Droits de l'Homme / Human Rights

Les poursuites contre la section turque d'Amnesty International

Communiqué de Presse d'Amnesty International du 22 juin 2007:

Il faut abandonner les poursuites contre la section turque d'Amnesty International 

Amnesty International est vivement préoccupée par les poursuites judiciaires qui ont été engagées contre la section turque de l'organisation. Les comptes bancaires d'Amnesty International-Turquie sont bloqués depuis janvier 2007 et, le 30 mai, la section a été frappée d'un arrêté de «collecte de fonds illégale» par les autorités de l'arrondissement de Beyoglu à Istanbul. 



La section turque d'Amnesty International fait depuis le mois de janvier des démarches auprès des autorités pour obtenir la levée du gel de ses comptes bancaires et l'annulation de l'accusation de «collecte de fonds illégale» dont elle fait l'objet. 



Amnesty International ne demande ni n'accepte de subventions de gouvernements ou de partis politiques pour financer ses recherches et ses campagnes contre les atteintes aux droits humains. Son financement est assuré par les cotisations de ses membres du monde entier, ainsi que par ses opérations de collecte de fonds. 



Partout dans le monde, les sections et structures d'Amnesty International organisent des activités de collecte de fonds dans la rue en abordant les gens individuellement, et font des appels aux dons sur leur site Internet : ce sont ces activités qui valent aujourd'hui à la section turque d'être poursuivie. 



L'organisation redoute que le gel des comptes bancaires d'Amnesty International-Turquie ne constitue une manœuvre de harcèlement pour empêcher celle-ci de mener ses activités légitimes de levée de fonds. Amnesty International craint que cet événement, qui a eu lieu dans un climat de tension croissante en Turquie où les défenseurs des droits humains sont particulièrement vulnérables, ne s'apparente à une violation des droits à la liberté d'expression et d'association. 


Amnesty International a écrit au gouvernement de la Turquie pour lui demander instamment de faire en sorte que les comptes bancaires de la section turque d'Amnesty International soient débloqués sur-le-champ ; qu'il soit mis fin immédiatement à ces mesures infondées contre Amnesty International-Turquie et que le personnel et les bénévoles de cette section de l'organisation puissent faire leur travail sans entraves. AI : (EUR 44/010/2007 (Public) 
Bulletin n° : 117 
ÉFAI 
22 juin 2007)

Birdal: Parliament Needs to Deal With Torture

In an interview with bianet, Akin Birdal, human rights activist and independent candidate in Diyarbakir in the upcoming general elections, has listed the changes that Turkey needs to make in order to put an end to torture.

Birdal was the general secretary of the Human Rights Association (IHD, founded in 1986) from 1986 to 1992, and the president from 1992 to 1999. In 1998 he was attacked by two armed men at the Ankara headquarters of the IHD, but survived the attack with injuries. A leader of the so-called "Turkish Revenge Brigade" (TIT), Semih Tufan Gülaltay, was sentenced to 19 years imprisonment for organising the attack; however, he was released after four and a half years under a controversial general amnesty.

In 1998, Birdal was sentenced to imprisonment under Article 312 by the Ankara State Security Court for a speech he made on Peace Day in 1996. International rights organisations started a campaign for his
release. He was freed in 1999. Birdal is a founding member of the United Socialist Party (BSP) and the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ÖDP). He is the honorary preseident of the Socialist Democracy Party (SDP), of which he was president in 2002. He has been vice-president of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).

Prevention of torture

According to Birdal, torture can only be prevented if the following are done:

* The new Law on Police Duties and Authorities needs to be taken to the Constitutional Court by parliament and cancelled
* The constitution and the legal system, which at present hinder human rights and freedoms, need to be democratised.

* The international and regional conventions against torture which Turkey has signed need to be internalised.

* The Supplementary Protocol to the Convention against Torture needs to be ratified and applied.

* Mechanisms to punish torturers and to end the encouragement and reward of torturers need to be put into place.

"A package against torture"

Birdal, who is running for parliament as an independent candidate in Diyarbakir's second constituency, says that these changes could be brought into parliament as a "package against torture".

He expressed the hope that a group of independent MPs, himself included, could ensure that such a package was part of a coalition government's agenda, or that a parliamentary group made up of independent candidates could raise the issue in parliament.

"AKP weak on human rights"

Birdal recalled that after the new police law has come into operation, there have been 3 deaths in detention in the last 15 days. He evaluated the ruling Justice and Development (AKP)'s performance on human rights as "weak", saying "Zero tolerance to torture has remained a slogan. The most important thing is the internalisation of human rights standards".

The three cases he referred to were:

* Hakki Cangi in Canakkale (west of Turkey), said to have "hanged himself while in detention"

* E.T., said to have "hanged himself while in detention" in Izmir (Aegean coast of Turkey)

* Mustafa Kükce, who was arrested last week in Ümraniye, a quarter of Istanbul, in a healthy state, but who died in prison while in detention.

Constitutional change essential

Birdal emphasised that constitutional change was essential. "We need to change the constitution and the legal system which were put in place after the military coup of 12 September [1980]. We need a humanist constitution which conforms to international legal norms and to human rights standards, which is pluralist, participatory and pacifist, which takes the judiciary as its highest reference, and which ensures rights and freedoms." (BIA, June 28, 2007)

Arrestation suivie de meurtre : la Turquie condamnée à Strasbourg

La Turquie a été condamnée mardi par la Cour européenne des droits de l'homme (CEDH) dans une affaire d'arrestation suivie de meurtre intervenue en 1996.

Arrêté par des militaires en janvier 1996 dans le district de Yüksekova lors d'un controle routier, Abdullah Canan, un homme d'affaires âgé de 43 ans, avait été retrouvé mort un mois plus tard, le corps criblé de sept balles et les  mains attachées.

Selon divers témoignages, M. Canan qui avait porté plainte quelques jours auparavant contre une opération militaire qui avait endommagé sa maison, aurait été placé en garde à vue dans les locaux du commandement militaire immédiatement après son interpellation.

