Droits de l'Homme / Human Rights

La Turquie condamnée pour mauvais traitement

La Turquie a été condamnée jeudi à Strasbourg par la Cour européenne des droits de l'homme (CEDH) pour des mauvais traitements infligés, pendant sa garde à vue, à une femme suspectée d'appartenir à un parti interdit.

Interpellée le 15 janvier 1997 dans le cadre d'une enquête sur l'organisation illégale DHP (parti révolutionnaire du peuple), la requérante affirme que des aveux lui ont été extorqués durant sa garde à vue, longue de 14 jours.

Selon elle, les policiers l'ont suspendue par les bras, avant de la frapper, de l'injurier et de lui faire subir des attouchements sexuels.

Après son placement en détention provisoire, un médecin décela chez elle une sensibilité au niveau du bras gauche, tandis qu'un second examen révéla quelques jours plus tard une perte de motricité de l'avant-bras et de la main gauche.

Elle porta plainte contre ses tortionnaires mais comme les policiers déférés devant la Cour d'assises d'Istanbul n'étaient pas ceux présents pendant sa garde à vue, ils furent acquittés.

Dans son arrêt, la CEDH estime que les blessures constatées sur la requérante avaient bien pour origine le traitement subi pendant sa garde à vue.

La Cour souligne également que la justice turque n'a rien fait pour établir l'existence de mauvais traitement, ni l'implication de policiers dans les faits dénoncés et conclut à la violation de l'article 3 (interdiction des traitements inhumains).

Les juges ont encore souligné la longueur excessive de la garde à vue et ont conclu à la violation des articles 5.3 et 5.4 (droit à la liberté et à la sûreté).

Ils ont alloué à la requérante 15.000 euros pour préjudice moral et 3.000 euros pour frais et dépens. (AFP, 26 avr 2007)

Attaque à l'arme à feu devant le Conseil de l'enseignement supérieur

Le Premier ministre turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan a annoncé mercredi soir l'arrestation de l'auteur supposé d'une attaque à l'arme à feu survenue quelques heures auparavant devant le Conseil de l'enseignement supérieur (YÖK) à Ankara, a rapporté l'agence de presse Anatolie.

L'individu, répondant au nom de Nurullah Ilgün, a été appréhendé à la gare routière d'Ankara, a affirmé M. Erdogan alors qu'il quittait une réception célébrant les 45 ans de la cour constitutionnelle turque.

L'information a été confirmée par la police d'Ankara, qui a indiqué qu'un important dispositif de sécurité avait été déployé dans le terminal routier pour arrêter le suspect, interpellé en possession d'un pistolet, selon Anatolie.

Un homme armé d'une trentaine d'années a tiré des coups de feu mercredi après-midi devant le YÖK, une institution laïque qui s'est illustrée pour son opposition à des décisions du gouvernement islamo-conservateur turc.

L'individu n'a pas pu entrer dans le bâtiment, situé dans la banlieue de la capitale turque, et a pris la fuite après avoir été chassé par des agents de sécurité en faction, a expliqué le vice-président du YÖK Aybars Ertepinar sur la chaîne d'information NTV, soulignant que personne n'avait été blessé.

"Après avoir par deux fois tiré en direction des gardes, il s'est débarrassé de sa veste et s'est emparé de force d'une voiture puis d'un taxi et aurait ensuite disparu dans la nature à Kizilay", le centre-ville, a-t-il dit.

L'homme, qui a réussi à pénétrer dans le garage fermé de l'immeuble en menaçant un gardien n'a cependant pas pu entrer dans le bureau du président du YÖK, le professeur Erdogan Teziç, auquel il comptait apparemment s'en prendre, a indiqué le responsable.

Le Pr. Teziç, un éminent expert en droit constitutionnel, fait appliquer à la lettre l'interdiction du port du foulard islamique dans les universités, une mesure que le gouvernement souhaite assouplir malgré la vive opposition de la hiérarchie pro-laïque qui voit dans le foulard un signe de militantisme islamiste.

En mai 2006, un activiste islamiste avait tué un juge et blessé quatre autres par balles au Conseil d'Etat, qu'il avait attaqué en riposte, selon ses dires, à l'interdiction du port du foulard dans les établissements universitaires et de la fonction publique que la Cour fait respecter.

Le gouverneur d'Ankara, Kemal Önal, a affirmé à l'agence Anatolie ne pas privilégier de piste.

"Il peut s'agir d'un attentat, d'une opération de repérage, où bien de quelqu'un qui a agi à la légère", a-t-il déclaré.

L'opposition n'en a pas moins appelé le gouvernement à faire la lumière sur cette affaire qui intervient alors que la Turquie s'apprête à élire un nouveau président de la République -le premier tour de scrutin doit avoir lieu vendredi.

Erkan Mumcu, le chef du petit parti de centre-droit Anap a fait part lors d'une conférence de presse de la "profonde inquiétude suscitée par l'accroissement des tensions parallèlement à l'élection présidentielle" et appelé le gouvernement a "assumer ses responsabilités".

"Notre mission est de demander des comptes jusqu'à ce que l'auteur soit arrêté et que la force de l'ombre mal intentionnée qui se trouve derrière lui soit démasquée", a déclaré Deniz Baykal, chef du principal parti d'opposition, le Parti républicain du peuple (CHP, social-démocrate), cité par Anatolie. (AFP, 25 avr 2007)

Students Condemned to 60 Years Imprisonment

28 university students have been condemned to a total of 68 years imprisonment for participating in a demonstration against the Turkish Council of Higher Education (YÖK) in its 25th anniversary in November 2005.

During the demonstrations in Ankara, the security forces had intervened and took 50 students under custody, while many others were injured by use of force by the police.

40 students among them were charged and the case ended recently.

Ankara 11th High Criminal Court condemned two students to 10 years in prison on grounds of "being member to an illegal organization and disposing of explosives".

20 other students were condemned to 18 months while six of them to 30 months.

Lawyer of the students, Ali Haydar Hakverdi said they would appeal to the ruling. He reminded the court that his clients are students and the case interfered with their right to education.

In the past, 33 students in Trache University have been condemned to 3 years imprisonment for "damaging public property" following a spring festivity at the campus.

A central body, which controls all universities in the country, YÖK, has been established following the military coup of 1980.

Each year, students protest it as an obstacle in front of the sovereignity and free speech at the institutions. (BIA News Center, Ayca ORER, April 23, 2007)

Protestation contre l'attaque policière et les arrestations massives

La première audience contre les dirigents et les militants de la Plate-forme Socialiste des Opprimés (ESP), les journaux Atilim et Dayanisma, les syndicats Tekstil-Sen et Limter-Is, Radio Özgür, et l'Association des Travailleuses (EKD), qui avaient été arbitrairement emprisonnés en septembre, a eu lieu aujourd'hui à Istanbul.


La police à violemment attaqué les gens qui s'étaient rassemblés à Besiktas (Istanbul) par solidarité avec les journalistes, les syndicalistes, les jeunes et les femmes militants, et les socialistes de l'ESP. Beaucoup de personnes ont été blessées et il y a eu au moins 96 arrestations.
Les délégations internationales qui étaient venues à Istanbul pour exprimer leur solidarité avec les prisonniers de Septembre ont également été victimes des attaques. De nombreux représentants de différentes organisations font égalemant parti de ceux qui ont été arrêtés.

L'attaque a été dénoncée par une conférence de presse à la branche d'Istanbul de l'Association des Droits Humains et par une action dans le Parc Galatasaray. De plus, de nombreux intellectuels dont le Vice-président de la Fédération Internationale des Droits Humains, Akin Birdal, le scientifique et écrivain Hasan Basri Aydin ont fait une déclaration et ont indiqué que ces attaques avaient pour but d'éliminer tous les droits démocratiques.



En attaquant aujourd'hui les gens qui s'étaient rassemblés devant la Cour, et en arrêtant au moins 96 personnes, l'Etat turc a montré une fois de plus son caractère fasciste et son hostilité aux droits démocratiques et aux libertés.



La campagne "Nous Voulons la Liberté" appelle toutes les personnes démocrates et progressistes à élever leur voix contre la terreur d'Etat en Turquie, à dénoncer ces attaques et à exiger la libération immédiate des personnes arrêtées.

Envoyez vos messages de protestation à:



Tayyip Erdogan, Premier Ministre: bimer@basbakanlik.gov.tr
Cemil Cicek, Ministre de la Justice : cemil.cicek@adalet.gov.tr , fkasirga@adalet.gov.tr 
Fax: 00 90 312 419 33 70 
Abdulkadir Aksu, Ministre de l'Intérieur: aaksu@icisleri.gov.tr 
Abdullah Gul, Ministre des Affaires Etrangères: abdullah.gul@tbmm.gov.tr 
Département de Police d'Istanbul: Fax: 0090 212 636 28 71



Merci d'envoyer une copie à : info@wewantfreedom.org 


Campagne "Nous voulons le Liberté"
13/04/2007

During the MLKP Trial, demonstrators beaten by police

On 14 April, Istanbul Heavy Penal Court No 9 continued to hear the case against 23 persons who had been detained during operations conducted against several journals and civil organisations in September 2006 and arrested afterwards on charges of "being member of Marxist Leninist Communist Party (MLKP)".

Istanbul Labourer Women's Association Chairwoman  Çiçek Otlu, news editor of Özgür radio Halil Dinç, Chairman of the union Limter-Is Cem Dinç, Secretary General of the union Zafer Tektas, Özcan Dilekli, Özgür radio worker Sinan Gerçek, correspondent with Atilim Özge Kelekçi, Socialist Platform of Oppressed (ESP) members Özlem Cihan, Hüseyin Umut Yakar and Selver Orman were released at the hearing.

