Droits de l'Homme / Human Rights

La loi antiterroriste durcie malgré les protestations

Le Parlement turc a adopté jeudi une nouvelle loi antiterroriste élargissant l'éventail des crimes susceptibles d'être qualifiés d'actes terroristes et introduisant des restrictions supplémentaires à l'activité des médias.

Passant outre aux objections des organisations de défense des droits de l'Homme, le gouvernement a proposé cette loi à la suite de la recrudescence des violences imputées au Parti des Travailleurs du Kurdistan (PKK - séparatiste) une organisation classée comme terroriste par Ankara, les Etats-Unis et l'Union européenne.

Cette nouvelle loi considère comme actes terroristes de nombreux délits ou crimes qui vont du trafic de drogue au détournement de moyens de transport en passant par le trafic des êtres humains.

Cette proposition de loi a été critiquée par la presse qui y voit un retour en arrière par rapport aux réformes démocratiques engagées depuis plusieurs années dans le but de faciliter l'accès de la Turquie à l'UE.

"Nous ne pouvons certes pas sacrifier les libertés à l'ordre public mais nous ne pouvons pas non plus entraîner le pays dans le chaos au nom de la liberté", a justifié le ministre turc de la Justice, Cemil Cicek, lors d'un débat au Parlement.

Il a assuré que le gouvernement veillait au respect des droits de l'Homme et des libertés de la presse, et il a mis en garde les autorités judiciaires et policières contre une interprétation restrictive de la nouvelle loi.

La loi, qui doit encore être signée par le Président de la République pour entrer en vigueur, prévoit des peines d'un à trois ans de prison pour ceux qui seraient responsables de la publication de communiqués émanant d'organisations terroristes.

Des peines analogues sont prévues pour ceux qui seraient convaincus de propagande en faveur des groupes terroristes. Ces peines peuvent être accrues de moitié si le responsable du délit est un organe de presse.

La loi prévoit de lourdes amendes pour les propriétaires ou directeurs de publications ayant commis ces crimes ou délits et donne aux juges et aux procureurs le pouvoir de suspendre ces publications.

Selon cette loi des peines de prison, pouvant aller jusqu'à trois ans, sont prévues pour des actes de "propagande" en faveur des groupes terroristes.

Ces peines s'appliquent également aux porteurs d'emblèmes ou d'uniformes appartenant aux groupes mis hors la loi au cours de manifestations.

En vertu de la nouvelle loi, le financement d'un groupe terroriste est punissable de cinq ans de prison et de sept ans et demi s'il s'agit de fonctionnaires.

Les personnes suspectées de terrorisme peuvent être privées d'accès à un avocat pendant les premières 24 heures de leur détention.

Enfin, la nouvelle loi autorise les forces de sécurité à faire usage de leurs armes contre les suspects qui refuseraient d'obtempérer au cours d'une opération de sécurité. (AFP, 29 juin 2006)

Trade Unionists Still Under Arrest After 19 Days

Despite 19 days passing since their arrest while trying to file a criminal complaint against the police for using disproportional force on union members during a press statement, dockyard union executives Cem Dinc and Kamber Saygili are still being held at the Istanbul Kartal prison.

Attorney Serap Akkilic told bianet on Thursday that the Tuzla Court of First Instance had rejected their appeal for Port, Dockyard, Ship Building-Repairs Workers Union (LIMTER-IS) Chairman Dinc and Education Expert Saygili to be released, but without listing any reason for the continuing condition of arrest.

LIMTER-IS union officials said, meanwhile, that the unionists under arrest had started a hunger strike in prison on June 28 and would continue their action until July 3.

However, the first hearing of the unionists has been listed for 17 after the end of their hunger strike and is to be held on July 20. Akkilic argues that their being remanded in custody is �totally against the law� and says, �the employers are using their weight to break the actions of the workers�.

The Union itself has launched a �Freedom for Arrested Unionists� campaign. LIMTER-IS continues to collect signatures asking for the release of the unionists to send a mass petition to the Minister of Justice Cemil Cicek. Its first move in Istanbul is a June 30 press conference held in front of the provincial Governor�s Office.

The two union executives were arrested 19 days ago on the pretext of "resisting the police" after being detained while on their way to file a complaint against the police force for beating them two days before.

They were trying to file a complaint against a previous police attack on union members on June 10, Friday, where both Saygili and Dinc were singled out from among a group of union members and beaten by officers. Dinc was injured in the head. (BIA News Center, Tolga KORKUT, June 29, 2006)

TAYAD Faces New Lynch Attempt in Trabzon

Members of Turkey's Solidarity Association of Prisoners' Families (TAYAD) were attacked by an angry crowd in a central park in the Black Sea town of Trabzon on Sunday while attempting to read out a press statement protesting conditions in the enhanced security F-type prisons.

The mob, numbering around 500, used fists and broken legs from chairs and tables to assault the TAYAD members in what the national media has dubbed as "a new lynch attempt" in recollection of a similar incident in April where 5 TAYAD members were nearly lynched.

The TAYAD group, fearing for their lives, sought temporary shelter under police protection in the public toilets of the Meydan Park and had to be forced out afterwards by policemen to board an armoured vehicle that took them to the Trabzon police centre.

The nine TAYAD members attacked in the park were held by police until late hours of Sunday night and released only after their statements were taken by Republic Prosecutor Erdogan Aktas.

Previous Lynch Attempt

On April 6 this year, 5 members of TAYAD in Trabzon distributing a leaflet about the isolation and hunger strikes in prisons were nearly lynched by a crowd consisting of nationalists.

The events then were sparked off when several people, alleged later to be plainclothes policemen by leftwing activists, shouted out in the town that the group had "burned the Turkish flag" and were "members of the PKK".

Shortly after, local televisions carried the news that a Turkish flag had been burned down in the town bringing together a over a thousand people who attacked the TAYAD group which escaped from the beating by seeking shelter in a business center that was surrounded by the crowd.

The TAYAD members were then escorted out by the police and placed under custody after which five were arrested.

A subsequent attack occurred on April 11 when TAYAD members from different cities tried to make a press statement in the town center protesting the previous incident.

"Police Watch, Beath and Attack in Trabzon "

Onur Uzun, one of the victims of Sunday's attack in Trabzon on a group of human rights activists reading a press statement against conditions in Turkish prisons, has charged that the police were not only negligent as the incident progressed into violence but later forced them into public toilets where officers physically assaulted and pepper-gassed him and other members of the group.

Uzun was among a small group of local human rights activists reading out a press statement as part of Turkey's Solidarity Association of Prisoners' Families (TAYAD) ongoing campaign to protest conditions in the enhanced security F-type prisons when they were attacked by an angry crowd in a central park in the town.

The mob, numbering around 500, used fists and broken legs from chairs and tables to assault the group in what the national media immediately dubbed as "a new lynch attempt" in recollection of a similar incident in April where 5 TAYAD members were nearly lynched.

Uzun told bianet after the incident that while non of the attackers had been apprehended by the police, a criminal complaint was lodged instead against victims of the attack for allegedly violating the "Meetings and Demonstration Rallies Law".

"This was all organised and planned" he said, adding that further to their grief, he and others injured during the incident were denied medical treatment while under detention.

In an exclusive interview with bianet, Istanbul Bar Association attorney Ergin Cinmen said the prosecution needed to act and automatically open an investigation both against the police and the attackers based on video recordings showing how the incident took place.

Uzun: They attacked us on the third statement

Uzun explained that the Trabzon Fundamental Rights and Freedoms Association was reading out press statements against the isolation conditions in F-type prisons every two weeks on behalf of TAYAD. Sunday's was the third statement made at the same location, in the Trabzon Meydan Park at the Ataturk field, under the same placard.

Just after the statement was read out and the group shouted three slogans, they were verbally attacked by a 40 year old plainclothes person who claimed they were responsible for "noise pollution" due to the slogans. Although the group told bystanders that their action was over and they would be leaving, verbal abuse continued as the crowd around them grew.

"Just at this point," Uzun said, "someone in a red shirt struck me hard. I couldn't see, but I saw it [later] on TV. While on the ground I was struck a couple of times and I tried to defend myself when I stood up".

According to Uzun, Emra Kavu t of the same organisation was hit once and fell to the ground unconscious too and needed to be carried.

"With the police shoving us that way, we ended up in a certain part of the park" Uzun said.

"Police surrounded us, didn't intervene"

Uzun continued "At this location while we were in a police cordon attacks against us continued. The police were allowing this. About 9-10 people were inside this cordon but the police were doing nothing to disperse the attackers. The attack grew more aggressive and the number of observers increased".

"Beating in toilet, pepper gas used"

"Later the police forced us into the public toilets of the park. A bit later even though the attackers were still there and had not been dispersed, they told us they had made it safe for us and that we'd be taken away in a police vehicle.

"We told them we were not safe and that we did not want to go on a police vehicle. After this we were confronted with pepper gas, kicks and slaps. When we came out of the toilets a superintendent said in front of cameras 'don't hit them any more'. They hauled us into an armoured vehicle.

"Charged and denied medical treatment"

According to Uzun, the group was then taken to the town security directorate where they were held under custody for approximately two hours until the police chief and prosecutor arrived. "We gave our statements to the prosecutor," he said. "We were accused of violating the Meetings and Demonstration Rallies Law. We too make a criminal complaint against the police and the attackers".

Uzun said that both before the detention and after being released from custody they were taken to the Trabzon Numune Hospital but did not receive any genuine attention.

"On both occasions all they did was glance at us and write a report. Something like a record. One of our friends had two stitches. Even though I requested, they neither gave me painkillers nor placed me under observation. Until now I have had no medical intervention. And we don't have a copy of the document the doctor prepared either."

"6 April was organised, so is this"

Uzun believes that the recent incident is similar to a previous lynch attempt of human rights activists in April last year and that the attack itself was premeditated and organised.

"What we lived through... was organised. Just as it was on April 6, 2005. It was a joint organisation by civilians and officials. It was not coincidence. It was a planned attack. The target is to prevent the statements".

According to Uzun " in Trabzon there is a police chief that says 'thank you' to those attempting lynch. TAYAD disclosed that 11 people were used in the incidents last year and withdrew its complaint but a public prosecution continues"
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Uzun believes that Trabzon does not have an aggressive potential itself and that violence, when it happens, is generally in its most violent form while at other times waiting silently.

On April 6 last year, 5 members of TAYAD in Trabzon distributing a leaflet about the isolation and hunger strikes in prisons were nearly lynched by a crowd consisting of nationalists.

The events then were sparked off when several people, alleged later to be plainclothes policemen by leftwing activists, shouted out in the town that the group had "burned the Turkish flag" and were "members of the PKK".

Shortly after, local televisions carried the news that a Turkish flag had been burned down in the town bringing together a over a thousand people who attacked the TAYAD group which escaped from the beating by seeking shelter in a business center that was surrounded by the crowd.

The TAYAD members were then escorted out by the police and placed under custody after which five were arrested. A subsequent attack occurred on April 11 when TAYAD members from different cities tried to make a press statement in the town center protesting the previous incident.

Cinmen: Security forces discriminate against demonstrators

Lawyer Cinmen believes the recent incident "is a lynch attempt again".

According to him, "security forces unfortunately don't take efficient measures in such incidents. This is not just an issue for Trabzon. They did not intervene in attackers during trials on freedom of opinion either."  "Security forces are acting according to the opinion of the demonstrator. But if they continue to remain passive in such situations, there could be grave results.  (BIA News Center , Tolga Korkut, June 28, 2006)

113 Torture applications to TIHV in the first 5 months of 2006

Turkey's Human Rights Foundation (TIHV) chairman Yavuz Onen has said that torture remains to be a systematic fact in Turkey and that "everyone from any gender, any age, any profession can be tortured with or without being charged with an offence".

In a speech he made marking the World Solidarity Day for Those Tortured, Onen said the reason torture was so wide spread and continuous was that "persons committing torture are protected by authorities in many countries and left unpunished".

Onen said that even in the applications made to TIHV, it had been determined that 113 people had been subjected to torture in the first five months of 2006 and disclosed further details on human rights violations documented by the Foundation.

* A total of 10 thousand 449 people applied to TIHV and were medically treated between the years 1990-2005 because they were tortured or mistreated.

* 193 of the 675 people who applied to TIHV in 2005 were tortured while 113 of 165 people who applied in the first five months of 2006 were tortured.

* According to data at the TIHV Documentation Center, 5 people died in custody in 2005.

* TIHV has determined that at least 7 people died in prison.

"Torture cannot be prevented by law, proper enforcement required"

Onen said that ratification of international conventions or passing some laws and regulations in the national justice system were not enough to prevent torture and stressed that the content of conventions and laws had to be enforced properly. He said legal, judicial, administrative and educational measures were needed to prevent torture and listed a number of improvement points that would add to preventative measures.

Prosecutors should act automatically: A complaint should not be expected to start an investigation into claims of torture and mistreatment. Where there is sufficient suspicion on this issue, the investigation should start automatically.

A judicial police force should be formed: A judicial police force should be formed and work directly under the authority and employ of the Republic Prosecutor.

The Istanbul Protocol should be enforced: For the physical and mental marks of torture to be determined, the United Nations approved Istanbul Protocol procedures should be enforced for victims of torture.

Turkey should ratify the Supplemental Protocol of the Convention to Prevent Torture: Turkey should ratify and enforce the UN Convention to Prevent Torture Supplemental Protocol that allows for developing effective control mechanisms that have a great role in preventing torture.

Legislation allowing no punishment should be amended: All laws, circulars and regulations that lead to no punishment should be reviewed and changed in entirety and coherently.

The TMY should be withdrawn: The Anti-Terror Law should be withdrawn.

Education and Monitoring: In order for the legal improvements to be enforced, the enforcers should be given the necessary education and training, effective monitoring should be established.

Mechanisms of No Punishment

Onen, identifying the failure of punishing torturers as a major problem in torture becoming a systematic concept, listed "mechanisms" that led to failure of punishing the culprits.

Investigation Process: The habit of carrying out preparatory investigations related to torture allegations by the police force continued. During the investigation the police force most times does not carry out the necessary procedures, does not collect evidence. Prosecutors generally do not pay attention to the torture claims or the evidence in the file, during proceedings and other than this, want written applications.

Courts: During the trials when courts come across a torture claim or discovery, they are ignorant of the incident. They do not feel the need to make a criminal complaint to the prosecutor related to torture. This situation means the torturers go unpunished.

Legal aid to police officials suspected of torture: Legal assistance provided to security officials charged with the offence of torture plays the role of encouraging no punishment. This aid has even been expanded in the TMY draft to include attorneys that the officers themselves will select. The draft also brings to officers involved in the fight against terrorism, the guarantee of being tried on bail.

ECHR fines cannot be collected: Justice Minister Cemil Cicek recently replied to a written motion saying that the Treasury was not able to collect compensation that the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) sentences required for torture and mistreatment crimes and had to pay 750 thousand YTL. This means that the torturers are not being punished.

Long duration trials: Trials that are extended over a long time are another reason for torture offenders not being punished with judicial officials not fulfilling their responsibilities in enforcing and interpreting the legislation.

Amnesty of records to add to no punishment: The "Law related to the Amnesty of Some Disciplinary Sentences of Civil Employees and Other Public Service Employees" passed by Parliament on June 22 will contribute to torture being unpunished. With this adjustment, all penalties bar "discharge from profession" due to torture relating to police officers have been pardoned. The small number of security personnel that have been punished will be pardoned with this adjustment.

Medical Reports: Medical reports to determine and document torture can still be defective, insufficient or wrong. This is another concept of going unpunished. To prove torture claims, mental diagnosis is as important as physical diagnosis. Medical personnel preparing reports are not sufficiently trained or equipped to determine the physical and mental marks of torture.

Medical personnel are attached to ministries: The fact that medical personnel authorised to examine persons before and after detention or during their delivery to prison work either under the Ministry of Interior or Justice is a great obstacle in their ability to function without any pressure in an objective and scientific way.

Council of Forensic Medicine is not independent: The Council of Forensic Medicine is not autonomous or independent which plays a role in harming its reliability. Where torture suspects are state officials, it becomes difficult to document the crime. Medical personnel that need to document findings of torture can face as much pressure from the authorities as they do from the police force and can be threatened. This leads to torture findings not being documented and indirectly for the offenders to go unpunished.  (BIA News Center , Tolga Korkut, June 28, 2006)

Détenus entravés pendant une grève de la faim: Ankara condamné à Strasbourg

La Cour Européenne des droits de l'homme (CEDH) a condamné mardi la Turquie, estimant que le fait d'attacher à leur lit d'hôpital quatre détenus en grève de la faim qui avaient perdu conscience constituait un "traitement inhumain".

Les quatre détenus, dont deux sont aujourd'hui décédés, avaient entamé une grève de la faim en septembre 2000 pour protester contre un projet de mise en place d'un nouveau type d'établissements pénitentiaires.

Ils avaient alors été entravés par une chaîne longue d'un mètre, reliant l'une de leurs chevilles au montant du lit d'hôpital, en dépit d'une plainte déposée par leurs avocats. Ils avaient finalement été remis en liberté en 2001 après avoir bénéficié de sursis à exécution de leurs peines.

"Compte tenu de l'état de santé des intéressés et de l'absence réaliste d'un risque de fuite, la Cour estime que la mesure d'entrave était disproportionnée au regard des nécessités de sécurité" et violait donc l'article 3 de la Convention européenne des droits de l'homme interdisant les traitements inhumains.

La Cour de Strasbourg a également condamné la Turquie pour une violation de l'article 13 (droit à un recours effectif) en raison du refus d'ouvrir une enquête à l'encontre des gendarmes de l'établissement pénitentiaire qui avaient fait une "utilisation abusive de menottes".

Elle a décidé d'allouer 1.000 EUR pour dommage moral à chacun des deux requérants survivants ainsi qu'aux héritiers des deux décédés. (AFP, 27 juin 2006)

Thousands Rally in Istanbul Against Discrimination

The Freedom and Solidarity Party (ODP) has held a "Let's Defend Living Together" rally in Istanbul's Kadikoy district to voice reaction to increasing intolerance towards people of different origin in the country and stress that cultural and social diversity is a wealth for Turkey.

Approximately 6,000 people attended the meeting with party members arriving from all parts of Turkey. Starting at the square in front of the Haydarpasa Numune Hospital, thousands marched to the Kadikoy Port Square shouting slogans "We are here, we defend living together", "Don't be silent, shout, the people are brothers" and "There is no freedom alone, either all of us or non of us".

Bulent Aydin and artist Zeynep Tanbay who presented the meeting reacted to those saying "Either love it or leave it " and telling those wearing a turban "go to Arabia" by saying "we are going no where and we are standing up in front of them because we defend living together. We have not a single citizen to post anywhere else. We defend not compulsory citizenship but voluntary citizenship".

Addressing the crowd during the meeting, author Adalet Agaoglu said "We have multiplied to this extent by showing solidarity on the path to democracy and freedom. This success is the result of belief and the truth is here in this square".

Noting that the social diversity in Turkey was more colourful than anywhere else in the world, Agaoglu added, "Difference and diversity is good. This brings freedom and democracy together with it".

ODP Chairman Hayri Kozanoglu said in his speech that "as the Kurd, Turk, Laz, Circassian, Armenian we are different, we are together. We cover our heads, we have open hair, we have short skits, we have ear rings, we are different but we are all together. ODP members coming from Hopa, Diyarbakir, Adana and Mersin" we are all different but we are together".

Stressing the need for more freedom and democracy in Turkey, Kozanoglu said "We do not want a Turkey where they keep on reheating the Anti-Terror Law and serving it to us". He called for the government to find a peaceful solution to the Kurdish problem.

Kozanoglu said that everyone in Turkey including those on the mountains should be given the chance to participate in social life and reacted to children being involved in the Kurdish problem. "Leave them alone so children can live their childhood" her said. He also defended that everyone, including those who hold ranks, should be tried. (BIA News Center, June 26, 2006)

Doctors Elect Rights Activist Gencay Gürsoy for President

Turkish Physicians Association (TTB) "Active Democratic TTB Group" candidate and Istanbul Chamber of Phiyscicans former chairman Prof. Dr. Gencay Gursoy has emerged as victor of this weekend's general assembly elections of the association where his group scored a major success.

Doctors went to the ballot boxes on Sunday for the 54th General Assembly election of the TTB delayed for years in wait of the Parliament's passing of TTB Law article 60 regulating the association's elections after it was revoked by the Constitutional Court in 2002.

The "Active Democratic TTB Group" and the "National Doctors Solidarity" groups contested in the elections of the June 24-25 General Assembly held at the Ankara University Faculty of Medicine Morphology Building. The Ethnic Democratic TTB Group surfaced as victor of all chairmanship and council elections.

In the elections for the central boards, 415 delegates cast ballots and Ethnic Democratic TTB Group candidate Gursoy received 249 votes while National Doctors Solidarity group candidate and former Culture Minister and Democratic Left Party member Suat Caglayan received 181 votes.

Accordingly, Sinan Adiyaman, Altan Ayaz, Muharrem Baytemur, Hulya Biriken, Ali Cerkezoglu, Gencay Gursoy, Necdet İpekyuz, Erkan Kapakli, Orhan Odabasi, İskender Sayek and Mustafa Vatansever were elected as TTB central council members.

Naki Bulut, Orhan Erdinc, Sebnem Korur Fincanci, Hakan Giritlioglu, Bahar Gokler, Sukru Guner, Selim Olcer, Faik Urbarli and Sefik Zan were named as members of the Supreme Honorary Board while Ersin Cagirgan, Yasar Ulutas and Bulent Nazim Yilmaz were elected as members of the Auditing Board. The TTB Central Council will distribute duties and name new officers in the coming days.

TTB deputy chairman Metin Bakkalci read out a written message sent to the General Assembly by TTB's outgoing chairman Fusun Sayek who could not attend the event due to medical reasons.

"I am sorry for not being among you. But my heart beats together with your honorable struggle" the message said.

Gencay Gursoy, in his speech, said "we will try to bridge the gap in dialogue with the Ministry of Health. There will not be a TTB that submits to the Ankara bureaucracy". (BIA News Center, june 26, 2006)

IHD Chair Faces 4.5 Years Jail for "Speech"

Human Rights Association (IHD) Diyarbakir Branch Chair Selahattin Demirtas appeared at court this week charged with carrying out "propaganda for an outlawed organization" in remarks he made on a program aired by the pro-Kurdish Roj TV.

On June 21, Wednesday, the prosecutor at the 5th High Criminal Court of Diyarbakir demanded from 1.5 to 4.5 years imprisonment for Demirtas under article 220 of the new Penal Code and for him to be banned from public rights and association leadership.

The hearing was adjourned to September 19, 2006, for Demirtas to be given time to prepare his defence.

The IHD Diyarbakir Branch said the case was a form of repression of the association and forces of democracy while it was a serious obstacle in front of the freedom of expression.

"Our branch chairman said that [imprisoned PKK leader] Abdullah Ocalan's statement were still being paid heed to by KONGRA-GEL and the Kurds, and that because of this Ocalan could play an important role in ending the clashes and creating a final and lasting peace, but that could only be achieved with him being allowed to meet with his attorneys and family, that the isolation on Ocalan should be lifted."

IHD Branch secretary Ali Akinci told bianet that more than 70 investigations and cases had so far been launched against Demirtas and stressed that the Human Rights Association which fought for human rights was an association whose rights were most violated.

The case against Demirtas for his speech on Roj-TV comes in the wake of an indictment filed against 56 mayors of the Democratic Society Party (DTP) on charges of assisting the PKK through their actions.

The 56 mayors face up to 10 years imprisonment each if found guilty for a letter they sent collectively to Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen where they requested that country not to yield to Turkish pressure and close down Roj-TV.

The indictment prepared by the Diyarbakir Public Prosecutor's Office claimed Roj-TV carried out organizational propaganda and that the December 21, 2005, dated letter of the mayors was a violation of the law serving the interests of an outlawed organization.

In their letter to Rasmussen the mayors said ''the voice of ROJ TV should not be silenced for a real democracy in Turkey. This is the common and sincere request of our people, whom we represent at the level of local government. The abolition of this voice will mean the lost of basic freedoms for democracy, human rights and the struggle for a democratic society''.

Pro-Kurdish activists claim that in addition to the mayors' letter more than 7,000 letters have been sent out by ROJ-TV supporters to Danish authorities asking for them to allow the station to stay open. (BIA, June 23, 2006)

The Bar Associations' Union lambastes anti-terror bill

The Union of Bar Associations of Turkey (TBB), a fierce opponent of the government-initiated anti-terror bill, is preparing to release a report on terrorism in Turkey highly critical of the bill.

The TBB will today release its report, in which it points out weaknesses within the bill and puts forth a list of suggestions, at a terrorism summit to be held in Istanbul, where the association will host its European counterpart, the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE).

The association initially praises the idea behind the bill currently being debated by a parliament commission, saying such regulations should be implemented immediately to provide a new and appropriate strategy to combat terrorism. The TBB report, however, says that the bill contains an array of threats to individual freedoms and freedom of the press, a criticism that media groups have been raising for months.

The TBB report also criticizes the bill for oblique and ambiguous wording, which, according to the association, poses a great threat to ordinary citizens and suspects detained on charges unrelated to terrorism. "The bill expands the definition of terrorism, thereby causing several charges such as prostitution, burglary, sexual abuse of children to fall under terrorism crimes, which should be dealt with separately," says the report.

Touching on the debate over Article 221 of the revised Turkish Penal Code (TCK), which stipulates an amnesty or reduced penalties for members and founders of terrorist groups in certain circumstances, the TTB report says that the bill includes controversial regulations for the benefit of founders of fundamentalist Islamist organizations, also giving warnings about possible political consequences.

The bill, which is currently under the scrutiny of a subcommission established by ruling party deputies in Parliament's Justice Commission, distinguishes between armed and unarmed organizations and prescribes for the founders of the latter kind of criminal groups different and lighter penal articles. A regulation that was announced on Tuesday, contrary to the wishes of the military, is claimed to have been designed to benefit Fethullah Gulen, the leader of an Islamic order with great political influence who was recently acquitted under the revised TCK.

According to the report, the bill also lacks serious measures to combat terrorism such as the implementation of effective sanctions against international financial networks that support terrorist organizations.

The report says that an amendment to Article 8 of the current Anti-Terror Law meant to prevent financial support for terror fails to deliver measures to cut the links between terrorist groups and financial circles. "It cannot impede relations between criminal gangs and terrorist groups either," says the report.

Also criticizing the bill for failing to display strong political determination to combat terrorism, the TBB report says that the government should introduce a national strategy encompassing both ordinary people and all state institutions.

Citing past experiences and suggestions from the military and the state on the fight against terrorism, the association suggests the formulation of a strong state policy free from political influence while underlining the need for a comprehensive strategy to cover legal, economic and social aspects of the problem as well as the military dimension.

"The battle is too all-encompassing and important to leave to the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), but the state should also use the media and the people as well as business circles in the fight against terrorism," suggests the report. It also adds that foreign policy and domestic security strategies should be harmonized with anti-terror policy.

"It's clear that a state combating terrorism cannot be a champion of human rights at the same time," says the report, but stresses that the state's anti-terror program should balance concerns of security and democracy and not let them fall behind basic standards.

The report also calls for the preparation of a legal procedure system specifically for crimes of terrorism that should be preventative and at the same time in line with modern human rights standards. The state's judicial and administrative system as well as security organizations should also be changed and equipped to enable an effective response to the threat of terrorism, stresses the report.

The report also warns that the global situation will not allow the country to be free of terrorism and says that legal structures and established institutions should not be wound down after the immediate threat is overcome.

The TTB report also spotlights past and current terrorist organizations active in Turkey.

Highlighting the international financial and logistical support given to the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the report accuses the U.S. and its allies in Iraq of backing and using the group as an easily employable threat against Turkey.

The report also claims that U.S. interests in the Middle East necessitate a faithful ally in the region, which, according to the association, would be a Kurdish state that would also keep Turkey in check through triggering ethnic separatist terrorism in the region.

Devoting a detailed chapter to radical Islamist terrorism in Turkey, the report spotlights the political arena, saying that the country has faced several political parties that were supported by fundamentalist Islamist masses.

"When these kinds of political parties have assumed power, certain factions in these parties have attempted to cut back the state's fight against Islamist terrorism, allowing illegal organizations to find ways to infiltrate the state system," says the report, stressing that the primary aim of those groups is to change the secular state system.

The report also claims that many radical Islamist organizations are still active in the country and that they are supported by international terrorist groups.

"Turkey is passing through a period when certain political Islamist groups might find the opportunity to question the country's republican ideology, and they see themselves as being on a mission to replace the system," the report says. (The New Anatolian, Cem Ceren, June 22, 2006)

Anti-terror plan invites torture, says Human Rights Watch

Turkey's plans to beef up its fight against terrorism threaten to roll back progress made by the European Union candidate country in combating torture and other abuses, a leading human rights group said on Tuesday.

New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) also urged Turkey's center-right government to stand up for freedom of expression and scrap an article in its penal code that has led to the trial of scores of writers, academics and journalists.

"The anti-terrorism draft law now in Parliament is a concrete example of how the reform process in Turkey is going into reverse gear," HRW's Jonathan Sugden, a Turkey expert, told a news conference.

The draft would delay guaranteed access to a lawyer for the first 24 hours of a suspect's detention, creating ample scope for torture and maltreatment, he said.

The plans would also make it a crime simply to espouse views that are shared by illegal organizations such as the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged an armed struggle against the Turkish state for a separate Kurdish homeland since 1984.

Sugden said HRW had written to Prime Minister Tayyip Erdo€an outlining its concerns and urging him to rethink the bill.

The European Union, which began accession talks with Turkey last October, has also expressed concern over the proposed anti-terrorism legislation and over parts of the penal code that make it a crime to criticize state institutions.

"We want to see clear leadership from the government in upholding freedom of expression," Sugden said.

Critics say both the anti-terror draft and articles of the penal code give too much leeway to conservative nationalists who dominate Turkey's judiciary and who see their main task as defending the state and its institutions against the citizens.

In an interview with Reuters on Monday evening, the head of Turkey's Bar Association, which represents the country's lawyers, said the Turkish judiciary remained under heavy political influence and was not fully independent despite EU reforms.

"It does not matter who is in power, the judiciary is seriously under the shadow of the political authorities," Özdemir Özok said, noting that the justice minister and his deputy sit on the board that appoints judges and prosecutors.

"However well-intentioned, apolitical and unbiased they may be, they are government agents," Özok said, adding that this undermined the whole concept of judicial independence.

Echoing concerns about bias among the law enforcers, HRW's Sugden said three people had been detained in May for protesting peacefully against the killing of civilians by security forces under provisions of the anti-terror draft -- even though it remains only a draft. The three were later freed.

Sugden said elements within the security forces were partly responsible for what he called an "explosion of violence" in Turkey since last November, especially in the impoverished, mainly Kurdish Southeast, which has claimed 19 lives.

"The wave of violence seems to be aimed at sabotaging the reform process. Stability and respect for human life undermine the raison d'etre (reason for being) of the 'state within the state' and they feel threatened," he added.

Critics say ultra-nationalists in the security forces sometimes take the law into their own hands, especially in the Southeast, in the belief they are protecting Turkey's interests. (Reuters, June 22, 2006)

Amnesty International questionne Semdinli Affair

Le procès de deux membres des services de renseignements de la gendarmerie pour l’attentat à l’explosif de Semdinli (province de Hakkari), dans le sud-est de la Turquie, a pris fin lundi 19 juin 2006 : ils ont été condamnés à une peine de réclusion de trente-neuf ans, cinq mois et dix jours. Le procès de l’ancien membre du PKK devenu informateur, accusé de participation à ces événements, continuera le 3 août.

Amnesty International considère que des questions demeurent en ce qui concerne l’opération qui a conduit à l’attentat, et elle est préoccupée par le fait que l’enquête sur les circonstance entourant les faits n’a pas été exhaustive, impartiale et indépendante. De plus, la vitesse inhabituelle à laquelle le procès s’est déroulé et les modifications dont ont fait l’objet les charges retenues contre les accusés incitent à s’inquiéter de l’existence éventuelle de manœuvres pour étouffer l’affaire.

Le procès a eu lieu en quatre audiences : les 4 et 5 mai ; le 1er juin ; le 13 juin et le 19 juin 2006. En comparaison avec les autres procès en Turquie de membres des forces de sécurité accusés de violations des droits humains, il s’est déroulé à une vitesse sans précédent. Amnesty International a souvent souligné à quel point de telles affaires avaient tendance à durer des mois ou des années. L’organisation considère que l’issue extrêmement rapide de cette affaire, sur la base de nouvelles accusations, implique que toutes les circonstances de l’attentat n’ont pas été examinées lors du procès.

Les trois accusés avaient été inculpés dans un premier temps d’« activités visant à détruire l’unité de l’État et l’intégrité territoriale du pays » (article 302 du Code pénal), crime passible d’une peine maximale de réclusion à perpétuité, et d’« association de malfaiteurs pour parvenir à cette fin » (article 316). Lors de la deuxième audience, le 1er juin, l’accusation a requis que les charges soient modifiées en « constitution d’une organisation criminelle » (article 220), passible d’une peine moins lourde. Les deux membres des services de renseignements ont été reconnus coupables de ce chef d’accusation ainsi que de meurtre, tentative de meurtre et coups et blessures.

L’adoption d’un nouveau chef d’accusation - associant le crime à l’action d’un groupe criminel indépendant - impliquait que toute enquête sur l’implication d’agents de l’État à un plus haut niveau serait exclue. Les investigations sur la participation éventuelle de la hiérarchie ont été bloquées par le chef d’état-major. Amnesty International a fait état publiquement du haut degré d’ingérence du gouvernement, de représentants de l’État et de dignitaires militaires dans l’enquête sur Semdinli. Elle a également exprimé sa vive préoccupation quant à l’atteinte à l’indépendance de la justice que représentait le renvoi du procureur à l’origine du premier acte d’accusation (cf. Turkey : No impunity for state officials who violate human rights. Briefing on the Semdinli bombing investigation and trial; index AI : EUR 44/006/2006). Il est préoccupant que les questions que soulevait le premier chef d’accusation n’aient pas donné lieu aux investigations impartiales, exhaustives et indépendantes qui auraient permis d’y répondre, et qu’elles semblent plutôt avoir été écartées. (index AI, June 22, 2006)

Ankara condamné à Strasbourg dans trois affaires de violences policières

La Turquie a été condamnée jeudi par la Cour européenne des droits de l'homme dans trois affaires de violences policières pour violation de l'article 3 de la Convention européenne des droits de l'homme qui interdit les traitements inhumains et dégradants.

La Cour de Strasbourg a alloué 25.000 euros au total pour dommage moral aux trois hommes victimes de ces mauvais traitements.

MM. Hüseyin Karakas, Muhittin Köylüoglu et Esat Uçkan se plaignaient respectivement d'avoir subi une "pendaison palestinienne" par les bras et des décharges électriques, avoir été frappé à la tête et menacé de mort, ou encore d'avoir été passé à tabac et soumis à des décharges électriques sur les seins et les testicules.

Dans chacune des trois affaires, des médecins avaient relevé des lésions compatibles avec leurs déclarations. Les plaintes pour mauvais traitements des trois hommes avaient cependant été classées sans suite ou sanctionnées par un non-lieu.

Pour les juges des droits de l'homme, "toute blessure survenue pendant (une garde à vue) donne lieu à de fortes présomptions de fait" et le gouvernement est tenu de "fournir une explication plausible".

Outre la violation de l'article 3 de la Convention, la Cour de Strasbourg a également estimé que les autorités turques n'avaient pas mené d'enquête effective sur les allégations de mauvais traitements, violant ainsi l'article 13 de la Convention garantissant le droit à un recours effectif.

Enfin, les juges des droits de l'homme ont sanctionné la condamnation le 20 novembre 1997 de M. Uçkan à 14 ans et sept mois de prison pour appartenance à une organisation armée illégale. En effet, pour les juges de Strasbourg, la présence d'un magistrat militaire dans la Cour de sûreté de l'Etat qui avait prononcé la sentence constituait "un motif légitime de redouter un manque d'indépendance et d'impartialité de cette juridiction", garantie par l'article 6 de la Convention. (AFP, 22 juin 2006)

Criminal Complaint Against Agar, Menzir, Koza

Acting to reveal those responsible for the 1995 deaths of demonstrators in Istanbul's Gazi district, lawyers of the Gazi Justice Commission have filed a criminal complaint against three top officials of the time, based on a recent claim made by a convicted police officer who said they were the ones who issued the orders for the killings.

The criminal complaint against Istanbul's past Police Director Necdet Menzir, Governor Hayri Kozakcioglu and Police General Director Mehmet Agar was filed with the Gaziosman Pasa Prosecutor's Office.

It follows a statement made by police officer Adem Albayrak who was sentenced for killing demonstrators during the March 13-14, 1995, wave of protests in Gazi district in which he said "they are the ones who issued the orders but we were the ones who spent time in prison." 11 years after the incidents Albayrak was discharged from the police force last week.

Among the lawyers who filed the complaint, attorney Cemal Yucel said they had asked for the investigation into the incidents to be broadened, for the persons truly responsible for the incidents to be revealed and for a statement to be taken from Albayrak who had confessed on this issue.

Lawyer Taylan Tanay said that after Albayrak's recent confessions, the prosecution should have acted on its own to launch an investigation.

Turkey's Contemporary Jurists Association chairman Huseyin Bicen told bianet after the police officers statements that the offences of "inciting murder" and "issuing orders in breach of law" appeared to have been committed in the Gazi incidents.

The Incidents at Istanbul's Gazi district on March 13-14, 1995, were sparked off with a café being sprayed with bullets and one person being killed. The night of the attack, people who gathered at a local congregation hall were fired upon from police panzers and two more were killed. Angered protestors took to the streets after the attack and the toll of three days of violence was recorded at 22 dead and over 400 wounded.

Video recordings and witness statements had identified Adem Albayrak and Mehmet Gundogan among the officers responsible for the incidents and about 18 months later a total of 20 policemen were put on trial in a case at the Trabzon High Criminal Court.

A four-year trial of the suspects ended with Adem Albayrak sentenced for the killing of Dilek Aradan, Reis Kopal, Sezgin Engin and Fevzi Tunc and Mehmet Gundogan found guilty for the killing of Zeynep Poyraz and Mumtaz Kaya.

The suspects were sentenced to over 4 years imprisonment each but taking the period they had already served in detention into account, they were not placed in prison. (BIA News Center, Tolga KORKUT, June 21, 2006)

Solidarity with Eren Keskin to Continue

A nation-wide campaign launched last April to express solidarity with Eren Keskin, the former chair of Turkey's Human Rights Association Istanbul Branch recently sentenced to prison, ended this Saturday with a press conference held at the branch headquarters.

IHD executives said that 8,876 signatures had been collected in support of Keskin during the campaign that also raised 6,000 YTL ($4,500) in money that would pay Keskin's fine if her sentence is ratified.

Keskin was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment for insulting the moral personality of the army in a speech she delivered at a conference in Cologne, Germany, in 2002. The sentence was later converted to a fine of 6,000 YTL but the lawyer, who headed IHD Istanbul until the end of last month, said "I will not pay this fine and buy my freedom".

The statement read at the IHD Istanbul office recalled that Keskin had, for four years during her trial, been subjected to attacks and threats and on a complaint filed by the Istanbul Republic Prosecutor's Office had also been suspended by the Istanbul Bar Association for a year.

Subject to lawyer Eren Keskin's sentence, as founder of the "Legal Aid For Victims of Sexual Harassment and Rape Under Detention Project", is her address at a meeting on "Women's Rights Equal Human Rights" organized by the Alawite Unions' Federation in Germany. Following media coverage of Keskin's speech the Turkish Armed Forces and Professor Necla Arat filed a legal complaint against her which led to the indictment and subsequent guilty sentence for insulting the army. (BIA News Center, june 20, 2006)

NGOs Concerned for Draft Anti-Terror Bill

Turkey's publisher and writer associations will unite on Tuesday to issue a joint press statement challenging Ankara's new Anti-Terror Law (TMY) draft and voicing their concerns over the losses it will incur on democracy before the Parliament Justice Commission starts debating the bill again this week.

PEN Turkey Centre's Muge Gursoy Sokmen told bianet that the statement to be read out at 11.00 in Istanbul on Tuesday aims to warn that the TMY will eliminate all developments achieved in the field of freedoms over many years and show that the demand for democracy in Turkey is not "just a demand of three or four marginal circles".

Turkey's Journalists Association (TGC), Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS), Publishers Association of Turkey (TYB), Writers Union of Turkey (TYS), Association of Book Translators and International PEN Turkey Centre members and representatives will gather at the TGC Burhan Felek Conference Hall for the event.

Stressing that the draft will eliminate all developments achieved in the field of freedoms over many years, PEN's Sokmen said they aimed to show that the demand for democracy was not limited to three or four marginal circles but was a requirement of the majority of the society.

The bill will be discussed again at the Grand National Assemble Justice Commission this week after an interruption of the debate following main opposition Republic People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal's controversial claim that article 6 of the law would allow for imprisoned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan to be released from prison.

Many Turkish NGOs, human rights activists, jurists, intellectuals and writers have expressed concern over the bill saying that if it is passed by Parliament and enforced, the environment for human rights and freedoms will be similar to those in past periods of martial law or military coups.

The law specifically introduces new powers in the fight against terrorism that would limit press and media freedoms in the country and allow for indefinite closures of publications. (BIA News Center, Erol ONDEROGLU, june 19, 2006)

Au moins 64 manifestants de gauche arrêtés à Tunceli

Au moins 64 manifestants, qui commémoraient la mort, l'année dernière, de militants de gauche, ont été arrêtés par la police samedi dans l'est de la Turquie. Les troubles ont démarré dans la ville de Tunceli lorsque les forces de sécurité ont empêché la foule de défiler, au motif que la manifestation n'avait pas obtenu d'autorisation préalable.

La marche avait pour objet de célébrer le premier anniversaire de la mort de plusieurs membres du Parti communiste maoïste (MKP, clandestin), lors d'un affrontement avec l'armée, dans la campagne, près de Tunceli.

Les manifestants ont lancé des pierres et des morceaux de bois sur la police anti-émeute, qui a répliqué avec du gaz lacrymogène et des canons à eau, selon Anatolie.

Un reportage télévisé a montré des véhicules blindés sillonnant les rues de la ville alors que des policiers pourchassaient les manifestants, protégés derrière des boucliers en plastique.

Le MKP est un petit groupe armé aspirant à renverser le système actuellement en vigueur en Turquie pour le remplacer par un régime communiste. (AFP, 17 juin 2006)

Women Protest The Bar's "Women's Commission"

Representatives of 18 women organisations have staged a protest against the Women's Commission of the Istanbul Bar Association that was signatory to newspaper advertisements blacklisting Human Rights Association (IHD) former Istanbul branch chair Eren Keskin and turning her into a public target by implying she supported terrorism.

The women demand for the Bar Association to launch a disciplinary action into the Commission and investigate its role in the advertisement that was published by a group of women organisations and political party women's branches in two mass circulation Turkish newspapers.

In a press statement they read out in front of the Bar Association building in Istanbul on June 14 Wednesday, the women organisations asked the Commission "as our lawyers, how can you ignore hundreds of women who are abused and raped in custody, who are subjected to violence originating from the state?.. How will you defend us with this mentality?"

IHD's Leman Yurtsever read the statement authored to remind the Bar Association and its members of their responsibilities and duties. She said Keskin was accused in a lynch campaign and that it was unfortunate that a commission of the Bar Association that upheld the concept of "innocent until proven guilty" was party to this.

Yurtsever said the Bar Association had the duty of standing beside women where their rights were violated and called for lawyers of the commission to explain their action to the public and apologise for what they did.