Mais la justice turque, saisie par le fils de la victime, avait écarté ces témoignages et dès 1999 acquitté les trois membres des forces de l'ordre mis en cause. L'affaire fut finalement classée sans suite en 2001.

Les juges de Strasbourg ont estimé qu'en "acceptant sans discussion les dénégations des forces de l'ordre", les autorités turques ont "fait preuve d'une volonté manifeste de ne pas considérer les allégations qui mettaient ces dernières en cause".

Ils ont également jugé qu'en l'absence "de toute explication plausible sur le déroulement des faits ayant abouti à la mort violente de M. Canan", la Turquie devait être considérée comme responsable d'une violation du "droit à la vie" prévu par la Convention européenne des droits de l'homme.

Elle a décidé d'allouer 60.000 euros pour dommage matériel, 20.000 euros pour dommage moral aux ayants droit de la victime. (AFP, 26 juin 2007)

Semdinli Case to Continue in Civilian Court

In the Semdinli case, in which two army officers, Ali Kaya and Özcan Ildeniz, and one PKK member-turned -informant, Veysel Ates, have been sentenced to imprisonment for the bombing of a bookstore in Semdinli (east of Turkey, province of Hakkari) in November 2005, the 4th Heavy Penal Court in Van has decreed that the case will continue to be heard in a civilian court. The demand by the suspects for release on bail was denied.

In its ruling, the 4th Heavy Penal Court in Van evaluated the prior ruling of the Supreme Court of Appeals. On 16 May, the Supreme Court of Appeals had rescinded the initial sentences handed out to the three defendants by the 3rd Heavy Penal Court in Van, arguing that "questioning had been incomplete" and that the trial should be heard before a military tribunal.

The 3rd Heavy Penal Court in Van had decided only to accept the Supreme Court's decision partially by reopening the trial, but it also decreed that the case would continue in front of a civilian court. As a result, the defence complained to a higher court in Van, the 4th Heavy Penal Court. The defence again called for a military hearing and for the defendants to be released on bail.

The 4th Heavy Penal Court has now ruled that the decision of the Supreme Court of Appeals had no "legal value".

In the initial ruling by the 3rd Heavy Penal Court in Van on 19 June 2006, army officers Ali Kaya and Özcan Ildeniz had both received prison sentences of 39 years, 5 months and 10 days. Veysel Ates had been sentenced to 39 years, 10 months and 27 days imprisonment.

A third-party lawyer to the case, Sezgin Tanrikulu, had commented that the criminal organisation is not just made up of three people, and that the whole organisation needed to be uncovered and destroyed.

The case will be continued on 11 July. (BIA News Center, June 22, 2007)

IHD's Communique: Right of Asylum is a Basic Human Right

Today 40 million people try to survive in various places of the world since they flee from their original land for violence, cruelty. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) statistics shows that regarding 2006 there is a 14 % increase in number of refugees in 2007. Actually numbers of refugees have showed downside potential between 1995 and 2006. On one hand Turkey has a transition country position for people, who come from east-south, want to move to west-north. On the other hand, Turkey has a destination country position particularly for an east Europe migration movement. Turkey, which has signed 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees with a geographical restriction, still does not have a refugee law. This situation causes important problems for refugees, who regard Turkey as a transition country and want to asylum to Turkey.

In our time right of asylum, which is identified as a basic human right in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is the most violated right by states. Moreover, right of asylum is ignored day by day. States' approach, which ignores basic rights of refugees, is getting stronger. On the other hand; xenophobia, which is increasing among societies in all the over world, violates basic rights of refugees.

Certainly women refugees, who have the worst conditions under violence, war and poverty. According to UNHCR's records women refugees have 50.8 % in overall refugee population of the world. Women refugees, who are responsible not only for themselves but also for their under 18 years old children, face problems during travel period. Such situation brings responsibility, for all states and mankind, about necessity of developing extra protective mechanisms for women and children refugees.

As human rights defenders, once again we would like to remind the following issues to all states in the world;

Right of asylum is a basic right related physical and mental unity of personal. Right of asylum should be evaluated within framework of basic rights system. International protection and states' protection regimes should be based on a mentality that argues human rights should be protected for everyone, under any conditions, in all over the world.

Turkey should pass Asylum Law, which should comply with universal human rights norms, without delay. Turkey has started the preparation of Asylum Law within an approach that supports involvement of non-governmental organizations into preparation period. Moreover, we underline that Reception Centres, whose preparation started, should be opened for civil examination regarding with their complying of human rights standards. Lastly, we would like to remind that Turkey should accelerate ratification process of "Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture" in Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM). (www.ihd.org.tr, June 20, 2007)

ECHR Interpret Limits to Freedom of Speech

Although Turkey is often convicted by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) for violating the right to freedom of expression, the ECHR has decreed in the latest case that freedom of expression was not curtailed.

Hünkar Demirel, the manager of the weekly newspaper "Yedinci Gündem", had appealed to ECHR after being convicted for "aiding and abetting a terrorist organisation by spreading propaganda. In June 2002 hehad received a sentence of 3 years and 9 months imprisonment, later converted into a fine.

The cause of the trial was an article published in the newspaper in July 2001, in which Demirel was analysing "reasons for joining the organisation" (i.e. the PKK).

"Legitimising PKK rebellion"

Demirel appealed to the ECHR, arguing that he had not had a fair trial, that his freedom of expression had been curtailed, and that his right to property had been violated. The ECHR agreed unanimously that there were doubts about a fair trial with the State Security Court (DGM). However, it also argued that the article represented an incitement to violence, quoting sentences such as "If someone wanted to kill you, you would use legitimate self-defence," and "If the world is uniting against us, we will use our right to self-defence." According to the ECHR, the article was an attempt at "legitimising the PKK rebellion" and apologised violent and random acts of the organisation. The ECHR decreed that in the light of the agenda of the article, the received sentence was not excessive.

Turkey is to pay Demirel 1,000 Euros in legal costs.

In three cases decrees against Turkey

One the same day (14 June), the ECHR demanded a total of 5,250 Euros compensation payments for violating Article 10 in three separate cases.

