup non seulement les pays d'accueil, mais aussi les pays se trouvant sur la route de transit.
 11. L'Assemblée souligne que les critiques adressées à un Etat membre comme la Turquie le sont dans un esprit constructif, soulignant l'importance de la participation turque au concert des nations européennes et la nécessité de concilier le respect absolu de son intégrité territoriale et le respect des droits des minorités.
 12. L'Assemblée apprécie particulièrement l'activité des organisations et des partis turcs, qui défendent les droits de l'homme et le dialogue, car il convient de privilégier les solutions nationales, agréées par toutes les parties concernées.
 13. C'est pourquoi l'Assemblée parlementaire recommande au Comité des Ministres:
 i. d'inviter la Turquie à prendre des mesures pour promouvoir le dialogue et la réconciliation dans les provinces du sud-est de la Turquie habitées en majorité par des populations kurdes, par le biais d'actions appropriées et d'un programme de confiance, y compris la protection complète de la population civile et la prudence dans le déploiement des forces armées;
 ii. de charger ses comités compétents d'intensifier leurs efforts pour remédier aux problèmes concrets liés aux mouvements migratoires de Kurdes;
 iii. díétablir une série de mesures visant à lutter contre les conditions qui favorisent les migrations clandestines sous toutes leurs formes, prévoyant des sanctions à l'encontre des trafiquants et des employeurs qui exploitent les immigrants illégaux, en consultation avec le Groupe de Budapest;
 iv. díinviter la Turquie:
 a. à trouver une solution non militaire aux problèmes qui se posent actuellement dans les provinces du sud-est;
 b. à protéger la population civile des régions concernées contre toute forme de violence armée;
 c. à hâter et intensifier ses efforts pour favoriser le développement économique et social et la reconstruction des provinces du sud-est;
 d. à signer et ratifier la Convention-cadre pour la protection des minorités nationales et la Charte européenne des langues régionales et minoritaires et à en appliquer ses dispositions aux Kurdes;
 e. à tirer au clair le sort des personnes disparues;
 f. à adopter des politiques et prendre des mesures adéquates pour mettre les citoyens turcs d'origine kurde en mesure d'exercer leurs droits culturels et politiques;
 g. à restaurer l'état de droit dans la partie sud-est du pays et en particulier à lever l'état d'urgence dans les provinces du sud-est, à assurer efficacement la protection des villages, à exercer un contrôle civil sur les activités militaires dans la région, y compris par la tenue de registres et en assurant le respect des droits de l'homme, à poursuivre toute personne qui viole les droits de l'homme;
 h. à abolir le système des gardes villageois;
 i. à prendre des mesures effectives supplémentaires en vue de la reconstruction et de la relance de l'économie dans les provinces du sud-est;
 j. à prendre des mesures supplémentaires pour reconstruire des écoles et des hôpitaux dans cette région;
 k. à mettre en úuvre, en coopération avec les organisations humanitaires internationales, un vaste programme en vue d'encourager le retour dans leurs foyers des populations kurdes qui en expriment librement le désir;
 l. à assurer une protection particulière aux femmes, enfants et personnes âgées qui rentrent;
 m. à soumettre des projets de reconstruction susceptibles de bénéficier díun financement du Fonds de développement social du Conseil de l'Europe, dans le cadre des programmes de retour;
 n. à adopter des mesures pour intégrer les personnes déplacées d'origine kurde qui souhaitent s'établir dans díautres parties de la Turquie et à leur accorder, de même qu'aux rapatriés, un dédommagement pour les biens détruits;
 o. à ouvrir la région aux organisations humanitaires internationales et à leur assurer le soutien des autorités locales;
 p. à continuer de faciliter le transfert des approvisionnements humanitaires destinés à l'Irak;
 q. à lever la limitation géographique mise à la Convention relative au statut des réfugiés de 1951 et à son Protocole de 1967, et notamment à s'abstenir díexpulser les demandeurs d'asile sans consultation préalable du Haut Commissariat des Nations Unies pour les Réfugiés (HCR), et supprimer la limite de cinq jours pour le dépôt des demandes d'asile;
 r. à s'abstenir d'incursion militaire dans la partie nord de l'Irak;
 v. díinviter instamment les Etats membres:
 a. à encourager le renforcement des programmes d'aide au développement dans les pays d'origine ainsi que dans les pays de transit en vue de fournir une assistance économique et technique accrue pour les projets de développement liés aux migrations;
 b. à renforcer leur aide humanitaire au nord de l'Irak par le biais d'organismes appropriés;
 c. à respecter scrupuleusement le principe de non-refoulement conformément à leurs obligations internationales;
 d. à offrir, en consultation avec le HCR, une protection temporaire à ceux qui ne peuvent prétendre au statut de réfugié au sens de la Convention de 1951 relative au statut des réfugiés et de son Protocole de 1967, mais qui ont été contraints de fuir leur pays parce que leur vie ou leur sécurité était menacée;
 e. à veiller à ce que tous les demandeurs d'asile soient traités avec dignité et hébergés dans des conditions de salubrité satisfaisantes;
 f. à poursuivre les efforts visant à conclure des accords sur le rapatriement et la réadmission avec les pays d'origine et les pays de transit, à condition que les personnes intéressées ne soient pas renvoyées contre leur gré;
 g. à empêcher, par tous les moyens légaux, la création et le fonctionnement de toute association ou groupe d'individus qui apporte un soutien logistique, financier ou propagandiste à toutes les organisations qui se livrent à des actes de violence et de terrorisme;
 vi. díuser de son influence auprès de l'Union européenne:
 a. pour faire en sorte que les mesures prises pour renforcer les contrôles aux frontières ou pour lutter contre la traite de clandestins ne portent pas directement ou indirectement atteinte au droit international en matière de protection des réfugiés;
 b. pour qu'elle reprenne la coopération financière promise en vue de favoriser le développement économique en Turquie, particulièrement dans les provinces du sud-est, et intensifie l'aide humanitaire qu'elle fournit à la région nord de l'Irak;
 vii. de mettre sur pied, conjointement avec l'Union européenne, un programme commun de coopération avec la Turquie destiné à assurer une assistance pour la promotion des droits culturels de la population kurde et d'autres divers groupes de la population locale dans le sud-est de la Turquie.