"To combat those who commit such a serious offence as abuse and rape needs first to accept that this is a crime of humanity. A lawyer who does not have such a mentality cannot defend women who are abused and raped while in custody" she said.

Following the press statement, group representatives submitted a report titled "Sexual Abuse and Rape in Detention" to the association.

Meanwhile, 395 women activists in Turkey have issued a statement of solidarity with lawyer Keskin under the headline "A response to a Very Important Notice" referring to the title of the advertisement that blackballed her before the nation.

Their statement said, "As women who have come together on the bases of rejecting violence towards women, we see the text [advert] as violence itself. We invited women and women organisations against violence, discrimination and sexism to fight together and be in solidarity.

The advertisements subject to protest appeared in the mass circulation Turkish daily Hurriyet and the Cumhuriyet newspapers earlier this month and claimed that while Keskin was head of the IHD Istanbul branch, she used every meeting she attended "to voice the factitious slander of the [outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party] PKK". The advert also claimed she was involved in activities "to spoil the atmosphere of peace".

Keskin, a lawyer by profession, chaired the IHD Istanbul branch until the end of last month when, following scheduled elections, she was replaced by Hurriyet Sener.

As founder of the "Legal Aid For Victims of Sexual Harassment and Rape Under Detention Project", Keskin was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment this year for "insulting the armed forces" for a speech she made back in Germany in 2002. Though the sentence was later converted to a fine, she said in March that she would rather serve it. (BIA News Center, Emine OZCAN, June 15, 2006)

AI against the draft revisions to the Law to Fight Terrorism

Amnesty International is concerned that the "Draft Law revising some articles of the Law to Fight Terrorism [Law 3713 of 12/4/1991]" presented to the Turkish parliament on 18 April 2006 – and currently again being scrutinized by the Parliamentary Justice Sub-Commission before being resubmitted to parliament – contains sweeping and draconian provisions which may in practice contravene international human rights law and facilitate violations of the human rights of individuals.

The organization considers that the draft law is dominated by a security agenda which poses a fundamental threat to individual freedoms, including the rights to freedom of expression and to fair trial. In the new draft law the definition of terrorism found in the existing Law to Fight Terrorism of 1991 has not been amended and remains too broadly drawn and vague. Of equal concern, the new draft law dramatically increases the spectrum of crimes potentially punishable as terrorist offences. Accordingly, if the law enters into force, many more individuals may find themselves categorized as "terrorists" and subjected to trial in heavy penal courts whose remit is organized crime and terrorist offences, and to the harsher sanctions provided for in anti-terrorism legislation.

Amnesty International has in the past expressed deep concern over the introduction of draconian anti-terrorism laws in other jurisdictions. Not least among these has been legislation introduced in the UK, including the Terrorism Act 2000 and, most recently, the Terrorism Act 2006 introduced at the end of March 2006.

Amnesty International reminds the Turkish government and the Parliamentary Justice Sub-Commission currently scrutinizing the draft law of the necessity of ensuring that all measures taken to combat terrorism comply with Turkey’s obligations under international human rights and refugee law. This has been expressed repeatedly by the UN Security Council, the European Court of Human Rights, and the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, among others.

Amnesty International reminds the Turkish government and the Parliamentary Justice Sub-Commission of the Council of Europe Guidelines on Human Rights and the Fight against Terrorism state, which state, in particular, that:
II. All measures taken by States to fight terrorism must respect human rights and the principle of the rule of law, while excluding any form of arbitrariness, as well as any discriminatory or racist treatment, and must be subject to appropriate supervision.
III.1. All measures taken by States to combat terrorism must be lawful.
III.2. When a measure restricts human rights, restrictions must be defined as precisely as possible and be necessary and proportionate to the aim pursued.
IV. The use of torture or of inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, is absolutely prohibited, in all circumstances, and in particular during the arrest, questioning and detention of a person suspected of or convicted of terrorist activities, irrespective of the nature of the acts that the person is suspected of or for which he/she was convicted.

Amnesty International today published a briefing on the key draft revisions to the Law to Fight Terrorism: http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGEUR44/009/2006 (AI Index, 9 June 2006)

(1) See respectively, United Kingdom: Briefing on the Terrorism Bill (AI Index: EUR 45/43/00) and United Kingdom: Amnesty International’s Briefing on the Draft Terrorism Bill 2005 (AI Index: EUR 45/038/2005).
(2) See respectively, UNSC Resolution 1456 (2003), Annex para.6; Aksoy v Turkey (1996) 23 EHRR 553, para. 62; Council of Europe Guidelines on Human Rights and the Fight against Terrorism, 11 July 2002; UN Doc. S/RES/1624 (2005), para. 4.
(3) Council of Europe Guidelines on Human Rights and the Fight Against Terrorism, H(2002)4.

Police brutality against TAYAD families in Ankara

Lawyer Behic Asci started death fast 67 days ago. He is a revolutionary lawyer and on hunger strike for justice in Turkey. The government doesn't want to solve the isolation problem in F type prisons; the problem is getting bigger and bigger.

Socialist Gülcan Görüroglu started death fast 38 days ago. She has two daughters. She too was in prison. Now she is outside.

122 socialist lost their lives in death fast resistance against isolation that started in F type prisons in 2000. Death Fast is one of the longest resistance against to imperialist policies in the world.

TAYAD (association of prisoner's families) has been carrying on a struggle for 6 years. They came to the capital of Turkey from different cities on the 11'th of June with the aim of asking the government to stop the isolation. They came together with other TAYAD families who have been carrying on sit-in demostrations.

Behic Asci and Gülcan Görürogu left their homes and joined the march of TAYAD to Ankara. Their aim was to carry their voice to the Parliament. But police attacked them by using clubs and tear gas.

The government doesn't support democratic rights. The anti-democratic attitude of the police is getting worse and worse .  All of  the TAYAD families in demonstration now started a hungry strike. They ask that police barricade be removed. Don't be insensitive about isolation. (ekoctas@gmail.com, June 13, 2006)

Trade Unionists Chain Themselves for Rights

Turkey's Revolutionary Workers Union Confederation (DISK) staged a protest on Monday in front of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) building in Ankara voicing reaction to workers being fired for labour union membership.

Four unionists chained themselves in front of the ILO Ankara office as DISK chairman Suleyman Celebi held a press conference calling on the government to enforce ILO decisions.

"ILO says that union rights in Turkey are being violated, that laws must change. Barriers and the notary condition should be lifted. Ban on strikes should be lifted," Celebi said.

The unionist recalled that the European Union itself regarded union rights as among the primary political criteria and said "obstacles in front of these rights need to be lifted. It is the government's responsibility to do this".

Meanwhile, the unionists who chained themselves in front of the ILO building attracted attention to union right violations in Turkey as the Organisation's meeting in Geneva was still continuing.

The unionists pointed out the following issues:

* The government wishes to put a reservation on articles related to union organisation rights and collective bargaining in the Reviewed European Social Condition that is in front of Parliament.

* Freedom to union activities is not foreseen with the Union Law's conditions on strike and lockout and the drafts related Collective Work Agreements Law. Just the opposite, the same restrictions brought with September 12 [1980 military takeover] are being polished but retained.

* Thousands of workers are being fired for becoming members of unions in various fields of employment and collective agreement authority procedures are turning into court cases that take years. The most basic right of the worker which is to become a union member, is not in effect in this country.

Celebi: Legal arrangements need to be made

Celebi for his part said, "The government should put ILO decisions into practice and make the legal arrangements as soon as possible" and listed the union right violations in Turkey as follows:

* Labour laws which are the product of the 12 September coup prevent the freedom of organisation and violate the right to collective agreements and right to strike.

* Tens of thousands of workers have been fired from their jobs for becoming union members.

* Workers need to put money into a notary to become a union member which is not seen in any other country.

* Unions are hands tied with barriers in work fields and operations

* Collective agreement authorisation procedures become subject to trials that last for years.

* The right to strike is practically banned, there are many bans and obstacles in this field.

* As result of all of these, workers cannot organise unions are losing force, the society cannot become organised.

Celebi also protested the June 11 arrest order issued by a prosecutor against Ports, Dockyards, Ship Building-Repairs Workers Union (LIMTER-IS) chairman Cem Dinc and the union's training expert Kamber Saygili for "resisting the police". The two unions were detained by the police during a crackdown on a labour action in a dockyard in Tuzla. (BIA News Center, June 13, 2006)

Prosecutor Arrests Two Trade Unionists in Istanbul

An Istanbul prosecutor has ordered the arrest of two union leaders of the Ports, Dockyards, Ship Building-Repairs Workers Union (LIMTER-IS) on grounds of "resisting the police" two days after police staged an attack on workers on industrial action at a Tuzla dockyard.

LIMTER-IS chairman Cem Dinc and the union's training expert Kamber Saygili were detained by police on Sunday as they went to file a criminal complaint against the police attack on June 10, Friday, where they themselves were beaten.

LIMTER-IS Training and Organisation expert Levent Akhan said that on Friday police officers singled out Dinc and Saygili during an attack on workers at the DESAN dockyard in Tuzla and then started hitting the unionists with truncheons.

"Cem Dinc was injured in two places of his head. He had received a doctor's report. He was detained when he went to file a criminal complaint on Sunday. He was then taken to the prosecutor where an arrest was made for resisting the police" Akhan explained.

Both unionists have been moved to Kartal prison where they are being held.

Their lawyer, Serap Akkilic branded the prosecutor's arrest decision as "arbitrary and illegal" saying they would file a complaint with the Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors as well as the Interior Ministry against the prosecutor and police officers. She said they would also appeal the decision of arrest as it was issued so long after the alleged offence and without any backing evidence.

Both Turkey's Revolutionary Workers Union Confederation (DISK) and the Human Rights Association (IHD) have protested the arrest and called for the unionists to be released immediately.

The IHD issued an appeal to the Labour Ministry and the government to launch an immediate investigation into these "rights abuses" and noted that when the security forces intervened, they not only used excessive force but wounded many workers.

Petrol-Is, Deri-Is and Tekstil-Sen unions also issued statements demanding the immediate release of the unionists.

Union member workers at Tuzla's DESAN Dockyard were on industrial action for over 20 years in protest of not being paid their wages for three months. (BIA News Center, Tolga Korkut, June 13, 2006)

Decade-old torture case nears its end

A top court ruled on Friday that YTL 10,000 in damages for pain and suffering isn't enough for students who were badly tortured in Manisa 11 years ago.

The appeal of a group of young people who'd filed a lawsuit against the Interior Ministry on the grounds that they'd been tortured by the police 11 years ago is finally coming to an end.

The Council of State ruled for a lower court to reassess the damages to be paid.

A group of 15 students, also known as the "Manisa students," were taken into custody on Dec. 26, 1995 in an operation into the  Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) and then testified in court that they'd been badly tortured and had been questioned under duress.

The students were then given prison sentences by a lower local court, a ruling which was later annulled by the Court of Appeals. The case was then reheard and the students were acquitted.

The policemen involved received sentences of 10 months in prison apiece on charges of torture and inhumane treatment.

Seven of the students then filed a lawsuit against the Interior Ministry, seeking YTL 25,000 in damages for pain and suffering each. Manisa Administrative Court, however, ruled for just YTL 10,000 in damages.

The Council of State ruled on Friday that the administrative bodies are responsible for the damages to be paid which should compensate for the harm done. The court also ruled that the claimants should be paid the legal interest on the damages. (The New Anatolian, June 10, 2006)

La "brigade de vengeance turque" menace l’IHD

Le comité local de l’Association de Défense des droits de l’homme d’Istanbul a reçu une lettre de menace et une enveloppe contenant une poudre le 6 juin. L’enveloppe porte le sigle TIT (brigade de vengeance turque - traduction de l’anglais), une organisation secrète qui a revendiqué un certain nombre d’assassinats de militants des droits de l’homme.

La police s’est rendue sur les lieux et les autorités sanitaires ont mis les bureaux de l’IHD en quarantaine, les entrées et sorties étant interdites pendant un certain temps. Puis six personnes qui avaient touché l’enveloppe ont été emmenées à l’hôpital pour des examens et analyses. L’une d’elle qui avait été en contact direct avec la poudre est toujours en observation, les autres ont été renvoyées chez elles.

La poudre aurait été envoyée à Ankara pour y être analysée.Ceci s’est produit le jour-même où une campagne a été lancée contre Eren Keskin, la présidente de la section d’Istanbul du IHD, avec des annonces la déclarant persona non grata et collaboratrice du PKK, et accusant également tous ceux qui avaient signé la pétition en sa faveur d’être des collaborateurs du PKK.

Depuis 1 an, les menaces par téléphone et par lettres aux membres du commité exécutif de la section d’Istanbul du IHD ont augmenté. Eren Keskin a reçu plusieurs fois des menaces non voilées par téléphone de la part du TIT. (Collectif VAN, 9 juin 2006)

Human Rights Activists Rise to Defend Keskin

Advocates of human rights in Turkey are standing up in defence of Human Rights Association (IHD) Istanbul branch former chair Eren Keskin after a group of Turkish women organisations this week gave public adverts to Turkish newspapers "violently condemning" her for implied support to an outlawed armed organisation and openly charging her with "showing extraordinary efforts to diminish respect in the Turkish Armed Forces".

The advertisements, which appeared in the mass circulation Turkish daily Hurriyet and the Cumhuriyet newspapers, claimed that while Keskin was head of the IHD Istanbul branch, she used every meeting she attended "to voice the factitious slander of the [outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party] PKK". The advert also claimed she was involved in activities "to spoil the atmosphere of peace".

Keskin, a lawyer by profession, chaired the IHD Istanbul branch until the end of last month when, following scheduled elections, she was replaced by Hurriyet Sener.

As founder of the "Legal Aid For Victims of Sexual Harassment and Rape Under Detention Project", Keskin was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment this year for "insulting the armed forces" for a speech she made back in Germany in 2002. Though the sentence was later converted to a fine, she said in March that she would rather serve it.

"Keskin is marked as a target"

IHD chairman Yusuf Alatas who said they respected everyone's right to express their opinions, warned that the advertisement against Keskin "shows one of our executives as a target. It creates a relationship with an outlawed and armed organisation. There is first an unjust claim, then a marking of target through this unjust claim".

Alatas added that "if you reflect someone as if that person is a traitor, then some people will come up to punish hose traitors". Noting that the condemnation advert had come from organisations that where both women organisations and non-governmental organisations, Alatas said "but the views they express actually say that the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) are privileged and cannot be criticised. That the supremacy of law cannot be applied to the TAF. It supports a militarist view and system which is something that is unacceptable".

The IHD chairman stressed that "civilian society organisations must first be civilian themselves. Organisations of women should uphold woman rights on the foreground. Actions and statements that stem out of the concept 'every Turk is born as a soldier' do not serve democracy".

"They want to intimidate IHD"

The day the advert against Keskin went out, IHD Istanbul branch received a threat letter containing an unknown substance in powder form as part of an ongoing campaign against the association.

With regard to the two simultaneous incidents, "what they want to do is intimidate the IHD" explained Alatas in an interview with Bianet.

"What we are living through are the result of the general repressive attitude towards the human rights struggle in Turkey," he said. "When the judiciary, government and police fail to fulfil their responsibilities in face of such repression, when those responsible are not apprehended and brought before the law, they become even more courageous".

Alatas said attacks and threats against the IHD has two purposes. "The first is to escalate the tension. Then they specifically want to intimidate the IHD. Because an atmosphere of tension can harbour any king of outlawed activity".

"Stop this lynch campaign"

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Agenda Association (IHDG) issued a statement in protest of the women organisation's advert saying that an attempt was being made to display Keskin as if she was a terrorist in the public eye and noting that the "slander against her" had come after the case on insulting the army.

"We are genuinely concerned over the lynch campaign opened against human rights advocate Eren Keskin and we condemn such initiatives" the IHDG said.

The statement said it was "surprising" that non-governmental organisations were displaying a position against human rights, democracy and the supremacy of the law and continued, "human rights activists, as part of the nature of the struggle they are involved in, can many times fall on the opposite side of the state and state institutions. The same thing may also be valid.. for armed political groups. In view of this situation, no one has the right to lynch human rights advocates for speeches they have made, reports they have prepared or their statements".

Persona non grata

A version of the women organisation's advert is now being distributed over the internet where reference is made to a different part of the text that also condemns a campaign launched in Turkey previously to support Keskin in view of legal actions taken against her.

The campaign to support Keskin has been branded "a campaign to support the PKK" while communiqués have been issued online declaring the human rights activist as a "persona non grata". (BIA, Tolga KORKUT, June 8, 2006)

Eren Keskin: "The Campaign Is Manipulated"

Human Rights Association (IHD) Istanbul branch former chair Eren Keskin held a press conference this week in relation to the "violet condemnation" of her by 20 women organisations through public advertisements in the Hurriyet and Cumhuriyet newspapers.

During the conference and a subsequent exclusive interview with Bianet, Keskin said she did not believe the text of the advert was from the women organisations themselves adding that the attack against her person appeared to stem from a single source. She also recalled that after similar kinds of public criticism, former chairman of the IHD Akin Birdal was shot in an assassination attempt.

IHD chairman Yusuf Alatas, IHD Istanbul Branch chair Hurriyet Sener and Derya Demirtas and Feray Salman of the Network of Solidarity with Eren Keskin accompanied Keskin at her conference.

Keskin: I invite them to act with responsibility

"It is an extremely painful situation for a woman or women organisations to issue an advertisement inviting violence" Keskin said.

"It is sad for a women to do this to a woman. Those who identify themselves as feminists should first stand up against militarism. If they are not doing this, they should then ask themselves how much of women rights defenders they are".

Keskin invited those who issued the adverts against her to act with responsibility and asked "after this advertisement, if some people come up and take their own initiative, are they then going to feel responsible to this?"

Interview with Keskin

Following her press conference, Keskin was interviewed by Bianet asked and replied to various questions pertaining to the situation.

You are a woman, so are they. Why are they attacking you?

"I do not believe this attack directed at me is has been writer by the women organisations. I believe it stems from the same place. I have been receiving threats for years. I am one of the persons who the Chief of General Staff has filed a [criminal] complaint against. I believe this text is not very independent.

"Because in relation to this incident, to the speech, while Necla Arat filed a criminal complaint they did it together with the Chief of General Staff. Arat testified against me at court".

What does being a persona non grata mean?

"For instance, I would immediately rush to an injustice inflicted on a Kemalist woman. I would not think she is a Kemalist. If I did, I would not be a women's rights advocate. They, on the other hand, do not approach it in this way. In my view what determines them primarily is their Kemalist identity. Their other identities come after that. This is where the problem is. To me this is really painful. They have declared me a persona non grata, they are condemning me 'violently'. As it is, declaring someone as persona non grata means getting rid of them.

"Because, in the year 98, such articles, advertisements came out against Akin Birdal and a short while later Akin Birdal was shot. Because of this I invite them to rethink this. Will they be able to get out from under such a responsibility? There are people in this society who could read this advertisement and act in rage".

Are you being protected?

"No I am not protected."

Have you applied for protection?

"No. But in the year 1999, at the time [outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party leader] Abdullah Ocalan was brought [to Turkey], I was one of his lawyers. At that time Osman Baydemir and I were receiving a lot of threats. The state proposed to give us protection. At that time we rejected this. They have to protect us anyway. This is their duty. I did not see it necessary to constantly go around with policemen. "

One of the accusations against you is that you are with the PKK. Are you a member of the PKK?

"Of course I am not. I am an advocate of human rights. Other than this, in every speech I made I have voiced that violence is not a solution to the Kurdish problem, that the time of armed struggle in the world had passed by, that violence strengthened militarism. I have never been a member of any organisation but I am a lawyer of PKK cases. I have acted as attorney to them and to various Kurdish and socialist circles. I have also acted as attorney to Abdullah Ocalan. These are separate things.

"This is my profession. I am a lawyer who attends political trials. I also defend a democratic solution to the Kurdish problem and even the right of the Kurdish people to determine their own fate. I voice this everywhere. In any case it is the easiest thing to declare you as a PKK member when you say anything against the red points of militarism. A very easy method."

You said that women should review their policies on issues such as the Cyprus question and other issues. Do you think it is easy for women to conduct politics?

"Women live through all forms of oppression with double the impact. Their fronts are closed. They cannot go out on the street. Not every woman is like us. If she does not have economic freedom, how will she conduct politics? I believe that an antimilitarist policy is necessary and that this can only be achieved by antimilitarist feminists and homosexuals. Because in my view these are sections that are totally void of any prejudice. I do not even believe socialists are void of prejudice."

Does prejudice increase pressure?

"Prejudice and those prejudiced against are being distanced. I think those who face prejudice are the ones who most understand what militarism is pressing upon them. In my view militarism is not on the agenda of many organisations in Turkey who see their place in the opposition front."

Currently there are debates on new human rights, women rights, children rights. What do you think about these?

"Of course international law has made some gains. We cannot deny this. But I believe that the international law system is extremely dominated by men and is militarist.

"If one needs to cite an example, thousands of women following World War I and World War II were raped as it happens during all wars. But the Tokyo and Nurenburg trials did not accept that rape was a war crime. Whereas after the clashes Bosnia and Ruanda, as result of the struggle of the women there, it was regarded as a war crime.

"Still the Convention on Immigrant Rights does not accept violence against women as a single reason for asylum.

"Or conscientious objection. It is still not given as a duty for state by international law. It is only in the Copenhagen criteria and with an open end. In other words, these show that international law is dominated by men and is militarist throughout the world. These examples show this openly.

What lies behind the attack on you by woman organisations that identify themselves as feminist?

"First of all, in feminism, feminists must definitely be antimilitarist... Feminists also stand up against racism, chauvinism, capitalism, the effects of these on women and to all other forms of influences and pressures. This is what I see as feminism.

"But unfortunately in Turkey the official ideology is always that of a Turkish style feminism. A Turkish style environmentalism. A Turkish style socialism. In other words it always gets caught somewhere at one point. Not just for women. Because of this I believe those who identify themselves as feminist and those who say the are advocates of women rights should oppose all of those red points that are created by militarism. For instance the Cyprus issue, the Armenian genocide, the Kurdish issue. In other words, I believe they need to re-evaluate themselves on all issues. (BIA, Ayse Durukan, June 8, 2006)

Erbakan to serve 11-month sentence at home

Former Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan was sentenced yesterday to serve out a likely 11-month sentence at home, in a retrial guided by a new bill allowing some seniors to avoid time behind bars.

After appealing a prison sentence of over two years in a case involving misuse of state political party aid, Erbakan was retried yesterday under the revised Turkish Penal Code (TCK).

Erbakan's attorneys had appealed a previous ruling by the Ankara High Criminal Court on the case, which sentenced Erbakan to prison in a case dubbed "the Lost Trillion," and the Court of Appeals ruled in early April for a retrial of the former premier under the revised TCK.

The court ruled yesterday for a two-year-and-four-month sentence for Erbakan to be served at his house. Under customary sentence reductions, that time translates into 11 months under house arrest.

The ruling came as a disappointment to Erbakan's supporters, as they seemed sure that court would completely revoke his political ban.

According to court ruling, Erbakan will able to receive guests at his house during the 11 months, but won't be allowed to go beyond the house's garden. Erbakan will be followed by two policemen for 24 hours, who will report back to the police station.

Reports indicated yesterday that the former prime minister will spend his sentence term in his triplex house in Ankara's Balgat district and will be able to do whatever he wants within the limits of his house. If he leaves his house for purposes other than medical needs, he will have to spend rest of his sentence in prison.

Due to his sentence, Erbakan won't be able to go to the Hamidiye Mosque, next to Felicity Party's (SP) headquarters, to pray on Fridays, as he usually does.

If he has health problems, he will be able to get out of the house accompanied by police and with the permission of the public prosecutor's office. He will also be able to go to his summer house, as that is considered treatment for his health problems.

Former Prime Minister and defunct Welfare Party (RP) leader Erbakan was sentenced to prison in 2002 in the "Lost Trillion" case but was able to postpone serving his sentence by submitting medical reports to the court demonstrating his ill health.

Erbakan is a prominent leader of the National View (Milli Gorus) movement, which is known for its Islamist ideals, and has been the leader of various Islamic parties. He was prime minister in a coalition government with the True Path Party (DYP) in 1996-97. Erbakan's RP was outlawed in 1997, and Erbakan was banned from politics for five years until 2003. Today's Felicity Party (SP) is known to be the continuation of the same political movement, fronted by acting leader Recai Kutan.

Current Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is Erbakan's onetime protégé, but the two parted ways years ago.

Erbakan was able to postpone his sentence four times submitting by medical reports and following the final postponement of his sentence in February, political parties have upped efforts to have him pardoned or saved from prison time through submitting bills to Parliament to that end.

Under a bill drawn up Hatay Deputy Sadullah Ergin, Istanbul Deputy Hayati Yazici and Ankara Deputy Haluk Ipek, all of the ruling AK Party, people over 65 could serve out prison sentences of up to three years at home. The bill was passed with an overwhelming majority in Parliament but was then vetoed by the president on the grounds that it was meant to benefit a single person and so went against the principles of a state ruled by law.

However it was passed in Parliament again, allowing Erbakan to serve his sentence at home. At around the same time the bill was passed, the Court of Appeals ruled for his retrial in the "Lost Trillion" case. (The New Anatolian, June 8, 2006)

Dissident Sociologist Cleared of Bombing

Turkish sociologist Pinar Selek who is known for her researches into children outcast from society and the Kurdish problem, has been acquitted on charges of involvement in an alleged bomb explosion at Istanbul's historic Spice Market in 1998.

The prosecutor was asking for life imprisonment of Selek, but Thursday's hearing at Istanbul's 12th High Criminal Court acquitted her on grounds that it could still not be established whether the deadly blast at the market was result of a bombing or a liquid gas container blowing up.

The case against 15 defendants including Selek was opened in relation to the July 9, 1998 alleged bombing of "Misir Carsisi", causing the death of 7 people and the injury of 127. At the time of the incident Selek was a student of sociology.

On Thursday, 3 defendants related to the case were sentenced to life on charges of "killing persons in the name of an organization" but two of the sentences were reduced to 36 years for good conduct. Charges were dropped for Selek's other -defendants.

Selek's attorney Ergin Cinmen told Bianet after the verdict that they regarded the decision in her instance as being in accord with law. The case was heard from beginning to end by the same panel of justices, he said.

The main discrepancies in expert reports related to the case was the cause of the explosion. In a July 2002 dated expert report the prosecution heard that it was result of a bomb because if there had been an LPG leak, this would have led to a fire. Yet Middle East Technical University's Prof. Dr. Inci Gokmen who was on the panel of experts said she did not agree with the conclusion in the report adding, "the explosion was result of gas".

The prosecution itself has agreed that criminology, expert, forensic and board reports submitted to the court over the past years have contradicted each other but quoted some of the witnesses testifying that they "smelt gunpowder" together with trace evidence found on site as reason to conclude there had been a bomb attack. (BIA, Erol ONDEROGLU, June 8, 2006)

IHD Calls For End to F-Type Prisons

The Istanbul Branch of Turkey's Human Rights Association (IHD) has disclosed that 128 prisoners have died since October 20, 2000 in hunger strikes protesting F-type prison conditions and that hundreds of captives have been left crippled with no hope of returning to their previous health.

The Association called for an end to F-type prisons and for independent boards representing civilian society organisations to be allowed to regularly monitor all detention and prison compounds.

A statement issued by the IHD quoted the Solidarity Association of Prisoners' Families (TAYAD) saying that seven people were currently on a hunger strike to death in Turkey in protest of these prisons and the conditions in them.

Those on hunger strike were identified as "lawyer Behic Asci at home in Istanbul, prisoner relative Gulcan Goruroglu at home in Adana, Kamil Karatas at the Sincan F Type prison, Sevgi Saymaz at the Usak F-Type prison, Mustafa Tosun at the Tekirdag F-type prison, Serpil Cabadan at the Gebze M Type Prison (Hospitalized on May 30) and Fahri Tirpan at the Kiriklar F type prison."

IHD stressed that the right to life was the most fundamental right of a human being and that the Association regarded hunger strikes or death strikes as a type of action that possibly violated this right.

It said that although the Association itself was against such actions, it was deemed a human duty to care for the wellbeing of hunger strikers, their healths and their demands.

IHD criticised the isolation practices in prisons where it said inmates and convicts were not only prevented from interacting with each other but were restricted in seeing their families, friends, lawyers and doctor. It said many families visiting relatives at F-type prisons complained of harassment and the difficulties they were made to face.

The Association revealed a list of violations committed regularly at Turkey's special F-type prison compounds.

* Detainees and Convicts face restrictions on their communication rights and the right to receive news under the framework of isolation. Some newspapers and publications are arbitrarily banned.

* Isolation conditions and mistreatment are leading to psychological problems in detainees and convicts.

* Difficulties are imposed on the transfer of detainees and convicts to hospitals and decisions not to transfer those in need are being used as a method of punishment.

* Limitations and restrictions are imposed on meetings with lawyers for those remanded in custody during their trial. Attorney-defendant meetings are monitored by prison officials.

* Defendants are not able to examine their case file, notes taken by inmates during meetings with attorneys are being censored by prison staff.

* People on trial on the same case are not able to meet with an attorney related with the case at the same time.

* Many of those under arrest are held in prisons that are outside of the province where their trials are taking place. (BIA, June 7, 2006)

A Report by Death Fast Resistant Lawyer Behic Asci

I have no individual demand in my death fast resistance act. My only demand is the abolition of the physical isolation in the prisons or make a step taken towards its abolition. Who is responsible for that is the Ministry of Justice. The F-type prisons which were opened in 2000 had been built as consisting of cells for 1 or 3 persons for arcitechtural and physical isolation. Besides that by building intersecting aisles, more divisions were provided. The administrations of these prisons have strictly been applying this isolation for the last 6 years.
 
There were examinations in Kandira F-type prison in 2000 before the opening of the F-type prisons and each one of the Ýstanbul Bar, Ýstanbul Chamber of Doctors and Ýstanbul Office of the Chamber of Arcitects and Engineers who participated in this examination stated in their reports that these prisons were for isolation and so that these had to be closed. Also the results after the isolation applications in different parts of the world were published and the effects of isolation on human health were explained in detail.
 
Although the psychological and physical effects of isolation on human health were indicated scientifically, the F-type prisons were opened. The Ministry of Justice who at that time organized touristic tours to the construction sites of these prisons doesn’t allow the Chambers of the Doctors to examine the prisoners at the moment. Therefore the states of health of the prisoners can’t be assessed by independent medical institutions. But it is possible to measure the destructive results of the isolation since the last 6 years. Until now there were many attempts to suicide among whom the 3 died. Tens of attempts to suicide resulted in injuries. These attempts are not explained to public.
 
One of the prisoners believes that the National Intelligence Organization has fixed a computer chip inside his head and by this chip he is followed. Another prisoner accused his friend with whom he was staying with in the same cell of being a police agent and poured boiled water onto him. My client Ercan Kartal stopped reading his petition during his trial by saying that he could not hear his own voice while he were reading. The practice in F-type prisons proved the statement that ‘Noone has the right to live in F-type prisons, none of the basic rights is preserved there’ which have been expressed from the very begining.
 
The non-political prisoners in Izmir Kiriklar F-type prison were tied by the prison administration by using a method called ‘pig tie’. There are 2 special cells which has no windows or ventilation area and inside of which are covered with sponge in each F-type prison. The non-political prisoners who resisted against the practices of the prison’s administration were closed into these special cells, their feet were tied, their hands were tied at back and then their feet and hands were tied to each other and they were thrown into the cell like a ball. For 10 days none of the prison’s officials came and these prisoners had to pass water and so on on themselves and they had to roll within their own excrement. The criminal complaint that we made about that was resulted in dismissal.
 
All of these are the results of the isolation in the prisons. But the isolation does not only have physical applications. The bans of meeting with the family, bans on letters, publications, preventions of meeting with the lawyers an the delivery of the clothes and many other applications are being practiced very heavily. Our aim is to be able to make a step taken for at least the abolition of physical isolation among all these extensive and heavy isolation applications. The political powers became more comfortable in practicing their policies with cencorship. It is necessary to overcome this censorship. The main responsibilty in doing this belongs especially to lawyers and intellectuals.
 
But we cannot say that lawyers and intellectuals fulfil this responsibility. It was necessary to shake them again and the isolation had to take its place in their agendas again. One of the reasons of my act is that. Shortly I began my death fast resistance mainly for the abolition of physical isolation. Until now I gained nothing after all of the attempts which I made for that. Lawsuits, complaints, criminal complaints, press statements, meetings were realized but there were no results. So at this point I had to make a decision; either I had to say that I had nothing to do or I could say that I had more things to do. Therefore I am open to alternative suggestions. I will finish my death fast if someone suggests an alternative act which can get a result. My aim is certainly not to commit suicide, neither I am acting like this because I love death much. Conversely, I want to live. But how to live? I can’t live by turning against my back on torture. I shouldn’t.
 
I think that EU supports actively the F-type prisons and the isolation in these prisons. While these prison were being built, the EU actively supported it. These prisons could be built by the financial and other types of support of EU. And even for the initiation of the participation negotiations the EU stipulated ‘the solution of the prison problem’ as a condition. Thus after that the Operation on December the 19th  was made and the F-type prisons were opened. After the opening of these prisons, EU continued to support.
 
Just a few judicial mistakes! EU criticized and demanded the correction of those. Generally it can be observed that in the world and in EU when we look at the increasing abuse of the rights there is a trend towards the police-state and the rights and liberties are destroyed one by one. Applications like searching, frisking, seizing, following, listening, arrests without reason, long custody period, prevention of meeting with lawyer and family have been put into action in EU states and USA by the demagogy of ‘terrorism’. Now the Turkish police and gendermerie forces demand to practice the same suppression, bans and applications by taking the European states as a model. They demand the same authority to kill someone just like England. So it is not possible to have a progress in human rights in Turkey while there is a recession in human rights in Europe.
 
The govenments in Turkey demand the same authority for applications like long custody period, the prevention of meeting with family and lawyer, to follow, searching, frisking, to kill people. Therefore the membership process of Turkey in EU is going on but just as there has been no progress in human rights and as can’t be, there will be more bans and suppression of rights and liberties in order to be more consistent with EU states’ law.
 
Of course the most general aim of us is to provide the unity and cooperation in the struggle for the rights and liberties, for independence and democracy. But this is not an immediate aim. This unity and cooperation will be provided as time passes by the struggle continues. I don’t think my death fast resistance act can succeed this. My act is just a call for several parties to begin action. It is providing a basis to them for struggling against the isolation. But our target is not only to reach leftist forces. We want to reach all of the people and to be able to tell the ordinary people something about the isolation. So I think that is early yet to have an aim of ‘unity’ at this moment. Because the unity and cooperation culture of the leftist forces is very weak. They have to go a long way towards this.
 
 The prime minister Erdoðan came to power by using the Islamic themes. But he has nothing different from the other governors. He obeys the instructions of IMF and USA. Very recently one of the consultants of the prime minister went to USA and told that ‘Utilize this man, why do you throw him away?’. So Erdoðan doesn’t have his own policies. There won’t be any, either. He is a politician who looks down on the people. And this is reflected in his words. He despises the ordinary people and scolds them. The applications in human rights are not different from the ones made under the other governments. It is known what he thinks about the trade unions and getting organized. Under this government more people got unorganized. It is known what he thinks about the shanty town people. The most extensive shanty town destruction decision was taken by this government. It is known what he thinks about the Kurdish problem. It is this prime minister who accused the mothers of the killed children in Diyarbakir. The fascists began to attack student youth under this government’s rule. And the isolation in the prisons got heavier under their government. So this government doesn’t have its own policies for human rights and there has been no progress.
 
It is possible to provide the abolishment of isolation in Turkey or take a step towards it. Yücel Sayman who is the ex-chairman of Ýstanbul Bar told in one of his statements that ‘… If I were the Minister of Justice, I would solve the death fast problem in 10 minutes. To write the decision takes 1 minute and to fax this decision to the prisons takes the remaining 9 minutes’. The solution is as easy as that. But 122 people died until today. And there will be more of them. Because the death fast is going on. But no government can apply policies in spite of the people. Since the isolation is a kind of torture, no government or people should support torture. The governments could not have applied isolation if the European governments had not supported them. We have some expectations both from the European states and the peoples of Europe. If the European states stop supporting the isolation, the Turkish government will stop the isolation, too. But we don’t think that the European government will do such a thing. Who will do it is the peoples of Europe. The support and actions of the European peoples for the abolition of isolation will make the governments to step backwards about isolation.
 
Not only for the Greek people but also for all European peoples our call is to ask them to turn their faces towards us and to support us as much as possible in this struggle against isolation. According to us they should decide on themselves about what they can do as concrete actions and they should put these actions into practice.

With my regards and respect.

Lawyer Behic Asci

(Sent by koordinasyon1@yahoo.com, 6 June 2006)

Eren Keskin cible d'une campagne ultra-nationaliste

Un groupe d’organisations de femmes dont le Comité des Femmes de l’Association Bar d’Istanbul, les Comités de femmes du CHP et du DYP ont en effet eu les moyens de se payer une publicité fort onéreuse dans le Hurriyet du 6 juin 2006.

La publicité écrite sur un ton très agressif condamne Eren Keskin ainsi que ceux qui ont signé sa pétition de soutien et les désigne comme collaborateurs du PKK et déclare Eren Keskin "persona non grata" en tant que traitre. Les organisateurs de la campagne en faveur d’Eren Keskin sont également accusés, dans la publicité, de recevoir l’appui "de la diaspora arménienne".

Pour mémoire, Eren Keskin, présidente de l’association des droits de l’homme de la section d’Istanbul, avocate et fondatrice d’un programme d’assistance juridique pour les femmes victimes d’agressions sexuelles en détention est en butte à des attaques judiciaires. Le site de soutien à Eren Keskin : http://www.erenkeskinedestek.org/fr_campagne.php (armenews.com, 7 juin 2006)

Declaration of the 5th International Conference against Disappearences

The 5th International Conference Against Disappearances, was gathered in Diyarbakır in between May 16th and 20th, under the main title “War and Occupation: Human Rights Violations, Torture and Disappearances”. 300 delegates from the countries; Argentina, Chile, Canada, India, Sri Lanka, Spain, France, Bulgaria, Germany, England, Palestine, Switzerland, Holland, Colombia, Greece, Finland, South Korea, Turkey and Northern Kurdistan attended the Conference.
 
We believe that gathering this conference in Diyarbakır, an opening gate to the Middle East, where war and occupation creates great human rights violations and a city located in the center of Kurdish geography where the people have been suffering disappearances/deaths under arrest, extra judicial executions, evacuated/burnt villages, mass graves, torture are experienced intensively, has a great meaning and importance.
 
Besides discussions and sessions, we also realized sit-down action, planting trees for the memory of the disappeared, film shows and music performances for disappearances, in the course of the Conference.
 
More than fifty relatives of disappeared people, sharing their pain with other delegates, pointed the newly found mass graves in Diyarbakır-Kulp, Mardin-Savur and Bitlis-Tatvan and demanded that all mass graves should be uncovered, fate of their relatives should be explained, and the responsibles of the disappearances should be tried. The cry of the mothers from the Conference desk; “at least we want a gravestone of our sons for crying and praying”, marked the conference.
 
The delegates, coming from many different countries of the world, shared their struggle experiences and the realities of their own countries, and stressed that even tough it is experienced in different languages and different geographies; disappearances are rooted from the same imperialist system. They called attention to the need of joining the struggles for disappearances in the international level.
 
Our conference called for raising the struggle for democracy and fraternity and the international solidarity against militarist policies arising in Turkey and especially in the Kurdish province in recent times, against the fact that the Turkish state replies the just, honored and democratic peace demand of the Kurdish people with policies of blood and tear.
 
Our conference raised the demand of the immediate end of the heavy isolation conditions of Abdullah Ocalan in Imrali Prison (where he was put after being kidnapped by a CIA plane, through an international conspiracy) and of the isolation in the F-type prisons which continue since the last six years, and the realisation of humanitarian life conditions in these prisons.
We also demanded that the new proposal for the change of the “Anti-Terror Law” which is being held in the Turkish Parliament to be immediately withdrawn, since this law will bring the usurpation of the democratic rights, the legalization of the mass graves and will prepare the basis for new mass graves.
 
Our conference called for support to the resistances of Middle Eastern people, Iraqi, Palestinian, Kurdish people coming in the first place, against imperialism, Zionism, occupation and colonialism and for enhancement of the common struggles of the peoples. This conference convicted the torture brutality in the Abu Gharaib and Guantanamo Prisons, many political disappearances in Iraq, attacks to Palestinian captives such as the kidnapping of Ahmad Saadad from Jericho Prison, and demanded the immediate end of these attacks.
 
Our conference drew attention that the USA, with the support of the European states, is developing a new form of crime against humanity by kidnapping people by CIA planes and putting them in secret prisons.
 
Our conference supports the tireless struggle of the Argentinian people and of the Plaza De Mayo mothers, demanded that the responsibles of disappearances should be punished and that more than 400 young people who were born in concentration camps and kidnapped from their families should be given back their identity.
 
In Chile, we support; the popular struggle for the punishment of Pinochet, the primary responsible for the disappearances in Chile, and the struggle of the Mapuche people; we demand the release of the captive political leaders of the Mapuche people.
 
In Colombia, we condemn the paramilitarian style neofascist regime, for state terrorism and dirty war applied on the revolutionary opposition, union and political leaders, with the support of North American imperialism and its' multinational corporations (such as Coca-Cola).
 
Our conference, also discussed the neoliberal attack programme of imperialism and its' results; and stated that, there is a direct relation between militarist violence and unemployment, poverty, starvation, exploitation policies.
 
In our conference, these suggestions were declared in the discussions about the perspective, means and methods of struggle against disappearance policies:

- forming a communication network for raising international solidarity in the struggle against disappearances, for preventing the disappearances, and organizing  simultaneous reactions in different countries,
- The number of known disappearances was 839 in Turkey. However, after our examination in the process of our conference, this number raised to 1228. This situation indicates once more that it is a necessity to form a social memory, to strengthen the communication and co-ordination between associations working for human rights and disappearances. In this frame, forming different commissions for revealing the realities and providing justice,
- forming a commission for finding out all mass graves and exposing the realities in all its' dimensions and for struggling on this issue,
- following the trials in which the polices who killed the twelve-year old boy Ugur Kaymaz and his father in Mardin-Kiziltepe and the trial of the state officials who made a bomb attack targeting the civilian people in Semdinli; and organizing the mass struggle and mass pressure for preventing these kind of attacks,
- Providing capacities for the necessary rehabilitation and support for the traumas that the relatives of the disappeared live,
- organizing the struggle for finding and judging the responsibles of disappearances/deaths in police custody, extra judicial executions and mass graves, and for removing the legal barriers that prevent their judgement,
- re-organizing the actions of the relatives of the disappeared was proposed.
 
Our conference ended with enthusiastic embraces of international delegates and relatives of  disappeared from Turkey and with the calls of “Never Again!”
 
20th of May, 2006 Diyarbakır
International Committe Against Disappearances (ICAD)
Association of Assistance and Solidarity with the Relatives of the Disappeared (YAKAY-DER) (MESOP@online.de, June 7, 2006)

Return Of The Turkish “State of Exception”

by Kerem Öktem
(Research associate at St Antony’s College, University of Oxford.)
 
Diyarbakir, the political and cultural center of Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish southeastern provinces, displays its beauty in springtime. The surrounding plains and mountains, dusty and barren during the summer months, shine in shades of green and the rainbow colors of alpine flowers and herbs. Around the walls of the old city, parks bustle with schoolchildren, unemployed young men and refugees who were uprooted from their villages during the Kurdish insurgency in the 1990s. The walls, neglected for decades, have been renovated by Diyarbakir’s mayor, Osman Baydemir of the Democratic Society Party, successor to a series of parties representing Kurdish interests.
 