* Managing editor of the pro-Kurdish "Yeniden Özgür Gündem", Mehmet Colak, had appealed to the ECHR because it was forbidden in September 2002 to distribute or sell his newspaper in the eastern provinces under emergency law, and because this procedure was not audited by the judiciary.

* Mehmet Selim Okcuoglu appealed to the ECHR after receiving a one-year prison sentence and a fine for "separatist propaganda" and "incitement to hatred and hostility" from the State Security Court (DGM) in September 1998. He had written an article in the Kurdish-interest People's Democracy Party (HADEP)'s newsletter, entitled "About the Court Case Against Our Leaders".

* Tuncay Seyman, editor-in-chief of the "Yeni Evrensel" newspaper, and Fevzi Saygili, the owner, were punished by the DGM in February 2000 for "inciting hatred and hostility" with their article entitled "The Kurdish Problem and the Struggle for Equal Rights". They too won their appeal to the ECHR. (BIA News Center, June 21, 2007)

Note the Difference in Mines!

The Initiative for a Turkey without Mines has corrected the terminology that journalists have used to describe the explosives used in PKK attacks.

The difference in terminology is important, because Turkey has signed the Ottawa Convention which holds states responsible for clearing the land mines, which kill or disable 15 to 20 thousand people worldwide every year, and protecting civilians against them.

According to the website of the Initiative, the differences between land mines and the explosives controlled remotely are as follows:

* Anti-personnel land mines (APLM) wait for their victims, rather than actively seeking them out.
* APLMs are activated by the victim itself.
* APLMs do not distinguish between different people. Whoever comes close to or touches the mine, woman or man, old or young, soldier or rebel, is hurt or killed
* APLMs remain active under the ground for 75 years.

When an APLM is converted into a remote-controlled explosive (RCE), it loses the above-mentioned characteristics and should thus not be termed an APLM anymore.

* RCEs do not wait for victims but actively seek them out
* RCEs are activated not by the victim, but by another person, just like other weapons.
* Victims are differentiated.
* RCEs can be affected by various factors.

Radikal newspaper journalist Ismet Berkan had drawn attention to this distinction on 13 June, writing that the RCEs that the PKK used in its attacks were called "Improvised Explosive Devices".

According to the Initiative for a Turkey without Mines, an average of 180 people are killed or disabled by land mines or unexploded military arms in Turkey. A third of this number are children. In 2005, 220 and in 2006, 145 people were killed or disabled in Turkey.

There is insufficient health care and there are not enough rehabilitation facilities for those rescued from the explosions.

According to the Ottawa Convention, Turkey is obliged to destroy its land mine stock by 2008 and to clear all the planted land mines by 2014. (BIA News Center, June 21, 2007)


Internet Campaign: "Turkey Looking for Peace"

After a two-day conference entitled "Turkey Looking for Peace" which took place in Ankara in January of this year, and which was attended by writers, academics, politicians and artists looking for solutions to the "Kurdish issue", the conference conveners have now started an internet petition against militarism and the exploitation of fear.

The organisers say, "we do not want to deliver this country's future to anger, hate and fears. We do not want peace and security built on being killed and killing".

The campaigners say that Turkey has to find a way towards peace. The petition can be signed by anyone. Up to now, many human rights activists, academics, writers, artists, and journalists have signed the text.

The text of the petition (in Turkish) can be found on the website of the Democratic Union Initiative for Peace . On the same page, people can sign the petition and see the list of people who have signed already.

The translation of the petition text is as follows:

It has become unbearable for us to suffer the pain of writing texts that start with "recently", and whose first sentences are full of our bloody past and speaking of our fears that our future will be enmeshed in blood, death, tears and shame. We are not afraid of attempts to silence us, to marginalise us because of what we say and write, to point at us as traitors and enemies, we are not afraid of being alone. We have experienced it all and know how to resist it. Rather, we are afraid of giving up our hope and belief in peace, of not believing our own voices, of being pushed into being spectators in this death game, of being part if this crime and of being forced to live with this shame.

Those who hold guns do not listen to us, and for decades, tens of thousands of us have died and we are not able to look into each others' eyes anymore. Perhaps we are being kept apart on purpose because without saying a word, by just looking into each others' eyes, it would be possible to find a place where we could solve everything, and be able to say "How happy we are to live in this country". This game is based on us being killed and killing. How similar are our deaths, our dead; how similar are our mothers, fathers, beloved, spouses, when they grieve; they do not care whether they are Kurdish or Turkish. Let us listen to the mothers' silent screams. Had they been given the opportunity, our mothers could have stopped their sons and daughters from being killed and killing. They would have managed what no big men in suits, no uniforms were able to achieve: their sons and daughters would have gone up the mountains singing love songs rather than killing each other singing marches. We do not want to deliver this country's future to anger, hate and fears. We do not want peace and security built on being killed and killing.

We want to ask each other questions by looking into each others' eyes without being frightened. We want to know for what global, regional or class profits you are seizing our political will and trying to turn us into the bit players of an ugly death game. We want to know how much more blood we need to give for a life without violence.

We want to shout out that we need to find a way towards peace. We know that social peace, brotherhood and the way towards peace cannot be found in new security zones, in practices that evoke emergency rule, in lives and hopes that are destroyed by mines, in emphasising the nationalist reflexes of the masses. We believe that peace is possible, that we have enough sense, heart and belief to achieve it. We want to state that we only need a little peace now for peace to start, for us to resist the fears that you are inventing every day in order to darken our lives, for us to build our future with our own political will, with responsible and calm patience, for us to look into each others' eyes and start afresh.

Therefore, we believe that by starting this petition, we will, in spite of everything, increase our hopes together.

The Conveners of the Conference "Turkey Looking for Peace"
(BIA News Center, June 18, 2007)

Judiciary Ignores Right to Life

A court in Erzurum (east of Turkey) has denied the families of several children compensation. When on shepherding duty in Agri province (east of Turkey) in 2006, three young boys had found unexploded ammunition and played with them. Eight-year-old Ismail Isik died, five-year-old Adem Akbay lost his fingers, and six-year-old Emrah Akbay was also wounded.