WAN CALLS FOR RELEASE OF JOURNALIST DURAN

 The World Association of Newspapers (WAN), on June 25,  urged Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz to change Turkey's restrictive press laws and free journalist Ragip Duran, who was jailed last week for 10 months for an interview he conducted with the leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
 "The jailing of Mr Duran for carrying out his professional duties as a journalist is a clear breach of his right to freedom of expression," the President of WAN, Bengt Braun, wrote in a letter to the Turkish Prime Minister.
 Braun called on Yilmaz to respect international conventions on freedom of expression.
 "We strongly urge you to examine all possible legal options to rescind the court ruling against Mr Duran, and call on your government to implement meaningful legal reforms to end the prosecution and imprisonment of journalists in Turkey," said Braun, whose Paris-based association represents 15,000 newspapers in 90 countries.
 Duran, who has worked for several Turkish newspapers as well as the British Broadcasting Corporation, Agence France-Presse and the French daily "Libération", began serving a 10-month jail sentence on 16 June for violating Article 7 of Turkey's Anti-Terror Law.
 The conviction stems from an interview with Abdullah Ocalan, leader of the outlawed PKK, which appeared in the now-defunct daily "Ozgur Gundem" on 12 April 1994. His sentence was confirmed in October 1997, but he received a postponement of sentence that was activated on 16 June.
 WAN sent a delegation to Turkey in 1997 to meet with top officials and urged them to change laws that restrict freedom of the press, but the government continues to claim it has the right to restrict reporting on the Kurdish independence movement.
 For further information, contact Peter Whitehead at WAN, 25, rue d'Astorg, 75008 Paris, France, tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00, fax: +33 1 47 42 49 48, email: pwhitehead@wan.asso.fr, http://www.fiej.org/.
 The information contained in this press release is the sole responsibility of WAN. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit WAN.

TURKISH TROOPS ENTRENCHED IN NORTHERN IRAQ

 Reuters, 27 June 1998
 A year after launching a major offensive into northern Iraq, Turkish troops have dug in for what appears to be a long-term stay in the mountainous Kurdish enclave. Witnesses saw 35 Turkish armoured vehicles and troop carriers crossing the border back into Turkey and another dozen military vehicles including empty ank transporters entering the remote region in little more than an hour on Saturday.
 Local Kurds said Turkish troops had set up bases in the Iraqi towns of Betufa, Bekova and Kani Massi close to the border with Turkey in a campaign against Turkish Kurd guerrillas of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
 They also confirmed the presence of the PKK guerrillas in the main area of operations in the mountains around Zakho.
 "This is a really bad area, there are lots of PKK here," said one man who declined to be named.
 Turkey's Iraqi Kurd allies in the border region, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), have blocked public access around Turkish camps and were helping to fight the PKK, locals said.
 At the moment it is Kurds who are losing because Kurds are fighting Kurds,'' said Jabbar Farman military commander of the KDP's rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
 More than 28,000 people have been killed in the conflict between Turkish forces and the PKK who are fighting for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey.
 The sight of Turkish troops in the enclave aroused little surprise from local people as the heavy vehicles bristling with weaponry rumbled by.
 But privately many are bitter about the presence of foreign troops in the Kurdish enclave which slipped from Baghdad's control after the 1991 Gulf War.
 "We should not be fighting, the Turkish Kurds are our brothers," said another man who did not want to be identified.
 NATO member Turkey has regularly intervened in northern Iraq in pursuit of PKK guerrillas since launching a major offensive involving around 30,000 troops against the rebels in May, 1996.
 Observers say the success of the Turkish army's scorched earth policies against the PKK inside Turkey has led them to carry the conflict into neighbouring Iraq in an attempt to finish off the rebels, who use the area to mount raids into  Turkey.
 "There are more PKK inside Iraq than in Turkey now," said Farman. "This has been a very successful policy."
 Besides the mountains around Zakho, Iraqi Kurds say the PKK guerrillas are mainly concentrated around Haji Umran and the Qandil mountains near Iraq's border with Iran.
 Turkey has severely limited access to journalists travelling to the enclave. The KDP, headed by Massoud Barzani, and Turkey share a lucrative trade in Iraqi diesel that is technically in defiance of U.N. sanctions against Iraq.
 The United States has so far turned a blind eye to the trade, estimated by Washington to be worth around $100 million a year.