Although Baydemir has restored that major symbol of local pride and Kurdish identity, the state has not yet addressed the underlying problems of the city, whose population is believed to have topped one million, and its environs. Unemployment in Diyarbakir is estimated at around 40 percent. The infrastructure is poor. A brief rainstorm can inundate even the relatively upscale shopping district of Ofis in the twinkling of an eye, transforming its streets into unpassable moats of muddy water. Refugees, squatting in buildings clinging to the hills or residing in the informal high-rise suburb of Baglar, cram the busy streets and squares. Children of all ages and both sexes escape the constraints of their makeshift homes to hawk facial tissues, pens and erasers, or offer their services as shoeshine boys and porters. Even more youngsters, many in shabby school uniforms, others excluded from education for one reason or another, simply hang out, wary of the ubiquitous police with their machine guns.
 
“KURDISH PROBLEM”
 
Such Kurdish youth have become the Turkish mainstream media’s new face for the “Kurdish problem,” especially after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared that the “security forces will intervene against the pawns of terrorism, even if they are children or women. Everyone should realize that.” Erdogan’s comments came in the wake of a week of rioting in Diyarbakir and other southeastern towns in late March and early April 2006, in protest of the killing of 14 combatants of the “People’s Defense Forces,” a group linked to the rebel Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK/Kongra-Gel), whose latest ceasefire with the government broke down in the fall of 2005. The April unrest left dead at least 14 other people in the southeastern provinces of Diyarbakir, Batman and Mardin. In Diyarbakir, 12 protesters, most of them young men, were shot dead by security forces, though three children, aged three to seven, and a man of 78 were also killed. Conservative estimates mention 400 wounded in Diyarbakir alone, with more than 500 detained for interrogation. The violence spread to Istanbul, where three women passing by a demonstration in a mostly Kurdish-populated suburb were killed by petrol bombs cast by rioters.
 
Human rights organizations in Diyarbakir speak of at least 200 children taken into police custody and severely beaten after the riots. The Diyarbakir Bar Association says that 80 children between 12 and 18 years of age remain behind bars, accused of “aiding and abetting” the PKK, a charge carrying a maximum jail sentence of 24 years.
 
Whether the protests were spontaneous or planned by the high command of the PKK/Kongra-Gel, as the Turkish government claims, is hard to establish. The fact that Internet and media outlets close to the PKK/Kongra-Gel immediately circulated the dead militants’ portraits and personal details, together with the highly inflammatory allegation that Turkish security forces had used chemical weapons, suggests some degree of planning. In any event, the ensuing riots in late March and early April reminded Diyarbakir residents and the country’s Kurdish population of the darkest days of the undeclared war in the southeast in the 1990s.
 
Following the riots, the government hardened its rhetoric toward the Democratic Society Party mayors of Kurdish-populated cities, and dozens of local party chairmen and members in the southeast were taken into custody and charged with “aiding and abetting terrorists.” A draconian draft Law for the Fight Against Terrorism is now being discussed in the relevant committee of Parliament. Once again, it appears, Turkey’s Kurdish question is framed as a national security issue, seemingly interrupting the government’s cautious attempts, under pressure to meet conditions for eventual membership in the European Union, to resolve Kurds’ political grievances. How have matters deteriorated so rapidly, less than two years after lawmakers, promising a “Kurdish spring,” paved the way for Kurdish-language TV and radio programs, even if limited and controlled? Is Turkey no longer a prime example of the moderating effects of the EU’s soft power?
 
LETHAL COCKTAIL
 
Turkey’s mainstream media, along with many independent analysts, hailed the EU’s October 3, 2005 decision to start membership talks with Turkey as a historic turning point. The window of opportunity was opened by the commitment of the governing Justice and Development Party (in Turkish, Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi, or the AKP) to legal reform and political liberalization in order to strengthen the democratic system and protections for human rights. Backing for the European project ran at a high 70 percent in Turkey. The emotive drive for a “clean” Turkey was powerfully unifying, allowing the “moderate Islamists” of the AKP, secularists, Kurdish nationalists and, haltingly, the military establishment to join in the chorus of support for the prospect of EU membership. Even if this convergence was a single-issue alliance rather than an ideological realignment, the gradual withdrawal of the military from the sphere of politics and a more inclusive state policy towards ethnic and religious minorities seemed to be at hand.
 
Within less than a year, however, this coincidence of positions regarding the country’s EU orientation has eroded. This erosion is due to a lethal cocktail of mutually reinforcing trends, each of which the AKP government has failed to contain. An aggressive nationalist discourse, steeped in anti-imperialist and anti-European sentiment, as well as barely veiled xenophobia, has reemerged. The set of actors and practices popularly known as the “deep state” (derin devlet) has reared its head. Finally, turmoil in Turkey’s Middle Eastern backyard has added yet more tension to the precarious domestic situation.
 
RETRO-NATIONALISM
 
In the last few years, taboos about national history have been lifted in Turkey. Topics that once could not be openly discussed, such as the destruction of the Ottoman Empire’s Armenian communities in 1915, the population exchanges between Greece and Turkey, and the waves of discriminatory state policies toward non-Muslim minorities, are now in the public eye. There are myriads of new publications on the Armenian genocide, the persecution of Kurds and other minority groups, and a number of conferences and public discussions have been convened, leading portions of the public to rethink Turkish identity and the history of the Republic.
 
Almost simultaneously, a reactionary brand of Turkish nationalism, infused with Islamist, secularist and/or socialist themes, reinvaded the public sphere. Such a position had been propagated by the maverick ex-Communist leader Dogu Perinçek and his Workers’ Party for several years. More recently, however, this brand of nationalism has become acceptable in the mainstream media and in the public debate. Like most extreme nationalist discourses, it is based on the dual pathology of excessive regard for the “self” and hatred of the resulting multiple “others.” If, in this reading, the EU is reduced to a “club of Christian nations” trying to dismember the territorial unity of Turkey, Kurds appear as the most significant internal “other,” overshadowed only by what is usually referred to as the “Armenian diaspora.” In the new nationalist identity politics, denial of the destruction of Ottoman Armenians, in addition to the suspicion of Kurdish “separatists,” has become one of the central crystallization points of a reaction to the European project and the source of conspiratorial scenarios pertaining to the “dismemberment of the unitary republic.” An April survey conducted by Umut Özkirimli of Istanbul’s Bilgi University, and published in the Tempo weekly, shows that a majority of the public now shares the view that the EU process constitutes a threat to the country’s territorial integrity. Paradoxically, a majority -- about 63 percent -- also remains supportive of the distant goal of EU membership.
 
The nationalist-conspiratorial mindset is reproduced in a growing body of semi-factual bestsellers and films that celebrate the history of the Turkish people as a fight for survival against malignant European powers and the neo-colonial United States. Sales of such books easily reach 100,000 copies or more, with Turgut Özakman’s These Mad Turks, depicting the 1919-1923 Turkish war of independence as a heroic, almost supernatural struggle of good against evil, selling more than 700,000 official, and probably as many pirated, copies. If this retrospective response to current developments attempts to repair a “humiliated national pride” with reference to the “golden age” of the War of Independence, the box office hit Valley of the Wolves in Iraq deals with a much more immediate theme. The film, loosely based on a real story, follows a Turkish avenger on his mission to restore national pride after the humiliation of Turkish soldiers by US occupying forces. The protagonist operates outside the law, backed not by state agencies, but by patronage extending from mafia-like organizations, extreme nationalists and “patriotic” individuals within the state apparatus. The stress on “madness” in many of these publications is disconcerting, if not surprising -- as is their celebration of violence and illegality as long as it defends the honor of “Turkishness.”
 
These pop culture manifestations of national pride and suspicion of the outside world might be read as indicators of a public disoriented by the “free market of ideas,” and frustrated by rejectionist and essentialist discourses on Turkey in Europe. The remedy proposed by these books, TV series and movies is the safe haven of familiar nationalist narratives of a past splendor waiting to be restored. As such, their extreme success might be explained, to some extent, by the workings of market forces.
 
Some commentators, however, argue that there is a concerted effort of “psychological warfare” behind this “retro-nationalist” cultural production. There once was a National Security Council organ actually named the Center for Psychological Warfare, responsible for spreading information and disinformation during the Kurdish insurgency. The center was officially disbanded, yet its structure and political objectives have been taken over by at least one office within the Interior Ministry, the Department for Public Relations. An undisclosed number of agencies within the military and security establishment, along with ultra-nationalist networks, are believed still to be operating in this field. According to an April 4 report in the Islamist newspaper Zaman, the Interior Ministry is concerned to instill in Kurdish schoolchildren a sense of ethnic and religious unity with the Turkish nation through the celebration of “collective victories” in World War I and the war of independence, hence discouraging identification with a “Kurdish cause.”
 
Many members of the AKP government might be sympathetic to some of this chauvinist rhetoric, especially after their hopes of lifting the headscarf ban in Turkish universities were crushed by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Yet the party’s current inability to set the tone of the debate, and its complete passivity regarding the outbreak of violence in the Kurdish provinces, evokes a more serious transformation: a reshuffling of the actors in the political sphere and their capabilities. There appears to be a creeping transfer of power from the democratically elected government back to the military and security establishments and their formal, semi-formal and extralegal extremities -- in short, the “deep state.”
 
RETURN OF THE DEEP STATE?
 
Signs of renewed PKK operations and clandestine counter-terrorist activities in the southeast have multiplied since November 2005, when a bomb exploded in a bookstore in fiemdinli, a town in the province of Hakkari, close to the Iraqi border. Locals witnessing the attack identified the culprits as three plainclothes gendarmerie intelligence officers. The incident evoked the series of counter-insurgency plots from the 1990s, when the state sought to contain PKK terror with extrajudicial killings carried out by semi-legal anti-terrorism units, the Kurdish Hizballah and paramilitary “village guards” on the state payroll. Although the AKP government promised a transparent investigation of the fiemdinli bombing, regional discontent soon descended into violence, most probably steered by the PKK/Kongra-Gel command. The riots resulted in several protesters being shot dead by security forces.
 
In a bold move, the chief prosecutor of the province of Van, Ferhat Sarikaya, drafted an indictment that alluded to relations between the General Command of the Armed Forces and PKK informants, and to the involvement of gendarmerie officers in the fiemdinli incident. The indictment reached the press before court proceedings started, suggesting a political motive of exposing the army’s dealings. In spite of the seriousness of the allegations, the prosecutor was neutralized after the chief of the general staff, Gen. Hilmi Özkök, reportedly contacted Prime Minister Erdogan and asked for “necessary steps to be taken,” as members of the military were accused. In due course, the Higher Council for Judges and Prosecutors dismissed Sarikaya from his post and barred him from the legal profession, on the grounds that the indictment might lead to accusations against the army and other state offices. This move was met with widespread dismay from the country’s bar associations and even some senior judges, who declared it a disproportionate intervention at best, and a most serious breach of the judiciary’s independence at worst. Among many Kurds, Sarikaya’s dismissal was understood as a lack of commitment to accountability for those in the state apparatus who act in a clearly provocative fashion to fuel tensions between Kurds and the state.
 
Tensions in southeastern towns and migrant quarters of western cities were left to simmer, even if Erdogan attempted to diffuse anger by acknowledging the “Kurdish problem” and insisting on a “constitutional citizenship” uniting all inhabitants of the country, regardless of ethnic and religious background. With the rising numbers of PKK fighters and soldiers being killed in combat, however, a renewed eruption in the southeast seemed unavoidable, and in April, it occurred.
 
As a number of commentators put it, this descent into violence resembles comparable instances of social unrest in the late 1970s before the coup of September 12, 1980, and the decade of the Kurdish insurgency that reached its peak in the 1990s and triggered passage of the infamous Anti-Terrorism Law of 1991. The immediate response of the government to the April riots, in the form of the draft Law for the Fight Against Terrorism, evokes the limitations on human rights and personal freedoms facilitated by the 1991 law and administered brutally during the state of emergency in the southeast.
 
In its current version, the new draft law threatens to make obsolete most liberalizing reforms of the penal code undertaken in the last few years. The draft outlaws not only the “propagation of terrorist groups,” but also the “propagation of the goals of terrorist groups,” an ambiguous formulation that could be applied to penalize legitimate requests such as education in Kurdish, on the grounds that these demands are also advocated by the PKK. The new draft brings back prison sentences of one to three years for the publication of views that are deemed supportive of terrorist groups. In addition, the chief prosecutor of any province would be able to suspend publications, an action hitherto only possible with a court order. Many critics of this draft point to the extensive scope of the definition of terror, which could be used to charge independent journalists and Kurds engaging in legal politics. Furthermore, membership in organizations that advocate changing the constitutional order would be punished with heavy jail sentences, even if violence or incitement to violence is not on the group’s agenda.
 
THE MIDDLE EASTERN FRONT
 
Developments on Turkey’s Middle Eastern front are further stirring the pot of recrudescent nationalism and assertiveness by the “deep state.” Northern Iraq, or Iraqi Kurdistan, closer than ever to formal independence, is a base for PKK units that continue to infiltrate Turkey across uncontrollable mountainous borders. Some analysts argue that most of the recent incidents would not have been possible without the logistical infrastructure supplied by the leaders of the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq. The unwillingness of US occupying forces to contain the movements of PKK units into Turkish territory is easy to comprehend, as the Kurdish entity in northern Iraq and its leaders remain Washington’s only reliable allies in Iraq. Turkish decision makers, however, are increasingly upset.
 
Along with PKK infiltration from Iraq, mounting tensions over Iran’s nuclear program and rumors of airstrikes have induced the Turkish military to deploy large army contingents to the Iraqi and Iranian borders and to the urban centers of the southeast. While army sources consistently deny allegations that the deployment is linked to imminent extra-territorial movements of army units, recent incursions into northern Iraq with the aim of targeting PKK positions suggest otherwise. (Websites close to the PKK/Kongra-Gel have documented a few of these raids.) Nevertheless, the relocation of army units to the Kurdish provinces almost certainly has the additional corollary of reestablishing a semi-state of emergency in those provinces, which had just begun to be demilitarized a few years ago.
 
THE AKP’S LOW PROFILE
 
In State of Exception, Giorgio Agamben refers to President George W. Bush after September 11, 2001 as attempting to produce a “situation in which the emergency becomes the rule, and the very distinction between peace and war (and between foreign and civil war) becomes impossible.” Reviewing the brief history of Turkish democracy since the 1950s, one could safely argue that the notion of “emergency as a rule” has been a structural determinant of Turkish politics, and even more so, the governance of the mostly Kurdish southeast. The hope that the AKP government would use the EU-induced reform process to extirpate the extralegal networks tying the security establishment to the international mafia and extreme nationalists appears to have been unfounded. Recent developments suggest that these networks have remained in place, and can now benefit from the interplay of rising Turkish nationalism, mounting inter-ethnic violence and a comeback of the armed forces to the sphere of politics. All of these phenomena reignite the Sèvres syndrome, the sense of a beleaguered Turkish nation on the verge of extinction, which in turn justifies the politics of exception, namely the suspension of human rights and individual liberties in the fight against “Kurdish terrorism.”
 
Under these conditions, the EU’s soft power will encounter further roadblocks in Turkey. Should Turkish units make regular sorties into Iraq, and persist in enforcing heavy-handed security measures to quell Kurdish protest in the southeast, Turkish-EU relations are likely to sour. With no PKK ceasefire on the horizon and the ongoing ostracism of elected Kurdish leaders on the one side, and growing inter-ethnic alienation and the threat of a new Kurdish insurgency on the other, the prospects for continuation of the government’s reform course seem bleak. This predicament of the AKP is aggravated by the fact that almost all opposition parties, including the centrist Republican People’s Party of Deniz Baykal, have chosen to attack the government from the right, reverting to the emotive language of an even more hawkish nationalist position. Baykal caused an uproar in Parliament when he alleged that the government intends to pardon the jailed leader of the PKK/Kongra-Gel, Abdullah Öcalan.
 
Trapped in the power play of multi-party politics, the AKP appears to have chosen to keep a low profile until the presidential elections and possible early elections for Parliament in 2007. Party strategists may believe that mounting tensions over the erosion of the principle of secularism will ultimately strengthen the party’s appeal to its pious core constituents, and help its reelection.
 
Yet that strategy entails obvious risks, as seen in the aftermath of the May 18 shooting of a senior judge by an Islamist youth angered by the court’s ruling banning the headscarf for public-sector employees and university students. Demonstrators blamed the AKP (which bitterly criticized the court’s ruling) for the shooting, some going so far as to call Erdogan “a murderer.” If the AKP merely leaves the field to their political opponents, such tensions could intensify, and there could also be a vacuum in policy toward northern Iraq and probably Cyprus, as well as in the southeastern provinces. The security establishment would soon fill such a vacuum, prone as it is to extralegal action in domestic matters and brusqueness in international politics. Should this occur, EU accession talks would be in jeopardy, as would social and economic stability.
 
An alternative scenario would be possible if the governing AKP regained the political initiative by reestablishing an EU-oriented reformist consensus. Regaining the initiative would mean addressing Kurdish grievances, softening the requirement that parties win 10 percent of the national vote to be seated in Parliament, a rule that effectively excludes Kurdish parties, engaging the Cyprus question in good faith, and resuscitating the process of legal reform. Another important step would be to withdraw or substantially revise the anti-terrorism bill, which in its current iteration is likely to be overruled by the Constitutional Court. This scenario would, however, also require the EU to reach out to Turkey on issues such as Cyprus, which currently appears rather farfetched.
 
GRIM PROGNOSTICATIONS
 
Angry young men and children in the streets of Diyarbakir say they do not desire to return to the undeclared war of the 1990s, which left more than 35,000 dead, thousands of villages burned and destroyed, and more than a million people displaced from their villages into the packed cities of the southeast as well as metropolises in the west. They also affirm, however, that if “nothing changes,” a “civil war will break out” for which they believe themselves to be “well-prepared.” In the absence of job opportunities, decent living conditions, parliamentary representation for parties sensitive to Kurdish concerns and government recognition of Kurdish grievances, these grim prognostications deserve to be taken seriously.
 
What can be said with some degree of certainty is that the great expectations vested in the AKP government and in the dream of a shortcut to EU membership were illusory indeed. The government would take a considerable political risk if it committed itself sincerely to clearing the swamp of extralegal ultra-nationalist and mafia organizations, nurtured during the decade of violent conflict in the 1990s, and their mentors in the state apparatus. Without such resolve, a further escalation of violence in the southeast and an increase in hostility between Turkish and Kurdish communities is inescapable. What may happen even in the worst-case scenario is a more realistic evaluation of Turkey’s capacity for and interest in joining the EU. In the words of Philip Robins, Turkey is a “double-gravity state,” condemned by geography and history to exist between and within the state systems of the Middle East and Europe. In any case, before spring turns into summer in Diyarbakir and the rest of Turkey, there will be many cold days. (MIDDLE EAST REPORT ONLINE-KurdistanObserver.com,  June 3, 2006)

Jail sentence to Peace Mothers

Activisits of Peace Mothers Initiative Muyesser Gunes and Sakine Arat were sentenced to 1 year jail each and 600 YTL fine in the trial charging them with ' appraising guilt and guilty'.

The case started about Peace Mothers Activists Muyesser Gunes and Sakine Arat in Ankara 4 th Criminal Court of peace with charge of ''appraising guilt and guilty'' was dealt with. The court ruled out 1 year each jail sentence and 600 YTL fine each for suspects.

In the indictment it is claimed that ''Muyesser Gunes and Sakine Arat had went to General Staff on 22 August 2005 to talk about incidences taking place since 1999, had a press briefing there, and committing crime of ' appraising organization and its leader' in the press briefing.''

Stating they will appeal for decision, Muyesser Gunes, said they drew attention to urgency of state make steps for solution of Kurdish problem in the press briefing they held. Indicating they will keep on struggle and decisiveness imperative for peace, Gunes, said 'We mothers will continue to insist on peace, brotherhood and freedom. This kind of penalties can not divert us from peace.'' Gunes told they will appeal for decision. (DIHA, june 3, 2006)

Police Attacks Dockyard Union Workers

At least six people were seriously injured at an Istanbul dockyard when police attacked a group of union member workers attempting to read a press statement in protest of a three month delay in their wages.

The Port, Dockyard, Shipbuilding-Repairs Workers Union (LIMTER-IS) members and union executives were on the eight day of an active 'resistance' protesting a three month delay in the salaries of 55 dockyard workers.

LIMTER-IS chairman Cem Dinc told Bianet that they had scheduled to hold a press conference at 7 am and gathered on site. "But even before the press statement was read out, the police attacked us for no reason" he said.

Dinc added, "they also then attacked the workers taking position in front of the dock yard. There are six seriously injured. Three of our friends are having brain tomography done. They pulled on our friends to a secluded place and beat him up. When I saw him, his head and eyes were all bruised".

Following the incident the police placed 16 people including union executives under custody.

Turkey's Revolutionary Worker Unions Confederation (DISK) to which LIMTER-IS belongs is now preparing to file a criminal complaint related to the unwarranted attack.

DISK Secretary General Musa Cam told Bianet that approximately 30,000 workers at the Tuzla dockyard were working under very poor conditions without any social security and as part of an unregistered economy.

"The workers have no kind of organisation while the employers are extremely organised. They are taking every measure to prevent unions from entering the workplace. They have a special solidarity with security forces. We observe that from time to time the security forces use excessive force" Cam explained.

The DISK executive recalled that dockyard workers member to a union had been attacked by the police previously too and that in the incident before, 3 workers were injured in the morning when attempting to read a press statement while 30 others were detained in the afternoon following a subsequent police attack.

The dockyard workers had held a press conference at Istanbul's Taksim Gezi Park on May 30 where they said they would continue their resistance until they were granted their rights. (BIA News Center, Tolga KORKUT, June 2, 2006)

Pression sur les médias / Pressure on the Media

Columnist Murat Yetkin Faces 4.5 Years Jail

Journalist, author and Radikal newspaper columnist Murat Yetkin has been charged by an Istanbul prosecutor for "attempting to influence a fair trial" by criticising a 2005 controversial court case opened against Turkey's internationally accredited writer Orhan Pamuk, and may face up to 4.5 years imprisonment if found guilty of the offence.

Yetkin's September 18, 2005 dated commentary "Turkey will be put on trial in the case launched against Orhan Pamuk" was subject to an investigation where the Istanbul Bagcilar 2nd Court of First Instance prosecutor on May 4 decided to proceed with the prosecution of the writer.

The offending article stressed that the Pamuk case would challenge Turkey during its accession talks with the European Union and asked "how many people in [capital] Ankara are aware that Turkey will be on trial in this case as much as Pamuk?"

Yetkin will appear before the court on August 24.

Article 288 of the Turkish Penal Code where comments and opinions with regard to ongoing court cases are regulated, governs the controversial charges of "influencing the justice" or "insulting the court" in Turkey.

Accordingly any verbal or written statement made with the "attempt to influence the prosecutor, judge, court, expert of witnesses before the final verdict is passed in an investigation or prosecution launched with regard to an incident" can be punished with 6 months to a maximum of 3 years imprisonment. Where the "offence is committed through the press or by way of publication, the penalty is increased by half".

"Milliyet" and "Radikal" newspaper journalists Hasan Cemal, İsmet Berkan, Haluk Sahin and Erol Katircioglu were on trial for their own criticism of a court order banning a conference in Istanbul on Ottoman Armenians but the case was dismissed earlier this year due to statue of limitations. The Bagcilar Prosecutor's Office then appealed the dismissal.

"Radikal" newspaper columnist Murat Belge has only recently been acquitted on the same charge in a June 8 hearing this year.

Under article 288, the Bagcilar 2nd Court of First Instance had also tried Van Yuzuncu Yil University Press and Public Relations coordinator Nalan Akgun and English Language and Literature Department official Azer Banu Kemaloglu who were charged with attempting to influence a fair trial by wearing white ribbons on their necks to protest the arrest of the University Dean Prof. Dr. Yucel Askin. Both were acquitted in an April 17 hearing.

"Agos" newspaper writers Hrant Dink, Aydin Engin, Serkis Seropyan and Arat Dink are, however, still being tried under this article and will appear before the Sisli 2nd Court of First Instance on July 4. The case is being closely monitored by freedom of expression activists and organisations world-wide. (BIA News Center,  Erol ONDEROGLU, June 29, 2006)

Libertés de réunion et d'expression: Ankara condamné dans quatre affaires

La Turquie a été condamnée mardi par la Cour européenne des droits de l'homme dans quatre affaires touchant aux libertés de réunion et d'expression, garanties par les articles 10 et 11 de la Convention européenne des droits de l'homme.

M. Suat Çetinkaya avait été condamné à six mois de prison (ensuite commués en amende) pour avoir assisté le 2 juillet à Izmir, en qualité de dirigeant de l'antenne locale de l'Association des droits de l'homme, à une conférence de presse qualifiée ensuite de rassemblement illégal par les autorités.

La Cour de Strasbourg a rappelé que "des mesures radicales visant à supprimer préventivement la liberté de réunion et d'expression en l'absence d'incitation à la violence ou de rejet des principes démocratiques desservent la démocratie voire la mettent en danger".

Par ailleurs, l'ancien rédacteur-en-chef du quotidien Özgür Bakis, M. Hasan Deniz, avait été condamné le 13 juin 2000 à une peine de six mois de prison (commuée ensuite en amende) pour avoir publié une chronique critiquant les autorités turques concernant le problème kurde à l'occasion du procès du leader indépendantiste Abdullah Öcalan. Le journal avait été saisi puis interdit de parution durant trois jours.

La Cour de Strasbourg relève que l'article incriminé n'exhortait pas à la violence et que dès lors la condamnation de M. Deniz était "disproportionnée" et "n'était pas nécessaire dans une société démocratique".

Dans une autre affaire, le propriétaire et le rédacteur-en-chef du quotidien Yeni Evrensel, MM. Fevzi Saygili et Tuncay Seyman, se plaignaient de l'interdiction de distribution imposée à partir de janvier 1999 à leur journal dans les départements sous le coup d'une mesure d'état d'urgence (Diyarbakir, Hakkari, Siirt, Sirnak, Tunceli et Van).

Si la Cour de Strasbourg convient que de telles mesures étaient prévues par la loi, elle fait valoir que "l'absence d'un contrôle juridictionnel en matière d'interdiction administrative a privé les requérants des garanties suffisantes pour éviter d'éventuels abus".

Enfin, MM. Selman Yesilgöz et Ali Firik se plaignaient d'avoir été condamnés à un an d'emprisonnement et à une amende pour avoir prononcé des discours critiquant la politique des autorités concernant les problèmes dans la région de Tunceli, dont ils sont originaires. L'exécution de ces peines fut ajournée.

Si certains des propos reprochés sont "virulents (...) ils n'exhortent pas à l'usage de la violence", a relevé la Cour. (AFP, 27 juin 2006)

Les charges contre Elif Safak et son roman sont abandonnées

Elif Safak, chroniqueuse dans plusieurs journaux turcs et écrivain, était traduite en justice sur la base de l’article 301, pour insulte à l’identité turque. Objet du délit : son roman “Baba ve Pic” (Père et Bâtard), qui relate l’histoire des liens entre deux familles - l’une turque et l’autre arménienne - sur une période de 90 ans.

Le Procureur de Beyoglu du Parquet d’Istanbul a toutefois décidé d’abandonner les charges retenues contre l’écrivain suite au dépôt de plainte de l’avocat ultranationaliste Kemal Kerinçsiz, à l’origine de tous les procès anti-arméniens récents en Turquie (Orhan Pamuk, Hrant Dink, conférence arménienne d’Istanbul).

Le quotidien turc « The New Anatolian » avait cité les phrases sorties de la bouche des personnages sur lesquelles s’appuyait Kemal Kerinçsiz pour attaquer Elif Safak en justice : « Je suis le petit-fils d’une famille dont les enfants ont été massacrés par les bouchers turcs », mais aussi : « J’ai été élevé dans l’obligation de renier mes racines et de dire que le génocide n’a pas eu lieu ».

Invitée à s’expliquer devant ses juges, Elif Safak avait estimé qu’extraire certaines phrases d’un roman pour attaquer son auteur en justice n’est ni un procédé légal ni une bonne manière de représenter avec précision l’histoire décrite dans le roman. « Si un personnage dans un livre décrit un meurtre ou en commet un, cela signifie-t-il que l’auteur l’approuve ? », s’était interrogée l’écrivaine.

Yusuf Kanli dans un éditorial du Turkish Daily News en date du lundi 12 juin avait ironisé sur ce procès : « Prochainement, notre grand pays pourrait entrer dans le Guinness des Records, comme le tout premier pays à avoir fait une découverte judiciaire - en l’occurrence la poursuite et la condamnation de personnages d’un roman. » Même si le journaliste « ne peux condamner l’avocat Kerinçsiz et les individus porteurs de cette mentalité, qui représentent une minorité négligeable dans le pays » Yusuf Kanli avait ajouté « le problème est d’avoir un système judiciaire donnant la possibilité à ces gens-là de nuire à ceux qui produisent des œuvres intellectuelles, ou qui tentent d’étendre la liberté d’expression et toutes les libertés qui constituent la colonne vertébrale de toute société démocratique. »

Selon le Turkish Daily News le Procureur Mustafa Erol a indiqué, qu’aucune preuve de l’intention de l’écrivain d’insulter la nation turque n’a pu être trouvée dans l’ouvrage. « Dans son témoignage du 6 juin 2006, a souligné le Procureur, Elif Safak a déclaré en substance que son intention n’était pas d’insulter l’identité turque, mais exactement le contraire, afin de contribuer à créer un climat pacifique et humain entre Turcs et Arméniens. Elle a dit qu’il s’agissait d’une fiction. »

Le “Baba ve Piç” (Père et Bâtard) sera publié à la fin de l’année aux Etats-Unis, sous le titre “Le Bâtard d’Istanbul”, par les éditions Viking/Penguin. (armenews, Stéphane, 27 juin 2006)

Dilipak: Military Trials Should Be Abolished

Journalist Abdurrahman Dilipak who is on trial at a military tribunal for a published article has said a new draft bill approved by the Parliament Justice Commission and bringing limitations on the jurisdiction of military courts over civilian defendants is not good enough.

Dilipak told bianet in an exclusive interview that the new bill which changes the criminal procedures and jurisdiction of courts would allow for civilians to be tried at civilian courts but they would still be tried under the Military Criminal Law.

Predicting that the bill which was prepared with reference to United Nations and European Union norms would be rushed through Parliament, Dilipak said the main opposition Republic Peoples Party (CHP) was to bring new proposals to the bill and President Sezer was expected to pass it without a problem.

Dilipak said the draft was prepared in agreement with the military and addressed the required changes in the judicial system for EU integration only in a limited way and added, "in reality, all military trials should be abolished."

Analyzing the draft , journalist Dilipak said it foresaw the trial of civilians in normal courts provided they did not commit an offence of military nature "but the civilian courts are authorized, in the trial of civilian defendants, to refer to the Military Criminal Law." Once the draft bill is passed by parliament it will go into force after being ratified by the President. (BIA News Center, Erol Onderoglu, June 26, 2006)

Ecrivains, éditeurs et médias dans la tourmente judiciaire.

La liberté d’édition a été passée au crible en Turquie, à travers un rapport publié la semaine dernière par la Commission Liberté du Syndicat des Editeurs turcs : au vu des résultats, il apparaît que le problème reste entier, même si l’on constate une diminution des interdictions de publication et des poursuites judiciaires intentées contre les éditeurs.

Le Turkish Daily News s’est fait l’écho du contenu du rapport, tel qu’il a été présenté par l’éditeur Ragip Zarakolu : « L’an dernier, 22 éditeurs, 47 auteurs et 49 ouvrages ont été poursuivis. 11 affaires se sont terminées par des acquittements, et 11 autres par des verdicts de culpabilité. Dans deux cas, le tribunal a estimé que l’affaire ne relevait pas de ses compétences. Des procès se poursuivent à l’encontre de 25 ouvrages controversés. Depuis octobre 2004, rares ont été les livres interdits ; cependant, des ouvrages, des auteurs et des éditeurs sont toujours accusés d’“érotisme”, de “séparatisme” ou de “sentiments anti-religieux”. »

Pour Ragip Zarakolu, il est intéressant de constater que ces derniers temps, la dénonciation d’auteurs, de journalistes ou d’éditeurs est davantage le fait de groupes idéologiques que celui du gouvernement. Mais le nombre de procès intentés a grimpé en flèche. Du coup, l’appareil judiciaire perd beaucoup de temps à examiner des plaintes peu sérieuses formées par ces groupes au motif que ces auteurs, journalistes ou ouvrages insulteraient le fondateur de la République Kemal Atatürk, les militaires ou la république.

Le rapport met en évidence une augmentation des procès intentés aux médias. Il dénombre 530 actions en justice intentées contre des journalistes, durant ces deux dernières années, sur la base du Code pénal ou de la Loi antiterroriste. 104 affaires se sont achevées par la culpabilité du ou des prévenus, et seulement 22 verdicts d’acquittement ont été rendus.

Par ailleurs, le Premier ministre Erdogan a attaqué des journalistes en justice pour « violation de ses droits et de ses libertés ». Sur les 59 actions qu’il a intentées, la justice a donné raison 21 fois au chef du gouvernement turc, a rejeté 10 dossiers et continue d’examiner 28 affaires.

Le rapport note une énorme augmentation du nombre des poursuites intentées à l’encontre d’écrivains et de journalistes sur la base de l’article 301 (insulte à l’identité ou à la nation turques), soulignant que nombre de prévenus sont accusés d’avoir insulté la mémoire d’Atatürk.

« En conclusion, indique le rapport, le Code pénal, adopté sans avoir été examiné dans le détail, risque de poser de sérieux problèmes pour la liberté d’expression et la liberté de publication en raison de ses dispositions floues et déroutantes. » Des dispositions qui peuvent être interprétées de façon différente par chaque juge, ce qui entraîne de graves problèmes pour les médias et les éditeurs. Or, déplorent les éditeurs turcs, les appels à modifier les articles relatifs à la liberté de la presse et de publication ont été ignorés. Le Syndicat des Editeurs turcs soutient enfin que pour établir et développer la liberté d’expression et de publication, l’appareil judiciaire et le gouvernement doivent assumer leurs responsabilités aux côtés du Parlement. (TDN-gamkonline.com, 23 juin 2006)

Journalist Ergundogan's Case At Experts

The criminal case launched against columnist Yalcin Ergundogan for his April 26, 2005 article "His Disciples Revolt Against Haydar Bas" in the daily "Birgun" newspaper continued this week with the offending article and related publications being sent to a court expert for examination.

Ergundogan was put on trial after a criminal complaint by Independent Turkey Party (BTP) Chairman Haydar Bas and faces up to three years imprisonment under article 480/1-2 of the previous Penal Code and article 11 of the Press Law 5187.

In his previous hearing, the columnist defended himself saying, "I do not accept the offence being alleged against myself and my newspaper. I see what we did as a public duty of informing the public openly and giving them the correct news."

In the June 21 hearing of the case at the Istanbul Beyoglu 2nd Court of First Instance, claimant Haydar Bas's statement taken on instructions was placed in the court file while Ergundogan's attorney Tora Pekin asked for files submitted in relation to the case to be examined.

The court decided to appoint an expert to examine the offending article and relevant publications that it was based on. The case was adjourned to August 31. (BIA, Erol ONDEROGLU, June 23, 2006)

Un éditeur fait condamner Ankara pour atteinte à la liberté d'expression

L'éditeur turc d'un livre dont la saisie avait été ordonnée a fait condamner Ankara jeudi par la Cour européenne des droits de l'homme pour atteinte à la liberté d'expression garantie par l'article 10 de la Convention européenne des droits de l'homme.

La maison d'édition Eytisim Ltd. Sti. qui publie à Istanbul des magazines et des livres documentaires sous le nom d'Ürün avait sorti en septembre 2000 un livre intitulé "Les documents du cinquième congrès du Parti communiste de Turquie" (1983).

Le livre contenait notamment le programme du Parti communiste turc concernant "le problème national kurde" et retranscrivait des propos tenus sur les "conditions du fascisme au Kurdistan" ou "la nécessité de la lutte commune des peuples turc et kurde".

Le parquet demanda la saisie de l'ouvrage mais la police ne put procéder à aucune saisie, les 150 exemplaires publiés ayant tous été vendus. Par ailleurs, le responsable éditorial fut condamné le 28 mars 2003, notamment à 13 mois et dix jours d'emprisonnement.

Dans son arrêt, la Cour de Strasbourg admet que le livre reproduisait des expressions qui "confèrent une certaine virulence aux propos incriminés". "Toutefois, examinés dans leur contexte, ceux-ci ne sauraient passer pour une incitation à l'usage de la violence, à l'hostilité ou à la haine entre citoyens. Ils n'appellent pas à une vengeance sanglante; ils ne visent pas à attiser la haine et la violence", et l'interdiction de l'ouvrage ne se justifiait donc pas, ont estimé les juges des droits de l'homme. (AFP, 22 juin 2006)

Latest trials of Publisher Ragip Zarakolu

Ragip Zarakolu, director of the Belge International Publishing House, appeared in court once again this week, this time on trial for the Turkish language publication of Prof. Dr. Dora Sakayan's book "Garabed Hacheryan's Izmir Journal: An Armenian Doctor's Experiences " and George Jerjian's " The Truth Will Set Us Free: Armenians and Turks Reconciled".

The prosecution demands 7.5 years imprisonment for the Turkish translation book "The Truth Will Set Us Free" for which the court has assigned Korkmaz Alemdar and Cafer Yenidogan of the Galatasaray University and Prof. Dr. Emin Artuk of Marmara University as expert witnesses. They are to read and analyse the book for an expert report. Judge Sevim Efendiler adjourned the Jerjian’s case until October 5 th, for delivery of the expert report.

"Garabed Hacheryan's Izmir Journal: An Armenian Doctor's Experiences" promises Zarakolu up to 6 years imprisonment if he found guilty of the charges but the court decided this week that statements taken were fulfilling and an additional expert witness report was not required for this publication.

During last session, lawyer Osman Ergin gave a petition to the court, for the testimony by Prof. Dr. Baskin Oran, as an expert witness, who lectures in Ankara University and came to İstanbul for his trial.. But Judge Ms. Efendiler did not permit to Prof. Dr. Oran to speak. She said that there are enough proofs for Sakayan’s book to convict. She declared that she will come to last decision about the book, after she read it. Judge Ms. Sevim Efendiler adjourned the Sakayan’s case until October 5th.

Zarakolu: Court should interview author Sakaryan

During the trial before,  Istanbul's number 2 Court of First Instance, Zarakolu submitted a petition to the bench where he explained that author Sakaryan was a lecturer at the Mc Gill University in Canada and that his book put on trial in Turkey had been translated into nine different languages.

Zarakolu said Sakaryan had been honours by the German Presidency for his eminent services in recognition to 50 years of his contributions to the German language.
He said that Sakaryan was author of the most comprehensive work on the "Western Armenian" spoken in Turkey and requested the court to interview the author for her views.

Dora Sakayan accepted to send a letter to the Court. Her letter will be delivered to the Court next trial.

Charges based on controversial articles

Zarakolu faces 6 years imprisonment for the Turkish translation publication of Sakaryan's book on grounds that he violated the law by publishing context that "degraded Turkisism" and "insulted and ridiculed the Army".

He faces 7.5 years imprisonment for Jerjian's book on charges of "insulting and ridiculing the State and Republic" as well as "Insulting the memory of Ataturk".

The two consecutive hearings on Wednesday were held in the presence of International PEN representative Eugene Schoulgin, writer Fevzi Karadeniz, translator Attila Tuygan, Pencere publications editor Muzaffer Erdogdu, Peri publications editor Ahmet Onal and Yar publications editor Osman Cobanoglu who attended the court in support of Zarakolu. (belgekitapkulubu@yahoo.com, June 20, 2006)

RSF demande la libération d'un  journaliste kurde

Rüstu Demirkaya, reporter de l'agence de presse kurde Diha, a été incarcéré, le 14 juin 2006, à la prison de Tunceli (Est). Il est accusé "de collaboration avec le PKK" (Parti des travailleurs du Kurdistan, rebaptisé Kongra-Gel). D'après les informations recueillies par Reporters sans frontières, le journaliste a été interpellé, le 11 juin, par la gendarmerie, avec quatre autres personnes, pendant une opération militaire contre les membres de cette organisation dans la région de Tunceli. Un ancien militant l'aurait dénoncé, l'accusant de s'être entretenu à l' automne 2005 avec des activistes du PKK dans le village voisin de Sakak. Le reporter de Diha leur aurait fourni un ordinateur portable avec dix CD vierges et les aurait informés d'une opération militaire en cours. Rüstu Demirkaya risque jusqu'à douze ans de prison.

"Nous demandons la libération provisoire de Rüstu Demirkaya, jusqu'à la tenue de son procès. Sa remise en liberté ne devrait pas gêner le bon déroulement de l'enquête, étant donné que son domicile est connu des forces de police. De plus, il n'y a aucun danger de disparition de preuves puisqu'il a été accusé sur la seule base d'une dénonciation. Nous rappelons que trop de journalistes de médias prokurdes sont régulièrement accusés d'être des collaborateurs du PKK pour avoir couvert des opérations militaires," a déclaré Reporters sans frontières.

Baris Yildirim, l'avocat de Rüstu Demirkaya, a également demandé, le 19 juin 2006, la libération provisoire de son client.

Celui-ci encourt déjà une peine de quatre ans et demi de prison pour avoir couvert, avec trois autres journalistes locaux, dont le correspondant de Reuters, Ferit Demir, la libération, en août 2005, d'un soldat turc kidnappé par le PKK en juillet 2005. Leur procès doit débuter le 8 septembre 2006. (RSF, 20 juin 2006)

The reporter of DIHA Demirkaya is arrested

Five  persons, who were taken into custody by the claims of Engin Korumcu, who was surrendered in the city of Dersim, Geyiksu, are arrested. Among these persons, there were also the reporter of DIHA Rustu Demirkaya.

9 persons, who were taken into custody with other 25 persons, after the operation, which was started because of the claims of Engin Korumcu, who was surrendered in the city of Dersim, Geyiksu, are carried to the public prosecutor today. 4 persons released after their expressions. The reporter of DIHA Rustu Demirkaya and the citizens named as Huseyin Zeytin, Nazim Demir, Huseyin Karatas and Mehmet Kurt are forwarded to Tunceli Public Prosecutor for arresting. The persons who were interrogated there, are faced to Ergin Korumcu because of the requests of lawyers.

After the interrogation, 5 persons are arrested by the claim of 'making help' and sent to Tunceli Closed Prison. One of the lawyers of suspects Baris Yildirim stated that they will dispute the arrestations. (DIHA, June 16, 2006)

High Judge Selcuk: "Not So Bright for Freedom of Expression"

Turkey's Court of Appeals Honorary President Dr. Sami Selcuk has said the country is passing through a democracy exam in which problems have to be overcome with the government and people deciding on whether to adopt a true democracy or live with a cumbersome, reluctant and dependent system.

According to a report in the Bizim Gazete newspaper, Selcuk told a conference on "Democracy and Law in Turkey" held in Ankara that there were problems in the Turkish democracy while the country itself, was "the first country to come to mind when torture is mentioned among European Union (EU) member states".

Selcuk said this was not a favourable situation at all adding, "Turkey is the only country that has been sentenced by the European Court of Human Rights 11 times over in a single day on July 8, 1999 for violating the freedom of expressing opinion. Meanwhile, in 2005, of the 50 cases of freedom of expression violations brought before the European Court of Human Rights, 80% belong to Turkey".

Stressting that the way to overcome Turkey's problems with democracy was for those running the country and the people to decide whether they wanted a true democracy or "a cumbersome, reluctant and dependent" one instead, Selcuk said one of the most important problems in the country was that those governing had no confidence in the people and the people had no confidence in those governing them. He said that this crisis of confidence needed to be resolved.