The court rejected the release of ESP members Figen Yüksekdag, Yusuf Demir, Günes Senyüz, Erdal Demirhan, Chairman of the union Tekstil-Sen Ayse Yumli Yeter, Ali Haydar Keles and editor with the paper Dayanisma Emin Orhan.

The court adjourned the hearing to 7 August.

Meanwhile a crowded group gathered in Besiktas in connection with the case and the police forcibly dispersed them. Though the police allowed the group including executives of political parties and associations to continue the action till 1pm, they intervened the group before 1pm. The police used tear gas and tried to disperse them by beating. The demonstrators stoned the police in response. Many persons were heavily beaten during the incident; Gülsah Tagaç was wounded at her head. Tagaç and executive of the union Limter-Is Kamber Saygili were hospitalised.

114 persons were detained during the incident and 20 detainees arrested on 14 April:

Deniz Kaganaslan, Özkan Teper, Bahattin Cizreli, Ugur Ok, Mehmet Çoban, Ferhat Yildiz, Ibrahim Avci, Mustafa Varli, Murat Dogan, Mazlum Çelik, Özkan Sahin, Mehmet Emin Aygüç, Ali Tektas, Ramazan Toktas, Meriç Solmaz, Sinan Tanriverdi, Ömer Adigüzel, Eray Atmaca ve Ali Uygur.

ESP member Emine Yildirim who was among the group who gathered in Esenyurt to attend the hearing was also detained. (Atilim-TIHV, April 16, 2007)

17 Complaints of Torture in One Month

Turkey's Human Rights Foundation (TIHV) İzmir branch revealed that a total of 17 people has applied to the institution for allegations of torture, between March 1 and April 7.

Before and after the tense Newroz celebrations at the end of March, more than 80 peole have been taken under custody and 26 of them have been arrested in the city, the foundation said.

"This picture evokes a feeling that the country's reality of violence, torture and rights violations is once again surfaced". It voiced fears of further violence and rights violations by security forces before the upcoming May Day.

TIHV's findings about the custody and torture cases are as follows:

* Before Newroz celebrations, 14 people has been taken under custody, among them administrators and members of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) and a journalist. Eight of them have been arrested.

* On March 20, before the mass celebrations 20 people have been taken under custody. During the celebrations on March 21, 58 people were taken under custody.

* Among the 12 applications of complaints of torture that reached TİHV, 8 of them were subjected to extreme use of force by the police. Medical examinations revealed that they suffered from trauma as a result of beatings and other kinds of brutality. Other five applications were made by suspects related to legal complaints. (BIA News Center, April 12, 2007)

La Turquie condamnée pour des sévices à des prisonniers

La Turquie a été condamnée jeudi à Strasbourg par la Cour européenne des droits de l'Homme (CEDH) dans deux affaires concernant 13 détenus victimes de sévices à Izmir et dans le Kurdistan, qui recevront un total de 111.000 euros pour dommage moral.

Douze détenus de la prison Buca, à Izmir, s'étaient plaints d'avoir été frappés à coups de matraque et de planches de bois par des administrateurs du centre pénitentiaire, des gardiens et des gendarmes, parce qu'ils refusaient de se laisser fouiller, en juillet 1995. D'après le gouvernement turc, ils se seraient blessés en tombant dans l'escalier.

Les juges européens, ne trouvant pas cette explication plausible, en ont conclu que les prisonniers avaient été "bel et bien frappés et blessés".

Ils ont aussi relevé que l'enquête avait été entâchée de "graves lacunes", avec notamment la disparition d'un dossier et le refus du procureur de poursuivre les gendarmes.

Dans l'autre affaire, des gendarmes avaient battu, privé d'eau, de nourriture et privé de toilettes un habitant de Sirnak (sud-est) soupçonné d'être sympathisant du Parti des travailleurs du Kurdistan (PKK). L'homme avait été maintenu au secret pendant trois jours avant d'être placé officiellement en garde à vue.

La Cour européenne a jugé que cet homme avait été victime d'une série de six violations de la Convention européenne des droits de l'Homme, notamment l'interdiction des traitements inhumains et les droits à un recours effectif et à un procès équitable et lui a alloué 15.000 EUR pour dommage moral.  (AFP, 12 avr 2007)

Mehmet Desde Invited to Prison for Setting up illegal organization

Mehmet Desde who was condemned to 2 years and 6 months prison sentence and 1666 Turkish Lira of fine for “setting up an illegal organisation” have been invited to prison on 5 April 2007. If Desde does not attend the invitation in 10 days and a warrant of arrest will be issued against him.

İzmir State Security Court found Mehmet Desde, Mehmet Bakır, Maksut Karadağ, Hüseyin Habib Taskın and Şeraffettin Parmak guilty of “setting up an illegal organisation” on 24.07.2003 and condemned each to 4 years 2 months prison sentence and 7.270.135.000 lira of fine.

Suspects Metin Ozgünay, Omer Güner and Ergün Yıldırım were condemned to 10 months prison sentence and 662.500.000 lira fine each. High Court’s Penal Department num. 9 reversed the decision on 08.04.2004. High court stated that the quality of the organisation had to be determined due to legal amendments during the trial. High court referred the case to İzmir High Criminal Court num. 8. Court condemned Desde to 2 years and 6 months prison sentence and 1666 YTL fine despite the fact that anti-terror law was amended and “exerting violence or physical force” was made a condition of terror definition in the new law.

Court accepted that there was no use of “violence and physical force” yet based its condemnation on “exerting emotional violence” which did not exist in the law.

The decision was appealed against. High court prosecutor demanded the reversal of the case yet penal department num. 9 approved it this time. Desde’s attorney contacted high court prosecutor and asked them to send the case to high court penal assembly. Desde’s case is being examined by high court prosecution office yet even if the prosecutor sends the case to penal assembly it does not stop the execution. (antenna, April 11, 2007)

Un pirate de l’air détourne un avion de ligne turc avant de se rendre

Un pirate de l’air turc, connu des services de police, a détourné mardi soir pour des raisons inconnues un avion de ligne turc sur l’aéroport d’Ankara avant de rendre rapidement aux autorités.

L’avion, un Boeing 737-800 de la compagnie privée Pegasus, reliait Diyarbakir, principale ville du sud-est anatolien peuplé majoritairement de Kurdes, à Istanbul, la première métropole turque avec à son bord 174 passagers, dont trois bébés, et six membres d’équipage.

L’homme âgé de 39 ans et originaire de Diyarbakir répond au nom de Mehmet Goksin Gol (bien Goksin Gol). Il a été acquitté après avoir été jugé en 1994 dans sa ville natale pour soutien et recel en faveur des séparatistes kurdes du Parti des Travailleurs du Kurdistan (PKK) qui mène une rébellion armée contre les forces d’Ankara depuis 1984, indique l’agence de presse semi-officielle Anatolie.

Selon son casier judiciaire en possession de la police ankariote, le pirate est notamment accusé de possession et trafic de drogue, coups et blessures et possession illégale d’armes, ajoute l’agence.

"Le pirate de l’air, de nationalité turque, s’est rendu à la police qui l’a immédiatement maîtrisé et placé en détention", a indiqué le sous-secrétaire d’Etat adjoint au ministère des Transports Ibrahim Sahin aux journalistes à Ankara où l’appareil s’est posé.

Les passagers du vol détourné ont été évacués et devaient relier leur destination initiale à bord d’un autre appareil de la compagnie.

Les artificiers de la police sont montés à bord de l’avion mais n’ont retrouvé aucune arme, ni bombe, a indiqué le ministre de l’Intérieur Abdülkadir Aksu, qui n’a pas voulu se prononcer sur les revendications du pirate, invoquant le secret de l’instruction.

Des mesures de sécurité exceptionelles ont été prises à l’aéroport d’Ankara où le trafic aérien était normal. (Agences de presse, 10 avril 2007)

Torture of three persons in detention after the distirbution of journal

Bülent Kemal Yildirim, Ugur Ilbay, Nejdet Dernek and Ersin Koca who were detained on 1 April in Avcilar district of Istanbul while they were selling the journal Yürüyüs announced that they were tortured in detention.

Bülent Kemal Yildirim showed the traces of torture on his face and hands during the press meeting on 4 April at federation of Fundamental Rights and Freedom. The detained persons announced that they were detained under beatings while they were selling the journal on Marmara Avenue around 15.00. Bülent Kemal Yildirim was beaten for an hour in a room at the police station. Yildirim who was put in the custody after an hour was taken back to that room later. They squeezed Yildirim's neck, hit his head to wall and stepped on him after laying him down.

They told in the press meeting that Bülent Kemal Yildirim was put in a bathroom in where he was stripped naked, beaten and awaited for hours. They said that they squeezed the testicles of other detainees, hit their heads to the wall and stepped on them after laying them down.

The detainees were taken to Küçükçekmece Public Prosecutor after some hours and testified there to the effect that they were tortured. They were told that they were sent to Bakirkoy Heavy Penal Court but would be put in custody till the next day before going there. When they returned to Avcilar Police Station they were beaten and insulted again. Police forcibly took their fingerprints and photos. Afterwards they were taken to the room of a police chief who also insulted and tortured them. They were released at 22.50 but their detention after going to Bakirkoy Public Prosecutor was not registered. (Halkin Sesi-TIHV, April 5, 2007)

Student Beaten by Gendarmerie in Istanbul

On 3 April, gendarmerie soldiers reportedly beat Samet Kaya, student of Mehmetçik Lyceum, while they were making a search on the streets in connection with the placards put up on various places in Sarigazi district of Istanbul. Samet Kaya, who was beaten both on the street and in the gendarmerie vehicle, was arrested on the same day. Relatives of Samet Kaya who went to the gendarmerie station to see him announced that Kaya's face was swollen and there was blood on his cloths. (Halkin Sesi-TIHV, April 5, 2007)

Trade Unionists sentenced for "teacher's march"

On 4 April Ankara Penal Court of First Instance No 28 concluded the case 23 trade unionists launched in connection with the "teacher's march" organized by the Egitim-Sen in 2005.