The families of the children applied for compensation to the Ministry of Defence, but their application was denied in the same year. After a complaint against military authorities, the Agri chief public prosecutor's office decreed that there was no one to be held responsible, and that the explosives were also used by illegal organisations. The case was thus dropped. The families' lawyer's appeal to a military penal court was also rejected.

In May 2007, an administrative court in Erzurum decreed in the trial against the Ministry of Defence that "there was no causal relationship between administrative actions and the damage. The demand for compensation was thus rejected.

The lawyer for the two families concerned said that the decision would be appealed against. He added that the state was responsible for protecting the right to life. The Ottawa Convention , which is concerned with the clearing of land mines and explosives, obliges Turkey to protect its civilians. Last year, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) convicted Turkey on that account.

A Diyarbakir Bar Association lawyer, Cihan Aydin, said that it was irrelevant whom the unexploded ammunition belonged to. According to the Ottawa Convention, it is a state's responsibility to clear land of weapon remnants and to designate and fence in dangerous areas. Should any damage occur, the state has to cover the damage and ensure that rehabilitation and care are provided.

Aydin also argued that a previous case which had been taken to the ECHR, and in which Turkey had been forced to pay compensation, had set a precedent that could not be ignored. (BIA News Center, June 18, 2007)


"Deep State" Surfacing

After a police raid on a home in Ümraniye, a suburb of Istanbul, the secret weapons arsenal found has turned out to belong to retired petty officer Oktay Yildirim, one of the founders of the ultra-nationalist Kuvayi Milliye Association (KMD).

In the raid on a single-storey house in Ümraniye, a suburb of Istanbul, 27 hand grenades, TNT explosives and fuses were found. The owner of the house and his nephew were arrested. They stated that the weapons belonged to retired petty officer Oktay Yildirm. After his arrest, Yildirim claimed that he had found and collected the bomb material from the waste dump of military barracks in Istanbul.

Ergin Cinmen, a lawyer at the Istanbul Bar Association, has interpreted this event as follows:

"We used to call this "deep state", but there is nothing "deep" left about it, everything is out in the open. We will see how the police and prosecution deal with this event. Will we have to be satisfied with seeing the tip of an iceberg, or will an appropriate investigation go deeper?"

According to Radikal newspaper, last year Yildirim had attended journalist Perihan Magden's court case, in which she was being tried for "discouraging the people from military service", and he had shouted "I am a veteran". Yildirim had also caused disturbance at writer Orhan Pamuk's trial in July last year.

Yildirim's friend Muzaffer Tekin, a retired army captain, has been implicated in the attack on the state council in May 2006, in which one member of the council was killed by an ultra-nationalist lawyer. The ultra-nationalist Kuvayi Milliye Association which was implicated in the attack was co-founded by Yildirim.

Yildirim had also attempted to become a third party plaintiff in the court case against "Agos" writer Aydin Engin and the newspapers owner Serkis Seropyan and managing editor Arat Dink. His application had been rejected. Another person who had applied is retired brigadier Veli Kücük, a name familiar to Turks from the Susurluk scandal (in which the "deep state" was unmasked) and because he is the founder of the gendarmerie secret service JITEM. Kücük is also said to have been close to the attacker of the state council.

Cinmen commented that these kind of relations are increasingly common and that "crimes are committed before our eyes. We can only watch, but the government needs to use its authority. The prosecution must not just pretend to investigate."

Cinmen recalled the Susurluk scandal after which, despite a mound of information and documents, the court case was not satisfactory. Similarly, in the Semdinli case and the attack on the state council there has not been an in-depth investigation. Recently, after a car accident in Afyonkarahisar, a weapons arsenal and money were found in the wreck, and it is still unclear how authorities are proceeding in that case.

In the aftermath of the murder of journalist Hrant Dink, said Cinmen, there was insufficient investigation. Because of a dispute between the police and the gendarmerie in Trabzon, where Dink's assassin is from, Dink was not informed of existing intelligence of a planned murder.

In short, he said, illegal relations are taking over. (BIA News Center, June 15, 2007)

Semdinli Case Trial Restarts on July 11

The 3rd Heavy Penal Court in Van has decided not to go along with the demand of the Supreme Court of Appeals that the Semdinli case be tried before a military court. However, it has accepted the demand to reopen the trial. The next hearing is 11 July.

After a bookshop in Semdinli, in the south-eastern province of Hakkari was bombed in November 2005, two gendarmerie officers, Ali Kaya and Özcan Ildeniz, had been caught and tried for the bombing. The case was widely seen as another example of the "deep state" involved in provoking further conflict in the region.

On 19 June 2006, the 3rd Van Heavy Penal Court had sentenced Ali Kaya and Özcan Ildeniz to 39 years 5 months and 10 days imprisonment each. A third defendant, Veysel Ates, a former PKK member turned informant, had been sentenced to 39 years, 10 months and 27 days for "being a member of a criminal organization, attempted murder, probable intent of murder and grievous bodily harm". At the time, the third-party lawyer Sezgin Tanrikulu had told bianet that "the criminal organisation is not made up of three people only; the organization needs to be investigated as a whole and destroyed".

On 16 May 2007, the 9th Penal Office of the Supreme Court of Appeals had rescinded the sentences of the two officers, arguing that there had been "insufficient investigation". Furthermore, it had decreed that the case should be tried in front of a military court. Third-party lawyers Murat Timur and Tahir Elci had interpreted this decision as an attempt at a cover-up.

The case was then transferred back to the 3rd Van Heavy Penal Court, which had to decide whether to follow the Supreme Court of Appeal's decree. In a hearing on 13 June, which was attended by Ali Kaya, Özcan Ildeniz, Veysel Ates (whose case has been added to the officers' case) and the owner of the bombed bookshop, Seferi Yilmaz.