Selcuk explained that another crisis in the Turkish democracy stemmed from the freedom of expression not fully being settled in the country and that arguments and debated ended up in fights.

Noting that the tradition of debate could not settle in a country where there was no freedom of expressing opinion, Selcuk added "It is not possible to develop the culture of debate and to enforce some of the dnamics that would stem from this culture in a country that does not accept that there will be as many [different] views as the number of people there are".

Selcuk said that Turkey had the highest rate of closures of political parties among European Council countries and that opinions that would be debated by the society were identified as dangerous before they were even discussed.

"There is no danger in thought. The danger is in the mind of the individual, his viewpoint. Turkey is in a crisis of enforcing ideological principles. For years there has been the Nazim Hikmet and Necip Fazil fight. When these can be brought together and debated, in such an atmosphere, Turkey will be a democrat country. Because democracy is not just for your views to be reflected to the outside world. It is for everyone" Selcuk said.

The Honorary President of the Court of Appeals concluded: "Both because there is little confidence in the people in Turkey and that the freedom of expression has not fully settled, the participating dimension of participant democracy is in danger. If we sincerely want democracy, people should not face the psychosis of being outcast. If this happens, the unity of the country will be endangered. Every voice should be in the country and everyone should be represented". (BIA News Center, June 15, 2006)

Turkish  publishers and writers' message to Olli Rehn

Representatives of Turkey's publisher and writer organisations have responded to recent warnings issued by European Union Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn on "freedom of expression" issues, saying that it will take a while for any changes to take place and that the road ahead will certainly not be an easy one.

Marking the formal decision for accession talks with Turkey at the Luxembourg summit this week was Rehn's voiced expectations from this country now to display positive developments on freedom of expression and the Turkish Penal Code following "some negative decisions that have been observed".

Publishers Union of Turkey (TYB) Secretary General Metin Celal told Bianet that Rehn's warnings should not be expected to lead to easy results, noting that "there is a resistance in the guise of those charged with enforcing all the laws that bring freedom either interpreting them differently or not enforcing them at all. Unfortunately, we are not looking at the future with much optimism".

Vecdi Sayar, President of the Turkey Center of International PEN, is more optimistic but warned an overnight change should not be expected. Pointing out that lifting all restrictions on the freedom of expression in Turkey has been called for by all democratic forces in the country for years Sayar said "the real issue is to lift the censorship in the minds of the individuals in society" and because of this, he does not believe the problem can be overcome in the short term.

Asked by bianet on the issue, Celal said "I can easily say that there has been a backward trend in view of freedom of publishing over the last year".

The TYB executive sees the amount of court cases launched under the controversial article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) and the upcoming new Anti Terror Law (TMY) as indicators of this. "If the TMY draft is approved" he warns, "this backward trend will gain momentum".

Celal suggested that the laws Turkey started to pass in 2002 for compatibility with the European Union had led to various problems in the field of freedoms, adding, "there is a form of resistance and reluctance that shapes in either differently interpreting or not enforcing all the laws passed for freedoms".

Celal believes that because of this, freedom of expression will remain to be a problem on Turkey's agenda for a while. "Unfortunately" he told Bianet, "we do not look at the future with much optimism".

PEN Writers Association Center for Turkey President Vecdi Sayar, meanwhile, regards Rehn's remarks as positive and supporting.

"I regard Europe's requests, suggestions and sanctions in the scope of freedom of expression in Turkey as positive and believe this will support our struggle" he told Bianet.

Noting that they would continue their struggle for democratic rights and freedoms, Sayar said "this should not just be limited to the freedom of expression. We will continue to voice the demands from society for current restrictions on other democratic rights such as union rights and freedom of organisation. We will expect the EU to evaluate these demands in the same way".

Stressing that freedom of expression can develop with the censorship in the individual's mind, Sayar added "lifting legal obstacles will give an important opportunity for the censorship in mind to be lifted. But this is not an issue that can be solved overnight. It is a social process".

"First of all, people have to be free themselves from the censorship they have imposed on themselves. We need to be have a universal viewpoint and free ourselves from prejudice such as 'we are all alike' or 'everything from abroad is bad'." (BIA News Center, Erol ONDEROGLU, June 15, 2006)

Un artiste britannique menacé de procès pour avoir dépeint Erdogan en chien

Une enquête lancée par un procureur stambouliote est en cours contre un artiste britannique qui avait représenté dans un collage le Premier ministre turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan sous les traits d'un chien recevant une médaille du président américain George W. Bush.

Participant en mars à une exposition sur le thème de la paix, Michael Dickinson, résident à Istanbul, avait disposé sans l'autorisation des organisateurs l'oeuvre incriminée parmi d'autres travaux dépeignant M. Bush et le Premier ministre britannique Tony Blair et condamnant la guerre en Irak.

"Ca m'est venu comme un flash. J'ai pensé 'au diable les conséquences, je dois accrocher cette image'", a expliqué M. Dickinson à l'AFP.

A la suite du lancement de poursuites pour "insulte à la dignité du Premier ministre" contre le curateur de l'exposition, l'artiste s'est dénoncé aux autorités et fait à présent l'objet d'une enquête pour les mêmes charges.

M. Dickinson risque jusqu'à trois ans de prison si l'enquête débouche sur le lancement de poursuites et s'il est reconnu coupable.

Le mouvement pictural britannique Stuckism (littéralement "collisme"), auquel appartient l'artiste, a condamné l'enquête comme une atteinte "intolérable" à la liberté d'expression dans un pays qui souhaite adhérer à l'Union européenne.

Le groupe a également envoyé une lettre à M. Blair, lui demandant de faire pression sur les autorités turques pour qu'elles abandonnent l'affaire.

L'an dernier, M. Erdogan a poursuivi un quotidien qui avait publié une caricature le dépeignant sous les traits d'un chat, puis un magazine satyrique le représentant sous la forme de divers animaux.

Ces réactions avaient suscité des critiques sur l'engagement affiché par M. Erdogan en faveur de la liberté d'expression. (AFP, 13 juin 2006)

Reporters claim that the government to censor press

The head of the Progressive Journalists Association's (CGD) yesterday severely criticized both Justice Minister Cemil Cicek for labelling certain dailies "rags" and journalists for not responding to the insult.

At the general assembly of the Turkish Journalists' Association (TGC) over the weekend, Cicek referred to several dailies as "rags" and said the government intends to stop their circulation through the anti-terror bill. Cicek also added it should be easier to close down newspapers.

Many journalists and non-governmental organizations in Turkey fear the anti-terror bill will introduce harsher restrictions on freedom of speech and expression and Cicek's recent remarks regarding some dailies have fueled the fear that the government will directly censor the media.

CGD Chair Ahmet Abakay criticized TGC members for not responding to Cicek's remarks, and said, "They should have politely shown the minister the door."

Commenting on the TGC's general assembly, Abakay condemned its members for not reacting to the minister's speech.

Abakay also claimed that there are already enough articles in the revised Turkish Penal Code (TCK) which prevent freedom of speech and free circulation of newspapers. Recalling the government's majority at Parliament, he added, "If they want to they have the power to have all bills passed."

The government has a great deal of power but they behave like an opposition party, he added. "That's opportunism," he charged. (The New Anatolian, June 13, 2006)

Journalist Ozbaris Faces 21 Years in Jail

Following last week's trial of writer Perihan Magden for defending conscientious objection, the issue of anti-militarism and laws stays on Turkey's agenda with a seventh court case launched against journalist Birgul Ozbaris, charged once again with discouraging the people from military service.

Ozbaris, a reporter for the pro-Kurdish daily "Ulkede Ozgur Gundem" (Free Agenda in the Country) newspaper, was recently charged under article 318/2 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) for an April 24, 2006 article in the newspaper titled "Don't draw guns on your brothers" and for an April 9, 2006 article titled "Conscientious Objector Sayda: Don't do military service".

Arguing that the court cases against her ban the freedom of thought, Ozbaris says "being against militarism is being against war. Other than that, I'm a journalist and I have the freedom to write my views on this issue and prepare stories on it".

Since last year a total of seven cases have been opened against Ozbaris under article 318/2 with 21 years imprisonment demanded for her. The interview she conducted with conscientious objector Halil Sayda is subject to two separate cases, one launched by the Prosecutor's Office of the Beyoglu 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance and the other launched on a criminal complaint by the Chief of General Staff Office.

The journalist is also on trial for a May 15, 2005 dated series in the newspaper titled "Neither military service, nor war" and an article titled "If Turkey played its role" under the same article.

Cases have also been launched against her articles "Anti-war meeting" published on September 24, 2005, "A message to Europe from objectors" published on October 19 and her news report the same day under the title "Conscientious objectors want compulsory military service discussed in the EU accession talks".

According to article 318 of the TCK, anyone found guilty of committing, inciting or encouraging acts that discourage people from military service can be punished from six to 24 months imprisonment and if the offence is committed through the media pr press, the penalty is increased by half. (BIA News Center, Erol Onderoglu, June 13, 2006)

Trial of Vakit daily owner and editor commences in Istanbul

The trial commenced on Tuesday of Nuri Aykon, the owner of the conservative Vakit daily and Harun Aksoy , the daily's assistant editor, who are accused of fingerpointing State Council members as targets for terror organizations.

Aykon and Aksoy did not attend the opening hearing at which the defendants' lawyers asked the court jury not to accept the indictment file.

The Court jury rejected the appeal and decided to send the file to Bakirköy Heavy Criminal Court. The jury adjourned the case and ruled that Aykon and Aksoy should be brought before the court by force if required.

Bagcilar Chief Prosecutor's Office had initiated an investigation against the pro-Islamic Vakit daily on charges of issuing photos of State Council members, accusing the Vakit daily of fingerpointing the State Council members as targets for terror organizations.

One State Council judge was killed and four others were injured when an armed lawyer raided the courthouse in mid-May in Ankara and shot them.

Vakit Daily had published the photos of four members of the State Council, with the caption "These are the members."

The indictment file demands up to 34.5-year prison terms for Nuri Aykon and Harun Aksoy on charges of urging terror organizations to kill public servants and of insulting judges, prosecutors and the state. (Cihan, June 13, 2006)

Magazine Journalists Face Trial

Turkey's weekly Tempo magazine reporter Enis Mazhar Tayman and its editor-in-chief Neval Barlas face up to six years imprisonment each, if found guilty on charges related to a published interview with KURD-DER spokesman and Freedoms Party (Hak-Par) former chairman Ibrahim Guclu.

The trial of the two newsmen on charges of "insulting Turkishness and the Republic" and "inciting the people to disobey laws" was adjourned to October 5 in a hearing held on Friday, June 9, with a decision to bring defendant Tayman to court by force.

In last week's hearing, the Istanbul Bagcilar 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance Court was still waiting for a statement from the third defendant Guclu, whose words led to the case, but Prosecutor Omer Karacal decided not to hear Barlas in person as the author of the article subject to trial was known.

The case against Guclu and the Tempo journalists was launched on March 13, 2006 in relation to a December 2, 2005 article in the magazine titled "I would have torn that identity".

The defendants are on trial under Turkish Penal Code articles 301/1, 217 and 218 and face up to six years imprisonment each if found guilty.

Tayman and Barlas face charges for a section in the article where a reference is made to Guclu's remarks, reading, "KURD-DER spokesman Ibrahim Guclu says his views straight forward and speaks. According to him, Turkey has occupied Northern Kurdistan.

The place he describes as Northern Kurdistan is our Southeast. Guclu, who defends a federal system, is ambitious enough to burn down ships when he gets angry. To burn down a Turkish Republic identity card is inclusive to this. So that's a voice from the Southeast". (BIA News Center, Erol Onderoglu, June 12, 2006)

Journalist Magden faces lynching in a courthouse

A courthouse, citizens who tasked themselves with a mission of denunciation, swear words heard out loud, threats of physical attack, a crowded group of cops from a rapid response force (Çevik Kuvvet) and a terrorized writer; it would be hard to imagine a picture containing all these images. Not in Turkey, though, a scene including all these images appeared last week as Turkish author and journalist Perihan Magden went on trial before a court in Sultanahmet, Istanbul, charged with turning people against military service after she defended the rights of a conscientious objector in a weekly magazine column.

The large group of denuncing citizens consisted of veterans, families of soldiers killed in fighting against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and members of the Turkish Lawyers' Union describing themselves as "nationalist."

While she was waiting in the courthouse for her turn, Magden was surrounded by police to prevent the angry group from reaching her. Yet the police didn't need to disperse the group, which was obviously in a lynching mood, granting the group their "right to demonstrate as a social activity."

As to what Magden was hardly able to explain during a telephone conversation with the Turkish Daily News on the day following the trial, shouted swear words were heard even during the one-and-a-half-hour-long trial as the group was able to wait in the corridors outside the courtroom with their shouting uninhibited by the police.

Eventually, after the hearing she was able to reach her vehicle surrounded by cops.

Magden's case comes at a time leading government figures have been trying to convince both the European Union and domestic public opinion of their determination to expand human rights in Turkey -- apparently not as good proof of what the government has been saying and bringing to mind remarks by Ambassador Hansjoerg Kretschmer, head of the European Commission Delegation to Turkey, who said at the time:

"We've been observing that some judges haven't comprehended the spirit of reform and have been pursuing cases without showing respect for freedom of expression."

The case against Magden resulted from an investigation launched in January over an article she wrote in weekly news magazine Yeni Aktüel in December 2005.

The prosecutor charged her with "prompting, encouraging and spreading propaganda to deter people from fulfilling their military service" and sought up to three years in jail for her. The case against her resulted from an investigation following a General Staff complaint over the article.

"I can't believe that I'm being prosecuted for my article, titled "Conscientious objection is a human right'," Magden said in court on Wednesday while speaking in her own defense before the court. She said she still couldn't believe she had to deliver such a "defense speech," either.

Renowned Turkish intellectual Cemil Meriç, in a way describing how an intellectual should be for the sake of his own country, once said: "I would like to be the conscience of an era -- to put it more succinctly, of a country."

Turkey's conscience was once again put on trial with the case against Magden, and even more so with what she had to experience on Wednesday.

Nevertheless, despite being really terrorized, her voice on the phone reflected her concerns for the future of her country more than herself.

"Is the 'right to demonstrate' of a problematic/illiterate/inconsiderate crowd, which was accompanied by a police chief -- moreover in the corridor of a courthouse -- more important than my right to a fair trial, than my safety and my right to a defense?" Magden asked in a letter sent to Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül.

There is a circle that wants Turkey to separate from its path with the EU for good, she said and continued: "If 'these' [people] carry out a loathsome act against an �evident' democrat, then this incident's reflection in the Western world would be very influential in bringing [EU] relations with Turkey to breaking off."

Kemal Kerinçsiz, head of the Turkish Lawyers' Union, was among the crowd attending the trial.

"The most powerful gun is the law, but we don't traditionally have law here. So far, behavior has been reactionary, but, together with us, Turkish nationalists started using the law as a tool," he said last week in an interview with Yeni Aktüel;, ironically the same magazine in which Magden's article in question was published in December 2005.

Kerinçsiz has been seen as a co-plaintiff in almost all recent cases concerning freedom of expression, which have started to end up with either the acquittal of the defendants or the dropping of the cases by judges.

"If they abolish Article 301, I'll find other ways," he said, referring to the notorious Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), which covers the offense of "insulting Turkishness."

"They are trying to portray Turkey on the path to the EU in a garden of roses without thorns, but we are ready to become a garden full of thorns in spoiling this game," he said, reflecting unique confidence.

Seeing the scenes at the Sultanahmet courthouse this week and merely inserting Magden's and Kerinçsiz's remarks one after another, reflecting the situation of freedom of expression and human rights in the country is not difficult for a correspondent to do since the picture is already clear enough.

Most probably, Turkey will witness Magden's eventual acquittal, yet it is still not clear how the country will heal these open wounds in its law.(Turkish Daily News, EMİNE KART, June 11, 2006)

Author Elif Safak Under Investigation

Elif Safak, one of Turkey's best selling authors and a social scientist with a Master of Science degree in Gender and Woman Studies, is under investigation for her March 2006 published book "Father and Bastard" that was originally written in English.

Safak and the book's Turkish publishing house Metis director Semih Sokmen testified to the Beyoglu Prosecutor's Office this week in relation to an investigation launched under article 301/1 of the Turkish Penal Code.

The allegation of "insulting Turkishness" was brought forth in a criminal complaint filed by nationalist lawyer Kemal Kerincsiz from the Jurists Union. It is the same charge that was levelled at Turkey's internationally acclaimed writer Orhan Pamuk.

In their statement to the prosecution, Safak and Sokmen stressed that the book subject to investigation was a work of literature and that comments and remarks taken from the scripts of the characters in the book could not be used to level allegations against the author.

They said the complaint was unjust and that counter to the allegation, the book targeted to broaden a culture of peace between people.

They said that making the book an issue of trial would not only deliver a blow to the democratic developments and process in the country, but would damage the interests of Turkey abroad.

The prosecution will decide within this month whether to level charges against Safak and the publishing house or dismiss the complaint.

Kerincsiz, the lawyer who filed the complaint against the book, is known for his interventions during the Pamuk case where he not only demanded new charges be launched against the author but wanted to be accepted as an intervening party in the trial itself. He was also present as the intervening side in the case launched against five Turkish writers who criticised a court decision postponing the Ottoman Armenian Conference in Istanbul.

"Father and Bastard" which was published on March 8 is already on the best seller list and the book is sold in Turkey. Originally written in English, the book is in the publishing schedule of Viking/Penguin publishing house.

Elif Safak, a Turkish citizen, was born in France and spent her childhood in Spain. After studying political science in Turkey, she held teaching positions in the United Kingdom, Turkey, and the United States and then took the position of Assistant Professor in the Dept. of Near Eastern Studies at University of Arizona.

Her publications include both novels and essays, among them The Saint of Incipient Insanities, which was her first book published in English, Bit Palas, Mahrem, which won the Turkish Writers' Association Best Novel of the Year Award, and Sehrin Aynalari. She has also published reviews in The Economist, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Boston Globe, and The Washington Post. (BIA, Erol Onderoglu, June 8, 2006)

CPJ Concerned for Persecution of Columnists

"We are concerned by the ongoing criminal prosecution of journalists in Turkey" says the Committee to Protect Journalists New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide.

CPJ's concern is the three journalists appearing before the courts in Istanbul this week for their work.

Magden

Perihan Magden, a columnist for the weekly magazine Yeni Aktuel, went on trial on Wednesday charged with discouraging Turks from performing military service by defending conscientious objectors.

In a December article, Magden took up the case of Mehmet Tarhan, who received a record four-year sentence in military jail for refusing to wear his military uniform, The Associated Press reported. Magden called for the establishment of civilian service as an alternative to military conscription. She faces up to three years in jail if convicted under article 318 of the Turkish penal code. Magden's trial was adjourned until July 27.

Belge and Saymaz

The trial of journalist Murat Belge of the daily Radikal resumes Thursday. He is charged with attempting to influence the outcome of judicial proceedings through his writing. He wrote an article last year challenging the decision of an Istanbul administrative court to ban an academic conference on the mass killing of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1917. The Armenian massacre is still taboo in Turkey. If convicted, Belge faces up to four and a half years in prison under article 288 of the Turkish penal code. Charges against four other journalists prosecuted along with Belge for writing about the conference ban were dropped in April.

Another journalist for Radikal, Ismail Saymaz, will also appear in criminal court tomorrow on charges under article 288, which stem from an article alleging the torture of children by authorities, according to the Turkish press freedom organization BIA.

Cooper: "Repeal the laws

"The existence of repressive laws in Turkey gives an opening to the enemies of press freedom. We urge Turkish prosecutors to withdraw the charges against these journalists, and refrain from filing future charges," CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper said. "We call on the Turkish government to continue to work for the repeal of laws that restrict work of the press."

BIA says that since the new Turkish penal code went into effect on June 1, 2005, 17 journalists who discussed human rights cases, the Armenian conference ban case, and torture cases, have been charged with attempting to influence court decisions under Article 288. (BIA, June 8, 2006)

Journaliste Murat Belge acquitté au nom de la liberté d'expression

Un tribunal turc a acquitté jeudi un éminent journaliste turc, dans une affaire de liberté d'expression liée à la question du massacre d'Arméniens à l'époque de l'Empire ottoman, a rapporté l'agence de presse Anatolia.

Le tribunal a estimé que Murat Belge, un chroniqueur du quotidien Radikal, n'avait pas fait injure à l'institution judiciaire en critiquant la décision d'une cour qui, en septembre, avait empêché dans un premier temps l'ouverture d'une conférence très attendue sur la question arménienne. Ce sujet est longtemps resté tabou en Turquie où le débat ne fait que commencer, notamment sous pression de l'Union européenne (UE) à laquelle le pays souhaite adhérer à terme.

Le juge a abandonné des charges similaires retenues à l'encontre de M. Belge pour un second article sur le même sujet, invoquant la prescription, a précisé Anatolia.

Le journaliste encourait une peine de dix ans de prison pour les deux articles.

L'UE a averti à maintes reprises Ankara que les poursuites judiciaires contre des intellectuels usant de leur droit à la liberté d'expression compromettaient la demande d'adhésion de la Turquie.

Des charges retenues contre quatre autres journalistes, inculpés avec M. Belge dans la même affaire, avaient été abandonnées en avril, également pour raison de prescription.

La conférence avait finalement pu se tenir, dans un autre lieu de réunion que celui prévu. Son interdiction avait été réclamée par des ultra-nationalistes turcs qui refusent la reconnaissance du génocide arménien. (AFP, 8 juin 2006)

Prosecutor, top appeals court clash over journalist Dink

The Public Prosecutor's Office of the top appeals court yesterday challenged a top court's decision over a journalist of Armenian origin charged with "denigrating the Turkish identity."

Arguing a lack of legal grounds on which to charge the journalist with insulting Turkishness, the prosecutor's office has asked the court to drop the case.

Journalist Hrant Dink, editor of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian daily Agos, was tried by the 2nd Sisli Criminal Court of First Instance and found guilty last July, but his sentence was suspended due to the defendant's good conduct during hearings.

He was on trail facing charges of "insulting Turkishness" in an article he wrote two years ago and was given a six-month prison sentence.

In the article published in February 2004, the journalist said that Armenians' enmity toward the Turks "has a poisonous effect in Armenians' blood," and insisted that the court had interpreted the article out of context to mean that Turkish blood is poison.

However after the filing of an application by third party lawyers seeking Dink's imprisonment, the Ninth Criminal Department of the Court of Appeals examined the file last month and overruled the court's decision to suspend his sentence. The top court approved the court's ruling, emphasizing its opinion that Dink had overstepped the limits of criticism and insulted Turkish identity.

This latest move by the Public Prosecutor's Office of the top court, which exercised the right to object to the decision of the Ninth Criminal Department, has further complicated the issue since its objection will lead to the issue being transferred to a higher body of the Court of Appeals for a final verdict. (The New Anatolian, June 7, 2006)

TRT workers balk at fundamentalism, nepotism

A group of employees for state broadcaster the Turkish Television and Radio Corporation (TRT) are set to hold a press conference today to protest alleged Islamic fundamentalism and nepotism within the company.

Registered with the Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions (KESK) and a member of the Media Employees' Trade Union (Haber-Sen), TRT employees announced yesterday that they are going to hold a joint statement at Istanbul Radio Studio to express their opposition to censorship, nepotism, pressure and fundamentalist broadcasts that have been gradually escalating in the company.

Non-governmental organizations, intellectuals and other trade unions will support the TRT employees, reported mass-circulation Milliyet.

The employees, unionized since 2002, have prepared leaflets and posters for the press conference. Under the slogan "No more pressure!" the employees have launched a campaign and declared that they are planning to protest the channel's content.

Employees gave the following message in the leaflets: "TRT producers want the freedom to broadcast their programs as they see fit. TRT correspondents don't want to become the puppets of ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party propaganda. TRT artists want to carry out their professions freely. TRT viewers and audiences want to see and hear the voices of all sectors of society on TV and radio, with no discrimation based on religion, language, sect, gender, class or politics."

Claiming that TRT is being run by political bias rather than the law, the employees made serious allegations against the company's administration. The also gave grave warnings about the escalation of Islamic fundamentalist broadcasts at the station.

The group argued that the TRT is increasingly being dominated by Islamic sects and religious communities. They accused the administration of allowing broadcasts that have been given the green light by the AK Party while preventing those that don't fit the mindset of the ruling party.

The employees further claimed that the company arbitrarily blocks programs about rural institutes.

According to the group, the TRT's news program censored remarks made by assassinated journalist Ugur Mumcu while highlighting the government's statements.

TRT Correspondent and Haber-Sen Press Office Secretary General Mehmet Demir made a speech yesterday in which he said, "This is just the first step. There has always been censorship in TRT broadcasts. However, what we heard today crosses the line since it isn't just about censorship. When they watch it, the public thinks TRT is a fundamentalist channel. All subjects [in Turkey] are handled from a religious point of view. TRT has never been managed so poorly."

There are some 1,500 TRT employees working under Haber-Sen. (The New Anatolian, June 7, 2006)

Une journaliste jugée pour avoir défendu l'objection de conscience

Le procès de la journaliste et romancière turque Perihan Magden, qui avait défendu dans un article le droit à l'objection de conscience en Turquie, s'est ouvert mercredi à Istanbul au milieu des cris de manifestants nationalistes conspuant l'accusée.

"Tout Turc naît soldat", "nous te condamnons au nom de Dieu (...) et du sang turc qui coule dans nos veines", ont clamé dans les corridors du tribunal une trentaine de militants d'associations de parents de soldats "martyrs", tués dans des combats avec les séparatistes kurdes du Parti des travailleurs du Kurdistan (PKK) qui a lancé une lutte armée en 1984 contre Ankara.

"Pourquoi ne vas-tu pas dans les montagnes rejoindre tes amis du PKK", ont-ils scandé au passage de Mme Magden, qui encourt dans ce procès lancé à la suite d'une plainte de l'état-major jusqu'à trois ans de prison pour le délit d'avoir "découragé le peuple du service militaire par voie de presse".

Dans un article publié en décembre dans l'hebdomadaire Yeni Aktüel, l'auteur de plusieurs romans à succès, dont "Le Roman de deux Jeunes Filles" (2002), avait pris la défense d'un militant homosexuel refusant d'accomplir le service militaire obligatoire et proposé que soit offerte l'alternative d'un service civil.

Tout Turc est appelé sous les drapeaux à partir de 18 ans pour servir de six à 15 mois selon son niveau d'éducation.

La Turquie ne reconnaît pas le droit à l'objection de conscience, les réfractaires pouvant encourir jusqu'à cinq ans de prison.

Devant les juges, Mme Magden a plaidé l'innocence et déploré les poursuites lancées à son encontre.

"Je ne peux pas croire que je suis ici aujourd'hui et que je dois présenter ma défense", a-t-elle déclaré, selon les citations fournies par les journalistes autorisés à pénétrer dans la salle d'audience exiguë.

"Je n'ai fait que revendiquer le droit à l'objection de conscience (...) et la liberté d'expression est un droit reconnu par la Constitution", a-t-elle ajouté.

Le service militaire est considéré par une large part de la société turque comme un devoir "sacré".

La cour a fixé la prochaine audience au 27 juin. (AFP, 7 juin 2006)

Six Press and Freedom Cases This Week

Istanbul courts will be busy this week hearing six cases against journalists, a jurist, sociologist and publisher in a judicial marathon that will once again put press freedoms and the freedom of expression in Turkey under the spotlight.

Journalist Perihan Magden is to appear at court on June 7 while cases against columnist Murat Belge , reporter Ismail Saymaz and sociologist Pinar Selek will be heard on June 8.

Jurist Hasip Kaplan, who was on trial last week, will stand before the court once again on June 8 while Peri Publishing House owner Ahmet Onal also tried last week will be at court again on June 9.

The Initiative Against Thought Crimes has described the cases as "an ongoing festival" and issued an appeal for as many people to attend the hearings as possible.

Magden's case on June 7

On trial for her article "Conscientious Objection Is A Human Right" that appeared in the "Yeni Aktuel" magazine, the case against journalist Perihan Magden will continue at Istanbul's 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance at 10:30 on June 7, Wednesday.

Magden is charged under article 118 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) for "discouraging the people from military service".

Belge to appear at court

A day after the Magden case is heard, "Radikal" newspaper writer Prof. Dr. Murat Belge will appear at court charged under article 288 of the TCK for his article titled "A Court Verdict".

Belge is accused of attempting to "influence justice" by criticising an administrative court decision that postponed a controversial conference in Istanbul related to Ottoman Armenians.

Belge will appear before the Istanbul Bagcilar 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance on June 8, Thursday at 10:30.

Selek held responsible for explosion

The same day Belge stands before judges, Pinar Selek who is known for her researches into children outcast from society and the Kurdish problem, will face charges holding her responsible for a bomb explosion at Istanbul's historic Spice Market.

Selek will appear before the 12th High Criminal Court at the Besiktas Justice Hall at 14:00 on June 8, Thursday, where she is charged under article 125 of the TCK and faces life time imprisonment if found guilty.

Kaplan on trial for TV remarks

Again on June 8, the Beyogu 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance will hear the case against jurist Hasip Kaplan who is on trial for remarks he made on private Flash TV's "Alternatif" program.

Charged under TCK article 216, Kaplan is accused of "inciting hatred and enmity" with his remarks and his hearing is listed to start at 10:00.

Saymaz faces "influencing justice" case

Another case that will be heard on June 8 is that against "Radikal" newspaper reporter Ismail Saymaz in relation to his news report titled "Torture allegation involving 11 year old child".

Saymaz, similar to Belge, is charged with influencing justice. The former chairman of the Contemporary Journalists Association (CGD) Istanbul Branch is listed to appear before the judge at 10:35, at the Bagcilar 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance.

No end to cases against publisher Onal

Peri Publishing House owner Ahmet Onal who was sentenced on May 31 in relation to another book is to be tried on June 9 at the Fatih 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance on charges of insulting modern Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk by publishing the book "Being an Alawite in Dersim".

The book, authored by Munzur Cem and Huseyin Baysulun, is only one of 27 charges levelled against the publisher up till now.

The Turkish language ÇETELE web site gives updated information on all freedom of expression and opinion cases that have been opened in Turkey. (BIA News Center, Erol ONDEROGLU, June 5, 2006)

"Ataturk Law" to Jail Publisher Onal

Istanbul's Beyoglu 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance sentenced Peri Publishing House owner Ahmet Onal to 13 months imprisonment on grounds that writer Evin Cicek's Turkish language book "Tutkular ve Tutsaklar" (Passions and Captives) had content that "insulted Ataturk", founder of modern Turkey.

Onal was initially sentenced to 12 months imprisonment on the insult charge but judge Irfan Adil Uncu increased his sentence by a further 6 months due to the offence being committed in print. Due to his good conduct the court concluded that Onal's total sentence of 18 months should be reduced to 13 months but refused to defer imprisonment because the bench did not reach an opinion that the defendant would not commit the offence again.

The publisher who was tried and sentenced for the same offence in 2003 had appealed against the court verdict after which the Court of Appeals in 2005 returned the verdict in favour of Onal, which started this retrial.

Onal has 27 separate cases launched against him on offences related to the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), the Press Code and the Law on Offences Committed Against Ataturk. 13 of these trials have been postponed but eight are continuing. 3 have already been approved by the Court of Appeals and have been served.

The Peri Publishing House has so far taken three of the concluded cases to the European Court of Human Rights.

Publisher Onal faces three years imprisonment under article 159 of the TCK if found guilty for , M. Erol Coskun's book " Acinin Dili Kadin" (The Language of Suffering is Woman).

Ahmet Onal is also on trial at the Kadikoy Criminal Court of First Instance for author Hejare fiamil's book "Diaspora Kurtleri" (The Diaspora Kurds) that went on sale in November 2005.

Another case based on charges of insulting Ataturk against Onal continued at the Fatih 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance for the book "Dersimde Alevilik- Munzur Cem" (Alawitism in Dersim). Onal had previously been convicted by the Istanbul 13th High Criminal Court for content in violation of the old penal code article 312 in the same book.

In March 2004, Onal was sentenced to a fine of 1,690 YTL due to the book "Teyre Baz ya da Bir Kürt Isadami Hüseyin Baybaflin-Mahmut Baksi" on Kurdish businessmen and organised crime. This sentence was successfully appealed against and the case is still continuing. (BIA News Center, Erol Onderoglu, June 2, 2006)

Academic Baskin Oran faces probe over defense in newspapers

The Ankara Press Public Prosecutor's Office launched a probe yesterday into academic Baskin Oran, author of a controversial minority rights report last year, over allegations of attempting to interfere with the judiciary by airing his defense in the media ahead of his trial.

Academics Ibrahim Kaboglu and Oran last year prepared a human rights report on the status and rights of minorities and were charged with "provoking the Turkish people," and "insulting the judiciary."

The report, which urged the government to recognize some Muslim groups, such as Kurds, as minorities, sparked debate in the media and called into question the Turkish identity in a country where all Muslims, regardless of ethnicity, are considered Turks. It preceded by months the prime minister's own declaration that there is a "Kurdish problem."

The case against the two academics was partially halted by a technical debate with the Justice Ministry before they were acquitted of the remaining charges.

The most recent probe against Oran is into his defense during his court case. The Ankara Press Public Prosecutor's Office launched the probe against Oran over allegations of attempting to interfere with the judiciary, due to reports in the press about his defense one day prior to the actual hearing.

Oran's 37-page defense, which was also obtained by TNA, accused the prosecutor of "representing anti-democratic ideology in Turkey." Oran said in his defense that the charges against him and his colleague were the real insults aimed at Turkey and the indictment isn't an accusation but a creation of new problems.

Oran also said in his defense that the prosecutor was sowing separatism among the Turkish citizens of the state in his indictment by distinguishing between the primary elements of the state, meaning Muslims, and secondary elements of the state, meaning non-Muslims.

Turkey has faced fierce criticism for its record on freedom of expression, with particular focus on the prosecution of academics and intellectuals accused of insulting the state or Turkish identity.

The EU has warned that the current laws leave too much room for abuse with restrictive interpretations that could limit freedom of expression. (New Anatolian / Ankara, June 1, 2006)

TIHV's Report on Recent Pressures on the Media

June 26, 2006

Journalist and Mayor on Trial… A court case was launched against Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir and Cemal Subasi, correspondent with the journal Tempo, in connection with an interview published on 14 January. The indictment prepared by the public prosecutor in Istanbul Bagcilar wants Baydemir to be sentenced according to the articles 216/2 TPC (inciting people to hatred and enmity) and 218 (increasing the sentence in the case of the crime is committed by means of press): “Every ethnic identity should be able to participate in public life. The intersection point may be common identity of being citizens of Turkey, based on geographic ground. It is not acceptable that Abdullah Öcalan is kept under isolation. Isolation will lead the deepening of the violence. The impoverishing policy has been implied in our region. (...) If we cannot overcome the ethnic clash people may want to search peace at outside. Our region does not feel uncomfortable with the developments in Northern Iraq. The effect of Öcalan cannot be undervalued. When Öcalan was taken to Turkey in 1999 some armed people went out of Turkey in direction with his statements. We should accept that he is an effective person in certain circles.” The case will commence at Bagcilar Penal Court of First Instance No 2. (24 June, Özgür Gündem)

June 22, 2006

Journalist on Trial... On 21 June, Diyarbakir Heavy Penal Court No 4 concluded to hear the case against Hamdullah Yilmaz, owner of Kurdish paper Azadiya Welat, launched in connection with a declaration entitled "I accept Abdullah Öcalan as my political representative" signed by "Democratic People's Initiative" published on the paper on 15 August 2005. The court sentenced Yilmaz to 2 years and 6 months' imprisonment for "making propaganda of an illegal organisation" under the Article 220/8 TPC and Article 5 of Anti-Terror Law. (Özgür Gündem)

Journalist on Trial... On 21 June, Istanbul Penal Court of First Instance No 2 continued to hear the case against Yalçin Ergündogan, wrieter with the daily Birgün, launched in connection the news he wrote under the title "Müritleri Haydar Bas'a baskaldirdi (Followers Of Haydar Bas Rised Against Him)" published on 26 April 2005. The court adjourned the hearing to 31 August. Lawyer Tora Pekin announced that the case was launched upon official complaint of Haydar Bas, Chairman of Independent Turkey Party (BTP), and the indictment wants Yalçin to be sentenced according to the Article 480/1 TPC and Article 11 of Law on Press. (Birgün)

Journalists on Trial... On 21 June, Istanbul Penal Court of First Instance No 2 started to hear the case against Gökhan Gençay, editor of Sunday magazine of daily Birgün, and editor-in-chief Ibrahim Çesmecioglu launched in connection with an interview with conscientious objector Erkan Bolot. Lazyer Deniz Ceylan announced that the court adjourned the hearing to 19 July. (BIA)

Publisher on Trial... On 21 June, Istanbul Penal Court of First Instance No 2 continued to hear two cases against Ragip Zarakolu, owner of Belge Publishing House, in connection with the book about Armenian genocide entitled "The Truth Will Set Us Free" written by the English writer George Jerjian and in connection of the Turkish translation of Professor Dora Sakayan's book titled "An Armenian Doctor in Turkey: Garabed Hatcherian: My Smyrna Ordeal of 1922 (Bir Ermeni Doktorun Yasadiklari-Garabet Haçeryan'in Izmir Güncesi)". The court adjourned both hearings to 5 October. (Birgün)

June 21, 2006

Publisher and Writer on Trial... On 20 June, Istanbul Penal Court of First Instance Nı 2 started to hear the case against Sirri Öztürk, owner of Sorun Publishing, and writer Osman Tiftikçi in connection with the book “Osmanli’dan Günümüze Ordunun Evrimi (Evolution of Army Since Ottoman Era)”. The indictment wants the defendants to be sentenced according to the Article 301 TPC. The court adjourned the hearing to 29 September for the testimony of Tiftikçi who was abroad. (BIA)

June 19, 2006

Journalist on Trial… On 15 June Bagcilar Penal Court of First Instance No 2 continued to hear the case against Abdurrahman Dilipak launched in connection with this two articles titled “Sezer Kina Yaksin (Sezer Gloats)” (9 November 2003) and “Sezer Hasta mi (Is Sezer Ill)” (10July 2005) published on the daily Vakit. The hearings were adjourned to 12 October. (BIA)

June 16, 2006

Play Banned.... National Education Directorate in Kinik (Izmir) banned the theatre play “Sömürgeden Farkimiz Demokrasi Parkimiz (Our difference from being a colony is our park named democracy)” by Muzaffer Izgi which would be staged by the theatre group “Tiyatro-Sen” founded by civilians and civil organisations. Directorate reportedly closed the theatre and did not allow teachers and students to act in the play. Directorate banned the play on the grounds that “the play was in contradiction with the principles of national education and there were parts in play which may harm national and aesthetic values”. (Cumhuriyet)

June 15, 2006

Journalists Beaten… The journalists who were recording the fire started in a building in Kadiköy district of Istanbul on 13 June were attacked by a police officer. The police officer reportedly took the camera of and shouted at Nuri Soylu, the cameraman of Cihan News Agency, while he was recording him. Soylu, the cameraman of Ihlas News Agancy Metin Basar and the cameraman of Dogan News Agency Unsal Çakin were assaulted. (Aksam)

June 14, 2006

Journalists on Trial... On 13 June, Bagcilar (Istanbul) Penal Court of First Instance No No 2 started to hear the case against Nuri Aykon, owner of daily Vakit, and editor-in-chief of the paper Harun AKsoy on charges of “pointing members of Highest Court of Administration as targets to illegal organisations”. The court adjourned the hearing to a later date. The indictment wants the defendants to be sentenced for “pointing public officials as targets to illegal organisations”, “insulting judges and prosecutors” and “insulting judiciary”. On 13 February, the daily Vakit published the pictures of the members of the Court who signed the headscarf decision under the title “These are those members”. (Cumhuriyet)

June 8, 2006

Author on Trial… On 7 June Istanbul Penal Court of First Instance started to hear the case against the author Perihan Magden launched in connection with the article titled “Conscious Objection is a human right” published on the journal Yeni Aktüel. Before the start of the hearing nationalist groups staged demonstration to protest Magden. Demonstrators who insulted Magden and her supporters were kept behind the barricade. Magden testified as follows at the hearing: “My article only supports that conscientious objection is a human right. We are talking about a right that was accepted by the UN in the 1970s and the tight that has not been recognized only by Turkey and Azarbayjan. It is my right and duty to defend conscientious objection”. Petitions of 11 persons who wanted to act as sub-plaintiffs were reached to the judge while the hearing was going on. The court refused the demand of these persons on the grounds that “they were not suffered the crime committed by means of press”. The hearing was adjourned to 27 July. Magden and the spectators got out under police protection. Reportedly, Kemal Kerinçsiz who made an official complaint against author Orhan Pamuk and causes troubles during the hearings, and retired General Zekeriya Öztürk who had been detained after the attack conducted by Alparslan Aslan to the Highest Court of Administration were among the protestors. (Radikal)

June 6, 2006

Publisher on Trial… On 31 May, Beyoglu Penal Court of First Instance No 2 concluded to hear the case against Ahmet Önal, owner of Peri Publishing, launched in connection with Evin Aydar Çiçek’s book “Tutkular ve Tutsaklar (Passions and Captives)”. The court sentenced Önal to 15 months’ imprisonment for insulting Atatürk. The court did not suspend the sentence on the grounds that they were not convinced that the convict would not commit the same crime in the future. Önal had been convicted during the first trial in 2003 and the Court of Cassation had quashed the verdict. (1 June, Radikal)

Journalist Attacked… Ahmet Çatli, who attacked the journalist Metin Uca on 12 May in Gazi University campus in Ankara, surrendered on 2 June. Ahmet Çatli was reprotedly the nephew of Abdullah Çatli who died during Susurluk accident and he attacked Uca for his expressions on Abdullah Çatli. (3 June, Milliyet)

Kurdish Question / Question kurde

Deux soldats tués, 5 blessés dans une attaque du PKK

Deux soldats turcs ont été tués et cinq autres blessés tard jeudi dans une attaque des guérillas kurdes visant un poste de gendarmerie dans la province de Bingöl (est), ont indiqué vendredi des responsables locaux.

L'attaque des militants du PKK s'est produite dans la localité montagneuse de Yeniyazi, a-t-on précisé de mêmes sources. (AFP, 30 juin 2006)

Instruction juridique contre le principal parti pro-kurde DTP

Le parquet d'Ankara a lancé lundi une instruction judiciaire contre le principal parti pro-kurde de Turquie, au lendemain d'un congrès où des effigies d'Abdullah Öcalan ont été déployées. Des responsables du Parti pour une société démocratique (DTP, souvent accusé de collusion avec la rébellion armée kurde, sont notamment accusés d'apologie du terrorisme, selon l'agence de presse Anatolie.

Une instruction de ce genre pourrait, à terme, aboutir à une interdiction d'un parti politique.

Lors de son congrès dimanche à Ankara, les dirigeants du DTP ont voté l'abrogation du principe de coprésidence en vigueur depuis sa fondation en 2005 afin de rendre les statuts conformes à la loi, qui ne prévoit qu'un seul dirigeant.

Seul candidat, son ex-coprésident Ahmet Türk, un homme politique kurde chevronné plusieurs fois député, a été élu président sans difficulté.

Le premier congrès du DTP a été marqué par la présence d'invités étrangers tels que Gorka Elejabarrieta, du bureau international de Batasuna, bras politique du groupe indépendantiste basque armé ETA, et Philip McGuigan, du Sinn Fein, l'aile politique de l'Armée républicaine irlandaise (IRA).