SUMMER HEAT ON HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

 Turkish Probe, June 28, 1998
 Turkey is entering yet another summer with a heavy agenda of human rights issues and alleged human rights violations to consider. On one hand are all those who say that they have been victimized, the Human Rights Association (IHD), which has recorded these claims in its reports, and the Turkish Human Rights Foundation (THIV). On the other hand is Parliament's Human Rights Committee. Tackling the same issues, both assess the situation differently.
 The most significant event recently has been the "Mystery Murders and the Right to Live Symposium" held in Ankara by the IHD. Perhaps the most striking development was the reply the Prime Ministry gave to Parliament's Human Rights Committee after it sought information on the West Working Group (BCG) -- the unit that was reportedly created by the General Staff to monitor anti-secularist activities throughout the country -- to which many state officials had referred during the months preceding the Constitutional Court decision to close down the Welfare Party (RP) for anti-secularist activities. In its reply to the Committee, the Prime Ministry noted that the entity called the West Working Group had never been established.
 However, according to a document that the TDN obtained exclusively, Defense Minister Ismet Sezgin confirmed the existence of the group. According to this document, in reply to a written question that the Committee had asked Sezgin about the BCG, Sezgin said that the BCG had been established by order of the General Staff within the Prime Ministry. Thus, the Prime Ministry had given a reply that contradicted that of the defense minister. This situation has drawn adverse reaction from Virtue Party (FP) deputies who are sensitive about this issue. Pointing out that the Prime Ministry had tried to mislead them, FP deputies said they would not remain silent on this issue. Believing that the BCG had been established to follow fundamentalists' activities of the FP from its grassroots to its top administration, FP executives said that the latest correspondence had made more dense the curtain of mystery surrounding the BCG.
 The Parliamentary Human Rights Commission had the parliamentary general assembly debate the migration report it had prepared after six months of work. The report, which has had repercussions at international platforms, drew a strong reaction from the True Path Party (DYP), the Democrat Turkey Party (DTP) and the Motherland Party (ANAP) during its debate in Parliament. The interior minister said that the report had been prepared deliberately and with bad intent. Following this development, the same Commission conducted research on the prisons; the report providing the outcome of this research has yet to be written.
 However, certain sections of this report that were leaked to the press have ignited significant controversy. The members of the Commission, who met with the detainees of the clandestine organization publicly known as the Yuksekova gang, have heard some very striking claims. According to these allegations, an informer identified as Kahraman Bilgic and a member of a special team have stated that they had kidnapped many people, had received extortion and ransom money from drug smugglers and mentioned certain "mystery murders." At the time when the press covered such allegations, the Diyarbakir State Security Court decided that the group in Yuksekova was not a gang. With its decision, the court made the idea of the "Yuksekova Gang" a thing of the past, which was soon to be replaced by a controversial gang known as the "Susurluk gang." The Susurluk gang gained its fame with the statements by its most mysterious member, "Yesil." In striking statements to a magazine, Yesil has said that the drug certificates allegedly belonging to Tansu Ciller and Mehmet Agar were in his possession.
 IHD's declaration
 While these developments take place, the IHD has conducted its most important event in recent years. The IHD staged a symposium entitled, "Mystery Murders and the Right to Live." Hundreds of people who have been indirectly affected by the mystery murders and representatives of democratic organizations attended the symposium. The variety of points of view of those who attended the symposium is apparent in the declaration that follows:
 1- We urge the legislative, executive and the judiciary to work to enlighten the mystery murders;
 2- The requirements of the reports prepared by the Parliamentary Commission set up to enlighten the mystery murders, the commission set up to probe the Ugur Mumcu murder and the Susurluk report must be fulfilled;
 3- A permanent commission consisting of a specialist organization will be established to study the issue from the point of view of national and international law;
 4- All the lawsuits filed relating to the mystery murders till now must be brought together at one center and the dossiers reexamined;
 5- The security of witnesses who are to shed light on the mystery murders must be ensured and obstacles such as the "statute of limitations," aimed at hampering the cases, must be removed;
 6- State officials guilty of irresponsibility and negligence during the time when mystery murders had been committed when they were in office or who are still in office must be dismissed;
 7- The right to live theme must be guaranteed.
 Violations have increased in summer
 Another important organization, known for its work in the field of human rights, is the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TIHV). This foundation has established the Treatment and Rehabilitation Center and a branch of the TIHV in Diyarbakir. This important development, which took place following the closure of the IHD Diyarbakir branch, will help human rights activities to increase in this area. Meanwhile, the IHD has issued a report regarding the alleged human rights violations in May. According to this report, 21 mystery murders have allegedly been committed in Turkey within the past month. The IHD report claims that many human rights violations still continue.
 The IHD report makes the following claims for May: 21 mysterious murders were committed; 10 deaths occurred due to execution without trial or by torture; five people were reported missing; 189 people died in clashes; six people were killed and 11 others were wounded during actions carried out against civilians; 28 allegations of torture were recorded; 3,248 people were taken into custody; 185 people were arrested; 31 inmates were wounded during attacks in prisons; 1,115 people were dismissed from their jobs; seven mass organizations, political entities and publications were closed down; nine mass organizations, political entities and publications suffered attacks; 22 publications were collected and banned; and 133 criminals of conscience were in jail.

LE MGK A DECIDE LA PROLONGATION DE L'ETAT D'URGENCE AU SUD-EST

 Réuni lundi 29 juin 1988, le Conseil national de Sécurité turc (MGK) regroupant les principaux dirigeants civils et militaires et véritable exécutif du pays a décidé de prolonger pour quatre mois l'état d'urgence en vigueur dans les provinces de Diyarbakir, Hakkari, Siirt, Sirnak, Tunceli et Van et cela à partir du 30 juillet 1998.
 Les décisions du MGK ont la nature juridique d'un avis et doivent être ratifiées par le parlement.
 Cependant l'Assemblée turque n'a jamais refusé depuis 1987, date de mise en vigueur de cet régime, aucune décision de cette sorte.