The heavy penal court in Van has decided not to send the case to a military court, but has agreed with the decision of the Supreme Court to reopen the case. The next hearing will be 11 July.   (BIA, 14 June 2007)

Ertugrul Kürkçü: Say No to a Military Dictatorship!

Turkey is well on its way to becoming a military dictatorship. With the "e-warning" of 27 April, a sword was put on the table, and if the Justice and Development Party (AKP) gains an absolute majority in parliament, which would allow it to elect the President, the sword would rise up. Should the AKP then not choose a presidential candidate who is "bound to the Republic in essence", as the Chief of General Staff Büyükanit put it, the sword will come down, and Turkey will face its fifth military intervention in its 57th year of multi-party politics.

What has become clear since the "e-warning" is that if the AKP is not able to bring 367 MPs together to form an absolute majority (either with its own MPs or with a coalition), and if the people responsible for the "e-warning" are not taken off active duty and brought to trial, then the AKP cannot rule. If it does rule, Turkey will have a two-headed regime, and the government will have resigned itself to the nature of this regime. Such a regime is not sustainable.

[...]

It appears that we are facing a "Chrinicle of a Death Foretold". Like in the famous novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, everyone knows who will kill whom; nobody lifts a finger to change fate, and the course of events becomes more and more dramatic with whispers, gossip and rumours.

While the Armed Forces, with the support of the President, the Judiciary, universities, media and the Republican People's Party (CHP), have struck blow after blow against the AKP, the Turkish Industrialist and Businesspeople Association (TÜSIAD) and the Koc business empire have accused the AKP of opposing the education and clothes reforms. Between capital and armed forces, the AKP is being pushed to retreat.

If one remembers under what conditions the "e-warning" of 27 April was issued, it becomes clear that it is not a "coup", but rather a call from the General Staff on the Constitutional Court to "do its duty" (i.e. declare the presidential elections void).

However, despite "e-warnings", "Republican rallies" with flags and the exaggeration of the numbers of AKP opponents, the AKP does not seem to have lost its popular support. It is even expected to receive a similar number of votes to what it received in the previous general elections in November 2002.

Even if the Constitutional Court has managed to prevent a presidential referendum taking place at the same time as the general elections, it is easy to calculate that the coming elections will result in a parliament in which no president can be elected without the support of the AKP. This means that there will be chaos.

[...]

As elections are approaching, there has been a dramatic increase in violence and loss of human life. The attacks on civilians, which started with the bombing of the Anafarta commercial centre of Ankara, continue in other cities. The battles between the PKK and the armed forces in the South-East and near the Iraqi borders cause more and more deaths. When the dead are returned to their hometowns, their coffins wrapped in flags, the funerals are turned into racist demonstrations.

War agitators, including the CHP leader Deniz Baykal, see the root of the problem in Northern Iraq and continue to poison the public with talk about cross-border military operations.

The new statement on the General Staff website, published on 9 June (link www.bianet.org/index_eng_root.htm), shows that although the sharp edges of the sword are directed against the AKP and political Islam, the sharp tip of the sword is pointing at the Kurdish movement and the democratic opposition.

[...]

After deciphering the allusive language of the Armed Forces, it is clear that the list of "unwanted people" in parliament is longer than expected: the AKP, which is only laicist "in word, not in deed", those who do not say "How happy are those who call themselves Turkish", all MPs who say "I am Turkish, but I am not happy", deputies who struggle for "peace, freedom and democracy" and human rights, the independent MPs of the pro-Kurdish DTP who are searching for a political structure that reflects a society of multiple identities...in short, with the logic of the "e-warning" of 27 April, the Armed Forces would be forced to act against these "internal enemies".

In order to avoid being put in the same category as the Thai or Pakistani army, the Armed Forces would however try to avoid a governmental coup. Rather, by citing unavoidable reasons, such as the PKK attacks from the Iraqi border, they would push government and parliament into a corner, and ensure that general elections were be postponed. Thus, facing the world and Turkey, the army could justify a subsequent military dictatorship with "security precautions".

[...]

It is vital that the doors to parliament are left open, that general elections take place, that independent candidates of the left and of the DTP enter parliament.

The most effective antidote against the armed forces placing themselves in a position of owners of the country is to question the "security" excuse that they base their credibility on.

Those who are oppressed also need to emphasize their determination to send representatives to parliament and to refrain from violence of any sort.

Revolutionism, rather than heroic legends written against a military dictatorship, means patiently taking all the steps which would prevent such a beforehand. (BIA News Center, Ertugrul KURKCU, June 12, 2007)

* This article by Ertugrul Kurkcu appeared in the June 2007 issue of the monthly "Siyasi Gazete".

Explosion près d'un restaurant McDonald's à Istanbul: 14 blessés

Une explosion vraisemblablement d'origine criminelle a blessé 14 personnes dimanche à Istanbul, ont affirmé différentes sources de sécurité.

La déflagration s'est produite à proximité d'un établissement de restauration rapide McDonald's dans le quartier de Bakirköy, sur la rive européenne d'Istanbul, a constaté un photographe de l'AFP.

Le chef de la police d'Istanbul Celalettin Cerrah a fait état de 14 blessés, la plupart par des bris de verre, dont aucun n'était dans un état grave, a rapporté l'agence de presse Anatolie.

Un précedent bilan établissait à neuf le nombre de blessés.

M. Cerrah n'a pas fait de déclaration sur la nature de cette explosion mais la police semblait, selon une source proche de l'enquête, s'orienter vers la piste d'une bombe dite "détonante", un engin de faible puissance destiné à faire du bruit plutôt que des victimes.

Ce type d'engins artisanaux a été utilisé à plusieurs reprises par des groupuscules d'extrême gauche.

Selon l'agence de presse Anatolie, la bombe a été déposée sous un banc.

Un restaurant McDonald's avait été visé par une bombe artisanale à Trabzon (nord-est) en octobre 2004. L'attentat, qui avait fait six blessés, a été imputé à un groupe de jeunes nationalistes. (AFP, 10 juin 2007)

Human Rights Activists Face Imprisonment

Three members of the Association for Human Rights (IHD) in Adana, a southern Turkish province, have been sentenced to 2 years and 8 months in prison.