L'ex-coprésidente du DTP Aysel Tugluk a profité de cette occasion pour appeler l'Etat turc à prendre modèle sur le gouvernement espagnol, qui doit entamer la semaine prochaine des dicussions avec l'ETA, pour résoudre la question kurde.

"Le dialogue assumé et accepté par le gouvernement espagnol et l'ETA est d'une importance vitale selon les conditions turques aussi", a déclaré Mme Tugluk, citée par Anatolie, appelant implicitement à des discussions entre Ankara et les rebelles du Parti des travailleurs du Kurdistan (PKK).

Le DTP a été créé par d'anciens députés kurdes dont la plus connue, Mme Leyla Zana, a été emprisonnée pendant dix ans pour complicité avec le PKK, considéré comme une organisation terroriste par la Turquie, l'Union européenne et les Etats-Unis.

Plusieurs maires DTP du Sud-Est de la Turquie, à majorité kurde, sont sous le coup de poursuites judiciaires, notamment pour apologie du terrorisme.
Le DTP, qui n'est pas représenté au Parlement, milite pour les droits des Kurdes en Turquie et la levée du seuil de 10% des voix nécessaire aux législatives pour envoyer des députés à l'Assemblée nationale.  (AFP, 25-26 juin 2006)

Recommendations for Solution from DTP Leader Turk

Speaking at the DTP congress, Co-chairman Ahmet Turk asked for the Draft Bill for Fight with Terror to be revoked, said that the draft bill is a strait jacket meant for Turkey. It is a kind of law for fight with the Kurdish. Turk reminded that Turkey has found a negative and relative atmosphere of peace from 1999 to 2004 and said that “this situation has made important contributions to the EU process of Turkey. However, the governments during this period did not do anything serious for the development of the democratic dialogue and for the stabilisation of the relative situation of peace and they acted as a director for a tense situation that upset us deeply today.”

Evaluating the Kurdish problem as a historical and sociological fact, Turk said that the problem is also one of democracy, identity, one of being an equal and free compatriot, peace, unity and development as a country and human rights problem.

Turk gave his recommendations for a solution for the Kurdish problem:

* The 1982 constitution that is a product of 12th September, so it should be replaced by a new one.
* There should be assurance for rights of language and culture. Our differences should not be a reason for separation but one of unity and richness of colours.
* The law for election and political parties should be changed and be made more democratic. The free will of the people should be given the right to be represented in the Grand Assembly.
* The legal and actual practices on the freedom of thought and organisation, essential for a democratic society.
* The Draft Bill for Fight with Terror should be revoked, because this bill is a strait jacket meant to be. It is a kind of law for fight with the Kurdish.
* There should be “a Political Amnesty” as a way to open peaceful channels and the democratisation of the political life.
* Laws special for the individual should be should be abolished. F Type, D Type and all kinds of isolation and special repression should be given up.
* 126 people died while protesting such practices and thousands of others suffer from serious health problems. It is not acceptable that the government has not noticed and not done anything about these. This practice should be ended and replaced with contemporary and regulations and practices.
* The practice of village guards should be abolished and the mines should be cleared.
* There should be possibilities for the people to return to their evacuated villages that reach up to 4000 in number. There should be humanitarian conditions there for them to live as a human being. In this context, the number 5233 Law of Compensation is not enough to solve the problem on its own while the new practise brings about injustice.
* Regarding the injustice in distribution of wealth, unemployment, lack of investment, lack of wealth and the long periods of emergency in Eastern and South-Eastern regions, there should be a special plan for development for the region.
* There should be steps in compliance with the modern world, taken towards identity and cultural rights:
* Drawbacks on the Kurdish language, education in the mother language, TV-radio broadcast and written publications should be lifted. There should be possibilities for education and publications with regard to the population and the demands.
* Habitation unities whose names had been changed by laws should be granted their names in accordance with their historical, geographical, and cultural structures.
* Kurdology Institutes and Kurdish culture and history academies should be opened.
* Expressing that they defined a three-phase road map a while ago, Turk went on with his speech:

"I repeat my calls from here once more. Some sides reflect these calls as a deal, and they say that we say these for the stipulation that PKK should conform to the decision of no operation. Such a controversy does not reflect the truth and it does not contribute to a solution. It is not important whether the operations will stop or PKK will stop its actions. What really counts is whether the blood that drips will stop. What really counts is whether the Kurdish people have a country where they can express themselves freely. Everyone should do what falls on them as a responsibility," he said.

The other joint leader, Aysel Tugluk, also made a speech at the convention. She said claims that Kurds wanted a separate state was just anti-propaganda initiated by those who were against Kurds and Turks living side by side.“Kurds want to be brothers as free and equal citizens. If the Kurdish problem is solved, Turkey will become an even more honorable member of the international community,” she said. She also asked for Kurdish to be the second official language of the country. During Tugluk's speech, there were some groups that chanted slogans in support of Öcalan and the PKK. (DIHA, June 26, 2006)

Owner of bombed bookstore Seferi Yilmaz arrested in Turkey

Turkish authorities have arrested the Kurdish owner of a bombed bookstore, just a day after two paramilitary police were jailed for last year's blast, officials said on Wednesday.

Seferi Yilmaz was charged with belonging to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

The officials said Yilmaz was taken to jail in the eastern city of Van on Tuesday under heavy guard and in handcuffs after being interrogated by a state prosecutor.

The blast at the shop in the town of Semdinli last November sparked riots in the troubled eastern region and a parliamentary inquiry after critics said the security forces may have orchestrated the attack.

In fresh violence involving the PKK, security forces killed a militant from the group during a clash in the mainly Kurdish southeast late on Tuesday, security officials said. Dozens of soldiers and militants have been killed in recent months.

In a separate incident, police in Istanbul said on Wednesday they had arrested two PKK members sent to the city to stage attacks and seized almost 6 kg of plastic explosives and five fuses, state Anatolian agency reported.

Another person suspected of helping them was also arrested.

On Monday, two non-commissioned officers in the paramilitary gendarmerie were sentenced to nearly 40 years each for the bombing of the bookstore, in which one person was killed.

The two men deny any wrongdoing and have appealed against their sentence.

The case has focused attention on Turkey's so-called "deep state" -- code for ultra-nationalist elements in the security forces, the army and the state bureaucracy who are prepared to take the law into their own hands on occasion.

The European Union, which Turkey aspires to join, has taken a close interest in the case. It has criticised the sacking in April of a public prosecutor who accused a top general of setting up an illegal group that carried out the bombing.

The prosecutor said the general was trying to foment unrest to justify a military crackdown and derail Turkey's EU bid.

Turkey's powerful military has denied the allegations. (Reuters, June 21, 2006)

Une cinquantaine de maires kurdes inculpés pour une lettre au PM danois

Cinquante-six maires kurdes ont été inculpés par une Cour de Diyarbakir (sud-est de la Turquie) pour une lettre envoyée au Premier ministre danois Anders Fogh Rasmussen, l'exhortant à résister aux demandes d'Ankara de fermer une chaîne de télévision kurde, a-t-on indiqué mardi de source judiciaire.

Les maires risquent jusqu'à 10 ans de prison aux termes de l'acte d'accusation qui les incrimine de "soutien délibéré" au parti - interdit- des travailleurs du Kurdistan (PKK) à cause de cette lettre en anglais datant de décembre dernier, a-t-on précisé de même source.

Ankara a demandé aux autorités danoises d'abroger la licence de diffusion accordée à Roj TV, basée au Danemark où elle émet depuis 2004, au motif que la chaîne a des liens avec le PKK, un groupe séparatiste armé considéré comme une organisation terroriste par la Turquie, l'Union Européenne et les Etats-Unis.

L'acte d'accusation affirme que Roj TV cite régulièrement les dirigeants du PKK et rapporte des déclarations du PKK incitant à la violence "conformément à la propagande du PKK".

La date de l'ouverture du procès est encore inconnue.

Parmi les accusés figure aussi Osman Baydemir, le maire populaire de Diyarbakir, principale ville du sud-est turc à majorité kurde.  (AFP, 20 juin 2006)

Les Etats-Unis continuent de demander au Danemark de fermer Roj TV

Les Etats-Unis continuent d'exercer une pression sur le Danemark pour qu'il retire la licence de diffusion de la chaîne de télévision kurde Roj TV, a-t-on appris lundi de sources gouvernementales.

Basée au Danemark d'où elle émet depuis 2004, la chaîne est accusée par Ankara d'être la porte-parole du Parti des travailleurs du Kurdistan (PKK).

"Il est connu que les Etats-Unis veulent fermer cette station et ils l'ont souligné à diverses reprises aux autorités", a indiqué à l'AFP une source proche du Premier ministre danois Anders Fogh Rasmussen, ayant requis l'anonymat.

"De toute manière, le gouvernement danois ne peut pas fermer une chaîne de télévision. Il revient aux tribunaux de trancher si Roj TV a enfreint la loi danoise et si sa licence doit être retirée", a indiqué une autre source gouvernementale ne souhaitant pas non plus être nommée.

Selon la radio publique danoise Danmarks Radio (DR), l'ambassade américaine à Ankara a contacté celle du Danemark en Turquie le 7 avril, et a qualifié Roj TV de porte-parole du PKK.

Et le 10 avril, le ministère danois des Affaires étrangères a reçu une missive de Washington intitulée "Appel renouvelé des Etats-Unis à fermer Roj TV". (AFP, 19 juin 2006)

Danish PM Shocked By Investigation Of Mayors Over Letter

Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he was shocked to learn that 56 Turkish mayors were under investigation for urging him to resist pressure from Ankara to close down an allegedly pro-Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) TV station in the Scandinavian country.

A state prosecutor has charged 56 mayors, members of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP), with "knowingly and willingly helping" the outlawed PKK when they urged Rasmussen not to close the Danish-based Kurdish broadcaster Roj TV.

The mayors could face up to 10 years in jail.

Turkey accuses Roj of being a mouthpiece for the PKK, which took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984 with the aim of carving out an ethnic homeland. More than 30,000 people have been killed in that conflict.

In the letter sent to Rasmussen last December, the mayors of some of the largest cities in the Southeast urged him to resist any pressure from Ankara to close down Roj TV, which they said was necessary for democracy in Turkey.

"I find it rather shocking ... that because you write a letter to me, you are being accused of violating the law," Fogh Rasmussen told Danish public radio. "It is shocking that it can take place in a country that is seeking EU membership."

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan boycotted a news conference to be held jointly with Rasmussen last November in Denmark to protest the presence of a journalist from Roj TV. Rasmussen said excluding the correspondent would have violated the EU's principles of freedom of expression.

Last week, a mayor from the Southeast was sentenced to 15 months in jail for comments broadcast on Roj TV.

Last year, the Turkish Embassy in Copenhagen demanded that Denmark revoke the station's broadcasting license. The Danish government has refused to do so, citing freedom of speech. (AP, June 17, 2006)

Appeal on high number of missing children in Diyarbakir
 
Diyarbakir Bar Association Children's Rights Center lawyer Cengiz Analay has appealed for children's homes to be opened for civilian inspection with an overhaul of the legislation protecting children in wake of confirmation that at least 34 minors had gone missing from such homes over the past 3 years in Diyarbakir province alone.

Last week, mixed with fear that some of the children could have been kidnapped, it was revealed that 34 children listed at children's homes in Diyarbakir were unaccounted for. Over the weekend, Turkish newspapers quoted a DHA news agency report that a midnight inspection conducted at an educational home for boys operated by the Social Services Directorate in the western Sakarya province revealed that 15 more children were "missing" there.

"The high number of children in Turkey who need protection and the lack of a stable policy of the state on this issue makes this problem insolvable" Analay told bianet while evaluating the report of missing children in Diyarbakir.

He said that Turkey's Social Services and the Protection of Children Institution (SHCEK) were inefficient and that an overhaul of the legislation for this institution upholding the highest interests of children was required. "Unless these improvements are made" he said, "such incidents will continue".

Analay stressed that the full responsibility of children in need of care should not be placed on the SHCEK but shared also by civilian society organisations which, he said, should be allowed to control, monitor and inspect children's homes. Analay added that such a participation would benefit the children both within and outside of the protection of the institution.

The lawyer argued that problems in practically enforcing Turkey's Law to Protect Children (CKK) triggered problems in this area explaining that "the institutions foreseen under the CKK have still not been formed. Trained personnel are not being employed at institutions related to children. These institutions need to be created and made operational as soon as possible. The state should also fulfil its responsibility in following up on children leaving the institutions".

News of 34 children missing in Diyarbakir followed an investigation launched by the Diyarbakir Governor's Office Human Rights Provincial Board on request of the Prime Ministry Human Rights Supreme Board. The investigation was launched after independent allegations of disappearances were made from social services operated children's homes and showed that 34 minors, including 18 girls, were missing from homes for 0-12 and 13-18 age group children.

According to report in the Turkish daily Milliyet newspaper Diyarbakir Governor's Office Human Rights Provincial Board member Mehmet Kaya has said they fear that the children who are missing may have been kidnapped.

"There are very young children among those missing" he explained. "One might say 13-18 year old children ran away but how could 2-3 year old children have ran off? We have written to the Police Directorate Child Branch on the fate of these children but have not received a response for two years."

Kaya added, "We don't really like the thought but effectively we hear that some of the children from our region are taken to the west [of Turkey] to be used a pickpockets and thieves. This situation makes us concerned".

Kahveci: We would know if there was a problem

Diyarbaki'r deputy governor Hidir Kahveci confirmed there were missing children in the province and said:

"This issue was taken up after 4 girls ran away from an educational home. We wanted to go a bit deeper and learn how many children had ran away or went missing until now. We learned that 34 children were unaccounted for. Whether these children ran off or were kidnapped is to be determined by the police. But until now there was no complaint related to these children from their families or any other places. If the children were a problem where they went to, I think we would have known in a short time".

Over the weekend, Turkish newspapers quoted a DHA news agency report that a midnight inspection conducted at an educational home for boys operated by the Social Services Directorate in the western Sakarya province revealed that 15 more children were "missing" there.

According to a report in the mass circulation Turkish daily Hurriyet, provincial governor Nuri Okutan made an unannounced midnight visit to the educational home for 12-18 year old boys and after inviting the director Cafer Taymaz there, went over all the records and determined that 15 minors listed as present were in fact not on the premises.

Taymaz reportedly told the governor that 6 of the teenagers and children had been missing for a long time while 9 "came to the home from time to time". The governor later told journalists that instructions had been issued for the missing children to be located and placed under social care. (BIA News Center, Kemal OZMEN, June 12, 2006)

Le PKK appelle les Kurdes à fuir le service militaire

Le Parti des Travailleurs du kurdistan (PKK), a appelé samedi les Kurdes de Turquie à fuir le service militaire obligatoire alors que deux de ses rebelles ont été abattus dans des heurts avec l'armée dans le sud-est du pays.

Les accrochages se sont produits tôt samedi à Silvan, sous-préfecture de Diyarbakir, la principale province peuplée majoritairement de kurdes du pays, ont annoncé des responsables de la sécurité. L'un des morts est un responsable régional de l'organisation.

Par ailleurs, dans un communiqué cité par l'agence pro-kurde Firat qui a son siège en Europe, le PKK a exhorté les kurdes de Turquie à ne pas accomplir leur service militaire.

"Tout jeune patriote kurde doit refuser d'aller faire son service dans ces conditions ou au moins refuser de participer aux opérations" dans le sud-est turc, souligne le document.

Tout Turc est appelé sous les drapeaux à partir de 18 ans pour servir de six à 15 mois selon son niveau d'éducation.

La Turquie ne reconnaît pas le droit à l'objection de conscience, les réfractaires pouvant encourir jusqu'à cinq ans de prison.

Dimanche, deux soldats turcs ont été tués et cinq autre blessés dimanche lorsque leur convoi a été pris dans une embuscade tendue par des militants kurdes armés dans l'est de la Turquie. L'attaque s'est produite dans la localité montagneuse de Geyiksu, dans la province de Tunceli,  a rapporté l'agence de presse semi-officielle Anatolie. (AFP, 11 juin 2006)

Un maire kurde condamné à la prison pour des propos jugés pro-Ocalan

Le maire kurde de la ville de Cizre, dans le sud-est de la Turquie à majorité kurde, a été condamné vendredi à un ans et trois mois de prison pour des déclarations perçues comme un éloge du leader kurde emprisonné Abdullah Ocalan.

Aydin Budak, maire de cette ville frontalière avec l'Irak située dans la province de Sirnak, a déclaré au téléphone à l'AFP que le tribunal l'avait jugé coupable d'avoir "fait l'éloge d'un criminel". Il a l'intention d'interjeter appel.

L'année dernière, M. Budak avait dans un discours prononcé à Cizre, critiqué l'isolement auquel est soumis Ocalan dans l'île-prison d'Imrali (nord-ouest). Il avait notamment reproché aux autorités d'avoir restreint les visites de sa famille.

Les responsables politiques kurdes sont souvent soupçonnés d'avoir des sympathies pour le PKK, considéré comme une organisation terroriste par Ankara, l'Union européenne et les Etats-Unis. Ils sont aussi souvent poursuivis en justice pour des propos jugés favorables au PKK. (AFP, 9 juin 2006)

Kurdish party Hak-Par faces ban for speaking mother tongue

A public prosecutor requested the ban of the pro-Kurdish Rights and Freedoms Party (Hak-Par) yesterday for speeches made in Kurdish by party members at its congress last year.

In yesterday's hearing of the case, which has been going on for a year, the public prosecutor argued that party leaders knew the use of Kurdish at public meetings is a crime, but that the defendants committed the crime deliberately and accepted that they did.

Prosecutor Hasan Coskun Cetinbilici requested the party be banned under Article 81/c of the Political Parties Law. He asked for at least six months in prison for the accused, party head Abdulmelik Firat and other party administrators.

The pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP), which distributed cards to celebrate Nevruz, which included a Kurdish phrase, for the occasion a few months ago, also faced legal proceedings under the same article. A court ruled the cards be confiscated.

Article 81/c of the same law, entitled "Prevention of the Occurrence of Minorities," stipulates that political parties can't use languages other than Turkish for their party congresses, meetings, election campaigns, bylaws or party programs. They also can't use or distribute signs, banners, video or audiocassettes, in short, any kind of document, written or verbal, in a foreign language.

A Nationalist Action Party (MHP) provincial member who gave a speech in Kurdish in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir last month, however, hasn't faced prosecution. Neither has his party, known for its nationalist tendencies, criticized him.

The Hak-Par defendants accepted that they made speeches in Kurdish but maintained that the crime defined in the law is against the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights.

The prosecutor, in reply, said that the courts aren't the places to discuss the rationale behind existing laws and that they are obliged to implement existing legislation.

At today's hearing the defendants will present more of their defense. (The New Anatolian, June 10, 2006)

Embuscade et attaque dans le Sud-Est: 2 soldats tués, quatre blessés

Deux soldats turcs ont été tués et quatre autres blessés mardi dans une embuscade et une attaque à la mine attribuées aux guérillas kurdes et survenus dans le sud-est de la Turquie peuplé majoritairement de Kurdes, ont annoncé des responsables de la sécurité.

Les deux soldats ont perdu la vie lorsqu'une patrouille armée à pied a essuyé des tirs à Semdinli, dans une zone très proche de la frontière avec l'Irak, a-t-on précisé de même source.

Deux militaires ont été blessés.

A Pülümür, à 650 km au nord-ouest de Semdinli, deux soldats qui faisaient partie d'une unité assurant la sécurité d'un véhicule de ramassage scolaire militaire ont été blessés par l'explosion d'une mine activée à distance par des militants kurdes à leur passage. (AFP, 6 juin 2006)

Kurdish Intellectuals Face Three Years Prison

Three Kurdish activists and politicians, including Ibrahim Guclu and Zeynel Abidin Ozalp, with dual Turkish-Swedish citizenship risk up to three years in Turkish jail over a press statement denouncing Turkish military build-up in Northern Kurdistan.

A prosecutor of Diyarbakir Criminal Court No4 accused Ibrahim Guclu, Zeynel Abidin Ozalp and Sedat Ogur of “spreading propaganda” for the outlawed PKK in a May 2 press statement. The trial is expected to start on the 8th of June.

Mr Guclu , Ozalp and Ogur were leading members of Kurdish Association (Kurd-Kom) which was banned by Turkish authorities in April because its statutes called for the use of the Kurdish language in its activities.

The charge is ironic and absurd, since Ibrahim Guclu has frequently and publicly condemned PKK’s violence.

Three Kurdish activists denounced army deployment in the Kurdish region and claimed that a recent build-up in the Iraqi Kurdistan border targeted the entire Kurdish people.

Turkish anti-terror teams roughly detained Guclu, Ozalp and Ogur on 2nd May as they prepared to peacefully to show their concern at recent killings of Kurdish civilians including children at the hands of Turkish security forces, as well as Turkish state’s occupation plan of Kurdish federal region in Northern Iraq, by walking to the border with Iraqi Kurdistan.

Guclu, Ozalp and Ogur held overnight for questioning, and formally arrested the following day under Anti-Terror Law. They will appear on June 8 at Diyarbakir Criminal Court No 4.

Their imprisonment is in violation of Article 10 and 11 of the European Human Rights Convention, which safeguard freedom of expression and assembly respectively.

Mr Sabahattin Korkmaz, defence lawyer for Kurdish men said that about 40 lawyer from different Kurdish Lawyer Bar’s prepared to defend Ibrahim Guclu, Zeynel Abidin Ozalp and Sedat Ogur on 8th June.
Ibrahim Guclu, Zeynel Abidin Ozalp and Sedat Ogur decided to put joint written defence before Turkish court in Kurdish and Turkish.

Marching toward Iraqi Kurdistan

Mr Guclu, Mr Ozalp and Mr Ogur had decided to protest Turkey’s treatment of Kurds within its own borders, and its stance with regard to South Kurdistan, by marching from Diyarbakir via Silopi to the Habur border crossing with northern Iraq. They hoped that this gesture would bring the Turkish state’s unlawful plans and projects – and especially the army’s recent moves to steer the country politically - to attention of the international community and European Union.

They drew attention to recent violations against Kurdish civilians in Northern Kurdistan, and were wearing vest slogans saying, in Kurdish and Turkish, “Don’t enter South Kurdistan, the North will be annoyed,’ “The PKK is just an excuse, the main target is Kurdish people and Kurdistan,’ ’Kurdistan is home to the Kurds, Soldiers go home,’ ‘Kurds want to rule themselves.’

As the three Kurdish activists started to move towards starting point of their march, anti-terror teams stopped them and detained them violently. Mr Guclu, Mr Ozalp and Mr Ogur were interrogated overnight in the anti-terror branch of Diyarbakir’s security directorate and the following day they were formally arrested by the criminal court and committed to prison. Although it is well known by the public and state authorities that these men have no involvement whatsoever with the PKK, they were accused and charged with ‘serving a terror organisation’s aims and spreading separatism.’

Background information

In a press statement Mr Guclu and Mr Ozalp had warned that Turkey is resisting democratic change in the region, and especially improvements in freedoms for Kurds. They called upon Turkey, Iran and Syria to change their traditional policy, and claimed that Turkey is trying to play the same game that Saddam Hussein played with the USA and its allies over the past two and a half decades.

The Kurdish activists asserted that the Turkish state is establishing a buffer zone in Semdinli, Hakkari province, as a jumping-off point for action against South Kurdistan, and has also deliberately provoked disturbances in Diyarbakir, Batman, Nusaybin and Siirt. The Turkish state’s apparent intention to occupy South Kurdistan would be a breach of international law. Mr Guclu, Mr Ozalp and Mr Ogur’s statement expressed concern over Turkish and Iranian troop concentrations on the Iraqi Kurdistan borders, and demanded the Turkish army’s withdrawal from the region.

They wanted to alert public opinion that the Turkish government has suspended its reform program and is now introducing new anti-terror law measures.

On 31 March 2006 the Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan publicly affirmed the right of police to shoot Kurds, including children, if they participate in marches against state terrorism.

After the liberation of Iraq from Saddam Hussein by the USA and the United Kingdom, democracy and freedom have flourished in self-ruled Kurdish region of northern Iraq. These positive developments have annoyed the state authorities in both Turkey and Iran who fear that it may set a precedent for their ‘own’ Kurds. Turkey and Iran seem to have been coordinating their activities against Kurdish nation by using PKK as its tool. The Turkish state is exploiting PKK incursions as an excuse to hit back at northern Iraq, and warn Iraqi Kurds that Turkey will not tolerate similar ambitions in its occupied territory. The Turkish deployment has boosted an already large garrison in the Kurdish region of Turkey (North Kurdistan) to what some estimate to be a force of 250,000 soldiers. Iranian troops recently fired artillery shells across the border north of Suleymaniyah and claimed that it was a response to ‘incursions’ by PKK.

We strongly condemn the imprisonment of the three Kurdish activists and urge international community and EU to take appropriate measures to ensure the immediate and unconditional release of Mr Ogur, Mr Ozalp and Mr Guclu, who were exercising their right to peaceful expression. (Solidarity Inititative for Kurdish Activists in Europe, 5th June 2006)

34 Torture Investigations in Diyarbakir

A total of 34 preparatory investigations have been launched against police officers in Diyarbakir related to allegations of torture and mistreatment of children and adults during and after the March 28-April 1 disturbances in the city this year.

Diyarbakir Bar Association Children Rights Center lawyer Cengiz Analay welcomed the investigations and told Bianet that "even if with a delay it appears for now that what should be done against torture and mistreatment, is being done. But the 24 torture files that have been opened should not end up inconclusive like the others".

Analay said that as the city Bar Association they are following this issue closely and are waiting for the result of the 34 investigations with interest. He said they insisted that torturers not be left unpunished.

"No reason can justify torture" Analay said, stressing that torture is banned by the Turkish constitution as well as international conventions to which Turkey is a part of, and is a crime against humanity.

"We see it as unacceptable that the crime of torture which is regarded as a crime against all human beings, has been widely committed during the March 28 incidents" he said.

Zero-Tolerance not sincere

Analay said that although officials previously promised zero tolerance against torture and there was a decrease in torture incidents with the European Union accession period, "it has come out in the open with the incidents on March 28 in Diyarbakir that this was a temporary situation and that the promises made by officials on all platforms were not sincere".

"Many people were detained and arrested in the incidents that on March 28 started off from the province of Diyarbakir and spread to nearby provinces and districts. In interviews we conducted with those detained, they told us that they were subjected to many inhuman treatments and that they were tortured in detention centers. Doctor reports, their statements to the prosecutors and photographs taken by ourselves confirms this," Analay explained.

Law change not enough

Analay added that amendments in the law would not be enough to change the position on torture and said that in order to prevent torture, preventative measures should be effectively taken but where torture was recorded, the culprits should be punished in the most severe way.

The Diyarbakir Bar Association had applied to the provincial Governor's Office and requested investigations to be launched in 72 separate instances of torture under custody claims.

During the incidents in Diyarbakir between March 28 and April 1, 2006, a total of 10 people including five children were killed as result of disproportional force used by the police and hundreds of others were wounded. 213 children and 364 adults were placed under custody where they were subjected to mistreatment and torture. (BIA News Center, Kemal OZMEN, June 5, 2006)

Nouveaux combats dans le sud-est turc: Un soldat tué, huit blessés

Un soldat turc a été tué et huit autres blessés dans une embuscade tendue tard dimanche par des guérillas kurdes dans le sud-est de la Turquie, peuplé majoritairement de kurdes, ont annoncé les autorités locales.

Les militants PKK ont attaqué avec des fusils mitrailleurs un convoi militaire qui voyageait sur la route entre Bingöl et Elazig, a indiqué le gouverneur de Bingöl, Vehbi Avuç.

Des heurts sont intervenus par la suite entre soldats et membres du PKK, a-t-il souligné. (AFP, 5 juin 2006)

40 Kurdish Children Face Up To 24 Years Imprisonment

With the release this Wednesday of 15 children from Diyarbakir prison there are no minor offenders remaining in prison in the city in relation to the wave of violence that swept through the province at the end of April.

A total of 40 children who were arrested and placed into a special annex building at Diyarbakir prison in relation to the 28 March-1 April incidents have been released from captivity since May 8. During the incidents where five children were killed when police opened fire on protestors, 213 minors were initially detained, 94 of them were then arrested. A majority of the children were subjected to torture and mistreatment under custody.

Cengiz Analay, a lawyer for the children, told Bianet that releasing the minors where they still had to face prosecution was not a solution and added "an acquittal decision needs to be taken for the children". If found guilty, the children still face up to 24 years imprisonment.

This Wednesday's hearing was monitored by The Initiative to End All Forms of Violence Against Children representatives Ezgi Koman and Emrah K›r›msoy,

In a statement after the hearing, the Initiative stressed that the children had been held in prison for 62 days in violation of their rights to life, development, protection and participation, with total disregard of their interests.

"To put children who have no relation to the incidents and who are not able to comprehend the meaning or consequences of their actions on trial is in violation of various international conventions including the United Nations Convention on Children Rights, the principle of a state of law and the judicial system for children" the statement said.

The Initiative recalled that the public case launched against the children demanded up to 24 years imprisonment for each of the minors on charged of damaging public property, violating law number 2911 and membership to an illegal organisation.

It stressed that allegations which could lead to heavy penalties for the children could impose negative examples to the judicial system which itself was a part of the system of protecting minors and said that the children concerned should be given the opportunity to use every right the system offered them and be subject to a decision that would support and protect them.

The statement invited everyone to reject violence of all forms against children whatever its source and urged for strategies that will prevent children from facing conditions of violence and conflict and suffer damages from these. (BIA News Center, Kemal OZMEN, June 2, 2006)

Cinq morts dans des affrontements avec la guérilla kurde

Un soldat turc et quatre guérillas kurdes ont été tués au cours d'affrontements dans le sud-est du pays à majorité kurde, ont annoncé vendredi les autorités locales.

Les combats ont été engagés au cours d'opérations de sécurité dans les régions rurales des montagnes de Cudi et Gabar ainsi que dans les régions de Bestler-Dereler dans la province de Sirnak frontalière de l'Irak et de la Syrie, précise un communiqué du bureau du gouverneur de Sirnak.

L'armée turque a concentré des troupes dans le sud-est et mène des opérations de sécurité pour contrer les incursions, selon elle, de guérillas kurdes à partir du nord de l'Irak et de la Syrie où le PKK s'est constitué un sanctuaire depuis 1999, date à laquelle il avait déclaré unilatéralement un cessez-le-feu, observé jusqu'en juin 2004. (AFP, 2 juin 2006)

Diyarbakir Mayor Baydemir faces more criminal charges

A prosecutor on Wednesday filed the second set of charges in as many days against Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir, further troubling a politician who has already been accused of encouraging Kurds to rise up against the Turkish state.

Baydemir, the mayor of the largest city in the southeast region, Diyarbakir, was also charged with corruption for a 2004 city modernization tender.

The state prosecutor asked that Baydemir be sentenced to three years in prison, claiming that his rejection of one firm's bid to modernize Diyarbakir's water system in favor of another had cost the city almost 1 million YTL, more than $600,000.

On Tuesday the mayor was indicted for sending the body of a PKK member in a Diyarbakir ambulance to be buried in his hometown over 250 kilometers (155 miles) away.

Baydemir said he would do it again and called it a "humanitarian duty." (New Anatolian with AP, June 1, 2006)

Minorités / Minorities

La Turquie lance une enquête contre le Catholicos Karekine II

Une enquête a été lancée par le service du procureur en chef d’istanbul à l’encontre du chef de l’église apostolique arménienne, le Catholicos Karekin II, au motif qu’il aurait « dénigré l’identité turque » suite à ses déclarations durant sa récente visite en Turquie.

Une plainte a en effet été déposée par Recep Akkus et l’Union des Avocats Turcs.

S’exprimant à l’attention des médias lors d’une conférence de presse le catholicos Karekin II avait indiqué que les Turcs avaient commis le génocide contre les Arméniens.

Pour le catholicos « pour notre peuple les recherches ne sont pas la solution. Quelque chose s’est produit et cela doit être reconnu » ajoutant « la question du génocide a été étudiée depuis plus de 90 ans par les universitaires. »

Karekin II avait indiqué que les protestations des nationalistes ne l’avaient pas affecté. « Elles n’ont pas cassé mon état d’esprit et elles ne reflètent pas ma visite. Mais si ce genre de protestations continue cela prouverait que nous avons beaucoup de travail afin que nos deux sociétés puissent vivre ensemble ». (BIA-armenews, 30 juin 2006)


Karekine II réaffirme à Istanbul la réalité du génocide arménien

Devant les médias étrangers et turcs, le Catholicos a rappelé dimanche que les turcs avaient commis un génocide à l’encontre des Arméniens pendant la première guerre mondiale, soulignant que ce fait historique n’était pas un sujet de débat en référence à l’offre faite par les autorités turques d’ouvrir les archives arméniennes et turques aux historiens.

« Ces recherches seraient sans fondement » a déclaré S.S Karékine II. « Le génocide des Arméniens est un crime qui a eu lieu et qui doit être reconnu et cette question du génocide a déjà fait l’objet de recherche pendant 90 ans » a ajouté le Catholicos.

Une déclaration qui risque d’attiser la colère des nationalistes turcs qui ont déjà manifesté leur mécontentement la semaine dernière à Istanbul lors de l’arrivée de Karekine II, mais ce dernier a indiqué qu’il n’était pas impressionné par ces manifestations. « Elles n’ont aucun impact sur ma visite, mais si ces protestations se poursuivent, cela prouvera qu’il y a encore beaucoup à faire pour que nos deux nations vivent en paix ». (gamkonline.com, 27 juin 2006)

Les peurs des Arméniens 'invisibles' de Turquie

Le catholicos des Arméniens Karekin II, qui a dans le passé irrité les Turcs en les accusant d'avoir commis un génocide contre les Arméniens pendant la Première Guerre mondiale, ce que la Turquie nie, est à Istanbul pour une visite d'une semaine.

Pour la journaliste, la question qu'elle voulait poser à un chef de choeur arménien, après un magnifique concert à l'issue d'un colloque sur "de nouvelles approches des relations turco-arméniennes, semblait toute simple. Mais quand elle lui demanda ce qu'il pensait de la conférence, son __expression changea, et très mal à l'aise, il répondit qu'il ne voulait pas parler de politique, qu'il n'était là que pour la musique. Cela en disait long.

L'Arménie veut que la Turquie reconnaisse la mort de centaines de milliers de personnes pendant les derniers jours de l'Empire ottoman comme génocide, la Turquie refuse ce mot. Pour l'Arménie et sa vaste et puissante diaspora, obtenir cette reconnaissance de la part d'Ankara est une mission si importante qu'elle en est devenu quasiment un mode de vie. Mais en Turquie même, les gens d'origine arménienne préfèrent un silence pénible à la confrontation.

La journaliste raconte ensuite sa visite à Anouch et son frère Vartan, dans une banlieue d'Istanbul habitée par les classes moyennes. On lui sert le thé, puis du cognac arménien. Vartan lui dit : "Les Turcs me demandent encore d'où je viens, on dirait qu'ils n'ont aucune idée que nous étions des centaines de milliers ici avant." Il reste environ 60 000 Arméniens en Turquie, pays habité par leurs ancêtres pendant près de 2000 ans. La coexistence est malaisée. Anouch explique :" Nous avons toujours vécu avec la violence, depuis ma naissance. Des graffiti sur nos églises, des insultes dans la rue. Je continue à y réfléchir à deux fois avant de dire mon nom dans certains quartiers."

Ses parents parlent à peine l'arménien, parce que leur propres parents craignaient qu'ils ne se fassent remarquer et lorsque des militants de l'ASALA commencèrent à assassiner des diplomates turcs pendant les années 1970, les Arméniens se firent encore plus invisibles. Il n'est guère étonnant qu'en règle générale ils n'expriment pas leur opinion sur ce qui s'est passé en 1915. Anouch et Vartan sont des exceptions, et leur visiteuse a pourtant dû changer leurs noms.

Vartan lui a raconté que leurs arrière-grands-parents furent déportés vers le sud, étant accusés d'avoir pris le parti des Russes contre les Turcs. Ils donnèrent leurs enfants à des voisins turcs pour les sauver, et ne revinrent jamais. Il y a une tragédie semblable derrière chaque porte arménienne dans ce pays, mais le patriarche d'Istanbul a interdit à sa communauté d'en parler - si ses membres tiennent à conserver leur emploi dans les églises et les écoles arméniennes. "C'est la peur", dit Anouch.

Il y a eu quelques signes précurseurs de changement, avec l'année dernière une conférence en Turquie où la position officielle a pour la première fois été contestée. Et les pressions internationales sur la Turquie pour qu'elle révise sa position s'intensifient. Vartan en est content, mais il perçoit une montée des sentiments nationalistes agressifs en Turquie, en réaction à ces pressions. "Si d'autres pays font le forcing sur cette question, ce sera terrible pour les Arméniens d'ici", dit-il calmement.

Bien qu'en tant que minorité reconnue, et à la différence des Kurdes, les Arméniens aient certains droits, et malgré leur silence, les Arméniens turcs semblent être des pseudo-citoyens. Anouch explique encore : les livres d'histoire propagent la version officielle de 1915, évidemment. Et même aujourd'hui, les Turcs d'origine arménienne n'ont pas le droit d'enseigner certaines matières "stratégiques" au sein des écoles arméniennes, comme la géographie, la sociologie, la morale et l'histoire. La journaliste écrit qu'elle commence alors à comprendre le prix que paient les gens comme ce chef de choeur pour vivre en paix en Turquie.

Pour beaucoup d'Arméniens de l'étranger, leur silence s'apparente à une trahison. Mais pour Anouch, Vartan et les autres, il s'agit de préserver une tranquillité fragile, dont les fondations sont cependant tout ce qu'il y a de plus branlant. Anouch dit qu'elle a des espoirs pour la Turquie, puis elle ajoute :" Mais je ne me souviens pas m'être jamais sentie vraiment bien dans ce pays. Toujours quelque part dans ma tête, il y a la pensée qu'un jour, je serai peut-être obligée de partir." (BBC News, Sarah Rainsford , Istanbul, 22 juin 2006 - Résumé, par l'équipe de la Veille-Media du Collectif VAN)

Une vieille arménienne agressée lors de la visite de Karekine II en Turquie

Le second jour de sa visite, Karekin II est allé avec le groupe qui l'accompagnait, à l'île de Heybeli de l'archipel des îles aux Princes (îles historiquement peuplées par les Arméniens, les Juifs et les Grecs qui servaient et servent encore de lieux de vacances pour un grand nombre de ces communautés).

Un groupe de personne a protesté contre cette visite et deux d'entre elles ont été emmenées au poste et relâchées peu après. Après avoir été relâché, le même individu est de nouveau venu déranger la foule : une vieille femme qui en faisait partie, lui a dit de ne pas les déranger et de s'en aller. En l'entendant, la personne tout juste libérée l'a frappée et a été de nouveau emmené au poste de police. (Collectif VAN, 22 juin 2006)

Onkelinx interrogée à la Chambre sur ses déclarations à propos du génocide arménien

La ministre de la Justice, Laurette Onkelinx (PS) a été interrogée jeudi à la Chambre sur ses déclarations à propos du génocide arménien. La seule question qui se pose, a-t-elle dit, est de savoir si on peut prévoir des poursuites pénales pour ceux qui expriment une opinion négative à propos d'événements qui n'ont pas fait l'objet d'une condamnation par un tribunal pénal international.

La ministre a contesté l'interprétation qui a été faite de ses propos. Selon la presse, elle a rejeté samedi dernier, lors d'une réunion publique organisée par l'association de la Pensée d'Atatürk, l'idée d'une loi reconnaissant le génocide arménien par l'empire ottoman et condamnant ceux qui ne le reconnaîtraient pas.

La seule question qui se pose est de savoir si on peut prévoir des poursuites pénales pour ceux qui expriment une opinion différente alors que ce génocide n'a pas été reconnu par un tribunal pénal international, a dit la ministre. Elle a rappellé qu'une Commission spéciale du SPF Justice analyse actuellement la question.

Au cabinet de la ministre, on souligne que la position exprimée par Mme Onkelinx est celle qu'elle a déjà adopté notamment lors de la discussion au Sénat d'une proposition de loi relative au négationnisme. (BELGA, 22 juin 2006)

Patriarch Karekin II's visit to Patriarch Bartholomeos I

On the evening of June 20, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II arrived in Istanbul on his first Pontifical Visit to Turkey. Upon arrival at the Istanbul airport, he was greeted by Archbishop Mesrob Mutafian, Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople; high-ranking clergy of the Armenian Patriarchate; two metropolitan archbishops representing the Greek Ecumenical Patriarchate; Mr. Karen Mirzoyan, Representative of the Republic of Armenia in Turkey; and representatives of the Armenian community of Istanbul.

During the official reception and dinner at the Armenian Patriarchate, Mesrob Mutafian greeted the Catholicos of All Armenians and welcomed him and his accompanying clergymen to Istanbul.

On the morning of June 21, the Pontiff of All Armenians, accompanied by Mesrob Mutafian and the members of the pontifical entourage, visited the headquarters of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and participated in Morning Services at the Greek Mother Cathedral.

In the presence of the members of Holy Synod of the Greek Church, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomeos I, greeted His Holiness Karekin II with a fraternal embrace, followed by his official and warm address of welcome.

Thereafter, the Catholicos of All Armenians extended his greetings of love to the Ecumenical Patriarch, noting in part, "...Our predecessors of blessed memory have visited Your All Holiness and your revered predecessors. Today, we are visiting you with brotherly love and a joyous heart. We are visiting a people and a Church, who share with us the inheritance of Christ, His witness and His love. We visit a Church, with whom we have shared a history of accomplishments and achievements, persecutions, suffering and martyrdom, prayer and witness, and which is alive in our hearts and minds today. We are visiting a Church, which through her rich past and present, continues the testimony of the Lord with love and peace."

Later that day, the Ecumenical Patriarch hosted the Armenian delegation to an official lunch organized in honor of the Catholicos of All Armenians. (azg.am, June 21, 2006)

Action de provocation contre Bartholomeos

Ankara a finalement cédé, recevant la plainte déposée par le président d'un groupe affilié aux "Loups Gris", appelé "Plate-forme de la Force Nationale", suite à la Liturgie célébrée par le patriarche oecuménique à Malakopi, Cappadoce, en avril. L'action provocatrice aux dépens du Patriarcat oecuménique a été entamée sous la forme d'une requête du procureur, par laquelle le patriarche et les autres du clergé ne pourraient plus paraître en public hors d'églises en étant revêtus de leurs vêtements ecclésiastiques. La Grèce et l'Union Européenne surveille de très près les problèmes de libertés religieuses, a annoncé Athènes. 

Le 29 avril, le patriarche Bartholomeos avait dû faire face à un groupe d'une quarantaine de Loups Gris à l'extérieur de l'église Agios Theodoros, à Malakopi. Le groupe commença par s'en prendre verbalement au patriarche, déclarant que la célébration de la Messe était illégale. Néanmoins, le patriarche entra dans l'église et célébra les Vêpres.

Mardi, le procureur local a demandé au patriarcat de lui communiquer, endéans les 10 jours de la délivrance de la notification du procureur, tous les détails et adresses de tout le clergé qui a prit part à la Messe du 29 avril, parce qu'ils portaient leurs habits ecclésiastiques.

Le procureur a aussi demandé une copie légalisée de l'article approprié qui permettrait au patriarche de paraître en tenue ecclésiastique en dehors des églises et quand il ne célèbre pas, car d'après les charges, un tel comportement serait interdit.

Le cas se révèle être de nature juridique. Après avoir communiqué les détails, les conseillers juridiques du Patriarcat oecuménique ont été assurés par le procureur local que l'affaire serait classée après l'enquête préliminaire.

Répondant aux journalistes, le patriarche oecuménique Bartholomeos a dit que le cas était clos et s'est référé à la décision du Cabinet, qui exclut le patriarche des lois interdisant les vêtements religieux en dehors des lieux de culte.