TURKEY DEVISES DEFENSE INDUSTRY STRATEGY DOCUMENT

 Turkish Daily News, June 29, 1998
 The Turkish government has endorsed its first official defense industry strategy document. The strategy will guide the coordination of the country's $150 billion modernization program over the next 30 years, with a view to boosting the indigenous defense industry.
 Under the document, prepared jointly by the military and the government and published in the Official Gazette last week, Turkey will introduce incentives for the local industry to boost its chances of competing with foreign companies in any defense-related tenders of NATO member countries.
 A major arms buyer itself, Turkey has begun to develop its own defense industry in recent years: co-manufacturing fighter and light transport aircraft, making locally-designed armored vehicles and initiating the joint production of helicopters and tanks with foreign partners.
 Currently, Turkey meets nearly 80 percent of its arms-related requirements from foreign suppliers while the remaining 20 percent comes from domestic manufacturers.
 "In tenders involving both Turkish and foreign firms, the Turkish companies will be allowed to offer prices as much as 15 percent higher than those given by the foreign contenders," said one article of the document. Turkish companies are described in the document as those which have their base in the country and operate under Turkish commercial law, or joint ventures with up to 50 percent foreign capital that meet certain criteria.
 "This article in the strategy document will encourage the creation of joint ventures with considerable Turkish shares -- that would contribute to our defense industry," one government official said.
 Under the document, Turkey has classified defense industry deals into three categories: fully national systems, subcritical systems and others. "The objective in the medium term is local production of all fully national systems," the document said. Such items mainly include software for electronic warfare systems that are based on a national definition of hostile and friendly forces.
 The Cabinet has also decided to create a new government fund to provide loans to prospective arms buyers as a way to help boost Turkish defense exports. Turkish companies exported defense equipment worth only around $200 million in 1996. One Defense Ministry official said that last year's total export figure was some 10 percent higher, but did not give other details.
 "Top exporters of military equipment, including the United States, Britain, France and Israel, extend considerable loans to support their arms sales, and our aim is to set up a similar mechanism, although it would be more modest in size," the official said.
 "It could be created either within the SSM (the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries) or separately. This will be decided on later," the official said. The SSM, or Savunma Sanayii Mustesarligi to give its full Turkish name, is Turkey's main government agency involved in coordinating large-scale defense industry and procurement deals.
 Turkey's top arms exporters include Askeri Elektronik Sanayii, or Aselsan, which produce a wide range of electronic and optical equipment, and Makina ve Kimya Endustrisi Kurumu, or MKEK, which manufacture artillery, small arms and munitions.
 Others include Tusas Aerospace Industries, or TAI, which export parts for F-16 fighters, Turkish Engine Industries, or TEI, which sells engine parts, Roketsan, which exports Stinger missile parts and Otokar, a private company that sells armored wheeled vehicles.
 "Our main export targets are Middle Eastern and Asian countries and some former Soviet republics. We hope Southeast Asia soon recovers from its economic crisis, as we are also hoping to export to that region," the official said.

SEMDIN SAKIK'S TRIAL BEGAN AT STATE SECURITY COURT

 Reuters, 30 June 1998
 A Turkish court on Tuesday began the trial of one of the country's most feared Kurdish guerrillas, who faces the death sentence on charges of murder and treason.
 Semdin Sakik, the former number two in the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), appeared in the state security court in the southeastern capital of Diyarbakir under tight security.
 Turkish special forces apprehended Sakik, code-named "Fingerless Zeki" after loosing a thumb in combat, in the Kurdish enclave of northern Iraq in April.
 "It is claimed that you have taken part in the killing of 113 civilians and 125 security officials," prosecutor Yavuz Sen told Sakik, who remained calm and quiet.
 Plain-clothed police carried out strict identity checks before the hearing. Other security forces were position in around the court building.
 The prosecutor demanded the death sentence for the rebel chief, charging him of "carrying out activities aimed at dividing a part of the territory from the state's rule."
 Turkish courts still impose capital punishment sentences but no executions have taken place since the early 1980s.
 Sakik defected to an Iraqi Kurd group this year after splitting with PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in a row over tactics.
 Judge Fahrettin Gultekin adjourned the trial until September 3 after Sakik's lawyers asked for extra time to prepare their defence. No formal plea is needed under Turkish law.
 The rebel chief's brother Arif Sakik, another PKK guerrilla seized along with him, faced similar charges.

ISLAMIST PARTY APPEARS TO BE MOST POPULAR IN MILITARY POLL

 TDN, 30 Juin 1998
 Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen. Cevik Bir said that according to an opinion poll conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), the Islamist Virtue Party (FP) continues to be the most popular party in Turkey.
 Gen. Bir made the announcement at a reception at an officers' club in Ankara after the inauguration of the Partnership for Peace (PFP) training center. Officers from PFP member countries will be trained at the new facility.
 Bir confirmed a question by one of the reporters, saying that the Turkish Armed Forces conducted a public survey among 2,500 people in early May, the results of which were discussed in a National Security Council meeting (MGK) on May 29.
 He also said that a parliamentary delegation that recently visited him was made aware of the poll results.
 The Turkish Daily News obtained the poll results:
 
 The poll results show that the FP maintains the highest percentage, followed by ANAP with a slim difference. Virtue is the successor of the Welfare Party (RP), which was closed down by the Constitutional Court in January for being the "focal point" of anti-secularist activities.
 The results also show that the DYP ranks as the third party with nearly 15 percent and the DSP with 10.3 percent.   With the current 10 percent election threshold, these four parties are the only ones that would pass the barrier and obtain seats in Parliament.
 The CHP, which supports the current minority coalition government from outside, would fail to pass the threshold, according to the latest survey.
 The poll shows a similarity in the support for HADEP, which is known to be supported mainly by people of Kurdish origin, and that for the ultranationalist MHP. HADEP's vote stands at 5.8 percent and MHP's at 5.3 percent.
 Another surprising result shows the DTP, which is mainly made up of former DYP members, increasing its standing to 7.6 percent.
 However, neither the variables used in the survey nor the make-up of the respondents was clarified.