The court sentenced Chairman of the KESK Ismail Hakki Tombul, Chairman of the Egitim-Sen Alaaddin Dinçer, Chairman of the SES Koksal Aydin, Chairman of the BES Bülent Kaya, Chairman of the BTS Ibrahim Fehmi Kütan, Secretary General of the Egitim-Sen Emirali Simsek, the chairmen of the branches of trade unions Ozgür Bozdogan, Abdullah Ciftçi, Murat Kahraman and Erkan Sümer to one year three months' imprisonment and fine of YTL 407 each. The court suspended the sentences except for Tombul and Kütan.

Kayhan Ozkul, Lütfi Golpinar, Burhan Fosforoglu, Metin Tatar, Elif Akgül Ates, Ali Berberoglu, Adem Polat, Salih Karaaslan, Hasim Akgün, Leyla Can, Dengiz Sonmez and Seçkin Süslü were  acquitted.  (Birgün-TIHV, April 5, 2007)

Government Pressured to Clear Land Mines

April 4 marks the first annual observance of the UN designated International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action.

Muteber Oğreten from the Initiative for a Mine-free Turkey told bianet that no one can stay silent on the issue anymore:

"As peoples, NGOs, academics, intellectuals of this country, we have to monitor government's compliance with the Ottowa Mine-Ban Treaty, which was ratified by Turkey on March 12, 2003".

The treaty obliges the government to clear and demolish all anti-personnel land mines within a specified time frame. This is to say all stored mines until 2008 and all which are already laid until 2014.

The latest report submitted by the government to the UN quotes 3 million land mines in stocks and further 1 million already laid down.

Oğreten refuses the arguments about the financial cost of clearing land mines, saying tens of thousands of lives are at stake.

the Initiative's statistics show that at least 39 people have died last year in Turkey because of land mines and abandoned military explosives. A further 106 have been injured.

Four of those who lost their lives were children while 25 of them were soldiers.

Originally titled the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer or Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, the Ottawa Treaty is the most comprehensive international instrument for ridding the world of the scourge of antipersonnel mines.

It deals with everything from mine use, production and trade, to victim assistance, mine clearance and stockpile destruction since its implementation in 1997.

The treaty banned the production of land mines all around the world but rights activists say arms producers replaced it by another deadly mass explosive: cluster bombs.

Oğreten explains the situation: "Land mines were invented during the American civil war. since then 350 variants of them have been produced. Now it's forbidden another deadly arms with the same effects, namely the cluster bomb has been introduced. We can't limit our objection to land mines, we've to consider the effects of those weapons on civilians".

The last case of such was seen when the Israeli army occupied Lebanon last summer. UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator at the time Jan Egeland said Israeli forces dropped 90 percent of cluster bombs during the last 72 hours before retreating.

All those didn't explode at the time covered the ground and continued killing civilians long after the end of the occupation. (BIA News Center, Tolga KORKUT, April 4, 2007)

Pression sur les médias / Pressure on the Media

Journalists, Mayor and DPT Official on Trial...

On 26 April, Bagcilar (Istanbul) Penal Court of First Instance No No 2 continued 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 for the testimonies of Aykon and Aksoy. The court previously issued arrest warrants against Aykon and Akfor for not attending the last three hearings.

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".

On 26 April, Bagcilar Penal Court of First Instance No 2 continued to hear the case against Dogan Ertugrul, journalist with the weekly Nokta, Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir and DTP Chair for Siirt province Murat Avci launched in connection with an interview published on Nokta in April 2006. The court adjourned the hearing to wait for the voice recordings to be decoded. (Hurriyet-Zaman, April 30, 2007)

The Case Against Journalist Erol Özkoray Dropped

On 25 April Sisli Heavy Penal Court No 2 concluded the case against Erol Özkoray, editor-in-chief of the journal Idea Politika, launched in connection with the articles entitled "Ordu Ne Ise Yarar" (What is the Army Good For) and "Yeni Barbarlar Apoletli Talibanlar" (New Barbarians are the Talibans with Epaulets) published in 2001.

The court decided in the drop of the case due to lapse of time.

The first case led to his acquittal and the high court approved it. Yet the second case went on and Özkoray was condemned to paying fine over two articles. High court ordered a re-trial due to amendment of the penal code. At the end of the retrial court rejected the case on the grounds that a second case was opened over the same article. Prosecutor had demanded the same with the same reason.

Ozkoray's new book "What good is the Army for?" published amid legal pressure

Anti-militarist opposition writer Erol Ozkoray published his new book "What Is the Army For?" by Belge Publications while he was being prosecuted for the article by the same title. His trial ended by dismissal of the case on the grounds that the same article went through trial and acquitted before. The case, being a redundant attempt, shows the determination of the Turkish military leaders to punish Mr. Ozkoray for his relentless criticism of their political role.

Founder and editor-in-chief of the quarterly magazine Idea Politika, Erol Özkoray tells in the book the story of his taboo breaking mission for he true democracy in Turkey. Along the road on his too courageous mission for this country, he faced 20 legal procedures against him, his publication was collected more than once and finally shut down, all driven and pressed by the military. Being prosecuted in accordance with Article 301 of the Penal Code, for "insulting the army" and "insulting the Republic" he was among the Turkish writers and journalists as the assasinated Armenian editor Hrant Dink and Nobel Laurate Orhan Pamuk facing trials in the same courti with the same charges for his free thinking.

In the book and his numerous articles, he analysed the Turkish army's influence within institutions, its omnipresence in politics and its economic weight. He came to the conclusion that the army is obstructing the democratisation of the country and the road for the European Union membership.

The charges against him demanded 30 years of prison sentence.

In the files of his trials, Mr. Ozkoray discovered confidential documents issued by the top military generals, one being the present Chief of the General staff, Mr. Buyukanit, asking the attorneys and the official investigators to follow the case closely making sure Ozkoray is prosecuted and punished. With this legal scandal, Mr. Ozkoray?s criticism became harsher with each case; declaring the Chief of the General Staff Mr. Buyukanit as the enemy of the Turkish democracy before the General announced his latest ultimatum for the Turkish Government concerning the election of the president.

Mr. Ozkoray's previous book was titled "Totalitarian Turkish Farm" by Belge Publications which analysed the totalitarian roots of the Turkish regime based on the military, monopolized pres, corrupt politicians and the business.

Mr. Ozkoray is an Istanbul born political scientist who studied in Paris, worked as a journalist for AFP and wrote articles for El Pais, Libération, Politique Internatioanle, Les Echos, La Revue and Jeune Afrique. (TIHV-Antenna, April 27, 2007)


Turkish Courts Continue Blocking Web Sites

With reference to an individual complaint, an Istanbul court banned access to the informal online news source Eksisozluk (sourtimes.org).

Adnan Oktar, a self-claimed religious sect-leader complained to the court that the online meeting site where members can add and edit headers on anything, contained defamatory expressions about himself.

Eyup 3rd Court of First Instance reviewed the complaint and ordered Turk Telecom -the main Internet service provider in Turkey- to close the site to public access as a preemptive caution.

Furthermore, a poetry site, www.antoloji.com has been also blocked but site moderator Cengiz Ekrem Teymur says they haven't received any notice and don't know on what grounds the action has been taken.

Eksisozluk lawyer Başak Purut criticized the court order, saying, "This is an disproportional and useless preemption. One can reach the site via various other ways. Furthermore, we're open to any such complaints and remove the defamatory expressions if there's a complaint. There's no need to shut down all of the site".

Purut told reporters that they already removed the articles in question but Turk Telecom carried out the court order a day before it reached them.

He appealed to the order and the ban was lifted today.

This is the second time Eksizoluk faces such action. In February 2006, access to the web site was banned on grounds that it contained articles and comments "promoting drugs and drug use".

While a draft legislation on cyber crimes is at the National Assembly for enaction, the Turkish judiciary lacks any common approach on such cases.

Experts and rights activists criticize the draft legislation as it would be used to curb dissident views.

Access to another news website, Superpoligon.com had also been restricted following Oktar's complaint.

On another account, the renowned video sharing site Youtube was blocked in March by court order following an alleged video insulting Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey. (BIA News Center, Erol ONDEROGLU, April 20, 2007)

New 301 Case for having protested against university exams

A court case was launched against Oktay Avcu according to the Article 301 TPC in connection with the leaflet titled to protest the university admission exam. The title of the leaflet was "Prevention of Education is Treachery against the Country". The case will commence at Mersin Penal Court of First Instance No 5. (Hürriyet-TIHV, April 19, 2007)

Le magazine Nokta suspend sa parution sous la pression de l'Armée

Le magazine turc libéral Nokta a décidé d'arrêter sa publication après avoir été perquisitionné par la police à la suite d'articles controversés sur l'armée turque, dont l'un faisait état de deux tentatives de putsch en 2004, a annoncé samedi son rédacteur en chef.

La décision de mettre un terme à la publication de cet hebdomadaire, vieux de vingt cinq ans, a été prise par son propriétaire, a précisé l'agence Anatolie, citant son rédacteur en chef, Alper Gormus.

"L'arrêt de la publication est prévu pour une période indéterminée. Vous pouvez le considérer comme une fermeture", a-t-il déclaré.