Répondant à une question à ce sujet, l'adjoint porte-parole du gouvernement, Evangelos Antonaros, a déclaré que l'action du procureur Turc pour entamer une enquête contre le patriarche oecuménique Bartholomeos semblait être le résultat d'une initiative d'un groupe extrémiste. "Nous aimerions croire que de telles actions ne bénéficient pas d'un large support. De tels incidents sont toujours surveillés par tous les Etats membres de la Communauté Européenne et naturellement par la Grèce," a conclu Antonaros.

  De plus, durant une réunion au Phanar, le ministre du Développement, Dimitris Sioufas, a transmis au patriarche oecuménique l'assurance de l'estime du Premier Ministre de Grèce envers lui et son soutien pour les oeuvres du Patriarcat. Le travail et le rôle du Patriarcat concernent et sont soutenus tant par l'Union Européenne que par la communauté internationale, a noté le ministre, qui sera le principal intervenant lors de la convention sur la Sécurité Energétique qui aura lieu à Istanbul. (news.ert.gr, 20 Juin 2006)
Onkelinx sème le doute pour caresser l'électorat turc

Alors que les communales approchent, certains n'hésitent pas à caresser l'électorat ethnique dans le sens du poil. C'est ce qu'ont conclu plusieurs témoins critiques qui assistaient samedi dernier à une réunion publique organisée par l'association de la Pensée d'Atatürk et à laquelle participaient Laurette Onkelinx et le secrétaire d'Etat bruxellois Emir Kir.

Très vite, si l'on en croit le blog du journaliste indépendant Mehmet Koksal, la ministre de la Justice a envahi le terrain des massacres des populations arméniennes commis par l'empire ottoman en 1915. Répondant aux questions, la socialiste a déclaré : "C'est le MR et le FDF qui ont proposé au Parlement qu'on vote une loi qui reconnaîtrait le génocide arménien et condamnerait ceux qui ne le reconnaîtraient pas. Je m'y suis opposée ! Pourquoi ? Parce que ce n'est pas au politique d'écrire l'histoire mais aux historiens. Par ailleurs, plus aucun témoin vivant de l'événement n'existe et aucun tribunal international ne s'est prononcé sur ce sujet, j'ai donc empêché cette loi et je m'en suis expliquée à ce moment. Je ne suis pas d'accord avec cette loi qui impose la reconnaissance du génocide arménien et condamne ceux qui ne pensent pas la même chose."

Alors, y'a-t-il eu génocide ou non dans le chef de la ministre de la Justice alors que le PS l'a reconnu en son temps ? Du côté de ses conseillers, on explique que "la ministre a tenu des propos identiques et sans ambiguïté lors des discussions qui ont eu lieu l'année dernière à ce sujet à la Chambre et au Sénat. "

Pour l'instant, le dossier de la répression des négationnistes concernant le génocide arménien est remisé dans les frigos du Parlement. (Karim Fadoul, La Dernière Heure, 20 juin 2006)

Une exposition arménienne censurée en France par des Turcs

Une exposition comprenant une quarantaine de clichés sur le thème de la mémoire arménienne, qui se tenait à Valentigney (près de Montbéliard) , a dû fermer ses portes en raison de tensions avec des membres de la communauté turque locale, a-t-on appris samedi auprès des organisateurs.

L’exposition de photos se tenait sous un chapiteau à l’occasion d’une fête folklorique le 17è festival de danse folklorique et d’artisanat d’art intitulé « Rythmes et Couleurs » et s’inscrivait dans le cadre de l’année de l’Arménie.

Dans la journée, une dizaine de personnes de la communauté turque locale sont venues demander que deux photos soient retirées de l’exposition au motif qu’elles faisaient référence au "génocide arménien perpétré par les turcs".

Le photographe Antoine Agoudjian ayant refusé que ces deux clichés soient retirés, les organisateurs de la fête ont fermé l’accès au chapiteau, en accord avec la mairie.

M. Agoudjian a dénoncé "une situation ubuesque" et "une atteinte grave à la liberté d’expression alors même que la France a reconnu officiellement le génocide arménien". Il a précisé qu’il refusait que ses photos soient exposées toute la semaine dans la MJC de Valentigney, comme cela était prévu. Les photos sont extraites d’un livre qu’Antoine Agoudjian a publié chez Actes Sud.

Antoine Agoudjian est né en 61 à Saint-Maur en France. Ses parents sont ouvriers textiles. Sa première approche vers ses racines se fera par la danse arménienne, dès l’âge de cinq ans. Maître danseur, il découvre la photo à 26 ans, aux États-Unis, en travaillant dans un labo pour se payer son billet de retour pour la France.

A la suite du tremblement de terre en Arménie, il part pour un an avec une ONG comme logisticien et interprète, et prend ses premières images. Il publie « Le feu sous la glace » sur cette expérience. En 92, il obtient son diplôme de photographe et travaille pendant une dizaine d’années dans un laboratoire professionnel où il se spécialise en développement des films et en tirage argentique noir et blanc. Cette année là, il rencontre Robert Doisneau qui l’aide à mettre en forme son deuxième livre « Portrait des restos du coeur ». Il intègre l’agence Rapho.

Depuis 97, il suit la tournée des Enfoirés. Il a publié un ouvrage sur Istanbul et un autre sur les Arméniens du Caucase.

En 89, le photographe s’est rendu sur les lieux de la mémoire familiale, à la recherche de son pays perdu. Il a suivi les chemins de déportation des rescapés au Moyen Orient : Turquie, Syrie, Irak, Iran, Arménie, etc. Il est retourné sur les lieux des massacres, en témoigne ce cliché capté rue Baron à Alep, centre stratégique du commandement turc ou cette image quasiment volée des ossements dans un charnier. Autre vue, vers Van, où la population était dense, il ne subsiste que des oiseaux tournoyant au dessus d’un monastère désert ; plus loin, un berger solitaire garde ses moutons. Les paysages restent profondément sombres, mais la vie est présente dans les regards fiévreux et nostalgiques. (armenews.com, 19 juin 2006)

La candidate Onkelinx au secours des négationnistes turcs

(Mehmet Koksal - http://allochtone.blogspot.com/, 18 juin 2006)

Répondant à de nombreuses interpellations du public lors de son passage à l’association de la Pensée d’Atatürk en Belgique (APAB-BADD) ce samedi 17 juin 2006, la ministre de la Justice et tête de liste PS pour les élections communales à Schaerbeek a clairement entamé un virage vers le négationnisme au sujet du génocide arménien.

Hésitant à plusieurs reprises à évoquer le terme génocide face à un auditoire essentiellement turc, Laurette Onkelinx a insisté à deux reprises sur le fait que « c’est le MR et le FDF qui ont proposé au Parlement qu’on vote une loi qui reconnaîtrait le génocide arménien et condamnerait ceux qui ne le reconnaîtraient pas. Je m’y suis opposé ! Pourquoi ? Parce que ce n’est pas au politique d’écrire l’histoire mais aux historiens. Par ailleurs, plus aucun témoin vivant de l’événement n’existe et aucun tribunal international ne s’est prononcé sur ce sujet, j’ai donc empêché cette loi et je m’en suis expliquée à ce moment. Je ne suis pas d’accord avec cette loi qui impose la reconnaissance du génocide arménien et condamne ceux qui ne pensent pas la même chose », a déclaré Laurette Onkelinx accompagné du Secrétaire d’Etat bruxellois Emir Kir (PS).

« Ce qu’a proposé le Premier ministre turc, c’est un travail avec les Arméniens dans le cadre d’une commission mixte pour pouvoir examiner ce sujet de manière indépendante et objective », a précisé Laurette Onkelinx reprenant ainsi l’argumentaire d’Emir Kir (1) datant de 2004 sur le même sujet.

« Je suis d’accord avec un sage à la mosquée de la rue Masui [à Schaerbeek] qui disait qu’il ne faut plus débattre en politique sur ces questions si on veut une réelle cohabitation entre les Turcs et les Arméniens de ce pays. La grosse différence sur cette question est que certains pensent qu’il y a eu génocide et d’autres pas. C’est le MR et le FDF qui veulent faire condamner ceux qui pensent qu’il n’y a pas eu génocide », a insisté la ministre de la Justice.

Répondant à la remarque de Laurette Onkelinx, un participant a remis une copie de la résolution de 1998 du sénateur Mahoux faisant reconnaître par le Sénat belge le génocide arménien et indique par la même occasion à la ministre que ce sont bien les socialistes qui ont porté ce sujet dans l’arène politique. Un autre participant a interpellé Laurette Onkelinx sur la position totalement contraire du PS français sur le même sujet.

« Ecoutez, je parle de la Belgique ! », esquive Laurette Onkelinx mais son interlocuteur lui rappelle que « vous siégez ensemble au Parlement européen ! »

Venant à la rescousse de sa tête de liste, une militante socialiste « ni turque ni arménienne » a appelé au calme en expliquant que « quand je vois mon ami allemand, je ne pense pas directement à Auschwitz. Le jeune de 20 ans n’est pas responsable de ce qu’on fait auparavant ces ancêtres… ». La remarque a rapidement provoqué la colère de certains membres de l’auditoire : « C’est dangereux de nous comparer à ce qu’ont fait les Allemands ! ».

A noter que les deux socialistes (Onkelinx et Kir) utilisent à propos du génocide arménien le même argumentaire que celui utilisé par le président iranien Mahmoud Ahmadinejad [ou le dirigeant FN Bruno Gollnisch (2)] à propos du génocide juif.

En visite officielle à Shangai, le président Ahmadinejad a déclaré à propos de l’holocauste qu’ « une enquête menée par des parties impartiales et indépendantes est nécessaire pour les événements historiques. (…) En avril, M. Ahmadinejad avait déjà estimé qu'il y avait « un sérieux doute » sur l'existence de l'holocauste. » (3) (Mehmet Koksal - http://allochtone.blogspot.com/, 18 juin 2006)

(1) Dans une interview, accordée au journaliste Karim Fadoul, parue dans la Dernière Heure du 30/11/2004, Emir Kir (PS) répond qu'il appartient « à chaque état à assumer son passé et à faire la lumière sur cette page tragique de son histoire. Et ce sont aux historiens, sous l'égide d'une commission indépendante, à faire la lumière sur cette question.»
(2) Bruno Gollnisch a déclaré le 12 octobre 2004 sur LCI à propos de la contestation de l'existence et de l'utilisation des chambres à gaz par les nazis que « Ces questions devraient relever du débat entre historiens », et qu’ « il appartient aux historiens de se déterminer ». http://archquo.nouvelobs.com/cgi/articles?ad=societe/20041013.OBS8918.html&host=http://permanent.nouvelobs.com/
(3) Dépêche AFP : http://fr.news.yahoo.com/16062006/202/ahmadinejad-met-de-nouveau-en-cause-la-realite-de-l.html

Inquiétude en Turquie avant la venue du catholicos Karékine II

Les services de sécurité turcs sont sur les dents avant la venue en Turquie du catholicos Karékine II, redoutant des mouvements de protestation contre le chef spirituel arménien. Le rapport préparé par les services spéciaux turcs fait écho aux préoccupations exprimées par la communauté arménienne de Turquie et son chef religieux, le patriarche Mesrop Mutafian.

Selon ce rapport, cité par le journal turc Zaman, la communauté arménienne locale s’inquièterait de ce que « le Catholicos de tous les Arméniens ne sait pas ce qu’il va dire ni où il va le dire ». Le journal turc rappelle que le catholicos arménien doit se rendre en Turquie du 19 au 25 juin à l’invitation du patriarche grec orthodoxe Bartholoméo. (armenews.com, 16 juin 2006)

L’UNESCO contre le révisionnisme de la Turquie

Un incident diplomatique vient d’éclater entre la Turquie et l’organisation des Nations Unies pour l’éducation, la science et la culture (UNESCO) selon le quotidien turc Zaman en date du 12 juin 2006 au sujet d’une exposition sur les Archives Ottomanes qui était en train de se monter au quartier général parisien de l’organisation.

Dans la pratique l’UNESCO aurait demandé aux organisateurs turcs d’enlever cinq documents officiels datant de l’empire ottoman et de modifier la description de deux autres concernant les peuples juif et arménien.

Les responsables de l’UNESCO ont ainsi pressé le représentant permanent de la Turquie afin que ce dernier élimine de la collection les documents relatifs aux Arméniens car ces derniers visent “à blesser la sensibilité de ce peuple, engagé à faire reconnaître le génocide auquel il a été victime dans les dernières années de l’empire ottoman au début du siècle dernier” selon un officiel qui a souhaité gardé l’anonymat.

Le litige portait en ce qui concerne les Arméniens sur la description de plusieurs correspondances d’estime et d’amitié entre des dignitaires arméniens et les autorités ottomanes, datant des années 1889 à 1898 et dont le seul objet était de “prouver qu’un génocide n’avait pas pu avoir lieu car les deux peuples s’estimaient au plus au point”. Autre litige un document dans lequel les autorités ottomanes déclaraient d’avoir offert un refuge, au XV siècle "aux juifs expatriés d’Espagne et du Portugal."

Le représentant permanent de la Turquie avait initialement décidé de satisfaire les demandes de l’organisation et puis il en aurait informé le ministère turc des Affaires Étrangères et la Direction générale des Archives d’État.

A cette nouvelle les deux institutions se sont dits “indignés” et aurait explicitement accusé l’UNESCO, selon le quotidien Zaman, de vouloir censurer "des documents dans lesquels la disposition impartiale de l’empire ottoman émerge vers l’humanité, sans quelque discrimination sur la base de la foi ou de l’éthnie."

L’exposition qui devait s’ouvrir le 8 juin et se terminer le 22, elle a été pour le moment suspendue. L’UNESCO a déclaré qu’il s’agit d’un renvoi simple dû à une demande de l’ambassade turque.

Les historiens négationnistes turcs n’ont pas tardé à réagir à cette nouvelle. Soulignant que l’attitude de l’UNESCO n’est pas « conforme à sa vraie mission ou aux réalités historiques » ces derniers ont soutenu la décision d’annuler l’exposition de la part des autorités turques.

Qualifiant les événements de « honteux », le président de l’intitut turc d’histoire l’inénarrable professeur Yusuf Halacoglu a ainsi déclaré « c’est un non-sens pour une organisation dont l’objet est de favoriser le dialogue culturel que d’interdire quelques documents ».

Pour Yusuf Halacoglu la « Turquie a agi en bonne foi afin de résoudre le problème du génocide arménien. Ce qui s’est passé ne se rapporte pas à la science ou à l’honnêteté. Ce ne sont que quelques lettres, que des Arméniens avaient expédiés à l’Empire ottoman en provenance d’Amérique et du Canada pour demander de l’aide. Nous sommes tête à tête avec une si grande honte. » (armenews.com, 16 juin 2006)

Le chef de la diplomatie suisse au monument du génocide arménien

La ministre suisse des Affaires étrangères Micheline Calmy-Rey, dont le pays a reconnu le génocide arménien, a déposé une gerbe lundi au monument dédié aux victimes des massacres à Erevan, capitale de l'Arménie.

Lors d'un entretien avec son homologue arménien, Mme Calmy-Rey a par ailleurs évoqué un approfondissement de la coopération bilatérale, économique, culturelle et dans le domaine humanitaire ainsi qu'au sein des organisations internationales, selon le ministère arménien des Affaires étrangères.

Le Conseil national, la chambre basse du parlement suisse, a reconnu en décembre 2003 le génocide des Arméniens sous l'empire ottoman.

Cette reconnaissance avait conduit à des tensions diplomatiques entre la Suisse et la Turquie et à l'annulation d'une visite officielle de la ministre suisse des Affaires étrangères à Ankara.

Mme Calmy-Rey, qui s'est finalement rendue en Turquie en mars 2005, a alors appelé Ankara à entreprendre un travail historique "approfondi" sur le génocide des Arméniens. (AFP, 12 juin 2006)

Le commentaire d'Özgüden sur le film documentaire Seyfo-L'Elimination

La projection du film documentaire sur le génocide des Assyro-chaldéens, intitulé "Seyfo - L'Elimination" et réalisé par Robert Alaux et Nahro Beth-Kinnea, eu lieu le samedi 3 juin à la Basilique de Koekelberg à Bruxelles.

L'Agence Belga a diffusé la dêpeche suivante concernant cette soirée:

Un documentaire sur les massacres d'Assyro-chaldéens en Turquie 

Les massacres dont a fait l'objet le peuple assyro-chaldéen dans le sud-est de l'Empire ottoman au début du vingtième siècle sont au coeur d'un documentaire présenté samedi pour la première fois en Belgique devant quelques parlementaires du sp.a-Spirit, de Groen! et du cdH.

"Seyfo, l'élimination" est le fruit de deux réalisateurs dont un vit en Belgique depuis plus de vingt ans.

Nahro Beth-Kinne, Belge d'origine assyrienne, est retourné en 2005 sur la terre de ses ancêtres, dans la région de Diyarbakir, en Turquie, non loin de la frontière irakienne. Il s'est notamment rendu à Midyat dans le Tur Abdin, la ville où il a grandi et a retrouvé des Assyro-chaldéens centenaires de langue araméenne, témoins des massacres des populations assyriennes, syriaques et chaldéennes entre 1915 et 1918.

La diaspora assyro-chaldéenne chrétienne s'estime oubliée par le grand frère arménien dans son combat pour la reconnaissance du génocide. Selon les Assyro-chaldéens, le génocide commis à l'initiative du gouvernement Jeune Turc visait l'ensemble de la population non-musulmane de la région, principalement chrétienne mais également juive.

Les Assyro-chaldéens estiment qu'entre 75 et 90% de leur ethnie a été exterminée dans le sud-est de la Turquie. Plusieurs centaines de milliers d'entre eux vivaient dans la région au début du vingtième siècle. Depuis les massacres de 1915 et les exodes qui ont suivi tout au long du vingtième siècle, il ne reste plus qu'un petit millier d'Assyro-chaldéens.

Le documentaire mentionne différentes sources écrites (correspondance diplomatique, témoignage d'ecclésiastiques), se fonde sur des témoignages d'un chercheur et, surtout, de survivants.

Lors de sa présentation samedi à Bruxelles, les députés régionaux Jan Beghin (sp.a-Spirit), Adelheid Byttebier (Groen!) et Denis Grimberghs (cdH) sont venus apporter leur soutien.

Ce fut aussi le cas du journaliste turc Dogan Özgüden qui dirige l'association Info-turk. Ce dernier a notamment fustigé "le monde politique belge qui avait l'honneur d'être un des pionniers de la reconnaissance du génocide de 1915 et qui cède sans cesse au chantage du régime d'Ankara, intégrant les adeptes de la Seyfiye (élite militaire ottomane, Ndlr) dans leurs listes électorales pour pouvoir obtenir quelques votes des électeurs d'origine turque, otages de l'Ambassade de la Turquie, des organisations ultra-nationalistes ou intégristes".

Les Assyro-chaldéens -ils sont plusieurs milliers en Belgique- sont pour la plupart partisans de l'intégration de la Turquie dans l'Union européenne, estimant que celle-ci obligera Ankara à respecter les droits des minorités.

Co-réalisé par le Français Robert Alaux, déjà auteur en 2004 du film "Les derniers Assyriens", "Seyfo, l'élimination" (Seyfo signifie "l'épée" et est le nom donné par les Assyro-chaldéens aux massacres de 1915, Ndlr) est un documentaire de 52 minutes. Edité en français et en syriaque (dialecte moderne dérivé de l'araméen classique), ce film est disponible auprès de nahro.beth-kinne@tiscali.be./. (Belga-OCH/MPA, 5 juin 2006)

Le texte complet de l'intervention de Dogan Özgüden

"En tant que journaliste turc contestataire, je félicite Robert Alaux et Nahro Beth-Kinne pour la réalisation d'un documentaire si nécessaire afin de comprendre la réalité de Turquie, le grand pays qui est le nôtre, le pays des Arméniens, Assyro-chaldéens, Grecs, Juifs, Kurdes, Turcs et des autres...

"Le titre de ce documentaire exceptionnel est éloquent.  Seyfo...

"En effet, au début du 20e siècle, des centaines de milliers de gens ont été massacrés par Seyfo, l'épée.

"Je tiens à préciser que seyfo est le symbole de la domination de l'Armée non seulement dans l'Empire ottoman mais également dans la république de Turquie.

"A l'empire ottoman, l'élite militaire s'appelait Seyfiye, c'est-à-dire le maître de l'épée. Les deux autres élites, mülkiye, élite administrative, et ilmiye, élite religieuse-universitaire étaient complices de la Seyfiye dans toutes ses opérations répressives et expansionnistes. Il y a 91 ans, cette épée, Seyfo, a massacré des centaines de milliers d'Assyro-chaldéens et d'Arméniens.

"Hélas, la Turquie d'aujourd'hui, malgré toutes ses prétentions démocratiques, frappe la porte de l'Union européenne non par une branche d'olivier, mais par l'épée de l'Armée, par Seyfo.

"La campagne de négationnisme du génocide des Arméniens et des Assyro-chaldéens en est la preuve irréfutable. Dans cette campagne honteuse, le mülkiye et l'ilmiye, c'est-à-dire, les élites politico-administrative et academique-médiatique de la Turquie se montrent aussi agressives que la seyfiye.

"Un dernier mot… Malheureusement, le monde politique belge qui avait l'honneur d'être un des pionniers de la reconnaissance du génocide de 1915 cède sans cesse au chantage du régime d'Ankara et intègrent les adeptes de la Seyfiye dans leurs listes électorales pour pouvoir obtenir quelques votes des électeurs d'origine turque, otages de l'Ambassade de la Turquie, des organisations ultra-nationalistes ou intégristes.

"La Seyfo n'est malheureusement pas restée un souvenir tragique d'il y a un siècle, mais hante actuellement la vie politique non seulement en Turquie mais également en Europe et notamment en Belgique.

"Nahro et Robert… Je vous félicite pour votre film et je souhaite qu'il serve à réveiller le monde politique belge avant qu'il ne soit trop tard."

Orhan Pamuk prône la liberté d'expression sur le massacre d'Arméniens

L'écrivain turc Orhan Pamuk a défendu jeudi à Moscou la liberté d'expression en Turquie sur le douloureux dossier du massacre d'Arméniens commis sous l'empire ottoman, appelant son pays à devenir plus "libre et ouvert".

"Nous, les Turcs, devons être capables de parler de tout ce qui est arrivé aux Arméniens sous l'empire ottoman. C'est avant tout un problème turc, celui de la liberté d'expression, de la démocratie et de la société libérale plutôt qu'un problème international", a déclaré l'écrivain lors d'une conférence de presse.

"J'espère que mon pays sera plus libre et plus ouvert pour parler de ce dossier sans crainte", a ajouté Pamuk qui est venu pour la première fois en Russie pour promouvoir son livre "Istanbul. Memories and the city" qui vient d'être traduit en russe.

Lauréat du prix Médicis étranger 2005 pour "Neige" et de nombreux autres prix internationaux, Pamuk risquait entre six mois et trois ans de prison pour "insulte ouverte à la nation turque".

La justice turque avait engagé des poursuites contre lui en décembre à cause de ses propos sur le massacre d'Arméniens avant de les abandonner en janvier.

Il lui était reproché d'avoir affirmé dans un entretien publié par un magazine suisse en février 2005: "Un million d'Arméniens et 30.000 Kurdes ont été tués sur ces terres, mais personne d'autre que moi n'ose le dire".

Pamuk, qui s'exprimait en anglais, a également déclaré jeudi qu'il ne devait "pas y avoir de limites à la liberté d'expression pour un écrivain".

"Je comprends les communautés religieuses, ethniques (...) qui ont intérêt à défendre ceux qui essaient de limiter la liberté d'expression", a-t-il dit.

"Je comprends et respecte leur point de vue mais je ne suis pas un homme politique et je défends mon droit d'écrire tout ce que je veux", a-t-il ajouté.

Né en 1952 à Istanbul, Orhan Pamuk a été salué dès ses premiers romans parus dans les années 1980. Il a obtenu en 2001 le Prix du Meilleur livre étranger en France avec "Mon nom est rouge".

Son oeuvre est traduite en 40 langues. (AFP, 1er juin 2006)

Politique intérieure/Interior Politics

A new book on an old taboo: Atatürk's wife

NEARLY seven decades after his death, Kemal Ataturk, the westernising founder of modern Turkey, remains a near-deity for millions of Turks. His steely-grey eyes stare out of portraits hung in every school and government office; his sayings are etched on monuments and even mountains. Insulting Ataturk can bring up to three years in jail. Changing that is one of many tough requirements on Turkey's road to the European Union.

An encouraging if modest step comes with a new biography of Ataturk's wife, Latife Ussaki, by a veteran journalist, Ipek Calislar. Ever since Ataturk divorced her in 1925, Turks have been fed images of a shrill, bossy and ugly woman, who lacked the will and wiles to manage her heroic husband and was therefore to blame for the collapse of their stormy two-year marriage. Mrs Calislar's diligent research and testimony from friends and family paints a different picture of the plucky, unveiled 23-year-old, who won the heart of the nation's ruler.

The daughter of a rich merchant from Izmir, who had studied law in Europe, Latife played a bigger role than has ever been acknowledged in helping to shape Ataturk's vision of a modern Turkish state. A vocal feminist, she pushed hard for the laws that enfranchised women in Turkey long before France or Switzerland. Ataturk was so proud of Latife that he would tour with his unveiled bride throughout Anatolia, touting her as a role model for Turkish women. So what went wrong?

Latife never told her side of the story, mainly out of loyalty to Ataturk but also out of fear. The shroud of mystery was set to be unveiled when a 25-year-old court order banning the publication of her diaries and letters kept in the vaults of Ankara's Turkish History Foundation expired last year. But the family refused to publish the papers so as to protect Ataturk's image.

One issue may have been Ataturk's nightly drinking sessions with his chums, which were widely known but rarely discussed. They clearly played a part in the break-up. So did the sudden appearance of Fikriye, Ataturk's former mistress, who shot herself in the grounds of the presidential palace. But Mrs Calislar hints at another reason: for all his westernising zeal, Ataturk was ultimately unable to cope with a wife who insisted on being his equal. “He was”, notes Mrs Calislar, “a man, after all.” (The Economist, June 22, 2006)

L'ex-PM Yilmaz échappe à la prison, signale un retour en politique

La Cour suprême turque a décidé vendredi de suspendre, sans prononcer un verdict, un procès pour corruption contre l'ancien Premier ministre conservateur Mesut Yilmaz, qui a signalé un éventuel retour à la politique après quatre ans d'absence.

Les poursuites lancées à son encontre seront abandonnées dans un délai de cinq ans s'il ne répète pas les mêmes délits, selon la décision de la Cour suprême, nom que prend la Cour constitutionnelle, plus haute instance judiciaire du pays, quand elle siège pour juger d'anciens ministres.

La Cour, qui jugeait M. Yilmaz depuis février 2005, a estimé que les faits reprochés à l'ex-ministre relevaient de l'abus de pouvoir et entraient dans le cadre d'une loi de libération conditionnelle adoptée en 2000.

La Cour a ainsi décidé de suspendre la procédure de jugement mais sans toutefois blanchir M. Yilmaz, trois fois Premier ministre dans les années 1990 et ancien chef du parti de la mère Patrie (Anap, conservateur).

L'ex-ministre de l'Economie Günes Taner, jugé avec lui, a aussi vu son jugement suspendu sous les mêmes conditions.

M. Yilmaz, 59 ans, a été accusé de malversations lors de la privatisation en 1998 de la banque publique Türkbank, un scandale qui a conduit à la chute de son gouvernement.

M. Yilmaz, qui a quitté la politique en 2002, et son ex-ministre de l'Economie étaient passibles de jusqu'à 10 ans de prison.

MM. Yilmaz et Taner avaient nié tout au long de leur procès très médiatisé  les faits qui leur sont reprochés.

Cette même Cour juge actuellement, lors d'audiences séparées, d'autres ancien ministres pour des accusations de corruption.

A la sortie de l'audience, M. Yilmaz, applaudi par des centaines de partisans arborant des drapeaux turcs, a regretté de ne pas être purement et simplement acquitté et signalé un éventuel retour à la politique.

"Tout au long du procès j'avais suspendu les propositions politiques. A partir d'aujourd'hui je vais avoir des entretiens dans ce domaine", a-t-il notamment dit aux journalistes.

La droite classique représentée par les anciens Premiers ministres Mesut Yilmaz et Tansu Ciller --qui s'est aussi retirée de la scène politique-- avait été l'une des grandes perdantes du dernier scrutin législatif, en 2002.

Anap et le Parti de juste Voie (DYP) de Mme Ciller n'avaient pu envoyer aucun représentant au parlement, portant seul à la tête du pays un nouveau parti politique, celui de la Justice et du Développement (AKP, issu de la mouvance islamiste) dirigé par l'actuel chef du gouvernement, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (AFP, 23 juin 2006)

European court to discuss election threshold in Turkey

The Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights agreed to discuss an application calling for the abolition of Turkey's controversial 10 percent election threshold, NTV reported yesterday.

Mehmet Yunak and Resul Sadak, who were running in the 2002 general elections from the now-defunct Democratic People's Party (DEHAP), applied in 2003 to the key court asking for the abolition of the election threshold.

Tahir Elçi, lawyer for Yunak and Sadak, argued that the election system in Turkey would need to be changed if the European court issued a verdict against Turkey when it discussed their case on Sept. 5.

He said there was no doubt that the deputy law would need to be changed in Turkey under the relevant article of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Yunak and Sadak failed in securing seats in the Turkish Parliament as their party was below the 10 percent threshold in the 2002 elections but the candidates garnered 46 percent of the vote.

The European court, which deemed it unnecessary to open a file on similar applications, agreed to try Turkey this time. In their application, Yunak and Sadak said the 10 percent threshold led to injustice in Turkey, claiming that the will of the majority of the citizens was not reflected in Parliament.

"We believe that the [relevant article of the European Convention on Human Rights] article has been violated due to the 10-percent threshold," they said. (Turkish Daily News, June 21, 2006)

Fuel on the fire of presidential polls debate

Turkey's fiercely independent business sector yesterday waded into the fierce debate over "what sort of president" should be elected next May, saying that a consensus figure would be best.

The call by Omer Sabanci, the head of the Turkish Businessmen's and Industrialists' Association (TUSIAD) to announce a consensus candidate for president to calm the fragile Turkish financial scene, was reciprocated by the premier almost immediately. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the person to become the president should be able to represent Turkey, establish a ground for unity and solidarity in the country and coordinate the ground well.

Erdogan also underlined that the next president should have leadership qualities, a thinly-veiled reference to the overall criticism that the present president lacks charisma and political leadership experience.

Speaking en route to Turkey from his visit to Croatia and Macedonia late Wednesday, the prime minister gave important messages to the opposition about the presidential elections and sharply criticized main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal.

"There are even people who are so disrespectful to Parliament that they say Parliament doesn't have the representation needed to elect the president," said Erdogan. "When the time arrives, we will decide who will be the candidate for the elections as the Justice and Development (AK) Party group."

Speaking at the CHP Central Administrative Council (MYK) meeting Wednesday evening, Baykal said that early elections should be held in November to solve the presidency crisis.

The flaring debate over the presidential elections, scheduled for May next year, is ongoing despite the government's statements that the president will be elected by the current Parliament. While the CHP argues that the president's wife shouldn't wear a headscarf and that the current Parliament doesn't have the necessary political legitimacy to elect the president, other political parties and senior statesman Suleyman Demirel have launched campaigns pushing for popular election of the president.

Criticizing Baykal as being disrespectful to Parliament, Erdogan said that one can see that Parliament has political legitimacy by looking at the total vote received by the parties in Parliament.

The AK Party got one-third of the vote in 2002 elections but won a two-thirds majority in Parliament due to the 10 percent election threshold and relatively low voter turnout rate.

Criticizing Demirel and Social Democrat People's Party (SHP) leader Murat Karayalcin for their statements advocating popular election of the president, Erdogan said that these calls aim to distract attention.

"Those who opposed the popular election of the president for years are now saying that the public should elect the president," asserted Erdogan.

Baykal on Wednesday called on the AK Party to hold early elections and said that the only way to end the debates and the bad administration is to hold elections.

Asserting that early elections are gradually becoming more inevitable, Baykal said that making the decision to hold early elections in November will be to the advantage of both Turkey and the AK Party.

Stating that his party's preparations for the elections are ongoing and will gain speed with Parliament's summer recess, Baykal said that the CHP's recent call for support was welcomed by many circles.

The CHP leader said that his call wasn't to particular people but to the public, adding that the public should protect the democratic republic. (the new anatolian.com, June 16, 2006)

Constitutional Court to rule on 16 political parties

Sixteen parties, including the ruling and the main opposition parties, are awaiting rulings on various aspects of their legality and conduct by the Constitutional Court, while six of them, including the ruling party, are reportedly facing a possible ban by the top court.

There are 18 files about 16 political parties among the 260 files that are to be examined at the Constitutional Court. While six of these files request that the parties be banned, six of them are about parties that have been de facto closed down and seek the judicial registration of their situation. While three of the files propose warnings to political parties, including the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), three other files are applications by already-banned parties appealing the verdicts against them.

The following are the parties that have files at the Constitutional Court to be examined and the arguments against the parties:

Justice and Development (AK) Party: There are two separate files on the ruling party at the Constitutional Court. The first requests the party be banned under the Constitution and related articles of the Political Parties Law for failing to fulfill the requirements, in a warning issued by the Constitutional Court in a Jan. 9, 2002 ruling (E. 2001/8 K. 2002/9), in a complete manner and in compliance with the Political Parties Law in six months, which is the time limit stated in Article 104/2 of the Political Parties Law. The file also asks the court to ban Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan from acting as leader of the party, as stipulated in Article 77 of party bylaws, as he continues his post of founder leader in the party despite the Constitutional Court's warning. The file is still under examination and a date will be set in the coming days to debate the file.

The second file on the AK Party says that Article 7 of the party bylaws stipulates clauses in violation of the Political Parties Law and Turkish Civil Code and asks the court to issue a warning to the party to remove the offending clauses. The file is under consideration.

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP): A file about this party asks the court to issue a warning under Article 104 of the Political Parties Law to the CHP to hold its provincial and district branch congresses that have not been held in some provinces and districts due to various reasons such as removal from office, postponement, etc. The file is currently under consideration.

Turkish Communist Party (TKP): The file about the party asks for it to be banned for failing to fulfill the requirements of a Jan. 9, 2002 warning issued by the court (E. 2001/11 K. 2002/7), in line with the Political Parties Law, in six months, which is the time limit stated in Article 104/2 of the Political Parties Law. The file is currently under consideration and a date will be set in the coming days for its debate.

Rights and Freedoms Party (Hak-Par): There are two files at the Constitutional Court about the party, which was founded by Abdulmelik Firat et al on Feb. 11, 2002. The first asks that the party be banned for acting against the foundational principles of the Constitution, its clauses related to political parties and the Political Parties Law. This file is currently under consideration. The second file asks the court to issue a warning to the party as the legal situation of its 11 founder members, including its leader Firat, is breaking the law. The file is currently under consideration and a date will be set in the coming days for its debate.

Turkish Socialist Labor Party (TSIP): The party, which was set up in 1993, faces a petition for it to be banned for being involved with activities violating the 4th clause of Article 68 of the Constitution. The constitutional clause that the request is based upon stipulates, "The statutes and programs, as well as the activities of political parties shall not be in conflict with the independence of the state, its indivisible integrity with its territory and nation, human rights, the principles of equality and the rule of law, sovereignty of the nation, the principles of the democratic and secular republic; they shall not aim to protect or establish class or group dictatorship or dictatorship of any kind, nor shall they incite citizens to crime." The file is under consideration.

Turkey is Happy With its Handicapped People: The party was founded in 1996 but decided to shut itself down in 2004 after failing to find support. The file awaiting debate at the Constitutional Court asks the court to ban the party for failing to fulfill the requirements of a Jan. 9, 2002 warning issued by the Constitutional Court (E. 2001/9 K. 2002/5), in compliance with the Political Parties Law. The file is under consideration and a date will be set in the coming days for its debate.

Democratic People's Party (DEHAP): The party was set up in 1998 and dissolved itself at the end of 2005 following the establishment of its successor, the Democratic Society Party (DTP). The file prepared by the Court of Appeals Public Prosecutor's Office asks the court to ban the party for submitting a written declaration of its branches in provinces and districts where it in fact lacks branches, for acting against the democratic republic, equality and the rule of law principles in the fourth clause of Article 68 of the Constitution and for shaking the public confidence in judicial bodies, and is awaiting debate at the Constitutional Court. The file is currently under consideration and a date will be set in the coming days for its debate.

Socialist Union Movement Party: There are currently two files about the party, which was set up in 1999. The first asks the court to issue a warning to the party for not holding its general congress within the time limit set in Article 14 of the Political Parties Law. The second requests the judicial registration of its natural dissolution and of the end of its legal status and states that the party failed to fulfill the requirements of setting up a party and therefore didn't have a political party status under the Constitution and Political Parties Law. Both files are currently under consideration.

The Justice Party (founded on April 11, 1994), Turkish Justice Party, (1995), Our Existence Party (2001), Equality Party (2001) and Last Summons Party all face identical legal problems. The files about these parties request the judicial registration of their natural dissolution and the end of their legal status and states that the parties failed to fulfill the requirements of setting up a party and therefore didn't have a political party status under the Constitution and Political Parties Law. The files are currently under consideration and a date will be set in the coming days for their debate.

The petitions of the People's Labor Party (HEP) and Freedom and Democracy Party, which were banned in 1993 with the rulings of the Constitutional Court, requesting retrial are also under consideration at the court. Both petitions were filed by attorney Hasip Kaplan. Kaplan bases his requests on a ruling of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and Law No. 4793 amending several laws. Both files are under consideration and the case about HEP was reported to be seen in the coming days.

Another case at the Constitutional Court is a file about the Turkish United Communist Party, which was banned by the court in 1991. The file requests that the ruling banning the party be annulled, and this is currently under consideration. (The New Anatolian, Cem Ceren, June 13, 2006)

La popularité du gouvernement Erdogan en baisse (sondage)

La cote de popularité du gouvernement islamo-conservateur turc du Premier ministre Recep Tayyip Erdogan est en baisse, notamment en raison d'un sentiment d'inefficacité dans la lutte contre le chômage, selon un sondage publié jeudi par les médias turcs.

Selon ce sondage, réalisé du 20 mai au 3 juin par la compagnie Sonar, le parti de la Justice et du Développement (AKP, issu de la mouvance islamiste) obtiendrait 30% des suffrages si des élections étaient organisées aujourd'hui.

Le sondage a été réalisé auprès de 1.837 personnes dans 15 régions.

Le parti au pouvoir accuse un recul de 3,5 points par rapport à la précédente enquête, en avril dernier, et plus de 13 points par rapport à janvier.

L'AKP restera au pouvoir en dépit de ce résultat, l'opposition social-démocrate (CHP) ne recueillant que 19,2% des voix.

Troisième parti rassemblant les 10% de suffrages nécessaires pour être représenté au Parlement, le parti de la Juste voie (centre-droit) recueille 12,6% des voix, selon le sondage.

Les prochaines législatives sont normalement prévues en novembre 2007.

La baisse de la popularité du gouvernement, arrivé au pouvoir en 2002, est attribuée en grande partie à un manque de volonté dans la lutte contre le chômage. (AFP, 8 juin 2006)

What and where is Ergenekon?

The name Ergenekon and various documents related to this organization have been around for a while. Some of these documents are related to security intelligence and others are simply unknown sources.
 
This organization, and its structure, as explained in the documents are indeed horrific.
 
However, it is not beyond the realms of believability. We live in a country which has been through blood and aggravation centered developments, has paid heavily for the affects of Cold War, and established illegal mechanisms within the state under the pretext of war against communism. . .
 
Those searching for Ergenekon do not need to look too far.

The story of Turkish Gladio, starting from the killing of Abdi Ipekci[ well known journalist killed in the 70s by the assassin of Jan Paul II], the massacre of 16 March, Susurluk and possibly the recent shooting in the Council of State, is the story of Ergenekon. And this story contains the darkest and bloodiest pages in Turkish political history.

However, it is not only all about a dark and a bloody story.
 
It also reveals the “deep picture” of our mentality of administration which portrays the Susurluk and 28 February [soft military coup which brought down Erbakan government] as the two sides of a coin, and integrates the attack against the Council of State with attacks against civil politics.

The situation we face today can best be explained with reference to Agatha Christie’s “Murder on the Orient Express”. In this novel, a detective is looking for a murderer but at the end he realizes that all passengers on the train have some how put a knife to the victim. There is not one murderer or a suspect but everyone were partners in the crime.
 
When the issue of lifting the immunity of Mehmet Agar was discussed in the Turkish Grand National Assembly in 1997, Mehmet Agar gave a speech to his party group members, the DYP (True Path Party) MPs. He said:  "Whatever I did I have done with the knowledge of the military and senior state officials.”
 
Agar’s protective umbrella has been very beneficial to him.

During those days Turkish public opinion has came to see the exchange of messages between the JITEM, MIT and other intelligence personnel through the press, court statements and Parliamentary discussions.

Public opinion assumed that some light was being shed onto the situation. However, in fact the realities were all covered up through reciprocal threats and warnings.
Today Mehmet Agar as the leader of the DYP is a strong contender for power in the next general elections.

What Mr Elkatmis, as the Chair of the Susurluk Investigation Commission, has said still goes without notice. He said in a manner of questioning our “bloody history”:
"There are three bases to the [organized] gang. First is the police, second is the [state] bureaucrats and third is the military. We can question the police and some of bureaucrats, but we cannot question the military. I™brahim S¸ahin [police officer involved in Susurluk] was accused of setting up an illegal gang based on his photographs with Abdullah Catli [Turkey’s most wanted assassin killed in Susurluk crash]. We also have documents proving that Brigadier General Veli Kucuk made several telephone calls to Abdullah Catli. Why weren’t these documents accepted as evidence and there has not been an investigation against Veli Kucuk. Who ever finds him/herself in a difficult situation can claim that it is national security and would not turn up to give a statement in a court. Only if some people speak in Turkey can we get to the bottom of the investigation”. . .
 
Ibrahim Sahin was sentenced to 6 years imprisonment, but Brigadier General Veli Kucuk was promoted to Major General in August, the same year.
 
At the same time newspapers published pages long transcripts of telephone conversations of Yesil [Mahmut Yildirim, whose ID was revealed during Susurluk incident. He is claimed to be behind extrajudicial killings and is still missing]. Yesil, who was referred to as “the killer of Vedat Aydin and Cem Ersever” by Kutlu Savas, made numerous telephone calls to gendarmerie units and even to military headquarters in Ankara.
This was never investigated. 

It only remained as a newspaper report.
 
The activities of Cem Ersever [well known senior JITEM personnel] and his death also went uninvestigated. Officially JITEM has never existed but its existence was proven with dozens of documents.
 
Why, we must ask? What and where is Ergenekon? (alibayramoglu@tnn.net - http://www.yenisafak.com.tr , Translated from Turkish original by PUIK, June 6, 2006)

Le patronat met en garde le gouvernement Erdogan au sujet de laïcité

Le patronat turc a lancé vendredi un sévère avertissement au gouvernement islamo-conservateur du Premier ministre Recep Tayyip Erdogan, l'exhortant à renoncer à des efforts controversés visant le caractère laïque de l'Etat et à s'occuper plutôt des réformes pro-européennes.

"Nous parlons des thèmes religieux qui occupent notre ordre du jour au lieu de parler des réformes" démocratiques pro-européennes a déclaré Ömer Sabanci, président de l'influente Association des industries et des entreprises de Turquie (Tüsiad) lors d'une réunion du comité directeur de son organisation à Istanbul.