DESINFORMATION À LA TURQUE SUR LA QUESTION DE GENOCIDE

 CILDEKT, le 3 juillet 1998
 Le quotidien turc à grand tirage Türkiye donne dans ses éditions du 20 juin, un nouvel exemple du bourrage de crâne que subit le public turc sur "les questions sensibles".
 Le 17 avril une conférence publique sur le thème "1915-1998: de la fracture au dialogue" était organisée dans la salle parisienne de FIAP par le centre de recherche sur la diaspora arménienne (CRDA) avec le concours de l'Institut kurde de Paris, de l'INALCO, et de l'UMR Monde iranienne-CNRS, Sorbonne Nouvelle.
 Pour la première fois une écrivaine turque, Yelda, auteur de deux livres sur des questions de minorités, et deux intellectuels turcs, Ragip Zarakoglu et Taner Akçam, prenaient part à un débat public sur "la question arménienne" aux côtés du président de l'Institut kurde et du directeur du CRDA, Jean-Claude Kebabdjian.
 Cet événement fut à l'époque totalement ignoré par les média turcs. Mais après l'adoption par l'Assemblée nationale française sur la reconnaissance du génocide des Arméniens en 1915 et le climat anti-français qui s'est développé à la suite dans les média turcs, ceux-ci cherchent partout des coupables et des "traîtres".
 Le quotidien Türkiye "révèle" ainsi à la une à ses lecteurs "ce complot arméno-PKK". Extraits: "Il se révèle que des partis ayant voté en faveur de la proposition de loi sur le prétendu 'génocide arménien' adopté par le Parlement français ont rencontré secrètement les Arméniens. Il a été établi que des responsables du Parti socialiste, des Verts et des Communistes qui ont voté pour la proposition de loi se sont, avant le vote, réunis en avril dernier avec une dirigeante de l'Association des droits de l'homme de Turquie, des leaders de la communauté arménienne et des dirigeants de l'Institut kurde.
 "Les images de cette réunion à laquelle seules les caméras de la télévision d'État arménienne avaient été admises ont été diffusées en Arménie. Il a été établi que cette réunion s'est tenue dans la salle de conférence Jean Monnet de l'Association de soutien aux minorités arméniennes (FIAP) sous la présidence de Jean-Claude Kebabdjian, Arménien ultra-raciste, ennemi des Turcs".
 Après avoir donné la liste des participants d'après la revue "confidentielle" Les Nouvelles d'Arménie, Türkiye montre du doigt les "traîtres turcs" qui ont trempé dans ce complot anti-turc, en particulier Yelda, présentée comme "dirigeante de l'Association des droits de l'homme de Turquie", cible de choix des autorités turques.
 Selon le quotidien, Yelda aurait tenu "des propos haineux contre la Turquie", reconnu "le génocide des Arméniens par les Turcs" avant de conclure "en tout cas, Nous, Turcs, n'avons pas pu apporter une réponse propre à notre histoire souillée. L'Arménie a des droits à faire valoir sur le territoire de la Turquie".
 Par un montage sans vergogne, qui n'est pas sans rappeler la campagne de presse menée il y a quelques semaines contre Akin Birdal, accusé de "trahison", le quotidien Türkiye désigne ainsi une nouvelle cible aux escadrons turcs de la mort.
 Mme. Yelda a saisi le conseil supérieur de la presse turque et diffusé  un communiqué où elle exprime de vives craintes pour sa vie. Tout comme Akin Birdal avant l'attentat perpétré contre lui, Yelda vient de se voir refuser une autorisation de sortie du territoire.
 À défaut du convaincre l'opinion publique internationale, les dirigeants turcs s'acharnent sur les démocrates turcs qui dénoncent les violations des droits de l'homme dans leur pays et font à cette fin usage de tous ces procédés de désinformation et de manipulation.

LES ISLAMISTES A NOUVEAU SUR LES BANCS DES ACCUSES

 CILDEKT, le 3 juillet 1998
 M. Necmettin Erbakan, ancien Premier ministre islamiste, accusé d'avoir "insulté" la Cour Constitutionnelle dans une intervention devant le comité directeur de son parti à la suite de la dissolution de son parti du bien-être (RP) était traduit lundi 29 juin 1998 devant la Cour de Sûreté d'État d'Ankara.
 M. Erbakan avait accusé la Cour constitutionnelle d'"avoir commis un meurtre judiciaire" en interdisant le Refah pour "activités contre le régime laïc" et que le verdict prononcé par la Cour "n'avait aucune importance".
 Interdit de politique pour cinq ans, M. Erbakan n'a pas assisté à l'audience qui a décidé de renvoyer le procès au 14 septembre 1998. Il est passible d'une peine de prison allant jusqu'à un an et demi.
 Par ailleurs, Erol Yarar, président de l'Association des Hommes d'Affaires indépendants (MUSIAD-pro-islamiste), accusé d'avoir "incité à la haine religieuse" au sein de la population turque était également, lundi 29 juin 1998, devant les juges de la Cour de sûreté de l'État d'Ankara.
 Farouchement opposée à la réforme de l'enseignement adoptée par le parlement en août 1997, réforme décidant la fermeture des sections secondaires de centaines d'écoles religieuses d'État dans les deux ans, la MUSIAD, forte de 2000 membres, est un ardent partisan de Necmettin Erbakan.   Il est reproché à M. Yarar d'avoir déclaré en octobre 1997, lors d'une réunion de la MUSIAD: "S'ils mettent en application cette réforme de l'enseignement, ils perdront leur tête".
 M. Yarar est passible d'une peine allant jusqu'à trois ans de prison, mais en réalité, dans le cadre du procès de son président le procureur de la Cour réclame la dissolution pure et simple de l'association, accusée d'activités anti-laïques.
 Le général Çevik Bir, numéro deux de l'état-major de l'Armée turque, a, mardi 30 juin 1998, déclaré au club des officiers d'Ankara que le fondamentalisme restait le danger numéro un en Turquie et a appelé le Parlement à agir rapidement pour faire passer les lois anti-islamistes demandées par l'armée.