M. Gormus a indiqué que les journalistes n'avaient reçu aucune menace et qu'il n'avait pas connaissance d'une quelconque pression exercée sur son propriétaire, Ayhan Durgun, pour suspendre la parution de son magazine.

Agissant sur les ordres de l'armée, la police avait fait une descente la semaine dernière dans les bureaux de Nokta et fait une copie du contenu de tous les ordinateurs.

La police cherchait à trouver des preuves concernant la publication le mois dernier par Nokta d'un document interne de l'armée, qui, selon cette dernière, lui aurait été dérobé dans son quartier général.

Ce document comprend des listes de journalistes classés en "partisans de l'armée" et "opposants à l'armée".

 Par ailleurs, en mars, Nokta (Point en turc) avait publié ce qu'il a présenté comme des extraits du journal d'un ancien responsable de la marine, Ozden Ornek, dans lequel celui-ci raconte qu'un groupe de généraux avaient planifié deux coups d'Etat en 2004 pour renverser le Premier ministre Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Ces plans n'avaient pu aboutir car ils n'avaient pas réussi à obtenir le soutien de commandants influents, selon le magazine.

Ornek a démenti avoir tenu un journal, mais Nokta a soutenu sa version.

L'armée turque, qui se considère comme la garante des principes laïcs dans un pays à majorité musulmane, se méfie du Parti de la Justice et du développement (AKP) de M. Erdogan, issu de la mouvance islamiste.

 Elle a mené trois coups d'Etat, en 1960, 1971 et 1980 et a contraint à la démission en 1997 le premier gouvernement dirigé par des islamistes en Turquie, auquel de nombreux membres de l'AKP appartenaient.  (AFP, 21 avr 2007)

IPA condemns assassination of publishers in Turkey

The International Publishers Association (IPA) condemns the killing yesterday of three employees of the Zirve publishing house in the South-Eastern town of Malatya, Turkey. [According to "Turkish Daily News", one of the victims, Necati Aydin, was the director of the publishing house.]

According to media reports, the Zirve publishing house prints Bibles and Christian literature, and had been the target of threats and a demonstration by nationalists accusing it of proselytising. It was also reported that the victims' throats had been cut and that police had detained six people in connection with the killings on Wednesday 18 April 2007.

"The murder of the employees of the Zirve publishing house is not only a tragedy in itself. It is also an attack on freedom to publish. This attack follows the murder earlier this year on 19 January of Hrant Dink, a Turkish-Armenian editor, by an ultra-nationalist. Again, the murderers want to send a powerful message of fear. It is important that all publishers and writers, all media and all democratic forces stand together in defence of the basic principles of democracy and freedom", said Ana Maria Cabanellas, IPA President.

"The Turkish authorities must lead a thorough investigation. We need to know who killed the employees of the Zirve publishing house, and who ordered the attack. There seems to be an escalation of the brutal attacks on freedom of expression in Turkey. The spiral of death must come to an end", also declared IPA Freedom to Publish Committee Chair Bjørn Smith-Simonsen.

IPA, established in Paris in 1896, represents the publishing industry worldwide through 78 national, regional and specialised publishers associations in 66 countries. IPA is an accredited Non-Governmental Organisation enjoying consultative status to the United Nations. IPA seeks to promote and defend the fundamental freedoms to publish, to read and to write, defending the rights of authors and publishers to create and distribute intellectual works in complete freedom.

For further information, contact Alexis Krikorian, Director, Freedom to Publish, IPA, 3, avenue de Miremont, Ch-1206, Geneva, Switzerland, tel: +41 22 346 30 18, fax: +41 22 347 57 17, e-mail: krikorian@ipa-uie.org, secretariat@ipa-uie.org, Internet: http://www.ipa-uie.org
(IPA/IFEX, April 19, 2007)

Police raid offices of newsweekly that revealed coup plans

The building that houses the offices of Nokta newsweekly, which recently uncovered a plan by former generals to bring down the Turkish government, were raided by the police on Friday, just one hour after a visit by correspondents from Today's Zaman for an interview that can be found on the inside pages.

Editor in Chief of Nokta newsweekly Alper Gormüs held a press meeting after the police raid.

Last week Nokta ran an article based on what it said were excerpts from the diary of former Navy Commander Adm. Ozden Ornek. The diary detailed plans of senior military officers to stage a coup to remove the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Friday's raid comes just one day after Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Büyükanıt said there were no records of the alleged coup plans in military archives. During Friday's raid the police gathered all staff at the magazine in the meeting room and confiscated all desktop and laptop computers in the office, located in the İncirli area of İstanbul's Bakırkoy district, Nokta correspondent Ahmet Şık said in a statement he made shortly after the police arrived at the building. "What we wrote scared some people, I suppose. We haven't written anything that is untrue," he said.

Nokta Editor in Chief Alper Gormüs, who spoke to the press about two hours after being questioned, said the warrant referred to all news stories that have ever been prepared by Nokta as well as stories that the magazine is currently working on.

"The warrant was about the cover story in our 23rd issue," Gormüs told the reporters, saying that the article in question analyzed possible military influence in certain public movements that appear to be civilian on the surface. He also told reporters that the police could possibly confiscate the controversial diaries.

Speaking to reporters from other press agencies in front of Nokta's office as the police were continuing interrogation and search activities inside, magazine correspondent Şık said a large number of policemen, including officers from the financial police, were talking to Nokta owner Ayhan Durgun and Gormüs. "They told us they had a search warrant from the Bakırkoy Prosecutor's Office."

Şık said the police gathered all had warned the staff not to contact anyone on the telephone or inform others about what was going on inside the building. Şık said he supposed the police were looking to find the 2,000-page electronic chronicles written by the former admiral.

Reports arriving later confirmed that the search warrant was granted by the prosecutor’s office in Istanbul’s Bakırkoy district acting on behalf of the military prosecutor’s office. The Bakırkoy prosecutor’s office is currently leading the only investigation on the case, acting on a complaint filed by the lawyers of alleged diary keeper Adm. Ornek.

In other words, it is investigating Nokta magazine and not the plotters. The raid was carried out by officers from the Bakırkoy District Police Department, officials said. The raid came just one day after Gen. Büyükanıt said the military archives had no trace of a record suggesting that generals planned to overthrow the government at some point.

Former Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok, speaking to the press earlier this week, neither confirmed nor denied that senior officers of the armed forces had discussed staging a military coup, something that convinced many skeptics of the plausibility of the diary allegations.

Although he did not confirm having information about the coup plans, he did not deny it, either. In addition he said the people making the claims had to be respected.

Reactions to the police raid from fellow members of the press and associations kept coming Friday afternoon. Press Council Chairman Oktay Eksi said, “The police raid into Nokta magazine on a warrant said to be issued by the military prosecutor’s office is thought provoking for anyone who knows the realities of this country.”

Eksi said the way the raid was carried out raised doubts as to its legality and whether its real purpose was to scare Nokta off.

The Turkey Journalists Association (TGC) also released a statement condemning the raid, saying it was against the country’s press laws.

Contemporary Journalists’ Association (CGD) President Ahmet Abakay condemned the police raid, saying, “This attitude is a new form of trampling underfoot freedom of thought and expression, which are already under pressure.”

A statement issued by the deputy chairman of the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ODP) said the raid was “unacceptable” in view of freedom of thought and freedom of the press. The statement also said prosecutors had to look into allegations about generals supporting a military takeover against the AK Party government.

Journalist Oral Calislar described the raid as an “extreme blow” dealt to freedom of the press. Journalist Mehmet Altan said the police raid was a “scandal” and commented, “This is most certainly not a portrait of what one would describe as a democracy.” (Today’s Zaman, April 14, 2007)

Daily newspaper Gündem is closed once again

Gündem Newspaper, which was closed by 13th Heavy Penal Court of Istanbul for one month by its decision dated 6th March 2007, restarted to publishing on 7th April 2007. However, Gündem Newspaper was closed, at this time by 11th Heavy Penal Court of Istanbul, just after two days for 15 days. The Court shows almost every news, some advertisements and articles, which published on the issues dated 7th and 8th April 2007, as reasons for the closure decision.

Advertisements, which published by Gündem Newspaper in the issued date 07th April 2007, on commemoration and marching to Amara (village of Abdullah Ocalan), to celebrate the birthday of Abdullah Ocalan, are some of the reasons for closure that given by 11th Heavy Penal Court of Istanbul. Moreover; the news (again in the same issue 7th April 2007), which is statements by Ocalan, who made them in the meeting with his lawyer in Imrali Prison, are considered as "propaganda of PKK/Kongra Gel".

Another reason for closure decision belongs to the news, of Newspaper's issue dated 8th April 2007, which is the continuation of Ocalan's statement. In the same issue Ali Haydar Kaytan's article, whose title is "barisa gotürecek yol" (path that will bring peace), is showed another reason for closure. The court shows also commemoration advertisements as reasons for closure. The court, in accordance with numbered 5187 Press Law and its article 25/2, decides to confiscation and prohibition of selling/distribution of Gündem Newspaper's issued dated 7th-8th April 2007.

Moreover, the court, in accordance with numbered 3713 The Prevention of Terrorism Act and its article 6/the last one, decided to suspension of Gündem Newspaper for 15 days, which begins on April 8, 2007.

Tradition of Gundem: 17 newspapers during 17 years
 
Tradition of Gundem Newspaper, which decides/adopts its publishing policy as opposition and free newspaper process, has established 17 newspapers for 17 years.