"La crédibilité montante de la Turquie ces trois dernières années s'est peu à peu effritée", a affirmé l'homme d'affaires, enjoignant le gouvernement du parti de la Justice et du Développement (AKP, issu de la mouvance islamiste), au pouvoir depuis 2002, a "expliquer au monde entier et à l'opinion publique turque que nous allons avancer avec détermination dans la voie de l'UE".

La Tüsiad s'en était prise par le passé à certaines politiques du gouvernement notamment au sujet de la candidature d'Ankara à l'Union européenne, mais cette fois la critique est plus forte.

M. Sabanci a indiqué que la laïcité était un "mode de vie profondément imprégné dans toutes les cellules de la société turque".

L'AKP, bien qu'il affirme avoir renié son héritage islamiste, est souvent accusé de vouloir éroder discrètement les principes laïques, notamment dans l'enseignement.

La question du port --strictement interdit-- du foulard islamique dans la fonction publique et les universités, est aussi un sujet de controverse. L'AKP avait promis avant d'arriver au pouvoir de faire lever cette interdiction mais s'est à chaque fois heurtée à la vive résistance de la hiérarchie laïque, dont la puissante armée.
 Le gouvernement turc est accusé d'avoir ralenti le rythme des réformes pro-européennes depuis l'ouverture, en octobre, des négociations d'adhésion avec les 25.

Mustafa Koç, un autre responsable du Tüsiad qui a également pris la parole, a estimé que "le processus de réformes devaient être de nouveau activé", affirmant que le gouvernement semblait avoir perdu son engagement pro-européen.

M. Sabanci s'est d'autre part opposé à la tenue de législatives anticipées, une éventualité exclue par M. Erdogan mais qui est évoquée de plus en plus fortement dans les coulisses politiques en raison notamment des turbulences vécues sur les marchés turcs qui ont conduit ces dernières semaines à une dépréciation de près de 20% de la livre turque (YTL) face au dollar et à l'euro ainsi qu'à une hausse des taux d'intérêts.

"Un scrutin anticipé ne peut qu'aggraver les problèmes politiques et économiques", a-t-il estimé.

Les prochaines législatives doivent normalement avoir lieu en novembre 2007. (AFP, 2 juin 2006)

Forces armées/Armed Forces

Le poids de la Turquie dans le complexe militaro-industriel russe

Le président turc, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, entamera le 28 juin une visite officielle en Russie. Il est quasi certain que la coopération technico-militaire des deux pays sera abordée au cours des pourparlers qu'il aura avec le président russe, Vladimir Poutine.

Pour les historiens, cette coopération remonte à une bonne centaine d'années, à 1920, quand la Russie avait reçu la visite du fondateur de la République turque, Kemal Ataturk. Sur demande de celui-ci, le Soviet des commissaires du peuple (conseil des ministres) avait dégagé un crédit de 10 millions de roubles-or en qualité d'aide gracieuse aux dirigeants kemaliens, et ce alors que la Russie soviétique était économiquement et socialement affaiblie à l'extrême par la guerre civile et l'intervention étrangère. La Russie avait procuré au plus proche voisin méridional des conseillers militaires ainsi que des armements et des matériels de guerre: fusils, mitrailleuses, cartouches, grenades, voitures blindées avions et armes blanches. Tout cela avait beaucoup contribué au devenir de la jeune République turque.

L'année 1992 constitue une nouvelle étape de la coopération militaire. A l'époque Ankara et Moscou avaient conclu un accord portant sur la livraison à la partie turque d'armes et de matériels de guerre russes pour un montant de 100 millions de dollars. Les transporteurs blindés russes BTR-80 et des hélicoptères polyvalents Mi-8MTCh/Mi-17 fournis à des unités de gendarmerie avaient ensuite fait leurs preuves dans la lutte contre les formations armées illégales de séparatistes.

Les gendarmes et les troupes spéciales turcs sont également dotés de fusils d'assaut et de mitrailleuses Kalachnikov, de fusils à lunette Dragounov et de lance-roquettes antichars portables RPG-7. Des unités d'artillerie turques sont équipées de lance-roquettes multiples de 107mm, TR-122, T-122 et STR-122.

Au mois d'avril 1994, la Russie et la Turquie avaient signé un accord intergouvernemental de coopération technico-militaire. Il s'agissait là du premier accord de ce genre passé entre Moscou et la capitale d'un Etat membre de l'OTAN. Il prévoyait une large implication du complexe militaro-industriel de la Russie dans la livraison à Ankara d'armements pour les trois armes et la gendarmerie. Cependant, pour des raisons diverses cet accord ne devait pas pleinement se réaliser. Il a néanmoins été repris après la constitution en mai 2001 de la Commission mixte russo-turque pour la coopération technico-militaire. Cette structure a tenu depuis deux sessions, à Ankara et à Moscou. Au cours de la visite effectuée en Turquie par le président Vladimir Poutine (décembre 2004) les parties russe et turque ont signé plusieurs documents sur la protection réciproque de la propriété intellectuelle dans le domaine de la coopération technico-militaire ainsi que sur la protection réciproque des informations secrètes.

Selon les experts russes, à ce jour les livraisons d'armes et de matériels de guerre russes à la Turquie se montent à quelque 200 millions de dollars. Il s'agit essentiellement de munitions et de pièces détachées pour les équipements militaires livrés antérieurement. Disons-le carrément, cela ne correspond ni au potentiel du complexe militaro-militaire russe, ni aux besoins des forces armées turques, ni aux possibilités financières de l'Etat turc.

Les experts font remarquer qu'Ankara possède la deuxième armée la plus nombreuse et la plus puissante de l'OTAN. De 3 à 5 milliards de dollars d'armements sont vendus chaque année sur le marché turc. Le programme de modernisation de l'armée turque entériné en 1997 prévoit l'octroi à ces fins de 27 milliards de dollars jusqu'à 2007. Sur ce plan la Russie a bien des choses à offrir et elle est disposée en échange d'une bonne partie de cette somme à fournir à la Turquie des armes au moins aussi performantes, sinon plus, que celles qui lui sont proposées par l'Alliance de l'Atlantique Nord, autrement dit les Etats-Unis.

De la vanité de la part de Moscou? Aucunement. Il y a quelques années, plus précisément en 1997, Ankara avait lancé un appel d'offres concernant l'achat d'un hélicoptère de reconnaissance et d'attaque. Il était prévu d'acquérir 145 appareils pour un montant de 1,5-2 milliards de dollars. L'une des conditions essentielles de l'appel d'offres prévoyait l'implication de sociétés étrangères dans l'équipement des hélicoptères et l'assemblage de ces derniers dans des entreprises turques. La Russie avait proposé à la Turquie son "fleuron", à savoir l'hélicoptère à rotors co-axiaux Ka-50 BlackShark (Requin noir), qui après avoir été modernisé par un consortium russo-israélien et doté d'une nouvelle avionique, dont des viseurs nuit, a été rebaptisé Erdogan (Faucon). Concepteur de cet appareil , la société Kamov a accepté qu'il soit assemblé sur licence dans des entreprises turques. Qui plus est, l'Erdogan pourra être vendu à des pays tiers sans restrictions quant à son utilisation à des fins militaires. Et puis le prix consenti par la partie russe défiait toute concurrence.

Seulement les Etats-Unis sont intervenus. La société Bell/Textron qui avait proposé l'hélicoptère AH-1Z Super Cobra "sur le retour" et loin d'afficher les performances de l'Erdogan, a exercé une pression sans précédent sur Ankara, y compris par le biais du président Bush junior. Lors des essais comparatifs le Kamov s'est presque toujours avéré meilleur que le Super Cobra. En décembre 2003, le premier sous-secrétaire d'Etat à la Défense de Turquie, Ali Ercan, avait décidé de signer le contrat avec la Russie. Mais... un mois et demi plus tard il était démis de ses fonctions et le 14 mai 2004 les résultats de l'appel d'offres étaient annulés.

Un nouvel appel d'offres similaire a été lancé. On saura probablement après la visite du président Ahmet Necdet Sezer à Moscou si l'Erdogan a conservé ses chances. C'est vrai que la Turquie n'a pas que des hélicoptères à proposer à la Turquie. La "carte" offerte par Moscou comporte la fabrication sur licence dans des entreprises turques de chars russes (T-80V ou T-90 armé d'un canon de 120 mm adapté aux standards de l'OTAN), des transporteurs de troupes blindés BTR-80 ou BTR-90 et des véhicules blindés Tigr, la fourniture de missiles antichars de courte et de moyenne portées, de vitesse supersonique et pouvant percer des blindages de n'importe quelle épaisseur. Et aussi la construction conjointe de navires de sauvetage, l'intégration de missiles sol-air russes Strelets dans le système analogue turc Aselan, la réalisation de projets spatiaux conjoints à vocation militaire et bien d'autres choses encore.

Le fait que la Turquie soit membre de l'OTAN et qu'elle ait besoin d'armes de calibres conformes à ceux de l'Alliance ne pose pas problème aux spécialistes du complexe militaro industriel russe. Ce dernier fabrique des fusils d'assaut Kalachnikov AK-101 et AK-102 et des mitrailleuses Petcheneg tirant des cartouches otanaises de 5,56 mm, des canons autotractés MSTA-S de 155 mm, un calibre lui aussi otanais, ainsi que des systèmes de navigation GPS et d'autres armes conformes aux standards de l'OTAN. Le complexe militaro-industriel russe est en mesure de fabriquer des armes adaptées à n'importe quel calibre, à n'importe quel système de communication et de gestion. Par exemple, la défense antiaérienne de la Grèce, un pays voisin de la Turquie et comme elle membre actif de l'OTAN, est presque entièrement constitué par des missiles sol-air de fabrication russe, depuis les Osa-10 et Tor-M1 équipant l'armée de terre et jusqu'aux systèmes S-300PMU. Et elle s'inscrit pleinement dans les standards adoptés par l'Alliance de l'Atlantique Nord.

Par contre, la question qui se pose maintenant c'est de savoir si la Turquie résistera aux pressions exercées par les puissantes sociétés occidentales, qui ne s'arrêteront devant rien pour pouvoir placer des contrats avantageux pour elles, si elle disposera de suffisamment de moyens financiers et si elle fera preuve de la volonté politique requise. Seulement cette question n'est pas du ressort du complexe militaro-industriel russe. (RIA Novosti, Viktor Litovkine, commentateur militaire, 26 juin 2006)

Lawyers: "Semdinli Gang Not Only Three People"

Arguing that this week's jail sentences handed out to Gendarmerie non-commissioned officers Sergeant Major Ali Kaya and Ozcan Ildeniz in the controversial "Semdinli Case" were insufficient, intervening attorney and Diyarbakir Bar Association Sezgin Tanrikulu said they will appeal against the verdict.

On Monday, June 19, a Van court sentenced Kaya and Iledeniz to 39 years and 10 months imprisonment each after finding them guilty of inciting violence and murder. The two were sentenced for "forming a gang, killing people, attempting to kill people and causing injury".

The trial of the third defendant in the case, repentant Veysel Ates, was adjourned to August 3 due to absence on grounds of being ill and under hospital treatment.

The Van court sentenced the defendants to 1 year 11 months and 10 days imprisonment each for founding a gang and 25 years each for the murder of Mehmet Zahir Korkmaz who died on November 9, 2005 when the "Umut" bookstore in Semdinli was bombed. In addition to these Kaya and Ildeniz were also sentenced to 12 years jail each for attempting to murder the bookstore owner Seferi Yilmaz and causing injury to Metin Korkmaz.

Tanrikulu said they regarded the jail sentences as positive but argued that "this organisation is not only made up for three people. The whole of the organisational structure should be revealed and it should be abolished.

Bianet interviewed Tanrikulu on the Semdinli verdict and what will happen next.

Q - You've disclosed you will appeal against the verdict. Why?

A - The organisation that the defendants are a member to is one targeting "to place the lands of the state in whole or in part under the sovereignty of a foreign state or weakening the independence of the state or destroying its unity or separating part of the land under the sovereignty of the state from state administration" which is described in article 302 of the Penal Code. Because of this reason, instead of being sentenced under article 220 that covers "forming an organisation to commit acts that are described as offences by law", they should be sentenced under article 302. This was the opinion in the indictment anyway. Because of this we will appeal to the Court of Appeals.

One of the judges of the bench had already placed an opposition clause in the verdict for this very reason.

Q - So what is important after this?

A - We believe the criminal organisation is not limited to these three defendants.

The organisation should be uncovered with the whole of its structure, abolished and its acts revealed and punished.

For this, an effective trial procedure is required. The court has taken intermediate decisions during the trial for the fate of the files separated during the preparatory phase to be followed. We will do what is required from us and follow these up.

The democracy forces in Turkey should work on this issue and keep it on the agenda. They should effort to reveal the other elements of the organisation. This business should not be left limited to three suspects.

Q - Is the file on Yasar Buyukanit included in this?

A - Of course it is included.

Q - How do you evaluate the verdict?

A - It is important that the defendants have been sentenced for the offence of "forming a criminal organisation". It should not be forgotten that these individuals were soldiers on active duty. It is the first time a verdict is passed so fast in relation to soldiers on duty, gangs.

There is another important aspect of this verdict. It might be an indication to who may be behind similar incidents in the region, shedding light on these.

The defence attorneys said the presiding judge had lost his impartiality and that the prosecutor Sarikaya's indictment was not legal.

What they said in relation to the Chief Judge was in yesterdays [Mondays] hearing. Whereas even in the hearing before they were saying that a very fair trial is being held. I believe this was a manoeuvre to delay the sentence.

As for the objections related to Prosecutor Sarikaya's indictment, they came on the agenda after he was relieved from duty. But once the court accepted this indictment, there was no legality problem left. Their allegations on this issue have no legal backing.

Q - During the hearing defendant Ali Kaya was at the Ankara Gulhane Military Medicine Academy. What will now happen to Ali Kaya?

A - The detention of the suspects will continue until the Court of Appeals verdict is clear. Defendant Ali Kaya should be sent to the prison in Van after his treatment is completed.

Q - Is there a possibility of escape or being broken out?

A - That is the state's problem. In order to prevent something like this, they should do what is required of them. (BIA News Center, Tolga KORKUT, June 21, 2006)

Two officers sentenced for bombing bookstore in Semdinli

Two Turkish paramilitary officers were sentenced to almost 40 years jail each on Monday for a bombing which critics and some in the media suspected was a bid by parts of the armed forces to stir unrest in the mainly Kurdish southeast.

Ali Kaya and Ozcan Ildeniz, non-commissioned officers in the paramilitary gendarmerie, were sentenced to 39 years and 5 months each for last year's bombing of a bookstore in Semdinli in which one person was killed, the court said.

A third man - a former PKK member turned police informer who was arrested with the others - is due to be sentenced in August.

At the time of the attack, the two convicted men were chased and nearly lynched by furious bystanders.

The discovery of weapons and a list of names in their car prompted allegations that they were an undercover execution squad.

The indictment called the attack an act of provocation aimed at stirring unrest among Kurds, discredit the government and undermine Turkey's bid to join the European Union, the AFP news agency said.

The attack prompted riots in the region and a parliamentary inquiry after critics said the armed forces may have orchestrated the attack to stir trouble in the region, where the Kurdistan Workers' Party has been fighting for a homeland since 1984, so that the military could justify tougher tactics.

The case has been peppered with controversy and has focused attention on Turkey's so-called deep state -- elements of the army and judiciary -- and has been seen as a test of EU candidate Turkey's judicial system.

In April, a public prosecutor was sacked after he accused the head of Turkey's land forces, General Yasar Buyukanit, of organising an illegal group which planned the bombing. However, under the pressure from the Army, the Justice Ministry prevented the indictment of General Buyukanit.

The case will go to the court of appeal. (Reuters-AFP, June 19, 2006)

L'armée turque annonce des manoeuvres conjointes avec les Chypriotes turcs

Des unités militaires turques et chypriotes turques participeront la semaine prochaine à des manoeuvres conjointes de recherche et de sauvetage en mer au large de la République turque de Chypre Nord (KKTC, unilatéralement proclamée), a annoncé vendredi l'état-major turc.

Ces exercices, prévus pour le 14 juin, mettront à l'épreuve la coordination entre des navires, avions et hélicoptères turcs d'une part et les forces militaires de la KKTC de l'autre dans une situation de péril humanitaire.

Ils auront lieu dans les eaux internationales ainsi que dans les "eaux territoriales de la KKTC ", indique le communiqué de l'état-major.

La KKTC n'est reconnue que par la seule Turquie, la communauté internationale considérant la République de Chypre, sous administration chypriote-grecque, comme la seule entité légitime.

L'île est divisée depuis 1974 et l'invasion de sa partie septentrionale par l'armée turque en réaction à un coup d'Etat chypriote grec soutenu par Athènes et visant au rattachement du pays à la Grèce. (AFP, 9 juin 2006)

Court arrests 3 military officers for plotting against top politicians

Three military officers and a civilian have been charged by an Ankara court for allegedly planning an attack on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Anatolia news agency reported this weekend.

The four were among a dozen people detained last Tuesday following a raid on a house in one of Ankara's suburbs. Police seized explosives and drawings of the neighborhood in which Erdogan's home is located as well as pictures of various branches of the Bim supermarket chain owned by Cuneyt Zapsu, one of Erdogan's top aides.

The court charged Captain Murat Eren, non-commissioned officers Yasin Yaman and Erkut Tas as well as businessman Yunus Akkaya with "forming an illegal gang aimed to disrupt the country's unity" and possession of explosives, Anatolia said. The other suspects were released after questioning.

If found guilty, the four face a maximum of 15 years in prison.

The Turkish military chided police on Saturday for not informing military authorities about the officers' detention. In a written statement, the military said it found out about the detentions from the media the following day.

The military statement sharply contradicted police, who said on Friday that "there were no problems with the military," and that they were "working in harmony." The military described the fact that the information about the police operation was leaked to the media before the information was shared with the military as "striking."

The two officers were apparently turned over to the military following their interrogation and the military separately detained a third officer who is reportedly related to the group.

A military court earlier arrested and imprisoned the three officers pending trial on charges of "hiding and embezzling military equipment," the military statement said. It said other allegations were being handled by civilian courts. (The New Anatolian, 4 juin 2006)

Army's dissatisfaction with handling of Atabeyler gang operation

The Turkish General Staff said in a statement on Saturday that it became aware of this week's anti-organized crime operation in Ankara against a criminal group calling themselves the 'Atabeyler' only after hearing about it in the media.

The statement underlined that it was a striking fact that the General Staff learned about all the details and documents relating to the operation in the media before these documents and information were sent to the military authorities.

Eleven suspects, including three soldiers, were captured on Wednesday in possession of explosive materials in an operation conducted by Ankara Anti-terror police, which carried out synchronized raids on several houses in the Eryaman quarter in the capital Ankara after receiving intelligence. The police detained a total of eleven people and seized numerous explosives in the houses, including C-4 type plastic bombs and hand grenades.

Three members of the army, Captain Murat Eren and NCOs Erkut Tas and Yasin Yaman, were arrested by the Chief of Staff military court on Saturday on the accusation of embezzlement of military materials. They were later sent to Mamak military prison.

Turkish police spokesman Ismail Caliskan had ruled out any rift between police and the military, saying that they were cooperating in the investigations.

Turkish newspapers reported on Friday that police had seized sketched maps of PM Erdogan's house and of the road used by Erdogan's convoy at a house of a suspected member of the gang known as "Atabeyler." (Cihan News Agency, June 3, 2006)

Deux officiers arrêtés pour un probable attentat contre Erdogan

La police d'Ankara a déjoué un probable attentat contre le Premier ministre turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan et arrêté neuf personnes, dont trois militaires, dans le cadre de l'enquête, rapporte jeudi la presse turque.

Des grenades, de l'explosif plastic, des engins artisanaux et un pistolet automatique ont été saisis mercredi dans un appartement de la banlieue de la capitale turque, précisent les journaux.

Interrogée par l'AFP, la police a refusé de commenter ces informations.

Selon les grands journaux Hürriyet et Sabah, un croquis de la rue où se trouve le domicile privé du Premier ministre dans le quartier nouveau chic de Keçiören a été découvert dans cette cache ce qui laisserait supposer qu'il serait la principale cible de cette "bande".

Une autre personne visée serait Cüneyd Zapsu, un conseiller d'Erdogan, selon les journaux.

Sur les trois soldats interpellés, deux sont des officiers et ont été remis aux autorités militaires.

L'agence de presse semi-officielle a affirmé que les responsables de la police n'avaient pas encore déterminé l'appartenance politique des personnes interpellées mais selon plusieurs journaux ils seraient ultra-nationalistes.

La presse indiquait ignorer pour l'instant les mobiles d'une attaque qui aurait pu viser le Premier ministre, issu de la mouvance islamiste, et qui dirige le pays depuis 2003. (AFP, 1er juin 2006)

L'Afrique du Sud propose de vendre des hélicoptères d'attaque à la Turquie

L'Afrique du Sud a proposé un transfert de technologie militaire à la Turquie pour arracher le marché de 1,5 milliard de dollars portant sur la vente de 91 hélicoptères d'attaque.

Le ministre sud-africain des Entreprises publiques, Alec Erwin, a promis mercredi soir devant la presse un transfert important de technologie et droits de propriété intellectuelle si son pays obtenait la commande d'hélicoptères Rooivalk destinés à l'armée de terre.

Il a ajouté que ces conditions avantageuses seraient valables pour tous les programmes de coopération avec la Turquie.

L'Afrique du Sud essaie de se démarquer ainsi des sociétés d'armement européennes et américaines qui proposent leurs produits mais se refusent souvent à des transferts de technologie.

Pour le marché des hélicopères, la société sud-africaine Denel est en concurrence avec l'européen Eurocopter, l'italien Agusta et le russe Kamov.

Une décision est attendue pour la fin juillet. (AFP, 1er juin 2006)

Affaires religieuses/Religious Affairs

Erdogan au CE: "l'islamophobie gagne du terrain"

Le Premier ministre turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan a déclaré mercredi devant les parlementaires du Conseil de l'Europe que l'islamophobie "gagne du terrain" en Occident.

"Le terrorisme au nom de la religion et le fait d'étiquetter ceux qui sont différents vont créer une crise globale en Occident où l'islamophobie et la xénophobie gagnent du terrain", a-t-il prévenu.

Prenant la parole lors d'un débat consacré à la liberté d'expression et les croyances religieuses, il a également estimé que l'islamophobie devait être considérée comme un crime contre l'humanité, tout comme l'antisémitisme.

Evoquant l'affaire des caricatures de Mahomet par un journal danois, M. Erdogan a souligné qu'elle avait révélé une ligne de fracture culturelle et religieuse qui s'approfondit depuis les attentats du 11 septembre 2001.

"Il faut éviter de provoquer les autres, la liberté d'expression ne doit pas être comprise comme la liberté d'insulter", a-t-il indiqué.

"La critique est une chose, l'insulte en est une autre" a-t-il expliqué.

Pour M. Erdogan "les libertés, les droits de l'homme et le respect des sensibilités et valeurs religieuses ne s'excluent pas et représentent ensemble une société humaine et libre". (AFP, 28 juin 2006)

Un tribunal turc innocente l'avocat de membres supposés d'Al-Qaïda

Un tribunal stambouliote a acquitté mercredi l'avocat de membres supposés du réseau Al-Qaïda en cours de jugement en Turquie, qui était accusé d'avoir soutenu financièrement l'organisation clandestine, a rapporté l'agence de presse Anatolie.

La cour a estimé que les preuves apportées étaient insuffisantes pour établir l'appartenance de Me Osman Karahan au réseau Al-Qaïda, chef d'accusation pour lequel le ministère public avait requis de cinq à dix ans d'emprisonnement contre l'avocat, selon Anatolie.

Me Karahan assure la défense d'une douzaine des 73 prévenus jugés pour participation à l'organisation d'une vague d'attentats qui ont frappé deux synagogues, le consulat britannique et la principale succursale de la banque britannique HSBC à Istanbul en novembre 2003, faisant 63 morts.

Certains de ses clients ont reconnu avoir eu des liens avec Al-Qaïda. L'un d'eux, le Syrien Louai Sakka, accusé en outre d'avoir tenté de commettre un attentat contre des navires de croisière israéliens en août 2005 dans le sud de la Turquie, s'est d'ailleurs déclaré membre du réseau.

L'avocat s'était vu reprocher d'avoir "financé" deux étudiants poursuivis par la justice turque pour des liens supposés avec les auteurs présumés d'attentats sanglants commis à Londres le 7 juillet.

Entendus en qualité de témoins lors d'une précédente audience, les jeunes gens avaient admis avoir approché le cabinet Karahan pour obtenir une bourse d'études et n'avoir récolté que 10 livres turques (5,5 euros, 7,1 dollars), données par un assistant du juriste. (AFP, 21 juin 2006)

Socio-économique / Socio-economic

Fièvre Crimée-Congo: onze morts ces derniers mois en Turquie

La fièvre hémorragique virale de Crimée-Congo, transmise par les tiques, a tué onze personnes ces derniers mois en Turquie, semant la panique parmi la population, mais les autorités refusent de parler encore d'une épidémie.

"Il y a un vent de panique qu'il faut surmonter", a expliqué vendredi le docteur Turan Buzgan, un responsable du ministère de la Santé qui a cependant assuré que les cas recensés cette année (150) étaient à ce jour moins nombreux que ceux de l'an passé (266).

Depuis l'apparition en 2003 de la maladie sur le sol turc, 43 personnes en sont mortes, la plupart dans les provinces du centre anatolien, a précisé le médecin, soulignant que 5% des cas étaient mortels.

Il n'existe pas de traitement pour cette maladie causée par un virus, cousin de celui d'Ebola.

Le ministère de la Santé a fait imprimer des dizaines de milliers d'affiches et de brochures destinées à sensibiliser les populations rurales, premières touchées, tandis que les journaux les informent sur les moyens de se protéger des tiques.

Mais les Turcs, sensibilisés par l'annonce en janvier de quatre décès dus au virus H5N1 de la grippe aviaire dans l'est du pays, accourent par dizaines chaque jour dans les hôpitaux des zones infectées.

Une quinzaine d'enfants d'Istanbul (nord-ouest) se plaignant de morsures de tiques ont été placés cette semaine en quarantaine.

Des écoles maternelles d'Ankara, située près des provinces infectées, ont annulé des sorties scolaires pour éviter les morsures de tiques, a expliqué à l'AFP une directrice de crèche, Zeynep Akinci.
 Cette fièvre a été décrite pour la première fois en Crimée --sur l'autre rive de la mer Noire qui baigne le nord de la Turquie-- en 1944. En 1969, on a établi que l'agent pathogène responsable était identique à celui qui provoquait une maladie repérée en 1956 au Congo. (AFP, 30 juin 2006)

Décès à New York du producteur turc Arif Mardin

Le célèbre producteur turc Arif Mardin, qui a travaillé avec, entre autres, Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, Bette Midler et Phil Collins, est mort dimanche à New York à l'âge de 74 ans des suites d'un cancer du pancréas, a annoncé sa famille lundi à Istanbul.

Ce passionné de jazz, né en 1932 dans une famille connue d'Istanbul d'où sont issus de nombreux hommes d'Etat et de diplomates de la période ottomane ainsi que de la République, décida en 1958 de vivre aux Etats-Unis, qu'il n'avait pas quitté depuis.

Arif Mardin a commencé sa carrière en 1963 à Atlantic Records comme assistant de production aux côtés de son compatriote Nasuhi Ertegün, le co-fondateur de la compagnie, dont il gravit les échelons dans les années suivantes.

En 2001, il avait pris sa retraite d'Atlantic Records pour se consacrer aux travaux de sa maison de disques, Manhattan Records.

Tout au long de sa carrière de plus de 40 ans, il a produit de nombreux artistes : Carly Simon, Barbra Streisand, Diana Ross, Patti Labelle, Anita Baker, the Bee Gees, Culture Club, Roberta Flack, Hall & Oates, Chaka Khan, Manhattan Transfer, Dusty Springfield et David Bowie. Il a à son palmarès 12 prix Grammy et 15 nominations aux Grammy Awards pour ses artistes.

La dernière découverte de ce grand professionnel doublé d'un parfait gentleman fut la chanteuse américaine Norah Jones.

Il sera inhumé la semaine prochaine à Istanbul. (AFP, 26 juin 2006)

The Central Bank hikes rates sharply, starts auctions

Turkey's central bank raised key interest rates by 225 basis points on Sunday in line with expectations and said it would start lira purchase auctions in moves welcomed by analysts to halt the currency's slide.

The moves could bolster the lira, which has tumbled some 23 percent against the dollar since the end of April. Bond yields have also surged and shares dropped in a sell-off triggered by a sharp rise in inflation.

After an extraordinary meeting called as the lira slide gathered pace and after forex market intervention on Friday had limited impact, the bank hiked the overnight borrowing rate to 17.25 percent and the lending rate to 20.25 percent.

It said in a statement it would not allow market volatility to harm inflation's medium-term downtrend.

"In order to correct medium-term inflation expectations the monetary policy committee decided to evaluate its key interest rates and carry out another strong monetary tightening," the central bank said.

Economists had predicted a hike of 200 basis points, according to the median forecast in a Reuters poll and they approved of the central bank's action and statement.

"I think these are good measures. For the first time there's no wishy-washy statement. That's critical," said Merrill Lynch economist Mehmet Simsek.

"This is a positive statement and should help regain some of the lost ground. Whether it will help the lira immediately is not an easy call ... There may be people who would use this as an opportunity to get out," he said.

Higher-than-expected April inflation figures triggered the lira's fall in May and it was fuelled further by concern over a gaping current account deficit and an emerging market sell-off.

It was the second extraordinary meeting in June, just five days after it left rates unchanged at a regular monthly meeting and said the chances of rates rising were less than those of them staying the same.

The bank last raised rates on June 7 by 175 basis points.  (Reuters, June 25, 2006)

Des tiques tueuses sèment la panique

Après la grippe aviaire, la fièvre hémorragique virale de Crimée-Congo viendrait-elle porter un nouveau coup dur au tourisme turc, déjà fragilisé par l'annonce en janvier de 4 décès dus au virus H 5N 1?

Si les spécialistes refusent de parler encore d'épidémie, la mort de 9 personnes ces 5 dernières semaines fait craindre un bilan largement supérieur aux années précédentes: 30 morts entre 2002 (date de l'apparition du virus en Turquie) et 2005. Premiers inquiétés: les pique-niqueurs du dimanche qui profitent des beaux jours pour s'asseoir dans l'herbe autour d'un barbecue.

La panique est réelle, et les consultations en hôpital se multiplient, respectant en cela les consignes du Ministère turc de la Santé. Depuis le week-end, une quinzaine d'enfants d'Istanbul se plaignant de morsures de tiques ont été placés en quarantaine, par précaution.

Dans tout le pays, ce sont plus d'une centaine de cas qui font l'objet d'un suivi en milieu hospitalier. La région la plus touchée est le centre-nord-est de l'Anatolie, avec par exemple 44 malades en observation à l'hôpital de Sivas, où la maladie a déjà tué deux hommes.

Non loin, à Çorum, toujours au nord-est de la capitale Ankara, où on dénombre 3 morts, le gouverneur adjoint Beyazit Tanç annonce une campagne d'information qui passera par un chapitre particulier consacré à la maladie au cours du prêche de la grande prière de vendredi prochain.

Le Ministère de la Santé a de son côté fait imprimer des dizaines de milliers d'affiches et de brochures destinées à sensibiliser les campagnes, premières touchées. Vingt-deux provinces, essentiellement au centre et au nord de la péninsule anatolienne, sont actuellement considérées à risque. Ce ne sont heureusement pas les régions les plus touristiques du pays.

Mais les autorités paraissent bien démunies contre cette maladie étrange, comme le résume leur recommandation «la plus efficace» contre l'agression du petit insecte suceur de sang: enfiler les jambes de son pantalon dans ses chaussettes...

Les médecins reconnaissent en effet qu'il n'y a pas de traitement contre cette maladie virale à fort taux de mortalité (30pc habituellement, 5pc observés jusque-là en Turquie), seuls des soins palliatifs permettant de soulager les souffrances comparables à celles causées par ce virus, cousin de l'Ebola.

Impossible d'expliquer l'apparition ici il y a 4 ans de cette fièvre, qui tire son nom d'une première observation en Crimée (sur l'autre rive de la mer Noire qui baigne le nord de la Turquie) en 1944 et de son identification définitive au Congo en 1956.

Encore moins de donner une raison à ce qui ressemble aujourd'hui à une explosion des cas d'infection, le pic étant prévu seulement pour le mois d'août. Certains, comme le président de la Chambre des médecins de Tokat (région la plus touchée et foyer historique pour la Turquie), pensent que l'abattage massif de volailles de ferme pour prévenir la propagation de la grippe aviaire a permis à la tique de se développer - même si l'insecte parasite aussi bien les rongeurs sauvages et le bétail -, mais on en reste au stade des supputations. (La Libre Belgique, Jérôme Bastion, 24 juin 2006)

Le rapport 2006 de la CISL sur les droits des travailleurs critique la Turquie

La Confédération international des syndicats libres (CISL) vient de publier son rapport 2006 sur la situation des droits syndicats et des travailleurs dans tous les pays du monde. L'organisation internationale critique la situation en Turquie en ces termes:

Le gouvernement a pris beaucoup de temps pour aligner sa législation sur les droits syndicaux et les droits des travailleurs sur les normes internationales en vigueur. Ces amendements sont toujours au stade de projets, contrairement à d'autres matières légales qui ont été modifiées de manière définitive dans la perspective de l'adhésion de la Turquie à l'Union européenne. Le syndicat des enseignants Egitim Sen fait toujours l'objet d'ingérences de la part du gouvernement, tout comme d'autres syndicats de la fonction publique. On note plusieurs cas de licenciements en masse de travailleurs pour cause d'appartenance à un syndicat ou d'activités de recrutement.

Restrictions à la liberté d'association

La loi reconnaît la liberté d'association à tous les travailleurs, qu'ils soient de nationalité turque ou étrangère, mais elle prévoit des restrictions.

La loi sur les syndicats de fonctionnaires publics interdit à quelque 450.000 employés du secteur public d'adhérer à un syndicat, y compris ceux de l'Assemblée nationale et du Secrétariat général du président, les membres de la haute magistrature, comme les juges de la Cour suprême, du corps enseignant, comme les recteurs d'universités et les directeurs des grandes écoles. Elle l'interdit aussi aux hauts fonctionnaires de l'administration civile, aux membres des forces armées, au personnel du ministère de la Défense nationale et des services de renseignement, aux experts du budget de l'État et du personnel de l'État et au personnel de sécurité des institutions publiques.

Les professeurs de l'enseignement privé ne peuvent pas non plus former de syndicat.

Les travailleurs qui souhaitent s'affilier à un syndicat ou quitter un syndicat doivent pour ce faire obtenir un certificat notarial. Comme ils doivent payer ce service (selon des sources syndicales, la somme peut aller jusqu'à 50$), cette obligation limite fortement la liberté des travailleurs de s'affilier au syndicat de leur choix.

Les candidats à des fonctions syndicales doivent avoir travaillé pendant dix ans au moins dans le secteur représenté par le syndicat et doivent être de nationalité turque. Cette restriction ne s'applique pas aux candidats à des postes dans des sections syndicales.

Limitation des activités

Les syndicats doivent obtenir une autorisation officielle pour organiser des réunions ou des rassemblements, et laisser la police y assister et enregistrer leurs débats. Les associations ne peuvent toujours pas utiliser d'autre langue que le turc dans leurs activités officielles. La Loi sur les syndicats de fonctionnaires publics contient des dispositions détaillées sur les activités et le fonctionnement des organisations syndicales, ce qui est contraire aux principes du droit d'organisation.

Un syndicat qui serait reconnu coupable d'infraction grave à la loi régissant ses activités peut être contraint de suspendre celles-ci ou de se mettre en liquidation sur ordre du tribunal du travail.

Restrictions à la négociation collective

La négociation collective reste problématique en Turquie, plus particulièrement dans le secteur public.

Pour être reconnu comme agent de négociation, un syndicat doit représenter au moins 50% plus un des travailleurs d'une entreprise et 10% de l'ensemble des travailleurs du secteur concerné à l'échelon national. Un seul syndicat par entreprise - le plus important - est autorisé à négocier collectivement.

Le Comité de la liberté syndicale du BIT a recommandé que la loi n°2822 sur les conventions collectives, les grèves et les lock-out soit amendée pour la mettre en conformité avec certains principes fondamentaux applicables à la négociation collective et au droit de grève. Ainsi, s'il n'existe pas de syndicat représentant plus de 50% des travailleurs d'un établissement, le droit de négociation collective doit néanmoins être reconnu aux syndicats de l'établissement, du moins pour le compte de leurs propres adhérents.

La procédure d'agréation pour la négociation collective est à ce point longue et bureaucratique que, dans bien des cas, il est très difficile d'user librement de ce droit. C'est le ministre du Travail et de la Sécurité sociale qui statue en dernier ressort, mais cette procédure peut parfois prendre entre quatre et cinq mois, même si le délai officiel prescrit par la loi est de quinze jours. De plus, les syndicats qui essaient d'obtenir le statut d'agent de négociation collective se retrouvent souvent devant les tribunaux, ce qui peut entraîner jusqu'à deux ans de procédure.

S'agissant du secteur public, il n'est nulle part question de négociation collective dans la loi sur les syndicats de fonctionnaires publics qui parle en revanche d'" entretiens consultatifs collectifs ". Elle décrit en détail les matières sur lesquelles ils peuvent porter, mais la liste se limite à des questions financières portant sur les salaires et autres prestations, les indemnités et primes. C'est très loin de la définition de la négociation collective que donne la Convention 98 de l'OIT et, dans les faits, le pouvoir de décision reste entre les mains du gouvernement.

Importantes limitations au droit de grève

Malgré une révision de la loi sur les syndicats de fonctionnaires publics, le droit de grève n'est toujours pas officiellement reconnu dans le secteur public. Bien que la Turquie ait amendé sa Constitution de telle sorte qu'elle reconnaisse la primauté des conventions et traités internationaux sur la législation nationale et affirme que le droit de grève est dorénavant garanti à tous les travailleurs par l'application de la Convention 87 de l'OIT, cette dernière ne cesse de faire remarquer que les sections 29 et 30 de la loi n°2822 sur le droit de grève sont incompatibles avec la convention. L'OIT rappelle que les activités relatives à la production, au raffinage et à la distribution du gaz naturel et du pétrole ne peuvent être considérées comme des services essentiels au sens strict du terme, puisque l'interruption de ces services ne mettrait pas en danger la vie, la sécurité personnelle ou la santé de l'ensemble ou d'une partie de la population.

Les grèves de solidarité, les grèves générales, les grèves perlées et les occupations de lieux de travail sont toujours interdites. Des peines graves, de prison notamment, sont prévues en cas de participation à des grèves. Toute grève non convoquée par un conseil exécutif syndical est interdite. Les grèves pour non-respect des conventions collectives du travail sont interdites.

La loi permet au gouvernement de suspendre une grève pendant un délai maximum de 60 jours pour des raisons de sécurité nationale, de santé ou de sécurité publique. Les syndicats peuvent présenter une requête devant le Conseil d'État pour obtenir la levée de la suspension mais s'ils sont déboutés, l'arbitrage peut être imposé au terme de la période.

Lorsque les grèves sont autorisées, il faut respecter un délai excessif (près de trois mois) à partir du début des négociations avant de pouvoir mener cette action de grève, et les syndicats sont en outre tenus de remplir toute une série de formalités précises. Il faut tout d'abord qu'il y ait eu une négociation collective. Si une décision a été prise pour mener effectivement une action de grève, l'employeur doit recevoir au moins un préavis d'une semaine. Les employeurs ont le droit de recourir au " lock-out " contre les grévistes, mais ils n'ont pas le droit d'engager des briseurs de grève ou de faire appel au personnel administratif pour exécuter les fonctions des grévistes. Ils n'ont pas non plus le droit de renvoyer des employés qui incitent à la grève ou y prennent part lorsque celle-ci est légale.

Il est interdit d'empêcher l'entrée de matières premières dans une usine ou la sortie de produits finis tout comme d'empêcher le travail de ceux qui ne sont pas membres du syndicat. Seuls quatre ou cinq grévistes peuvent former un piquet de grève devant l'entrée de l'usine; il leur est interdit de planter une tente ou un abri quelconque et de pendre des banderoles où serait écrit autre chose que " Lieu de travail en grève ".

Protection limitée contre la discrimination antisyndicale

Les amendes applicables aux employeurs qui ne respectent pas les droits syndicaux sont trop modestes pour être dissuasives. La législation sur la sécurité de l'emploi ne s'applique qu'aux établissements comptant au minimum 30 salariés. Par le jeu du recours à la sous-traitance et aux contrats à durée déterminée, près de 95% des lieux de travail comptent moins de 30 salariés.

Les droits syndicaux ne sont pas encore totalement reconnus

L'édition de novembre 2005 du rapport d'étape de la Commission européenne sur l'adhésion de la Turquie à l'Union européenne constate que l'instauration des droits syndicaux continue de poser problème. La part de la population active couverte par des conventions collectives reste extrêmement faible en raison des seuils de représentation fixés par la loi pour pouvoir négocier. Sur les quelque 11 millions de travailleurs titulaires d'un contrat de travail, seuls un million seraient couverts par des conventions collectives.

Le syndicat des enseignants en ligne de mire

Pour la sixième fois en sept ans, le plus grand syndicat de Turquie, celui des enseignants, Egitim Sen, affilié à la fédération du secteur public KESK, est cité dans ce Rapport annuel. Il est devenu la cible du procureur général d'Ankara qui abuse ainsi du système judiciaire. De plus, d'autres cas semblables ont été relevés en 2005 : quatre autres affiliés de la KESK, ainsi que la fédération elle-même ont été victimes d'ingérences de la part de l'administration locale d'Ankara ou du ministère du Travail et de la Sécurité sociale.

Obstacles à la négociation

Les syndicats indiquent que le gouvernement manipule les chiffres des effectifs ou prétend que des irrégularités ont été détectées dans ces chiffres afin de leur nier le droit à la négociation collective et que les adhérents font l'objet de pressions pour qu'ils démissionnent des syndicats. Dans le secteur de la boulangerie par exemple, ces pressions ont eu pour résultat que le seuil des 10% n'a pu être atteint par le syndicat affilié à la fédération nationale DISK. Par conséquent, aucune convention collective n'a pu être signée pour 346 boulangeries, privant ainsi quelque 2.500 ouvriers boulangers de toute protection.

L'obstruction à laquelle se livrent les employeurs n'est pas suffisamment sanctionnée, même lorsqu'une juridiction statue en faveur d'un syndicat. Le BIT a souligné à de nombreuses reprises que des normes juridiques ne suffisent pas si elles ne s'accompagnent pas, notamment, de sanctions suffisamment dissuasives pour garantir leur application.

Pressions pour amener les travailleurs à quitter leur syndicat

Des travailleurs sont victimes de discrimination pour le simple fait qu'ils sont membres d'un syndicat. C'est ainsi qu'ils sont transférés dans un autre établissement, souvent dans une autre ville. C'est particulièrement le cas dans le secteur public où, en 2005, 520 travailleurs ont été détachés sans aucun motif, si ce n'est qu'ils étaient syndiqués. D'autres formes de discrimination causées par l'appartenance à un syndicat, ou les pressions exercées sur les travailleurs pour qu'ils renoncent à leur affiliation continuent de poser problème.

Licenciements

Les employeurs du privé ont tendance à passer outre à la législation et à licencier les travailleurs syndiqués pour saper ou détruire les syndicats, comme le montrent de nombreux cas répertoriés ci-dessous. (CISL-ICFTU, 20 juin 2006)

Le nombre de touristes en baisse de 10,5%

Le nombre de visiteurs étrangers en Turquie a chuté de 10,5% --à 5,51 millions d'entrées-- sur les cinq premiers mois de 2006 par rapport à la même période l'année dernière, a annoncé samedi l'Institut turc de la statistique (Tuik) sur son site internet.