EN BREF:IN BRIEF (TIHV - La Fondation des Droits de l'Homme de Turquie)

1/6/1998:
ï Un chroniqueur du journal Yeni Safak, Ahmet Tasgetiren, est condamné à une amende de 16 millions de LT pour avoir insulté le procureur de la Cour de Cassation.
ï Un étudiant de la Faculté des médias de l'Université d'Istanbul est agressé par des Loups Gris.
ï A Mugla, six militants écologistes sont arrêtés lors qu'ils protestent contre la remise en fonction d'une centrale thérmique.
ï La correspondante du journal Dayanisma, Zulfinaz Mert est arrêtée à Istanbul.
2/6/1998:
ï 108 employés publics sont inculpés par le procureur d'Izmir pour avoir organisé un arrêt de travail. Ils risquent des peines de prison allant jusque 3 ans.
ï Un correspondant du journal Gundem, Faruk Aktas, est arrêté à Istanbul.
3/6/1998:
ï Le procureur d'Ankara ouvre un procès contre 30 manifestants du 1er Mai avec la demande des peines de prison allant jusque 22 ans et 6 mois.
ï La correspondante du journal Dayanisma, Songul Baysungur, est mise en état d'arrestation à Istanbul.
4/6/1998:
ï Le journaliste Haluk Gerger est traduit devant un tribunal criminel d'Ankara pour un discours qu'il avait prononcé en 1997 en Australie. Actuellement en prison pour une autre condamnation, Gerger risque, dans ce procès, une nouvelle peine de prison pour avoir consulté le gouvernement.
ï Le quotidien Ulkede Gündem est confisqué à l'imprimérie avant sa distribution par l'ordre du procureur de la CSE d'Istanbul pour un article concernant un massacre perpetré par les forces de sécurité à la frontière turco-irakienne.
ï A Istanbul, deux frères, Atalay et Erdogan Kocak sont attaqués par un groupe de Loups Gris.
6/6/1998:
ï L'avocate Nurcan Gülabi est inculpée par le procureur de la CSE d'Ankara sous l'accusation d'établir la liaison entre le PKK et ses clients détenus dans la prison de Bartin.
8/6/1998:
ï Les deniers numéros des journaux Proleter Halkin Birligi, Odak, Uzun Yürüyüs et Yeni Dünya Icin Cagri sont confisqués par l'ordre de la CSE d'Istanbul.
ï In Birecik, un groupe de Loups Gris attaquent deux étudiants d'une école supérieure, Demo Derin et Turabi Temur.
9/6/4998:
ï Le quotidien Ulkede Gündem est publié avec plusieurs colonnes vides en raison de la censure imposée par le procureur de la CSE.
10/6/1998:
ï Le quotidien Ulkede Gündem annonce que le correspondant du quotidien Turkmen à Osmaniye, Dogan Tolu, a qubi la torture après son arrestation pendant les funérailles d'une militante de DHKP-C.
ï Un groupe de Loups gris attaque et blesse Ozgur Baykal à Istanbul.
ï Le quotidien Ulkede Gündem est publié avec une colonne vide en raison de la censure imposée par le procureur de la CSE sur un article de Can Yüce.
ï La section IHD à Kirsehir est fermée pour trois mois par le gouverneur de la province à cause des critiques de cette action à son égard.
11/6/1998:
ï Le procès collectif de 244 personnes est ouvert devant  un tribunal pénal d'Istanbul pour la célébration non-autorisée du 1er Mai.
ï Une jeune femme allemande, Eva Junke, est jugée devant la CSE de Van sous l'accusation de faire partie de la guérilla du PKK. Elle avait été arrêtée pendant l'opération militaire de l'Armée turque en Irak. L'accusée déclare avoir été torturée et violée pendant sa garde à vue.
ï En protestation contre l'insuffisance de l'augmentation de leurs salaires, des centaines de milliers d'employés du secteur public organisent des manifestation à traver le pays. Plusieurs dirigeants et militants syndicaux sont arrêtés par la police.
12/6/1998:
ï Un éditorialiste du journal Özgür Halk, Özgür Tüzün, est condamné par une tribunal pénal d'Istanbul à une peine de prison de 4 ans et demi pour avoir insulté Atatürk dans un de ses articles. Actuellement, Tüzün se trouve dans la prison de Bartin pour une autre condamnation.
ï L'éditeur du journal Bizim Sivas, Muhsin Kaya, est condamné par un tribunal pénal de Sivas à une amende de 6,3 millions de LT pour avoir insulté Atatürk.
ï Le musée de délits d'opinion est inauguré à Izmir en présence du co-président de la Commission parlementaire mixte Turquie-Union Européenne, M. Piet Dankert ainsi que plusieurs personnalités appartenant aux institutions des droits de l'homme. (Voir un articlez sur le musée plus haut)
13/6/1998:
ï Après Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir et Adana, la Fondation des droits de l'homme de Turquie (TIHV) ouvre son cinquième centre de traitement et de réhabilitation pour les vic times de la torture à D iyarbakir.
ï Une manifestation pour la paix, organisée à Diyarbakir par le parti pour la démocratie et la paix (DBP) est interdite par le gouverneur de la région d'état d'urgence.
14/6/1998:
ï L'association des étudiants d'université à Mersin est fermée par la décision du gouverneur sous accusation de mener des activités illégales.
15/6/1998:
ï Le journal Selam rapporte que cinq enfants âgés de 6 à 8 ans ont été torturés et harcelés sexuellement au poste de police de Beyoglu à Istanbul pendant leur garde à vue.