In a press release they had criticised military operations in December 2000, euphemistically termed "Return to Life", in which prisons with hunger strikers were stormed and over thirty people were killed. They had also demanded that those in charge of the operations be brought to justice.

The penal court in Adana, had decreed that the three accused had "incited the people to hatred towards the state".

The three men on trial are the IHD branch president Ethem Acikalin, the branch secretary Mustafa Bagcicek and the branch accountant Hüseyin Beyaz. In a hearing today (7 June), the court decided that the sentences wouldn't be postponed "due to current conditions in the country".

Furthermore, branch president Acikalin faces a trial under Article 301 at an Adana peace court for taking part in protests against the killings of civilians in Adana and Diyarbakir (south-east Turkey).

In Adana, sixteen-year old Feyzi Abik had been killed, and in Diyarbakir 11 people died. The trial started today, and the charge under Article 301 is "denigrating the state's law-enforcement officers"

In a response to the trials, the Adana branch of the IHD has released a written statement, stating that "this has shown again that in a state governed by the rule of law it is considered a crime to demand the punishment of people responsible for events".

Referring to the changes Turkey has been making to its legislation in order to conform to EU standards, the Adana IHD said that the concept of "crimes of thought" nevertheless persisted. (BIA News Center, Erol Onderoglu, June 8, 2007)

Mehmet Desde, involved in no violent act, goes to prison

Mehmet Desde, a German citizen of Turkish origin, who has been condemned to 2,5 years imprisonment and 1666 lira fine was put in prison. Desde was found guilty of being member of a terrorist organisation, Bolshevik Party North Kurdistan /Turkey, despite the fact that the court accepted that he was involved in no violent act.

Izmir high Criminal Court N° 8 decided that the use of violence was not necessary for a terrorist crime and "emotional violence" would suffice. High court approved it. Desde's case is in the European Court.

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.

Desde's Legal Adventure

Izmir State Security Court found Mehmet Desde, Mehmet Bakır, Maksut Karadağ, Hüseyin Habib Taşkın 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 Özgünay, Ömer 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 Izmir 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-tr.org, June 8, 2007)

Lynch Attempt over T-shirt with "Ahmet Kaya" Printing

3 people in Adapazarı were attacked for wearing a T-shirt with the printing of "Ahmet Kaya" (Kurdish protest singer) and reading Özgür Gündem paper. 3 people from Diyarbakır who work in the road building were harassed by a group of people. Argument developed into a lynch attempt.

One of the 3 escaped, the other two were protected by police. One of them was injured under police protection. Lynching group sang national anthem and chanted slogans against PKK.

The group wanted to break into the offices of DTP.

Lawyer Handan Olcan of IHD said that the argument began as the assailants said "haven't we finish you off in the mountains". Olcan said that the Ulkucu group in the region stirs racism against seasonal workers from outside, particularly Kurds. Olcan said that there was another attack against two people in Sakarya's Sapanca district. Olcan reported the attack: "Last Saturday two workers went to a photographer shop on the main road but one of them did not like the picture he was given, there was a quarrel between him and the shop owner. Yesterday as he passed in front of the shop, the shop owner said to him "haven't I told you not to pass here again'. A crowd of shop keepers insulted and attacked the two. One of them severely injured." (antenna-tr.org, June 6, 2007)

Nationalist suspects on the MHP and DP candidate lists

Despite the claim that the leader of extreme Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) vetoed the extreme names in the candidates list, Mustafa Mit who involved in the case of the murder of 7 people all members of Turkish Workers Party, turned out to be the number 1 candidate of MHP in Sivas.

The car used in the massacre was registered in Mustafa Mit's name as Mit was the deputy chairman of Ulkucu Youth Association. Mit had said during the investigation "The vehicle was in the control of Muhsin Yazicioglu and Abdullah Catli after I quit. When I found out that it was used in Bahçelievler Incident I did a research and found out that on 9 October 1978 Catli had the car".

On the other hand, former DYP deputy and one of the suspects of Susurluk case Sedat Bucak stands in the general elections in Şanliurfa. DP leader Mehmet Ağar placed Bucak as their number 1 candidate in Sanliurfa. (antenna-tr.org, June 6, 2007)

Les pouvoirs de la police renforcés pour combattre la criminalité

Les députés turcs ont adopté samedi une loi préparée par la majorité gouvernementale renforçant les pouvoirs de la police afin de lutter notamment contre la criminalité rampante dans les grandes villes, a rapporté l'agence de presse Anatolie.

La nouvelle loi qui doit encore être promulguée par le président de la République, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, pour entrer en vigueur, autorise la police à arrêter sur le champ toute personne refusant de dévoiler son identité au cours d'un contrôle et à faire usage des armes de service, si nécessaire, contre celles qui n'obtempéreraient pas.

Elle permet en outre aux forces de l'ordre de procéder à des prélèvements d'empreintes digitales généralisés qui seront stockés pendant 80 ans.

Le Premier ministre turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan, dont le Parti de la justice et du développement (AKP, issu de la mouvance islamiste) est à l'origine du texte, a assuré qu'il n'était pas en contradiction avec les avancées démocratiques de son pays qui négocie depuis 2005 son adhésion à l'Union européenne.

La criminalité a enregistré une importante hausse dans les grandes villes et surtout à Istanbul, mégalopole de 12 millions d'habitants où des délits comme le vol à la tire ou le cambriolage ont fortement augmenté, selon les chiffres cités par la presse. (AFP, 2 juin 2007)

Pression sur les médias / Pressure on the Media

Journalist to be tried for "degrading state"

A case in the district town of Gerger, in the province of Adiyaman, southeast of Turkey, illustrates how the Turkish government has been indecisive and contradictory in dealing with freedom of expression.

Public Prosecutor Sadullah Ovacikli dismissed a case against journalist Haci Bogatekin, who wrote an article about a flea epidemic, in which he criticised the government. The article, entitled "Flea, Pig and Agha", was published in a local newspaper on 7 December 2006.