This tradition gives voice to an important witness through openly publishing realities of Turkey and in terms of freedom of the press/expression; represents an important historical period because of the pressures that faced. All of the 17 newspapers has faced suspensions, seize, confiscations, censorships and some similar pressures and also many of its employees have been killed during this 17 years period. Such practises are often seen during 1990s, however; we can argue the circumstances are same in the March of 2007. Actually; there is no during these long years. From 1st to 31st March the publications of Gündem (Agenda), Yasamda Gündem (Agenda in the Life), Güncel (the Contemporary) and Azadiya Welat (Free Country) were suspended, many court cases opened against them and their distribution were blocked.

As Apê Musa, who is one of the veterans of the tradition and killed in this difficult struggle, says that Gundem tradition continues to become witness and accused of Turkey.

Tradition of Gundem starts with Halk Gerçeği (Truth of People) and Yeni Ülke (New Country), which are weekly magazines, in 1990s that armed conflict also on the increase. Publishing policy of Gundem is built up to decipher of pressures by the Turkish State, extrajudicial killings, burning of villages, similar human rights violations and to defend the democratic solution of Kurdish problem. Actually, in 1990s anybody could not dare to reveal these pressures by the State.

Pressures against Gundem Newspaper, which is the voice of opposite groups, also occurs just after the a few issues of the first newspaper of Gundem tradition. It can be said that murder of Cengiz Altun, correspondent of Yeni Ülke (New Country), is the starting point of pressures. Yeni Ülke is one of the important components (newspaper) of Gundem tradition. 26 correspondents, journalists and distributors, who work for the newspapers of Gundem tradition, are murdered in the period of 1990-1995.

Bomb attack to the Newspaper

Pressure policy against Gundem tradition becomes serious, intense between 1992 and 1995. During this period newspapers and magazines are seized, offices are raided; employees are taken into custody, subjected to torture and arrested. According to indefinite numbers just during this period; DGMs (State Security Court) make decisions to seize 443 publishing issues and to close down of 67 publications. Some of the newspapers, which are closed down by DGM, are; Ozgür Gündem (Free Agenda), Ozgür Ülke (Free Country), Yeni Politika (New Politics), Demokrasi (Democracy) and Ülkede Gündem (Agenda in the Country). Moreover; the main centre in Istanbul and two offices of Ozgür Ülke, which is subjected to the most serious pressures are bombed, on 4th December 1994, by the command of Ms. Tansu Ciller that is the Prime Minister of the period.

Censorships of Page(s) in the 1995

The publishing of the Newspapers cannot be blocked despite the all of pressures. Then censorship is applied to newspapers, subsequently; the newspapers are published with censored pages. Yeni Politika, which starts on 13th April 1995, has to publish its news, articles, photos, advertisements and caricatures with writing "It is censored" because of the censorships by public prosecutors of DGM.

Daily censorships starts

Ülkede Gündem, which starts on 7th July 1997, is also subjected to censorships applications. During the period, on which the newspaper is published its 57 correspondents and 10 distributors are taken into custody and subjected to torture. 278 court cases are opened against the newspaper and sentenced to suspension for 302 days. The newspaper's 125 news, 63 articles, 9 photos and 14 advertisements are censored. At the end, Ülkede Gündem is closed down by DGM decision on 23rd October 1998.

Prohibition of OHAL (Emergency State Governorship)

As its predecessors; entrance of Ozgür Bakis (Free View), which starts on 18th April 1999, to OHAL region is prohibited. Confiscation decision is made against 22 issues of total 93 issues of Ozgür Bakis newspaper. There are also many court cases against the newspaper. Moreover; arrest decision is given against the newspaper's editor, whose name is Hasan Deniz, on 4th June 1999. The editor is charged with the article 169 that is about "assisting and supporting an organization". Tradition of free newspaper continues with Yeni Gündem (New Agenda) in 2000. As a result of pressures, confiscations and OHAL prohibitions; this newspaper is closed down in 2001.

List of the newspapers, which established after Yeni Gündem, are in the following:

Yedinci Gündem (Seventh Agenda): Yedinci Gündem is published weekly between 23rd June 2001 and 30th August 2002. Newspaper's entrance to OHAL region is prohibited. It has 60 issues. The newspaper is sentenced to suspension for 15 days and its responsible editor is sentenced to money penalty whose amount is over 6 billions TL in total.

Yeniden Ozgür Gündem (Free Agenda once Again): It starts on 2nd September 2002 and ends 28th February 2004. The newspaper is sentenced to suspension for 4 days during its 545 days period. Its editor is sentenced to imprisonment for 25 months and its license holder is sentenced to money penalty whose amount is 478 billions TL. There are 315 court cases against the newspaper.

Record numbers of court files

Ülkede Ozgür Gündem (Free Agenda in the Country): The newspaper starts on 1st March 2004 and ends 16th November 2006. There are over 600 court cases against its responsible editor, some journalists and correspondents grounding different reasons. In total 102 resulted court cases that resulted in sentence; totally 344.964 YTL money penalty is given and Hasan Bayar, who is responsible editor, is sentenced to 15 years-11 months-10 days imprisonment. It is interesting that the second suspension decision, against Ülkede Ozgür Gündem, is made 6 days later after Staff of General Yasar Büyükanit's statement: "its publications should not be permitted". Lastly, 120.000 YTL money penalties are given against Ülkede Ozgür Gündem and Toplumsal Demokrasi (Social Democracy) under the 4 different courts of files. Moreover; Ozlem Aktan, who is the responsible editor of Ülkede Ozgür Gündem, is sentenced to one year imprisonment.

Toplumsal Demokrasi: the newspaper starts after Ülkede Ozgür Gündem, which is sentenced to suspension, on 8th August 2006. After a short period Toplumsal Demokrasi stops its publication and restarts on 16th November 2007. At this time, Toplumsal Demokrasi is published for two months and during this short period there are many court cases against the newspaper. Toplumsal Demokrasi closes down itself on 5th January 2007.

Gündem (Agenda): It starts on 17th January 2007 and is published for 50 days. Gündem is suspended for a month on 6th March 2007. The suspension decision is given grounding news on poisoning Ocalan. Court give two different decisions for one month suspension in the same day. Actually, the two decisions on the same issue by the same court is considered as law scandal. There are also many investigations and court cases against the newspapers.

Yasamda Gündem (Agenda in the life): It starts on 9th March 2007 but is published only for 3 days. Yasamda Gündem is confiscated grounding that it is the continuation of Gündem newspaper. Actually, the confiscation decision is the one that has never seen. In accordance with censorship; it is decided that Yasamda Gündem's probable forthcoming issues also will be confiscated.

Güncel (Contemporary): It starts on 19th March 2007 and is published for 12 days. Güncel is sentenced to suspension for 15 days. There is a new point in this suspension sentence. In the context of suspension the statement "Leader of Kurdish People" is regarded as crime however it is not regarded as crime until that time. (mesop@online.de, April 14, 2007)


Urgent message from Ragip Zarakolu for banned Ozgur Gundem

Dear Friends,
 
Kurdish and oposition press went under the pressures of militarism in turkey. Newspapers were closed, editors were arrested.

I am writing for 16 years for kurdish newspaper Ozgur Gundem (Free Agenda) for human and minority rights, armenian genocide, inpunity of the state and freedom of expression.

I could not write any more during last 2 months because of bannings and closures.

It is sad, because I could write there under the de facto war conditions after 1991.

Ozgur Gundem is the first newspaper, which dared to speak about Armenian Genocide, every 24th April, during last 10 years.
This year I prepared a serie "Armenian Genocide in German Documents, around Trabizond Region" for Ozgur Gundem, in memoriam Hirant Dink. Now I don't know where I can give it.
Now I lost my newspaper. And I am at the black list of turkish main stream media, because I wrote on minorities, Armenian Genocide and Kurdish question.
 
Yours
 
Ragip Zarakolu
(rzarakolu@aol.com, April 13, 2007)

Séjour en France du romancier turc d'Orhan Pamuk

Le romancier turc Orhan Pamuk, prix Nobel de littérature 2006, était attendu jeudi à Paris où il doit séjourner pendant quelques semaines à l'invitation de la Sorbonne, a-t-on appris auprès de son éditeur Gallimard.

Ce séjour en résidence à l'université intervient peu avant la parution, le 10 mai, de la version française de son dernier livre, un récit autobiographique intitulé Istanbul, a-t-on précisé chez Gallimard.

Orhan Pamuk, 54 ans, qui est professeur à l'université de Columbia à New York, est l'auteur notamment de "Neige" (2002), "Mon nom est Rouge" (1998), "Le livre noir" (1990) et "La maison du silence" (1983).

Pamuk avait annulé sans explication une visite en Allemagne prévue en février avant de la reprogrammer pour le mois de mai prochain.

La presse avait alors évoqué des questions de sécurité. Le romancier avait été menacé de mort par l'un des suspects dans le meurtre du journaliste turc d'origine arménienne Hrant Dink le 19 janvier. Les prises de positions de l'écrivain sur le conflit kurde et la question arménienne lui valent dans son pays l'hostilité des milieux nationalistes.  (AFP, 12 avr 2007)

Prosecutors Targeted the Magazine which Published Coup Plans

The chief editor of "Nokta" magazine Gormüs said the investigation launched by Bakirkoy Chief Prosecution Office was not on the coup plans but on the magazine reports of them. Nokta published the plans as “We were close to two coups in 2004”. Gormüs will attend prosecution office on 9 April.

Gormüs said the investigation had nothing to do with Prime Minister’s call to prosecutors to investigate the coup plans. Gormüs said he could be charged with “alienating the people from army” and “encouraging the soldiers to disobedience".

The investigation is being run on the application of retired admiral Ozden Ornek, the diary detailing two military coup plans was claimed to belong to him.