ï Cinq avocats, Gulizar Tuncer, Safak Yildiz, Kamber Soypak, Umit Yavuz et Filiz Kostak,  sont traduits devant une cour criminelle d'Istanbul pour leur discussion avec les gendarmes à cause de la restriction du droit à voir les clients à la prison de Umraniye.
ï L'ingénieur Nizamettin Karakirik est arrêté à Karabuk pour avoir critiqué le préfêt du district dans un article qui'il a écrit au journal local Yenice Gazetesi.
ï Le gouverneur de Diyarbakir interdit la distribution et la ventes des albums de musique des groupes Kutup Yildizi, Gunese Turku, Koma Rewsen et Munzur, et des musiciens Mehmet Durna, Ferhat Tunc, Sevinc Eratalay et Sivan Perver.
ï A Borcka, la représentation par le groupe Genc Oyuncular Sahnesi d'une pièce théâtrale intitulée On cherche un bon citoyen , écrite par Ataol Behramoglu, est interdite par le gouverneur.
16/6/1998
ï Le quotidien Gündem est publié avec une colonne vide à cause de la censure imposée sur un article par le procureur de la CSE d'Istanbul.
16/6/1998:
ï Le quotidien Gündem est publié avec une colonne vide à cause de la censure imposée sur un article par le procureur de la CSE d'Istanbul.
ï Un ancien dirigeant du HADEP, Cemil Elden, est incarcéré pour purger une peine de prison d'un an prononcé par la CSE d'Ankara pour un discours en faveur de la paix. Plusieurs autres personnes condamnées dans le même procès attendent leur arrestation pour purger des peines de prison jusque deux ans.
ï Un ancien correspondent du journal Ozgur Ulke, Oguzhan Ogruk déclare avoir été torturé à Izmir par des inconnus se présentant comme membres de la TIT (Brigade de la vengeance turque) qui l'a kidnappée la nuit du 13 juin. Ogruk est également un ancien employé de la section d'Izmir de l'IHD.
ï A Aliaga (Izmir), l'ouvrier Elham Coban déclare avoir été torturé au poste de police le 8 juin pour obtenir des renseignement sur le syndicat des ouvrier portuaires (Limter-Is).
17/6/1998:
ï Le nouveau  bureau de Diyarbakir de la Fondation des Droits de l'Homme de Turquie (TIHV), ouvert le 13 juin, est fermé par l'ordre du gouverneur pour ne pas avoir accompli toutes les formalités l'égales  liées à l'ouverture.
ï La prisonnière politique kurde, Sema Yüce, qui s'est immolée le 21 mars en protestation contre l'oppression du peuple kurde meurt à un hôpital d'Istanbul.
ï  Le Conseil supérieur de la Radio-TV (RTUK) décide de fermer les stations de radio privées Metro FM (Diyarbakir et Karacadag FM (Urfa) pendant un an pour propagande sépartatiste. Le RTUK ferme également Arkadas Radyo (Adana) et Demokrat Radyo (Izmir) pour six mois.
ï La représentation de la pièce théâtrale Un beau roi laid, ayant pour objet la vie tourmentée du cinéaste Yilmaz Guney, est interdite à Aksaray par le gouverneur local. Cette pièce a déjà été interdite dans les provinces de Diyarbakir, Antep, Batman, Mus, Bingol, Tunceli, Nigde, Urfa, Kirsehir, Afyon et Bilecik. Selon le quotidien Cumhuriyet, la représentation de la pièce intitulée La mort accidentelle d'un anarchiste (par le Théâtre Ekin d'Ankara) a été interdite dans dix provinces, celle des Histoires du pays (par le même théâtre) interdite dans 47 provinces et district, et celle de Résurrection (par le Théâtre  Birikim de Kocaeli) interdite dans neuf provinces.
18/6/1998:
ï Le quotidien Gündem est publié avec des colonnes vides à cause de la censure effectuée par la CSE d'Istanbul  sur l'information relative au décès de la prisonnière kurde Yüce.
ï La grève de la faim entamée par neuf prisonniers politiques dans la prison de type E à Cankiri entre dans son 34e jour.
ï Le correspondent du périodique Mucadelede Memur Gercegi, Cayan Güner est arrêté avec sa mère à la suite d'une perquisition chez lui.
ï Un prisonnier politique de 26 ans, Hakan Altinkaya, meurt dans des circonstances douteuses. Alors que les autorités pénitentiaires affirment que la morte soit due à une crise cardiaque, les parants d'Altinkaya attribue la mort aux mauvais traitements.
ï L'ancien employé de l'IHD, Oguzhan Ogruk, déclare avoir été kidnappé et menacé de mort pour une deuxième fois à Izmir par les commandos de la TIT. Il avait déjà été kidnappé et torturé le 16 juin par le même groupe extrémiste.
19/6/1998:
ï Le quotidien Gündem est encore une nouvelle fois publié avec une colonne vide suite à la censure appliquée par la CSE d'Istanbul sur un article relatif à une initiative pour unifier les forces de gauche dans des comités communs.
ï Un des administrateurs de la TIHV, Husnu Ondul, est détenu à Ankara lors qu'il rend à la police pour une enquête judiciaire. Il est plus tard mis en liberté après avoir constaté qu'il avait déjà été acquitté de l'accusation en question.
ï Le festival du travail au GAP (Projet d'Anatolie sud-est), organisé à Urfa par le Parti du Travail (EMEP) est interdit par la police.
ï A Duzce, le présisdent provincial du parti pour la liberté et la solidarité (ODP), Huseyin Saribas est condamné par un tribunal pénal à une peine de prison de 18 mois et à une amende de 1 million 290 mille de LT.
20/6/1998:
ï La 15e édition du livre du professeur Ilhan Arsel, intitulé "La Chari'a et la Femme", est confisqué par la décision d'un tribunal pénal d'Istanbul qui le considère une insulte à l'Islam.
 