Ovacikli had cited the "Observer-Guardian" versus United Kingdom and the "Prager-Oberschlick" versus Austria cases, which had been taken to the European Court of Human Rights, as precedents for his decision.

However, three months after the dismissal, the same prosecutor's office started a trial against the same journalist over a similar case, citing Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code.

In an unsigned article published on 10 March 2007, entitled "Turkey Has Made a Mistake", Bogatekin said: "The government has made a mistake. Where and when? Yesterday, in the East and Southeast. And then in Istanbul. In Maras, in Sivas. Today, in Trabzohn, Istanbul, Mersin and the Southeast …

The journalist is now on trial for "degrading the state". The court case will begin on 25 July at a penal court in Gerger.

Bogatekin said in a 3 April statement to the prosecution: "I did not write the article with criminal intent. As a journalist, I tried to criticise some of the mistakes the government made in the past and recently." However, his statement did not prevent him from being prosecuted.

Bogatekin argued that he had presented his thoughts in order to show that the repetition of mistakes would blight the future of the country. In his article, he held the government responsible for "the death of millions of Armenians and Syriac Christians in the East and Southeast, after that the death of the Alevi in Dersim, then the Greek Orthodox in Istanbul with the September movement, and more recently the death of hundreds of people in Maras, Malatya, Corum and Sivas".

In the previous case against Bogatekin, related to the article in which he had also criticised the government's hygiene standards, the prosecution dismissed proceedings, arguing that "although freedom of expression was exaggerated to a certain extent, the article even containing some provocations, and some of the expressions used were polemical in nature, the expressions were used to support an objective statement, and they are not considered an unfounded personal attack". (BIANET/IFEX, June 28, 2007)

Same Court Same Journalist Different Decrees

After dismissing a case against journalist Bogatekin three months earlier, the same prosecutor's office in Gerger, south-east of Turkey, has started a second trial against the same journalist under Article 301. His trial is to start 25 July.

The indecisiveness and contradictions which the Turkish government becomes embroiled in when dealing with freedom of expression become obvious when considering Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

In one case in the district town of Gerger in the province of Adiyaman (south-east of Turkey), a case against journalist Haci Bogatekin was dismissed by Public Prosecutor Sadullah Ovacikli. Writing on a flea epidemic in an article entitled "Flea, Pig and Agha" in the local newspaper, Bogatekin had criticised the government.

Prosecutor Ovacikli cited the Observer-Guardian versus United Kingdom and the Prager-Oberschlick versus Austria cases, which had been taken to the European Court of Human Rights, as precedents for his decision.

After dismissal a new trial

However, three months after the dismissal, the same prosecutor's office started a trial against the same journalist for a similar case, citing Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code.

In an unsigned article published on 10 March 2007 and entitled "Turkey Has Made a Mistake", Bogatekin had said: "The government has made a mistake. Where and when? Yesterday, in the East and South-East. And then in Istanbul. In Maras, in Sivas. Today in Trabzon, Istanbul, Mersin and the South-East..." The journalist is now on trial for "degrading the state" and the court case will begin on 25 July at a penal court in Gerger.

Bogatekin said in his statement to the prosecution on 3 April: "I did not write the article with a criminal intent. As a journalist, I tried to criticise some of the mistakes the government made in the past and recently." However, his statement did not prevent prosecution.

Wanted to prevent repetition of mistakes

Bogatekin argued that he had presented his thoughts in order to show that the repetition of mistakes would blight the future of the country. In his article, he had held the government responsible for "the death of millions of Armenians and Syriac Christians in the East and South-East, after that the death of the Alevi in Dersim, then the Greek Orthodox in Istanbul with the September movement, and more recently the death of
hundreds of people in Maras, Malatya, Corum and Sivas".

In the previous case against Bogatekin, related to the article published on 7 December 2006, in which he had criticised the government's hygiene standards, the prosecution had dismissed proceedings, arguing that "although freedom of expression was exaggerated to a certain extent, the article even contained some provocations, and some of the expressions used were polemical in nature, the expressions were used to support an objective statement, and they are not considered an unfounded personal attack". (BIA, Erol Onderoglu, June 28, 2007)

Journalists on Trial for insulting public servant

Public Prosecutor in Diyarbakir launched a court case against Sait Bayram, editor-in-chief of the local paper Söz published in Diyarbakir, and correspondent of the paper Firat Avci on charges of "insulting public servant" according to Article 125 TPC.  They were arrested on 19 June in connection with the news appeared on the paper on a "bribe incident" for publishing "untrue news". The case would commence at Diyarbakir Penal Court of First Instance No 2 on 20 July. (BIA-TIHV, 27 June 2007)

No new case for Ozkoray's book titled "What is the Army good for?"

The State prosecutor decided not to open a case against journalist Erol ozkoray for his latest book titled “What is the Army good for?”.

Istanbul Press Prosecutor Ms. Nurten Altinok stated that a case about the article with the same title –which gave its name to the book- had already ended with acquittal and it was not possible to try somebody more than one time because of the same crime.

In fact, this was not the second, but the third investigation about the same article and it was opened with the complaint from the General Staff. (antenna-tr.org, June 26, 2007)

WPFC concerned about journalist Arat Dink

The following is a 25 June 2007 WPFC letter to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan:

On behalf of the World Press Freedom Committee, an organization representing 45 press freedom groups from throughout the world, I wish to express my profound concern about the judicial status of journalist Arat Dink, editor of the weekly magazine Agos, who faces up to three years in prison for allegedly insulting Turkish identity.

The unjust charges stem from Arat Dink's decision to republish an interview in which his father, Hrant Dink, who was murdered on January 10, recognized the Armenian Genocide. Hrant Dink suffered repeated judicial harassment because of his mentioning this controversial subject as editor of Agos and eventually paid with his life for exercising his right to free speech and free press.