Another complaint has been filed by a retired High court prosecutor Ahmet Gündel over the coup plans. Gündel applied to Ankara prosecution office and asked for the punishment of former commanders involved in coup plans.  (antenna, April 11, 2007)

Same Case Two Courts Two Different Rulings

Two courts gave opposite rulings in two similar cases where two newspapers reported the same declaration by main opposition People's Republican Party (CHP) parliamentary group vice chair Haluk Koç about PM Erdoğan.

Cumhuriyet daily chief editor İbrahim Yildiz has been condemned to 23 months imprisonment by an Istanbul court, following PM Erdogan's complaint that Koç's speech included insult to his personality.

On another account, an Ankara court acquitted Radikal daily administrators on the same allegations.

Koç had said that PM Erdoğan "is twisting the facts" -in a less formal way-, criticizing the PM for not declaring his assets during a press conference, which was quoted by both newspapers.

The prosecution rejected PM Erdoğan's complaint about Haluk Koç.

But Şisli 2nd Court of First Instance condemned Cumhuriyet daily for quoting his words following the public prosecutor's demand. (BIA News Center, Erol ONDEROGLU, April 10, 2007)

Draft Legislation on Cyber Crimes Approved

A parliamentary commission approved a proposal Thursday allowing Turkey to block web sites that are deemed insulting to the founder of modern Turkey, weeks after a Turkish court temporarily barred access to YouTube.

The proposal is aimed at regulating the cyberspace, as no specific legislation has been yet passed on the subject.

Recent incidents of child porn and allegations of "anti-state propaganda" on the web brought the issue into public agenda.

Parliament plans to vote on the proposal, though a date was not announced.

On Thursday, lawmakers in the commission also debated whether the proposal should be widened to allow the Turkish Telecommunications Board to block access to any sites that question the principles of the secular system or the unity of the Turkish state -a reference to websites with information on Kurdish guerilla movement in Turkey.

Several prominent Turkish journalists and writers, including last year's Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk, have been tried for allegedly insulting Ataturk or for the crime of insulting "Turkishness".

Last month, Turkey blocked access to the popular video-sharing site YouTube after a complaint that some videos insulted Ataturk. The ban was lifted two days later. (BIA News Center, April 10, 2007)

TGC Commemorates Fallen Journalists

Turkey's Journalists' Association (TGC) commemorated all Turkish journalists murdered since the first incident in 1909 with an exhibition at the Press Museum.

Hasan Fehmi, chief correspondent of the Serbesti newspaper was the first journalist killed in Turkey's short press history.

Since then 62 journalists have been murdered, most of them in the last 30 years.

Reminding the last incident, killing of the Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink on January 19 this year, TGC chair Orhan Erinç urged the authorities to investigate and bring into light not only the gunman but those who solicited the murder.

Before Dink, it was Ahmet Taner Kislalı, Cumhuriyet daily columnist who was killed in 2000.

"In some of those murders not even the proprietors were caught. Politicians prefered to procrastinate the incidents", Erinç said.

"And today we're going through a period when journalists are under threat for wahet they write and say. We call on the government to secure journalists rights to life and provide the basic conditions for them to fulfill their work as intended" he added.

For such, all obstacles facing the implementation of freedom of expression should be lifted, including recent legislation changes, he said. (BIA News Center, Erol ONDEROGLU, April 10, 2007)

Turkey's Lawmakers Move to Block Sites


A parliamentary commission approved a proposal Thursday allowing Turkey to block Web sites that are deemed insulting to the founder of modern Turkey, weeks after a Turkish court temporarily barred access to Google Inc.'s YouTube.

Parliament plans to vote on the proposal, though a date was not announced. The proposal indicates the discomfort that many Turks feel about Western-style freedom of expression, even though Turkey has been implementing widespread reforms in its bid to join the European Union.

On Thursday, lawmakers in the commission also debated whether the proposal should be widened to allow the Turkish Telecommunications Board to block access to any sites that question the principles of the Turkish secular system or the unity of the Turkish state _ a reference to Web sites with information on Kurdish rebels in Turkey.

It is illegal in Turkey to talk of breaking up the state or to insult Ataturk, the revered founder of modern Turkey whose image graces every denomination of currency and whose portrait hangs in nearly all government offices.

Ataturk is held to be responsible for creating a secular republic from the crumbling, Islamic Ottoman Empire.


Several prominent Turkish journalists and writers, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk, have been tried for allegedly insulting Ataturk or for the crime of insulting "Turkishness."

European calls for free speech have angered some nationalist Turks, who view the recommendations as interference in their internal affairs.

Last month, Turkey blocked access to the popular video-sharing site YouTube after a complaint that some videos insulted Ataturk. The ban was lifted two days later.

(Associated Press, April 5, 2007)

Appeal: "Let's judge those who want to convict the freedom of the press"

Prior to the opening of  the trial four journalists under arrest, a large group of human rights defenders have issued the following joint communique:

The censorship and the repression that began with the raids, arrestments and custodies in September against Atilim newspaper still continue. All ideas of enlightment that question the official ideology are still in the clamp of Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code. Made a target by using this article, journalist Hrant Dink was murdered but the article has not yet been canceled; and the trials continue under this article.

The freedom of the press and the right of getting information of the public are infringed also with the application of the new Law of Fighting "Terror". Newspapers and radios are forced to shut down; journalists are arrested. Besides, the distribution monopolies carry on censorship on them.

On April 13, the freedom of the press and the right of getting information will be judged again at the Istanbul-Besiktas High Criminal Court.

We, as intellectuals, artists and journalists, invite everyone to show his/her sensibility for this trial to be held 6 months after the arrest of Ozge Kelekci, employee of Atilim; Emin Orhan, writer of the same newspaper; Sinan Gercek, employee of Ozgur Radio and Halil Dinc, newsmanager of the same radio.
 