21/6/1998:
ï Le bureau local du quotidien Gündem à Adana est endommagé à une attaque à la bombe par des inconnus. Le même jour, le dernier numéro du journal est publié avec des colonnes vides à cause de la censure par la CSE d'Istanbul.
ï La CSE d'Adana condamne trois membres du PKK à la peine capitale et deux autres accusés à la prison à vie.
ï Un dirigeant local du parti pour la Démocratie et la Paix (DBP) est arrêté à Istanbul.
22/6/1998:
ï Le procès en vue de fermer la section provinciale de l'Association des Droits de l'Homme (IHD) à Izmir commence à un tribunal pénal de cette ville.
ï Le président provincial de HADEP à Ankara, Kemal Bulbul est arrêté par la police à cause d'une discours qu'il avait prononcé le 8 mars à l'occasion de la journée mondiale des femmes.  Le même jours, cinq dirigeants locaux de HADEP sont arrêtés à Denizli.
24/6/1998:
ï Une femme de 26 ans, S.E., affirme qu'elle avait été arrêtée trois fois en 1993-94 de façon tout à fait arbitraire et soumise à la torture sexuelle. Elle affirme également que son père était tombé victime d'un meurtre suspect à la même période. Toujours sous le choc des viols successifs des tortionnaires, S.E. demande à la TIHV un traitement au centre de réhabilitation de l'association.
ï A Istanbul, la police perquisitionne la section Bagcilar du HADEP et arrête 24 personnes y compris le président local Mehmet Goksungur.
ï Lors que la grève de la faim se poursuit dans la prison d'Elazig, un des grévistes, Halil Gunes est transféré à un hôpital à Ankara à cause de la détérioration de son état de santé. Se poursuivent également les grèves de la faim déclenchées dans les prison de Kirklareli, Sivas et Erzurum.
25/6/1998:
ï Un nouveau procès s'ouvre à la CSE d'Adana contre le président de l'IHD Akin Birdal pour son discours du 1er septembre 1995 à Mersin à l'occasion de la journée mondiale de la paix. Le tribunal décide de faire l'interrogation d'Akin chez lui à cause de l'impossibilité de se déplacer.
ï La CSE d'Istanbul décide d'interdire la publication du journal Proleter Halkin Birligi pour une durée d'un mois et condamne Mme Nuray Yazar, éditrice responsable, du journal à une amende à cause de certains articles qu'elle avait publiés.
ï L'éditrice des périodiques Odak et Genc Isci, Selma Isikgun, est arrêtée par des policiers suite à une perquisition chez elle.
ï Un prisonnier politique proche du PKK, Mehmet Guzel, s'est immolé à la prison de Kirklareli pour protester contre son enfermement dans une cellule .
26/6/1998:
ï La CSE d'Ankara commence à juger 38 membres du Conseil de HADEP et fusionne ce procès avec un autre procès en cours contre le président de HADEP Murat Bozlak et 13 autre dirigeants du parti. Accusés de faire partie l'aile politique du PKK, tous les inculpés risquent une peine de prison allant jusque 22 ans et demi.
ï 46 étudiants sont traduits devant une cour criminelle à Afyon pour avoir organisé une manifestation en protestation contre l'attentat sur Akin Birdal. Les inculpes affirment avoir été torturés pendant leur interrogatoire à la police.
ï Trois membres du DHKP-C, Metin Dikme, Yasemin Okuyucu et Bayram Kaya, sont condamnés par la CSE d'Istanbul à la peine capitale.
28/6/1998:
ï Le quotidien Gundem est publié avec des colonnes vides en raison de la censure sur une déclaration du leader de PKK Ocalan.
29/6/1998:
ï Le quotidien Gundem est publié avec des colonnes vides en raison de la censure sur les articles concernant la persécution du HADEP.
ï Le président du défunt parti du bien-être (RP), Necmettin Erbakan, est traduit devant un tribunal pénal pour avoir insulté la Court Constitutionnelle dans ses critiques à l'égard de la fermeture de son parti.
ï 13 dirigeants de parti et de syndicat sont inculpés pour avoir protesté contre la fermeture de la Radio Karacadag par le RTUK.
30/6/1998:
ï Le quotidien Gundem est publié avec des colonnes vides en raison de la censure sur la déclaration d'Ocalan relative au tremblement de terre à Adana et sur un article concernant les familles des victimes tombées pour la défense des droits du peuple kurde.
`ï Le procès de Semdin Sakik, un ancien commandant de la guérilla kurde, commence à la CSE de Diyarbakir. Accusés de plusieurs actes de violence, Semdin Sakik et son frère Arif Sakik risquent la peine capitale.
ï L'éditeur du quotidien Emek, Halit Keskin, et l'éditeur responsable Ahmet Ergin sont condamnés par la CSE d'Istanbul à une amende de 271 million de LT. Le tribunal décide également la suspension de la publication du journal pour trois jours. Ainsi, la durée totale de fermeture pour Emek s'élève à 47 jours.

 

 

 

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