Entamé en janvier, ce recul s'est aggravé en mai avec une baisse de 16,7% du nombre d'entrées de visiteurs étrangers, pour l'essentiel des touristes, à 1,92 million contre 2,30 millions en mai 2005.

La plus forte désaffection a été constatée en Europe, le nombre d'Allemands, traditionnellement au premier rang des visiteurs de la Turquie, passant de 484.000 à 351.000 entre mai 2005 et mai 2006.

Les professionnels turcs du tourisme attribuaient cette chute à plusieurs facteurs, notamment la crise de la grippe aviaire, dont le virus a tué quatre personnes en Turquie début janvier, celle des caricatures du prophète Mahomet, les menaces d'attentats de rebelles kurdes contre des sites touristiques ou encore la concurrence de la Coupe du monde de football, qui a lieu actuellement en Allemagne.

La presse a multiplié ces derniers jours les reportages sur des stations balnéaires égéennes et méditerranéennes désertées par les vacanciers étrangers.
 Le quotidien Milliyet a ainsi rapporté que des hôteliers de Marmaris (ouest) en étaient réduits à proposer un hébergement gratuit, en espérant se rattraper sur les consommations de bar et de restaurant.

Le tourisme, qui a rapporté 18,15 milliards de dollars (14,5 milliards d'euros) à la Turquie en 2005, est un secteur vital pour l'économie nationale. Il représente environ 5,5% du PNB turc. (AFP, 23 juin 2006)

L'inflation pourrait dépasser les 5% (ministre)

Le ministre turc de l'Economie Ali Babacan a affirmé jeudi que l'inflation allait probablement dépasser les 5% fixés comme objectif pour la fin de l'année, tout en soulignant que le gouvernement n'avait pas l'intention de réviser ses objectifs.

"En raison de la volatilité des marchés mondiaux, il est possible que nous devions terminer l'année avec un taux d'inflation éventuellement un peu plus élevé que notre objectif de fin d'année", a déclaré M. Babacan lors d'une conférence de presse commune avec le ministre des Finances Kemal Unakitan.

"Mais il n'y a absolument aucun changement dans nos objectifs", a-t-il poursuivi. "Réviser les objectifs mène à une perte de confiance".

Le gouvernement a prévu dans le cadre d'un programme triennal soutenu par un prêt de 10 milliards de dollars du Fonds monétaire international de ramener l'inflation sous la barre des 5% en 2006, puis sous les 4% en 2007 et 2008.

Après cinq années de constante décélération, l'inflation s'est à nouveau accélérée en avril et mai, suscitant l'inquiétude de marchés financiers et contribuant, en plus d'une tendance mondiale à la fuite des capitaux placés sur les marchés émergents, à faire chuter la livre turque face au dollar et à l'euro.

Le taux d'inflation sur 12 mois a atteint 9,86% en mai, poussant la banque centrale à relever son principal taux directeur de 13,25% à 15%.

Une enquête réalisée par la banque centrale ce mois-ci a évalué à 8,82% le taux d'inflation prévu pour la fin de l'année.

La Turquie avait fait chuter son taux d'inflation à 7,72% en 2005, sous l'objectif de 8% qu'elle s'était fixée. (AFP, 22 juin 2006)

La Turquie ne veut plus taxer les investisseurs étrangers non-résidents

Le gouvernement turc a annoncé jeudi qu'il voulait supprimer l'impôt sur les revenus des capitaux investis en Turquie par des étrangers ne résidant pas dans ce pays.

"Nous avons décidé de procéder à une révision du système fiscal (...) la taxe retenue à la source (actuellement égale à 15%, ndlr) a été réduite à zéro pour les revenus provenant des instruments financiers en Turquie des non-résidents", a annoncé le ministre des finances Kemal Unakitan lors d'une conférence de presse à Ankara.

Un projet de loi à cet effet sera prochainement soumis au parlement, qui devrait l'adopter d'ici les vacances parlementaires, celles-ci commençant en principe au début du mois prochain, a-t-il ajouté.

La Turquie souhaite ainsi attirer des fonds étrangers à moyen et long terme à la Bourse d'Istanbul et en vue de l'achat de bons du Trésor, selon les analystes.

En outre, l'impôt prélevé sur les revenus des investissements financiers des Turcs eux-mêmes devrait passer de 15% à 10%, a souligné le ministre des finances.

Les marchés turcs sont en proie ces dernières semaines à une instabilité face notamment à la forte inflation que connaît le pays et à la conjoncture internationale. (AFP, 22 juin 2006)

Turkey plans three nuclear power plants by 2015

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday announced plans to build three nuclear power plants by 2015 to meet Turkey's growing energy needs.

"As a country whose energy consumption is increasing rapidly, we want to benefit from nuclear energy as soon as possible," Erdogan told an energy conference in Istanbul. "We foresee the building of three nuclear power plants by 2015, reaching a 5,000-megawatt capacity."

Turkey hopes its peaceful nuclear ambitions will receive the backing of Mohamed El-Baradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, who will visit Ankara July 6-9. Turkey has repeatedly urged Iran to be transparent about its controversial nuclear program - which some fear is aimed at producing weapons rather than power - while stressing that countries should be free to seek nuclear energy for peaceful use.

Turkey plans to build the first plant near the Black Sea port city of Sinop. (AP, June 19, 2006)

Un jeune étudiant turc vise le zéro pointé

Tandis que ses camarades transpiraient à grosses gouttes, un étudiant turc, tout aussi tendu, s'est appliqué dimanche à donner une mauvaise réponse à chacune des 180 questions posées à l'examen d'entrée à l'université d'Ankara.

A l'issue de l'épreuve, le jeune homme, Sefa Boyar, était plutôt satisfait : "J'ai confiance. Il y a une très grande probabilité que je termine avec zéro bonne réponse", a-t-il déclaré à l'agence de presse Anatolie.

Sefa Boyar, qui est déjà étudiant en génie civil, avait fait part de son projet à la presse le mois dernier, expliquant qu'il voulait protester contre le système de sélection, extrêmement compliqué, en vigueur dans les universités turques.

Le jeune homme a souligné que, contrairement à ce que l'on pourrait penser, sont but n'était pas si facile à atteindre : "J'ai dû travailler dur car, pour être sûr de donner toutes les mauvaises réponses, il fallait d'abord connaître toutes les bonnes".

Pour corser encore l'épreuve, Sefa Boyar vise un total de moins 45 points, en sachant que le règlement universitaire prévoit que quatre mauvaises réponses en font sauter une bonne...

Après plusieurs années de bachotage intensif, seulement un jeune sur quatre est admis dans les universités turques. (AFP, 17 juin 2006)

Inquiétude pour le patrimoine après un vol dans un musée

La récente découverte du vol d'un joyau antique dans un musée de l'ouest de la Turquie, avec la complicité supposée de son conservateur, a soulevé l'inquiétude sur la capacité du pays à préserver son patrimoine et conduit les autorités à multiplier les inspections.

L'enjeu est de taille dans un pays comptant sur ses richesses historiques -il abrite les vestiges de 3.000 cités antiques, édifiées par 42 civilisations différentes- pour attirer chaque année des millions de touristes étrangers sur son sol.

Le scandale a été révélé en mai, avec l'arrestation du directeur du musée d'Usak et de six autres personnes soupçonnées d'avoir dérobé et remplacé par un faux une broche en forme d'hippocampe issue du Trésor Lydien, découvert dans les années 1960 dans des tumulus funéraires proches.

L'affaire est d'autant plus embarrassante que ledit Trésor, une collection de 363 objets en or, argent ou verre ayant appartenu 2.500 ans plus tôt au légendaire roi Crésus, n'a été rapatrié en Turquie qu'en 1993, au terme d'une coûteuse bataille juridique -40 millions de dollars selon la presse- avec le Metropolitan Museum de New York.

Le ministre de la Culture Attila Koç a promptement annoncé le lancement d'enquêtes dans 32 autres musées publics, confiant dans un entretien au quotidien de langue anglaise Turkish Daily News qu'il "ne serait pas surpris si chacun d'eux faisait état de pièces manquantes".

Les autorités ont depuis découvert la disparition de 545 pièces de monnaies persanes d'un musée du sud-est anatolien.

M. Koç a en bloc dénoncé l'insuffisance des moyens financiers et technologiques mis à la disposition des musées pour inventorier et protéger leur patrimoine ainsi que la gabegie régnant dans leur gestion.

"Il y a 10 ans, nous avions 1.500 experts travaillant dans des musées à travers le pays, maintenant nous en avons 750", a confirmé Özgen Acar, un journaliste spécialiste de l'archéologie, qui a été partie prenante dans la restitution du Trésor lydien.

"Nous n'avons pas été capables d'obtenir de nouveaux personnels par manque de fonds", a-t-il poursuivi.

Les spécialistes craignent également que l'affaire retentissante d'Usak renforce les musées occidentaux dans leurs réticences à restituer des antiquités volées en Turquie.

"Le British Museum, par exemple, a refusé des années durant de restituer à Athènes les Marbres d'Elgin, arguant du fait qu'ils étaient plus en sécurité à Londres", a commenté l'archéologue Julian Bennett, de l'université de Bilkent, à Ankara.

Le ministère de la Culture dénombre pour l'heure 35 objets volés dans des musées turcs, compte non tenu et non connu des éléments dérobés sur les sites archéologiques.

La Turquie s'efforce actuellement d'obtenir du Boston Museum le rapatriement d'une demi-statue d'Hercule, dont la deuxième partie se trouve à Antalya (sud), près du lieu de sa découverte.

Ankara est aussi impliquée dans une controverse au long cours avec Berlin, Athènes et Moscou sur la propriété de précieuses reliques de la ville de Troie, actuellement détenues par la Russie.

M. Bennett a également insisté sur la nécessité de sensibiliser les Turcs à la valeur de leur patrimoine historique, estimant qu'ils avaient tendance à sous-évaluer l'importance d'objets issus de la période préislamique tant que l'attention internationale ne s'est pas portée sur eux.

"Il y a besoin de plus insister sur le fait que c'est une richesse pour tous les Turcs, pour tous les époques", a-t-il souligné. (AFP, 13 juin 2006)

Controverse autour d'une inscription en latin dans un musée turc

Une inscription en latin datant du XVIe siècle et gravée sur le mur d'un musée turc a provoqué mardi une controverse politique, la presse accusant le gouvernement islamo-conservateur de vouloir la faire effacer en estimant qu'il s'agit d'une atteinte à la religion.

Selon les journaux, le ministère de la Culture a ordonné par écrit aux autorités locales de Bodrum (ouest) de faire effacer l'inscription "Inde deus abest (là où dieu est absent)", gravée par les chevaliers de Saint-Jean à l'entrée du cachot de la citadelle médiévale dominant la ville balnéaire.

Le ministère, ont précisé les journaux, aurait estimé que l'inscription n'avait aucune valeur historique.

Le ministre de la Culture et du Tourisme Atilla Koç a mis en doute l'authenticité de l'épigraphe lors d'une conférence de presse mardi, et annoncé qu'une enquête avait été ouverte sur son origine. Il a exclu que l'inscription soit effacée avant la fin de l'enquête.

Mais l'ancien directeur du musée, Oguz Alpözen, cité par les grands journaux Hürriyet et Sabah, a accusé le parti de la Justice et du Développement (AKP, issu de la mouvance islamiste), au pouvoir, de vouloir se débarrasser de l'inscription pour des raisons politiques.

"L'inscription est authentique. Le Refah (parti politique interdit sur les cendres duquel l'AKP a été fondé, ndlr) avait également voulu l'effacer car selon eux dieu est omniprésent", a souligné l'archéologue.

"Censure d'une inscription de 500 ans", titrait de son côté le quotidien Sabah.

La citadelle de Bodrum abrite un important musée d'archéologie sous-marine où des épaves de bateaux sont exposées. L'une de ses deux tours fut utilisée comme prison (chambre des tortures) entre 1513 et 1522.

L'AKP est soupçonné de vouloir accroître le rôle de l'islam dans la vie quotidienne et la politique en Turquie, pays majoritairement musulman mais laïque. (AFP, 13 juin 2006)

Plus de 200 oeuvres de Rodin exposées sur les rives du Bosphore

Le musée Sabanci d'Istanbul exposera à partir de mardi 203 oeuvres du sculpteur français Auguste Rodin dans une rétrospective comprenant ses plus illustres bronzes, mais aussi des dessins et une collection d'antiquités ayant appartenu à l'artiste, plus méconnus du public.

"Rodin n'est pas que l'homme du Penseur ou du Baiser (...) Il était aussi un immense dessinateur", a expliqué lundi lors d'une présentation de l'exposition à la presse Jacques Vilain, directeur jusqu'en octobre 2005 du musée Rodin de Paris, d'où proviennent les oeuvres présentées à Istanbul.

"Nous avons voulu montrer un Rodin complètement unitaire", a poursuivi M. Vilain, évoquant la continuité de l'oeuvre du sculpteur à travers les différents supports qu'il a utilisés -22 plâtres, deux marbres, 79 bronzes et 58 dessins sont exposés à Istanbul jusqu'au 3 septembre.

Aux côtés des chefs-d'oeuvre de l'artiste -le Penseur, le Baiser, Balzac, plusieurs éléments de la Porte de l'Enfer et des Bourgeois de Calais- sont ainsi présentés au public stambouliote des esquisses, des aquarelles et des découpages retraçant le processus de création propre à Rodin (1840-1917).

Dix-neuf statues antiques égyptiennes et gréco-romaines ayant appartenu au sculpteur complètent ce dispositif en éclairant le public sur ses sources d'inspiration.

"Rodin a puisé dans ces sources la prémonition que des oeuvres cassées, fragmentées par les effets du temps étaient en fait des oeuvres achevées", a souligné M. Vilain, faisant référence aux sculptures "fragmentées" ou semblant jaillir de la matière brute de Rodin, qui avaient choqué ses contemporains.

Le musée Sakip Sabanci, ouvert en 2002 dans une ancienne demeure ottomane sur la rive occidentale du Bosphore, aspire à devenir un centre d'attraction d'envergure internationale.

Une des ses précédentes expositions, consacrée au peintre espagnol Pablo Picasso, avait battu tous les records d'entrées en Turquie avec quelque 250.000 visiteurs. (AFP, 12 juin 2006)

La banque centrale relève son taux directeur pour apaiser les marchés

La Banque centrale turque a relevé mercredi, pour la première fois depuis cinq ans, son taux directeur pour apaiser les marchés, troublés par la hausse de l'inflation et des incertitudes politiques liées à la tenue d'élections l'an prochain.

Le comité de la politique monétaire de la Banque centrale qui s'est réuni à Ankara a décidé d'augmenter de 1,75 point son taux, à 15,0%, a annoncé l'institution sur son site internet.

Evoquant "la possibilité de nouvelles hausses du taux d'inflation dans les mois à venir", après de mauvais résultats en avril et mai, le document explique que "le comité de la politique monétaire a estimé nécessaire d'intervenir sur la politique des taux pour prévenir des effets durables (...) sur les prix".

La réunion de ce comité a été avancée de deux semaines après l'annonce la semaine dernière d'une hausse des prix à la consommation de 1,88% en mai, alors que la Banque centrale attendait 0,75%, et de 9,8% pour les douze derniers mois, loin des 5% fixés comme objectif par le gouvernement.

Ces résultats, conjugués à ceux également décevants d'avril, ont causé des turbulences sur les marchés et occasionné une dépréciation de 18% en un mois et demi de la livre turque face à l'euro et au dollar, ainsi qu'une hausse des taux d'intérêt sur le marché obligataire.

Les analystes ne s'attendaient cependant pas à une intervention aussi musclée de la Banque centrale et tablaient plutôt sur une hausse du taux directeur de 0,5 à un point.

"C'est une décision très courageuse et très juste", a applaudi sur la chaîne de télévision d'information CNN-Türk Tolga Ediz, directeur économique chez Lehman Brothers. "Ca va faire baisser la croissance mais c'est un signal très positif qui va rétablir la confiance" sur les marchés, a poursuivi l'expert, se disant confiant dans une "baisse à venir de l'inflation".

Certains analystes estimaient cependant que cet acte isolé de la Banque centrale ne suffirait pas à inverser la tendance.

"Cette mesure ne sera absolument pas à même de contenir l'inflation", a ainsi affirmé à l'AFP Seyfettin Gürsel, le directeur de la faculté d'économie de l'Université stambouliote de Galatasaray.

"Pour contrer les anticipations inflationnistes, il faut absolument que le gouvernement annonce une série de réformes", a commenté l'universitaire, mentionnant notamment la nécessité de réformer "en urgence" le système fiscal, un des plus lourds et des moins efficaces d'Europe.

M. Gürsel a aussi appelé le gouvernement à relancer le processus de réformes politiques, fonctionnant selon lui au ralenti à l'approche des élections présidentielle et législatives en 2007, également sources d'inquiétude pour les marchés.

Le gouvernement est accusé par ses détracteurs d'avoir perdu son "enthousiasme" pro-européen après le lancement en octobre de négociations d'adhésion avec l'Union européenne et de négliger les réformes pour se consacrer à des thèmes plus populistes à l'approche des élections.

L'assassinat en mai d'un magistrat par un islamiste présumé a en outre provoqué des tensions entre le parti au pouvoir de la Justice et du Développement (AKP), issu de la mouvance islamiste, et la hiérarchie pro-laïque, dont la puissante armée, faisant craindre aux investisseurs une période d'instabilité politique.

La Turquie a connu une reprise économique spectaculaire après deux crises majeures en 1999 et 2001.

Ankara applique actuellement un programme de rigueur économique sur trois ans (jusqu'en 2008) soutenu par un prêt de 10 milliards de dollars (7,8 mds d'euros) du Fonds monétaire international (FMI). (AFP, Burak AKINCI , 7 juin 2006)

18-yr-old woman shot in head in 'honour shooting' in Ankara

An 18-year-old Turkish woman who was married only last Sunday is struggling for her life at Ankara Hospital after being shot in the head by a brother in an 'honour shooting.'

The incident occurred in the Mamak in Ankara province.Yasemin Cetin who got married last Sunday was returned to her family the following day by her husband who claimed that she was not a virgin.

The Çetin family then called a family council. Though Yasemin Çetin said she had been raped by one of her in-laws, her family decided to entrusted her older brother Gokhan with the task of killing her. Her brother shot her with one bullet to the head. She was afterwards taken to hospital in Ankara where her condition is said to be vey serious.

Both the girl's father and older brother have been taken into custody by the authorities.

In a notorious 'honour killing' in February 2004, Guldanya Toren was killed by her brothers in an Istanbul hospital after having survived a previous murder attempt. The lack of any security provided for her at the hospital despite warnings had raised protests among women's and human rights groups in Turkey.

At a regular weekly press conference in early April, Turkish police spokesman Ismail Caliskan revealed that according to the official figures nearly 1200 people had been killed in honor crimes in the last six years in Turkey.

Mostly of those implicated in the honor crimes, were born in the south and southeastern Turkish regions, their criminal records indicated. However, most honor crimes were actually committed in the Marmara and Aegean region. (Cihan News Agency, June 7, 2006)

L'horreur pour deux Suisses en Turquie

Une femme d'origine alémanique a été violée vendredi soir par un gang de malfrats sous les yeux de son compagnon, près de la ville de Van dans l'est du pays. Ils les ont ensuite délestés de leurs biens. Les autorités suisses sont en contact avec les victimes

C'est pour un appareil photo et quelques centaines de francs qu'un couple de Suisses allemands a vécu l'horreur vendredi soir: Maya W. et Johannes M., de passage dans l'est de la Turquie après un séjour en Iran, ont été victimes d'un gang de six malfrats circulant à bord d'une voiture. Les truands ont non seulement délesté les deux routards, qui rejoignaient un camping à vélo, mais encore violé la femme, tandis que l'homme était retenu ligoté à un arbre, dans un chantier.

«Nous avons eu connaissance de ce cas, confirmait hier Lars Knuchel, porte-parole du Département fédéral des affaires étrangères. Notre ambassade à Ankara est en contact direct avec ce couple, ainsi qu'avec les autorités turques.» D'après la presse locale, les agresseurs ont pu être rapidement arrêtés, grâce notamment au numéro de plaque de leur véhicule, relevé par les deux Suisses.

C'est au lieu-dit Le Pont du diable, situé à proximité de la ville de Van, connue pour ses monuments historiques, que le couple s'est fait aborder par les malfaiteurs, cinq hommes et une femme. Les deux voyageurs, qui étaient venus d'Iran en train, avaient toutes leurs richesses sur eux au moment de l'agression... Un peu de monnaie turque, 800 dollars, 200 euros, une montre et un téléphone portable.

Les agissements des six criminels ont heurté la population. Dans la localité de Cizre, où ils ont été conduits pour des formalités, les habitants auraient tenté de rendre justice eux-mêmes en cherchant à les lyncher, rapportent plusieurs titres de la presse turque. Quant au sous-préfet de la région, lui aussi touché par le drame enduré par le couple, il leur aurait offert hospitalité et aide financière, le temps que les autorités consulaires interviennent.

Maya W. et Johannes M. ont-ils demandé à être rapatriés ou vont-ils poursuivre leur périple? Dans quel état physique et psychologique se trouvent-ils? Personne en Suisse ni en Turquie ne pouvait le dire hier soir. (Le Matin Dimanche, Joelle Isler, 4 juin 2006)

Le premier tanker chargé de brut de l'oléoduc BTC prend la mer

Le premier pétrolier rempli de brut issu du nouvel oléoduc BTC (Bakou-Tbilissi-Ceyhan), reliant l'Azerbaïdjan à la Turquie via la Géorgie, a pris la mer dimanche à destination du port italien de Savone (nord-ouest), a rapporté l'agence de presse Anatolie.

Le remplissage de cuves du Hawthorne, un tanker britannique d'une capacité de 600.000 barrils (85.000 tonnes), s'est achevé samedi soir dans le terminal pétrolier turc de Ceyhan (sud) et le navire a pris la mer dimanche, a déclaré à Anatolie le directeur adjoint du projet BTC Gökmen Cöloglu.

Le BTC, dont la construction en novembre 2000 a été soutenue par Washington, est destiné à transporter le pétrole de la Caspienne vers la Méditerranée et l'Occident en passant par la capitale de la Géorgie et en évitant ainsi la Russie et l'Iran.

La cérémonie d'inauguration officielle de cet oléoduc, pièce maîtresse du "corridor énergétique est-ouest" qu'entendent ouvrir les trois pays et auquel le Kazakhstan, lui aussi riche en hydrocarbures, devrait s'associer, est prévue en juillet.

Le BTC s'étend sur 1.767 km et est conçu pour transporter 50 millions de tonnes de pétrole par an.

British Petroleum (BP) est l'opérateur de ce projet d'un montant de 4 milliards de dollars (3,14 milliards d'euros) dont l'entreprise britannique détient 30% des parts. (AFP, 4 juin 2006)

Deux séismes de magnitude 4,8 et 4,5 dans le sud-est de la Turquie

Deux séismes d'intensité moyenne se sont produits samedi dans le sud-est de la Turquie, sans faire de victimes, ont annoncé les autorités turques.

 Le premier tremblement de terre, de magnitude de 4,8 sur l'échelle ouverte de Richter, a frappé à 14H07 (11H07 GMT) une zone proche de la ville de Yüksekova, à une quarantaine de kilomètres de l'Iran, dans la province de Hakkari, a indiqué le centre de sismologie Kandilli, basé à Istanbul.

"Aucune indication de pertes humaines ou de dégâts ne nous a été transmise de la ville et des villages" de la région, a affirmé le sous-préfet de Yüksekova, Ugur Kalkar, cité par l'agence de presse Anatolie.

La deuxième secousse, d'une magnitude de 4,5, s'est produite à 17H40 (14H40 GMT) près de la bourgade de Can, dans la province de Malatya, selon l'institut Kandilli.

Citant des sources locales, la chaîne de télévision NTV a affirmé qu'aucune victime n'était à déplorer.

Les séismes sont fréquents en Turquie, qui est traversée par plusieurs lignes de fracture sismique.

Quelque 20.000 personnes ont péri à la suite de deux violentes secousses qui ont frappé le nord-ouest du pays en 1999. (AFP, 3 juin 2006)

Le taux d'inflation grimpe à 9,86% en mai sur un an

Les prix à la consommation ont progressé de 1,88% en mai en Turquie et de 9,86% sur les douze derniers mois, a indiqué vendredi l'Institut des statistiques, faisant craindre que l'objectif de 5% d'inflation pour 2006 ne soit pas atteint.

L'indice mensuel est bien supérieur à la prévision de 0,75% donnée par la Banque centrale après une enquête auprès de 75 économistes, banquiers et dirigeants d'entreprises.

Les prix à la production ont augmenté de 2,77% en avril par rapport à mai et de 7,66% en glissement annuel.

"A la lumière des données actuelles, il est très probable que l'inflation sur l'année sera supérieure à l'objectif fixé", a indiqué la Banque centrale la semaine dernière.

En 2005, le taux d'inflation était de 7,72%, soit en-deçà de l'objectif de 8,0% fixé par le FMI dans son plan de relance économique. (AFP, 2 juin 2006)

Coup de grisou en Turquie: 17 mineurs tués

Dix-sept mineurs turcs ont été tués et cinq autres blessés dans un coup de grisou dans une exploitation de charbon du nord-ouest de la Turquie, a annoncé vendredi le ministre turc de l'Energie, Hilmi Güler.

Sur les 57 mineurs à l'intérieur de la mine au moment de l'accident jeudi soir, 35 (bien 35) ont pu regagner la surface, a-t-il dit sur la zone du sinistre, cité par les chaînes de télévision.

"Nous avons malheureusement perdu 17 de nos mineurs", a précisé le ministre.

Des efforts sont en cours pour secourir trois autres mineurs encore dans une galerie de la mine, a ajouté M. Güler.

L'accident s'est produit dans une mine exploitée par une compagnie privée, située à Odaköy, dans la province de Balikesir.

Les autorités ont ouvert une enquête pour déterminer s'il y a eu négligence ou pas de la part des gestionnaires de l'exploitation, a indiqué l'agence de presse Anatolie.

En avril 2005, 18 mineurs, dont un ingénieur, avaient trouvé la mort dans un accident similaire survenu dans une mine de charbon exploitée par l'Etat près de Gediz, dans l'ouest du pays. (AFP, 2 juin 2006)

La livre turque en forte baisse face au dollar et à l’euro

La livre turque était à son plus bas niveau depuis deux ans face au dollar et à l’euro mercredi, les analystes évoquant un contexte de rétraction des investissements sur les marchés à risque.

La monnaie turque (YTL) a chuté mercredi matin à 1,58 YTL pour un dollar, son plus bas niveau depuis mai 2004, et à 2,02 YTL pour un euro, son plus bas depuis le printemps 2003.

La Bourse était également en baisse. L’indice des 100 valeurs vedettes de la cote à Istanbul a essuyé une perte de 3,06% à 36.703,0 points, à mi-parcours de sa séance matinale avant de se redresser légèrement. "Ces mouvements sont la conséquence d’une lourde évasion (des capitaux) frappant les marchés à risque, qui nous rend très vulnérables en ce moment" a déclaré à l’AFP Haluk Burmumçekçi, chef du département de recherches de la banque Disbank.

"Même des pays comme le Brésil, qui ont dégagé des surplus dans la balance de leurs comptes courants, sont sous préssion", a ajouté l’analyste, estimant que la dépréciation de la valeur de la livre turque n’était "pas spécialement liée à des inquiétudes domestiques, même si celles-ci peuvent avoir une influence dans le futur".

Les investisseurs attendaient avec anxiété la publication, dans les prochains jours, des chiffres de l’inflation turque pour mai 2006, après l’annonce de résultats décevants en avril.

Les prix à la consommation en Turquie ont progressé de 1,34% en avril par rapport à mars, un résultat supérieur aux 0,43% de croissance mensuelle moyenne des prix prévus par la Banque centrale. Sur un an, les prix avaient augmenté de 8,83%, bien au dessus de l’objectif, fixé à 5% pour 2006. (armenews, 1er juin 2006)

L'oléoduc BTC entre l'Azerbaïdjan et la Turquie prochainement en service

Un premier pétrolier pourra prochainement être rempli du brut issu du nouvel oléoduc BTC (Bakou-Tbilissi-Ceyhan) reliant l'Azerbaïdjan à la Turquie via la Géorgie, après un retard dû à des raisons essentiellement bureaucratiques, a rapporté jeudi l'agence de presse Anatolie.

Des responsables de Botas, la compagnie d'Etat turque de pétrole et de gaz, l'une des participantes au consortium BTC, ont précisé qu'une première cargaison, prévue initialement le 27 mai, avait été reportée, d'autres entreprises impliquées dans le projet n'ayant pas rempli les documents nécessaires.

"Il n'y avait aucun problème, ni de gestion, ni technique, de notre part", a affirmé le directeur de projet de Botas à l'agence. Il a imputé "comme d'habitude" le retard à la direction du BTC.

La première cargaison sera chargée jeudi ou vendredi sur un tanker britannique, le Hawthorne, mouillant au large du port turc de Ceyhan (sud), terminal du BTC.

Le pétrolier partira ensuite pour le port italien de Savona (nord) avec 85.000 tonnes de brut.

Ce projet, soutenu par Washington et destiné à transporter le pétrole de la Caspienne vers la Méditerranée et l'Occident, passe également par la capitale de la Géorgie, en évitant la Russie et l'Iran.

La cérémonie d'inauguration officielle de ce pipeline, pilier du "corridor énergétique est-ouest" qu'entendent ouvrir les trois pays et auquel le Kazakhstan, lui aussi riche en hydrocarbures, devrait s'associer, est prévue en juillet.

Le BTC s'étend sur 1.767 km et est conçu pour transporter 50 millions de tonnes de pétrole par an.

British Petroleum (BP) est l'opérateur de ce projet et détient une part de 30% dans le projet d'un montant de 4 milliards de dollars (3,14 milliards d'euros). (AFP, 1er juin 2006)

Le directeur d’un musée turc arrêté après un vol dans son établissement

Les autorités turques ont annoncé lundi 29 mai l’arrestation du directeur du musée d’Usak (ouest) après le vol dans son établissement d’une broche en or et d’une pièce de monnaie issues d’un trésor du VIe siècle avant Jésus-Christ, a rapporté l’agence de presse Anatolie.

Le quotidien Milliyet avait affirmé dimanche que les deux objets, une broche en forme d’hippocampe et une pièce de monnaie antique appartenant au "Trésor Lydien", découvert dans les années 1960 près d’Usak, avaient été remplacés respectivement par un faux et par une autre pièce datant de la même époque.

"Le Trésor lydien est très important pour Usak. C’est pourquoi j’ai pris au sérieux une lettre anonyme" dénonçant le vol, a délaré le gouverneur d’Usak Kayhan Kavas, cité par Anatolie. "Une enquête administrative et judiciaire a été ouverte, dans le cadre de laquelle neuf personnes, dont le directeur du musée, Kazim Akbiyikoglu, ont été arrêtés dans quatre provinces différentes", a-t-il poursuivi, indiquant soupçonner que le vol relevait du crime organisé.

Le Trésor Lydien, une collection de 363 objets en or, argent ou verre a été découvert dans les années 1960 dans des tumulus funéraires proches d’Usak et exportés clandestinement hors de Turquie.

Certains ont été acquis par le Metropolitan Museum de New York et récupérés en 1993 au terme d’un procès intenté par la Turquie. (armenews, 1er juin 2006)

Relations turco-européennes / Turkey-Europe Relations

Les négociations d'adhésion UE-Turquie pourraient être en danger (Helsinki)

La poursuite des négociations d'adhésion de la Turquie à l'UE pourrait être "en danger" si Ankara n'applique pas son accord d'union douanière avec les 25, en particulier avec Chypre, a averti jeudi le ministre finlandais des Affaires étrangères Erkki Tuomioja.

"Ce n'est pas une menace", a déclaré le ministre lors de la présentation du programme de la présidence finlandaise de l'UE qui commence samedi pour six mois.

"Je veux juste noter le fait que cela va devenir un grave problème dans les négociations et que cela peut même mettre en danger la poursuite des négociations", a-t-il précisé.

"Le problème est clair: nous attendons, tout le monde dans l'Union attend que la Turquie ratifie le protocole additionnel, sinon il pourrait y avoir des conséquences", a insisté M. Tuomioja.

La Turquie a signé en juillet dernier ce protocole dit d'Ankara qui étend son union douanière avec l'UE aux dix Etats membres entrés dans l'Union en 2004, dont Chypre.

Ankara refuse malgré tout encore de reconnaître l'autorité de Nicosie et n'autorise toujours pas les navires et avions chypriotes à entrer dans leurs ports et aéroports.

Chypre est coupée en deux depuis que l'armée turque a envahi sa partie nord en 1974, après un coup d'Etat d'ultranationalistes chypriotes grecs soutenus par la junte alors au pouvoir à Athènes, qui voulaient rattacher l'île à la Grèce. Seule la partie sud est membre de l'UE.

Le ministre finlandais a précisé que "la fin de l'année était une date limite" pour la Turquie sur ce sujet, sans préciser si cet ultimatum concernait la ratification du texte, son application ou simplement la levée de l'interdiction dans les ports et aéroports.

L'UE a prévu de réexaminer la situation probablement après la publication du rapport annuel de la Commission européenne sur la Turquie en octobre ou novembre.

"Nous voulons travailler sur la question pour éviter d'avoir à faire face à une situation dramatique ou à une date limite", a ajouté M. Tuomioja, soulignant qu'un échec serait "un échec pour la Turquie et un échec pour l'UE".

Depuis des mois, cette question de la reconnaissance de Chypre par Ankara et de l'application de l'accord d'union douanière manque de faire échouer toutes les étapes des négociations avec la Turquie, en raison de la menace de veto de Nicosie.

Concernant l'élargissement en général, le ministre finlandais a appelé à ne pas envoyer "un mauvais message" aux candidats actuels et futurs, notamment les pays des Balkans.

Les 25 auront en décembre un débat général sur l'élargissement et en particulier sur la capacité d'absorption de l'UE, c'est-à-dire son aptitude à intégrer de nouveaux membres, sur le plan économique ou institutionnel.

"Un mauvais message serait d'envoyer un signal qui serait interprété comme l'Union européenne fermant ses portes", a insisté M. Tuomioja.

Certains Etats membres, la France en tête, ont tenté sans succès de faire reconnaître la capacité d'absorption de l'UE comme un véritable critère d'adhésion, ce qui est vu par beaucoup comme un moyen déguisé de freiner un élargissement de plus en plus décrié par l'opinion publique.

"L'UE doit être prête à prendre tous les pays européens dont la population veut rejoindre l'Europe et qui remplissent tous les critères", a estimé M. Tuomioja. "Et s'il vous plait, ne demandez pas où sont les frontières de l'Europe, c'est une chose que nous n'avons pas voulu mettre à l'agenda". (AFP, 29 juin 2006)

La Croatie double la Turquie sur la voie de l'adhésion à l'UE

La Croatie a pris un peu d'avance sur la Turquie dans les négociations d'adhésion à l'Union européenne, qu'elles ont démarrées en même temps en octobre dernier, a-t-on appris mercredi de sources européennes.

Suivant une recommandation de la Commission européenne, les représentants des 25 à Bruxelles ont en effet approuvé mercredi le principe de l'ouverture pour la Croatie d'un nouveau chapitre, sur les 35 qui jalonnent les pourparlers d'adhésion, celui sur l'union douanière, a-t-on appris auprès de la présidence autrichienne de l'UE.

Mais la Commission n'a fait pour l'instant aucune recommandation concernant l'ouverture de ce même chapitre pour la Turquie, a-t-on appris de source communautaire.

Pour la première fois depuis le 3 octobre et l'ouverture officielle des pourparlers d'adhésion, les deux pays n'avancent ainsi plus au même rythme dans ces discussions.

Le premier des 35 chapitres de négociations, celui concernant la science et la recherche, a été ouvert pour les deux pays le 13 juin, marquant ainsi l'entrée concrète dans les négociations.

La Commission européenne a aussi recommandé pour les deux pays l'ouverture du chapitre sur l'éducation et la culture, et posé des conditions aux deux capitales pour l'ouverture de deux autres chapitres.

Ni la Commission ni la présidence autrichienne n'ont voulu faire mercredi le lien entre le retard de la Turquie sur la Croatie sur les questions d'union douanière et la polémique concernant l'accord d'union douanière entre Ankara et l'UE.

La Turquie a signé en juillet dernier le protocole dit d'Ankara qui étend son union douanière avec l'UE aux 10 pays entrés dans l'UE en 2004, dont Chypre.

Mais les Turcs avaient alors souligné que leur paraphe ne valait pas reconnaissance des autorités de Nicosie, qui dirige le sud de l'île divisée.

Chypre est coupée en deux depuis que l'armée turque a envahi sa partie nord en 1974, après un coup d'Etat d'ultranationalistes chypriotes grecs soutenus par la junte alors au pouvoir à Athènes, qui voulaient rattacher l'île à la Grèce.

Bruxelles insiste régulièrement sur le fait que la non application de cet accord, et surtout le refus de la Turquie de laisser entrer dans ses ports les navires chypriotes, pourraient affecter certains chapitres des négociations, sans préciser lesquels.

"On savait depuis le début que les deux pays allaient se séparer à un moment ou un autre", a-t-on commenté de source communautaire.

Les négociations avec la Turquie doivent en effet durer dix ou quinze ans alors que la Croatie devrait entrer dans l'UE vers "la fin de la décennie", a indiqué récemment le commissaire européen à l'Elargissement Olli Rehn. (AFP, 28 juin 2006)

Ankara devra reconnaître Chypre au plus tard en 2007 (MAE portugais)

La Turquie devra reconnaître Chypre immédiatement après les élections de 2007 si elle veut poursuivre les négociations d'adhésion à l'UE, a déclaré vendredi le ministre portugais des Affaires étrangères Diogo Freitas do Amaral.

"Il est temps pour la Turquie de résoudre les problèmes politiques", a déclaré M. Freitas do Amaral au cours d'une conférence de presse à Lisbonne avec son homologue chypriote Yiorgos Lillikas.

"Pour ma part, je suis prêt à attendre jusqu'aux élections (présidentielles de 2007 en Turquie), mais immédiatement après, j'attends une solution rapide et claire" de la part de la Turquie sur la question chypriote, a-t-il ajouté.

"L'UE ne peut avancer (les négociations d'adhésion) uniquement sur le plan technique et laisser de côté le problème politique", a fait valoir le ministre portugais.

L'Union européenne et la Turquie ont ouvert formellement le 12 juin dernier le premier des 35 chapitres thématiques jalonnant les négociations d'adhésion avec Ankara.

 De son côté, le chef de la diplomatie chypriote a indiqué qu'il attendait "une coopération de la part de la Turquie".

"Il ne peut s'agir d'un processus univoque, la Turquie doit respecter ses engagements", a dit le ministre ajoutant qu'il avait demandé à Lisbonne, qui exercera la présidence de l'UE au second semestre 2007, de faire pression sur Ankara.

L'île de Chypre est divisée depuis 1974 à la suite de l'invasion par l'armée turque du nord de l'île, en réponse à un coup d'Etat de nationalistes chypriotes grecs, soutenus par la junte alors au pouvoir à Athènes, qui voulaient rattacher l'île à la Grèce. Depuis cette date, la partie nord de l'île - à population turque - est occupée par les troupes turques.

"Espérons qu'Ankara comprenne qu'il est plus important d'intégrer l'Union européenne que d'occuper le nord de Chypre", a souligné le responsable chypriote. (AFP, 23 juin 2006)

La Turquie doit accepter de négocier avec 25 pays (Finlande)

La Turquie doit accepter le fait qu'elle négocie son adhésion à l'UE avec 25 pays, a déclaré jeudi le Premier ministre finlandais Matti Vanhanen, président du Conseil européen à partir du 1er juillet, estimant que le dossier turc serait le plus difficile de son mandat.

"La Turquie doit accepter la réalité du fait qu'elle négocie avec 25 Etats membres. Ils (les Turcs) comprennent ce que je veux dire", a déclaré le chef du gouvernement finlandais lors d'une conférence de presse à Helsinki.

Sa remarque renvoyait d'une part aux tensions entre la Turquie et Chypre, dont la partie nord est occupée par l'armée turque depuis 1974, et aux réticences de plusieurs pays européens vis-à-vis de la candidature d'Ankara d'autre part.

M. Vanhanen a redit que l'UE "respectait ses engagements envers la Turquie et respectait les critères qui lui ont été donnés" pour son adhésion mais les progrès dans les négociations "dépendent de la Turquie".

Son homologue danois Anders Fogh Rasmussen, en visite officielle jeudi dans la capitale finlandaise, a pour sa part invoqué la condition de la "capacité d'absorption" de l'UE qui divise les Etats membres.

Certains pays souhaitent en effet, une fois la Bulgarie et la Roumanie intégrées, peut-être dès le 1er janvier 2007, conditionner toute nouvelle adhésion à la capacité institutionnelle, économique ou sociale de l'UE à absorber de nouveaux pays.

D'autres pays, dont la Finlande, sont opposés à ce principe et plaident pour le maintien des critères appliqués aux pays entrés après le Conseil européen de Copenhague en 1993 qui les avait fixés.

La Turquie, a par ailleurs souligné M. Rasmussen, "doit démontrer une volonté claire d'avancer dans un esprit positif, y compris sur le problème chypriote".

Le chef du gouvernement finlandais a estimé que la question du processus d'adhésion turc serait "probablement la plus difficile question" de la présidence finlandaise de l'UE au second semestre. (AFP, 22 juin 2006)

PE: La Turquie sommée d'admettre navires et avions chypriotes

Le commissaire à l'élargissement, Olli Rehn, a averti la Turquie que les négociations d'adhésion se heurteraient à de graves difficultés cet automne si le pays refusait d'admettre avions et navires chypriotes. Participant mardi à un premier échange de vues en commission des affaires étrangères sur un rapport parlementaire relatif aux progrès de la Turquie vers l'adhésion, M. Rehn a aussi confié aux députés qu'il était préoccupé par la baisse de rythme des réformes en Turquie.

"La Turquie, si elle veut éviter des problèmes majeurs cet automne, doit tenir parole (...) et respecter les obligations résultant tant de l'accord d'association que du partenariat pour l'adhésion. Tout manquement aura un effet négatif sur les négociations", a déclaré M. Rehn en évoquant le protocole d'Ankara qui prévoit l'extension aux dix nouveaux États membres, dont Chypre, de l'accord d'association de la Turquie avec l'UE. Il a ajouté que la Commission européenne publierait son rapport sur les progrès de la Turquie à l'automne. M. Rehn a pressé la Turquie de prendre des mesures en vue de la normalisation de ses relations avec Chypre, comme ne plus exercer son véto à l'adhésion de Chypre aux organisations internationales. Pour sa part, l'UE doit également faire davantage pour mettre fin à l'isolement de la partie nord de Chypre et lui permettre de commercer directement avec l'UE, a-t-il estimé.
 
Le commissaire a en revanche relevé des progrès en matière de droits de l'homme: "Les ONG ont tendance à admettre que, dans l'ensemble, les violations des droits de l'homme ont diminué  dans le pays." Mais il s'est déclaré inquiet au sujet de la liberté d'expression et a appelé à une refonte complète de l'article 301 de la constitution turque. M. Rehn est aussi très préoccupé par la situation tendue au sud-est de la Turquie: il a condamné sans équivoque le PKK pour ses attentats. Il a cependant ajouté qu'une politique gouvernementale qui ne s'intéresserait qu'à la sécurit&