1- Haluk Gerger (Investigative author)
2- Varlik Ozmenek (Journalist and author)
3- Perihan Magden (Author)
4- Ece Temelkuran (Author)
5- Akin Birdal (The Vice-president of International Human Rights)
6- Vecdi Sayar (President of the Turkish PEN)
7- Ragip Zarakolu (Secretary of the Turkish PEN, Author)
8- Ercan İpekci (Chairman of the Journalists' Union of Turkey)
9- Sanar Yurdatapan (the Spokesman of  The Initiative Against “Thought” Crime)
10- Necati Abay (The Spokesman of Solidarity with the Arrested Journalists and author, Journalist)
11- Ahmet Abakay (president of Contemporary Journalists Association)
12- Muge Sokmen (PEN Turkey Center, the chairwomen of The Authors in Prison Commitee)
13- Jonathan Heawood (Director of the British PEN)
14- Lucina Kathmann (Vice-chairman of International PEN and Author)
15- Jana Beranová (Author, Dutch PEN)
16- Chiara Macconi (Italian PEN)
17- Eugene Schoulgin (Novelist)
18- Memik Horuz (Journalist, Author)
19- Celal Baslangic (Journalist, Author)
20- Abdurrahman Dilipak (Author)
21- Ahmet Sik (Journalist)
22- Vedat Turkali (Author)
23- Asli Erdogan (Author)
24- Edip Akbayram (Artist)
25- Prof. Dr. Baskin Oran (Author)
26- Mehmet Bekaroglu (Former MP and Author)
27- Berat Guncikan (Journalist, Author)
28- Turgay Olcayto (Journalist, Author)
29- Erol Onderoglu (Journalist)
30- Hakan Gulseven (The author of Red magazine)
31- Hasan Kiyafet (Author)
32- Emin Karaca (Author)
33- İhsan Caralan (General Pressmanager of newspaper Evrensel)
34- Mehmet Guc (Editor of Birgun newspaper)
35- Yuksel Genc (General Pressmanager of Gundem newspaper)
36- Ferzende Kaya (Editor of Esmer magazine)
37- Sibel Ozbudun (Author)
38- Temel Demirer (Author)
39- Ercan Kanar (Lawyer, Author)
40- Ragip Duran (Journalist, Author)
41- Cezmi Ersoz (Author)
42- İsmail Besikci (Author)
43- Oral Calislar (Author)
44- Sukran Soner (Author)
45- Sebnem Korur Fincanci (Physician, Author)
46- İlkay Akkaya (Artist)
47- Kutsiye Bozoklar (Author)
48- Cengiz Bektas (Poet, Architect)
49- İbrahim Okcuoglu (Author)
50- Fikret Baskaya (Author)
51- Metin Yegin (Author)
52- Askin Ayrancioglu (Painter, Cartoonist)
53- Ayse Cekic Yamac (Author)
54- Beyhan Aksoy (Artist)
55- Huseyin Habip Taskin (Author)
56- Roni Alasor (Journalist, Author)
57- Medeni Ferho (Journalist, Author)
58- Rojan Hazim (Author)
59- Dervis M. Ferho (Chairman of the Brussels Kurdish Institute)
60- Yener Orkunoglu (Author)
61- İrfan Ucar (Journalist)
62- Erling Folkvord (Former Norwegian MP and Author)
63- Mehmet Sahin (Journalist, Author)
64- Haydar Isik (Author)
65- Sukru Erbas (Poet)
66- Adnan Gerger (Journalist, Author)
67- Suleyman Kaplan (Poet)
68- Ruhan Mavruk (Poet)
69- Cetin Guzel (Author)
70- Mukaddes Celik (Journalist, Author)
71- Aykan Erden (Poet)
72- Bedrettin Aykin (Poet)
73- Huseyin Can (Journalist, Author)
74- Aziz Ozer (Yeni Dunya İcin Cagri journal)
75- Hasan Saglam (Artist)
76- Hasan Oguz (Author)
77- Hasan Oztoprak (Author)
78- Cafer Solgun (Journalist, Author)
79- Ali Keskin (Journalist)
80- Hatice Eroglu Akdogan (Author)
81- Hacay Yilmaz (Author)
82- Candan Yildiz (Journalist)
83- Bahadir Kurbanoglu (Editor of Haksoz magazine, Author)
84- Hamza Turkmen (Publisher of Haksoz magazine)
85- Alper Turgut (Author, Journalist of Cumhuriyet)
86- Alp Altinors (Editor of Atilim journal)
87- Senol Gurkan (Editor of Atilim journal)
88- Mehmet Ozer (Poet)
89- Meltem Kaya (Poet)
90- Suzan Samanci (Author)
91- Suna Parlak (Author)
92- Songul Ozbakir (Editor of Ozgur Radio)
93- Muharrem Demircioglu (Editor of Ozgur Radio)
94- Saban Akbaba (Author)
95- Mustafa Aslan (Author)
96- Kemal Yalcin (Teacher and Author)
97- İsmail Saymaz (Journalist)
98- Tacim Cicek (Author)
99- Recep Nur Cengiz (Journalist)
100- B. Sadik Albayrak (Author)
101- Ozlem Gumustas (ICAD Representative in Turkey)
102- Tamer Uysal (Author)
103- Nurten Baydemir (Artist)
104- Rahsan Kose (Artist)
105- Yesim Sonmez (Artist)
106- Serap Kervanci (Artist)
107- Aynur Ozbakir (Artist)
108- Isil Altinmakas (Artist)
109- Levent Canen (Artist)
110- Umar Karatepe (Editor of Halkin Sesi Journal)
111- Ebru Ozdil (Investigative Journalist)
112- Hasan Kizilkaya (Journalist, Author)
113- Sait Cetinoglu (Journalist)
114- Mahir Varol (Director of Sosyalist Cizgi Girisimi)
115- Huseyin Elmali (Correspondent at the European Parliament)
116- Mesop.de Internet Site Staff
117- Cihan Sedefoglu (Editor of Alinteri Journal)
118- Sungur Savran (Author)
119- Sibel Uzun (Editor of Baska Kultur Sanat magazine)
120- Gunay Aslan (Author)
121- Gulgun Ayral (Author)
122- Umur Hozatli (Author, Director)
123- Ali Ergir Demirhan ( www.sendika.org editor)
124- Esra Ciftci (Journalist, Author)
125- Hesare Shamil (Journalist, Author)
126- Dogan Ozguden (Journalist, Info-Turk at Belgium)
127- İnci Tugsavul (Journalist, Info-Turk at Belgium)
128- Erkan Cinar (Izmir correspondent of Birgun)
129- Ali Ertan Akgun (Lawyer, Poet)
130- Rasim Oz (Author, Lawyer)
131- Kamil Tekin Surek (Lawyer, Author)
132- Mustafa Ozer (Lawyer)
133- Mihriban Kirdok (Lawyer)
134- Mehmet Ali Kirdok (Lawyer)
135- Hatice Korkut (Lawyer)
136- Meral Bestas (Lawyer)
137- Selahattin Demirtas (Lawyer, IHD Chairman in Diyarbakir)
138- Gulizar Tuncer (Lawyer)
139- Keles Ozturk (Lawyer)
140- Deniz Tuna (Lawyer)
141- Ali Ozer (Lawyer)
142- Fethiye Cetin (Lawyer)
143- Goksen Cal (Chairman of the Federation of Socialist Youth Associations)
144- Sami Tan (Chairman of the Istanbul Kurdish Institute)
145- Hakan Tanittiran (Editor of the Monthly Review Turkce)
146- Filiz Kocali (Journalist, Author)
147- Sinan Tutal (Editor of Gelecek magazine)
148- Daniel Antonini (Secretary of French Communist Renaissance)
149- Guido Proaño (Ekvator Secenek magazine)
150- Hulya Sekerci (Author)
151- Oya Baydar (Author, spokeswoman of the Peace Initiative)
152- Thomas Wanie (Lawyer)
153- Eren Keskin (Lawyer)
154- Hatice Aydemir (ESP Istanbul Representative)
155- Ferhat Tunc (Artist)
156- Arife Kalender (Artist)
157- Eylem Yildizer (Editor of Evrensel Kultur magazine)
158- Gulcan Ceyran Ekinci (Editor of Sosyalizm İcin Kizil Bayrak magazine)
159- Hayri Erdogan (Editor of Yordam Kitap)
160- Ugur Kutay (Academics, Documentary filmmaker)
161- Vedat Sakman (Artist)
162- Nilufer Akbal (Artist)
163- Ulku Gundogdu (Editor of Kaldirac Review)
164- Celalettin Can (Spokesman of the Initiative of Generation 78)
165- Fikri Saglar (Former MP)
166- Desmond Fernandes (Author, British University of Montfort)
167- Hans Branscheidt, (EUTCC, Germany)
168- Nicholas Hildyard, (Political analysist, UK)
169- Estella Schmid (Committee for Peace in Kurdistan)
170- Margie Owen (KHRP, UK)
171- Professor Raimund Ruetten (University of Frankfurt)
172- Jean Lambert (British MP)
173- Bulent Ozcan (Poet, Cultural Director of Olay magazine in London)
174- Semra Somersan (Author)
175- Ahmet Cakmak (Author)
176- Ustun Akmen (Theatre critic, Author)
177- Halide Yildirim (Poet)
178- Sevtap Turkmen (Editor of Yuruyus magazine)
179- Turker Kesmer (Editor of Yogunluk magazine)
180- Orhan Karaca (Economist)
181- Abdullah Karabag (Poet)
182- Volkan Yarasir (Author)
183- Kamber Saygili (Trade Unionist)
184- Jean Rafferty (Journalist, Author)
185- Aydin Orak (Theater actor)
186- Bayar Sahin (Artist)
187- Manik Mukherjee (Indian Author and social activist)
(info@ceylanyayinlari.com, April 4, 2007)

Journalists and a TKP executive on Trial

On 30 March Iskenderun Penal Court of First Instance No 2 continued to hear the case against Ersen Korkmaz, the editor-in-chief of the local newspaper Democratic Iskenderun, and TKP executive Necmettin Salaz.  The hearing was adjourned to 22 May for the completion of the

The case against Korkmaz was launched in connection with the article published on 1 October 2002, titled "Leader of the Kurds Surrendered to the Fascists" , and the case against Ersen Korkmaz was launched in connec tion with the speech he made during the panel organized for opening of TKP in Iskenderun.

On 3 April, Istanbul Penal Court of First Instance No 2 continued to hear the case against Yalçin Ergündogan, writer 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 official registry of Haydar Bas' and his official wife who gave birth to 17 children after her 50 years were read at the hearing upon demand of Defence Lawyer Tora Pekin. The court adjourned the hearing to 23 May.

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. (BIA-Birgun-TIHV, April 3-4, 2007)

Publication ban on Kurdish newspaper Azadiya Welat

Diyarbakir Heavy Penal Court No 4 refused the demand for the cancellation of the 20 days' publication ban on the paper Azadiya Welat given in connection with the news and photos published on 13, 14, 17 and 19 March.

Diyarbakir Heavy Penal Court No 5 had decided in the publication ban for "inciting people to commit crime", "praising crime and criminals" and "making propaganda of illegal organization". (ANF-Birgün-TIHV, April 3, 2007)

Kurdistan TV Correspondents Under Pressure

Northern Iraq based Kurdistan TV's correspondents in Diyarbakır claim that they face arbitrary discrimination by local officials and receive random threats.

The station's Diyarbakır bureau chief Mehmet Eren told bianet that they established the necessary infrastructure in 2006 but try to work under pressure since then:

"Although we totally comply with the legal framework, we can't cover official events, can't get accreditation without a reason, face random and arbitrary pressure such as identity checks etc.

Our focus is on news related to the Kurdish issue in Turkey and such coverage results in increasing pressure and obstruction on us".

Noting journalists who work for the station are continuously under surveillance, Eren said: "Our houses and offices are surveilled by the police. We also received anonymous e-mail threats". (BIA News Center, Ahmet UN, April 4, 2007)

A damning report on attacks against free speech in Turkey

On March 26, the Freedom to Publish Committee of the Turkish Publishers’ Union issued an alarming report on the state of free speech in Turkey. The report lists the large number of book confiscations and prosecutions of writers, editors and translators tried and sentenced in 2006 and the first quarter of 2007. The report is dedicated to the memory of Hrant Dink, a well-known Turkish-Armenian journalist who was killed by a 17-year-old fascist assassin on January 19 in Istanbul in front of his paper’s (bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos) office.

The report paints a grim picture of the state of free speech in Turkey and provides a full and detailed list of those who have been taken to court for their speeches, writings, published articles, and even their translations.

The very first line of the report points out that the year 2006 was one of the worst in terms of freedom of speech and freedom of the press, and the same problems persist in 2007. The report warns that continuing attacks on freedom of speech have been accompanied by physical violence, which reached its climax with the heinous murder of Hrant Dink.

The authors of the report are not optimistic about the rest of 2007. They point out that with the beginning of the New Year in January, author Taner Akcam and journalist Aydin Engin were brought to court, and even the funeral of Hrant Dink was the subject of a court case. At the same time, the government has been resisting the calls for the removal of obstacles to free expression, most notably the notorious Article 301. In the report’s own words, Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code “was the champion of the year.”

According to the report, in 2006, some 293 writers, publishers, journalists, intellectuals, translators and human rights activists were brought before courts. In 2005, this figure was 157. At the moment, 22 dissident journalists and editors are behind bars.

The report also notes that in 2006, 41 authors and 22 publishers were put on trail because of the 44 books they had written or published. Last year, prosecution of 13 of these “crimes” ended in convictions, while 16 cases are still being tried. The total number of such cases was almost the same in 2005.

The report emphasises that another negative feature of 2006 was the fact that criminal proceedings were brought by prosecutors against translators in addition to authors and publishers. For example, last year, Lutfi Taylan Tosun and Aysel Yildirim, the two translators of US writer John Tirman’s Spoils of War: The Human Cost of America’s Arms Trade, were brought before a court. Claude Edelmann of Amnesty International called the case “unprecedented.”

Cases involving renowned intellectuals, such as Nobel Literature Prize winner Orhan Pamuk, Elif Safak, Ipek Calislar Ibrahim Kabaoglu, and Baskin Oran, have received some coverage by the mainstream media, and their cases ended in acquittal. However, the plight of victims of many more lesser-known prosecutions went unnoticed, and they were not so lucky.

At the end of the report, there is a full list of books either banned or subjected to court cases. It is clear that books focusing on the Kurdish question are still the main target. However, for the last few years, books about minorities in Turkey (the Kemalist establishment strictly refers to non-Muslim religious minorities such as Greeks, Jews and Armenians as minorities) are also being targeted more and more frequently.

This is a direct result of an ongoing anti-minority campaign initiated by far-right and fascistic forces, as well as by the notorious Maoist/Kemalist Workers Party (IP), supported by the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (Turk-Is). These organisations oppose in particular Turkish accession to the European Union. “Left-wing” components of this criminal campaign present it as an “anti-imperialist” struggle against the EU. In reality, such campaigns have paved the way for the wave of nationalism and chauvinism spearheaded by the Turkish military that has terrorised the country for the last few years.

Particularly since the September 1980 military coup, the Turkish police and the justice system have been dominated by the far right, fascists and Islamists, and the personal tendencies of the jurists play an important role in this respect.

The wave of nationalism and chauvinism, which underlies the apparent rise of attacks on freedom of speech, is a response by establishment political circles in particular to the implications of the Iraq war. As a result of the disastrous US-led war and occupation of Iraq, the country is on the verge of breaking apart, and the Turkish elite is extremely worried about the possible consequences of such a development.

In addition, as the election of the new president of the republic approaches, tensions between the Turkish military and the moderate Islamist AKP (Justice and Development Party) are growing day by day. The AKP enjoys a huge parliamentary majority (354 out of 550 seats), and the president will be elected in May 2007 by an absolute majority of the parliament (in other words, by the AKP) to a seven-year term. The president has the mandate to shape the top echelons of the judiciary and the administrative system. If the AKP persists in electing an Islamist (either the AKP leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan or another Islamist) to the presidential post, then the armed forces will intervene in the process, one way or another.

The “civilian supporters” of the ongoing military campaign against the AKP government—the most important component being the Republican People’s Party (CHP)—are employing nationalist and chauvinist rhetoric and systematically opposing even an amendment to Article 301, as well as any other reforms that would enhance minority rights, particularly in relation to acquiring and retaining property.

The alternative presented by the “secularist” forces is a coalition government consisting of the CHP and the fascist Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) following national elections due on November 4.

The report of the Turkish Publishers’ Union mentions the stagnation of the accession talks with the EU as the main reason for the grievous state of free speech in Turkey, and there is a grain of truth in this claim. The almost open rejection of Turkey by the EU has indeed strengthened right-wing, fascistic and nationalist forces in Turkey, especially in the state apparatus. But one should not confuse cause and effect. It is the EU that pressured Turkey to adopt market reforms and used the Kurdish question as a means of pressure. It is the EU where anti-Islamic chauvinism in both right-wing and “left-wing” forms is fostered, leading to Turkey’s exclusion.

US imperialism is the most destabilising factor in world politics today, breaking apart Turkey’s neighbour Iraq, while on occasion openly appealing to the most right-wing and militaristic forces in the Turkish state. The turn to chauvinism and repression is the only answer of the Turkish bourgeoisie—historically weak as it is—to the pressure exerted by European and US imperialism.

In the final analysis, the repressive character of the regime is a result of the decades-long subordination of Turkey to imperialist rule, including the major European powers. The present condition of the country does not stand in contradiction to the “Western world,” but is rather the product of it. The global supremacy of imperialism leaves no room for countries like Turkey, with a belated capitalist industrial development, to undertake an organic democratic development.

In Turkey, only an independent socialist political movement of the working class and other layers of working and oppressed people, based on a truly international socialist programme, can build a just and genuine democracy where authors, creative artists, publishers, and translators can live and work free from repression. ( World Socialist Web Site, April 3, 2007)

Le deuxième groupe de presse placé sous tutelle de l'Etat

Le deuxième groupe de presse de Turquie, qui regroupe deux chaînes de télévision et plusieurs publications, a été placé dimanche sous la tutelle d'un organisme d'Etat qui estime que leur vente a été fictive et frauduleuse, rapporte lundi la presse.

Le groupe Ciner comprend les chaînes ATV et Kanal 1, ainsi que le quotidien populaire à gros tirage Sabah, les journaux Takvim, Yeni Asir et Fotomaç (sportif) ainsi que plusieurs périodiques comme le prestigieux Forbes.

Le Fonds d'assurance des dépôts d'épargne (TMSF), chargé désormais de la gestion du groupe qui comprend pas moins de 63 sociétés, a nommé un nouveau directeur général.

Le Fonds a expliqué dans un communiqué que des documents, jusqu'alors inconnus, avaient été découverts sur la vente en 2002, apparemment par des moyens frauduleux, du groupe par son ex-propriétaire Dinç Bilgin à Turgay Ciner, un homme d'affaires spécialisé notamment dans la métallurgie et l'énergie.

M. Bilgin avait du vendre partiellement le groupe pour recouvrer une partie des dettes provoquées par la banque qu'il possédait, Etibank. Celle-ci a été saisie par l'Etat à l'instar de près d'une vingtaine d'autres établissements bancaires après une grave crise financière en 2001.

Les titres côtés en bourse du groupe de presse Ciner étaient suspendus lundi matin à la Bourse d'Istanbul.  (AFP, 2 avr 2007)

WIPC/IFEX: Court Cases Against Agos Continue

At the time of his murder on 19 January this year, Hrant Dink, the editor of the Turkish Armenian magazine Agos, was on trial in two cases: one, on charges of "insult to Turkishness" for an article quoting from an interview he gave to Reuters in mid 2006, the other for "interference in the judiciary" for a piece published in September 2005 criticising a court decision. On 22 March, a court in Istanbul overseeing the first trial hearing against him to be held since his death, dropped the charges against Dink, yet the trial against his son, Arat Dink, and two co-defendants working for Agos, Serkis Seropyan and Aydin Engin, continues. The next hearing is to be held on 14 June.

They are all accused for the publication in Agos, in July 2006, of a piece entitled "I vote against 301", which included a quote from an interview Dink had given to the Reuters news agency, in which he stated that he had no doubt that an Armenian genocide had taken place and that he would not remain silent on this issue. International PEN had hoped that, given Hrant Dink's tragic death and the public calls for the repeal of Article 301 that followed, the opportunity would be taken to close these trial proceedings altogether. It is deeply disappointed with the decision to continue with the case which it sees to be in direct breach of international standards safeguarding the right to freedom of expression.

The second trial relates to another article, published in October 2005, which is being tried under Article 288 of the Penal Code - interfering with the judiciary. The piece questioned a court's decision to sentence Dink to a six-month suspended sentence, again under Article 301, for an article on Armenia, a case that is currently before the European Court on Human Rights. Again, Hrant Dink's son, Arat Dink, and editor Serkis Seropyan are co-defendants and, again, International PEN sees the charges as in violation of the right to freedom of expression. The next trial hearing, the first relating to this case since Dink's murder, is to be held on 18 April.

Investigation into Dink's Assassination

Meanwhile, Dink's alleged assassin, the 17-year-old Ogün Samast, has been arrested, alongside Yasin Hayal, a known terrorist who had spent some time in prison for having taken part in a bombing of a McDonald's restaurant in 2004, and Erhan Tuncel, a member of an extreme right-wing organisation. Samast is said to have confessed to the murder, and Hayal is said to have told police that it was he who had ordered the killing and supplied the gun that was used to kill Dink. Tuncel is accused of being the mastermind behind the killing, having issued orders to both Samast and Hayal. Turkish newspapers have rumoured that Tuncel was in fact a police informer and had warned police of the planned assassination, advice that was not acted upon. Other reports suggest that there were up to five people, among them Hayal, identified on CCTV footage as being present at the murder. Earlier suggestions that Samast had acted on his own are now dismissed, with the authorities making it clear that this was an organised crime.

Debate on Article 301

Calls for the amendment or repeal of Article 301 of the Penal Code which had been levied against Dink and which many believe marked him out as a target for extremists, were made by the thousands who attended Dink's funeral and protests around his death. Debate is still under way. In late February 2007, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said that changes to Article 301 would be part of legislative reforms aimed at meeting EU requirements for continued discussions on Turkey's application for membership. International PEN has been campaigning for a complete repeal of the law, believing that the concept of "insult" is too vague to enable it to be properly dealt with under criminal legislation and can too easily be used against those whose only act has been to comment on sensitive issues.

The Turkish NGO Freedom of Expression Initiative reports that there are around 20 cases under Article 301 currently under way, with a further 10 under appeal. Of these, PEN has identified 15 as relating to writers, journalists and publishers. On 15 March, another of what has been series of court hearings over the past two years