The key censorship tool to continue this judicial harassment on Arat Dink is Article 301 of the Criminal Code, which penalizes the "denigration of Turkishness or the government," and one of the 11 insult statues contained in Turkish legislation. Insult laws, a hallmark of autocratic societies, arbitrarily punish published opinions and other forms of speech by imposing outrageous penalties, including long prison sentences, on journalists covering controversial, yet legitimate, news items of interest to the public.

These laws have their origin in the Roman Empire, which instituted them to shield the emperor from public criticism. Today, they act as a Damocles sword dangling over the collective heads of the news media, forcing them to fulfil their duties to keep the public informed at the risk of being imprisoned and their publications shut down.

The chilling effect of these laws is further amplified through their inconsistent application. Persons commenting on an issue of public concern may be prosecuted at the whim of the government because one person's opinion may be another's (the government's) insult. Confusion over disparate meanings of a word can lead to prosecution even when the statement at issue was not meant to be insulting.

International judicial entities, such as the European Court of Human Rights, have ruled that insult laws are in direct violation of the fundamental right to free speech and to a free press, which are also consecrated in Turkey's Constitution.

These institutions also have abundant jurisprudence that supports the concept that public officials and institutions should expect more, and not less, scrutiny and criticism from the rest of society. This acceptance of being a willing target of the media's slings and arrows also implies public officials and institutions should refrain from using these insidious laws to silence criticism directed at them.

We were encouraged to learn in May that you were open to reforming Article 301. The arrest of Arat Dink weeks later, however, demonstrates to the world that Turkey needs to work much harder to bring its legislation into compliance with international human rights standards, such as those established by the European Court of Human Rights.

Therefore, Your Excellency, I urge you to introduce legislation to eliminate not only Article 301 but all insult laws in Turkey. In the meantime, I also urge you to use the full extent of your executive influence to stop the judicial harassment on Arat Dink and to provide the necessary protections for him against the same kind of death threats that ultimately cost his father's life.

E. Markham Bench Executive Director World Press Freedom Committee
(WPFC/IFEX, June 26, 2007)

Taner Akcam to file case against Turkey to ECHR

Professor Taner Akcam, a Turkish scholar and visiting Associate Professor of History at the University of Minnesota, announced that he will file a case against Turkey to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

The complaint is based on the criminal investigation launched against him earlier this year under Turkish Penal Code's controversial Article 301, for "insulting Turkishness" by having publicly used the term "genocide" to describe the deaths of Armenians in 1915.

Article 301 remains prominent among the many enduring obstacles in Turkey's path to membership of the European Union. The same law has in recent years been the basis for the prosecution of other leading Turkish intellectuals, writers, journalists and academics on similar grounds. The most notable victims of Article 301 include Nobel Prize winning novelist Orhan Pamuk and recently assassinated Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.

"Facing history and coming to terms with past human rights abuses is not a crime but a prerequisite for peace and reconciliation in the region," says Professor Akcam. "My goal is to help Turkey realize its full potential to evolve into a truly free and democratic society. This cannot happen if Turkey continues to criminalize academic discussion." His legal team is headed by Dr. Payam Akhavan, former UN war crimes prosecutor and professor of international law at McGill University in Montreal.

The Court will examine Professor Akcam's application and rule on its admissibility within one year. If the application is declared admissible, the Court will then encourage the parties to reach a friendly settlement. Only if no settlement can be reached the Court will consider whether or not there has been a violation of the Convention. If the Court finds that there has been such a violation, it will deliver a judgment which will legally bind Turkey to comply. (The New Anatolian, 22 June 2007)

Sociolog Ismail Besikçi tried under Article 216

In another case against a writer and the print media, sociologist Ismail Besikci , known in Turkey for his enduring academic interest in Kurds and for facing both an end to his academic career and imprisonment for his books, is on trial under Article 216 of the Turkish Penal Code.

Besikci had written an article entitled "We did not talk, we had it printed", and the article was published in the monthly "Popüler Kürtür Esmer". The monthly magazine's owner Ferzende Kaya and the managing editor Mehmet Ali Izmir are also on trial.

Prosecutor Remzi Yasar Kizilhan is demanding 4 to 6 years imprisonment for the three defendants.

There has been some disagreement as to which court is in charge of the proceedings, and the penal court in Bakirköy has asked the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office whether samples of the magazine have been delivered. The case will be continued on 10 December.

Complaint by General Staff

After a "secret" complaint by the Armed Forces' General Staff about an article entitled "Ghost" by Ahmet Kahraman (published in the magazine in December 2005) and another article by Ismail Besikci published on 19 January 2006, the Directorate of Criminal Offences of the Ministry of Justice had launched an investigation.

Because the head office of the magazine is in Istanbul, the Ankara Chief Prosecutor's Office passed the case to the Bakirköy Office in Istanbul.

Expert: No case for 301, but 216

Prof. Dr. Mehmet Emin Artuk of the Law Faculty at Marmara University, Istanbul, was used as an expert by the prosecution. He had concluded that "the rights to inform and criticise were made use of, there was not degradation of Turkishness or the armed forces, there was no harsh criticism of the army in general, just of [Chief of General Staff] Yasar Büyükanit, and there was no crime committed under Article 301". There was thus no case opened against Kahraman.

In Besikci's case, Artuk again argued that there was no case for the application of Article 301, but that "some expressions could be interpreted as 'incitement to hatred and hostility'". Thus, Besikci and the magazine representatives are on trial under Article 216.

Besikci already on trial

Sociologist Besikci was already on trial with a demand for over a hundred years imprisonment for his books (published by Yurt Publishers) and his articles concerning the Kurdish issue which had appeared in the pro-Kurdish "Özgür Gündem" newspaper. He had been released from prison with a conditional amnesty.

Besikci has already spent years in prison, and some of his books are still banned. He was released from prison on 12 July 1997 under the Conditional Amnesty Law No. 4304, which postponed sentences for previous offences if he did not repeat them in the next five years. (BIA News Center, June 21, 2007)

Pressure on Kurdish Journalists during the electoral campaign

Murat Çiftçi, correspondent with the daily Özgür Gündem, and M. Ali Ertas, correspondent with the DIHA news agency, were not allowed to follow the meeting of AKP organised in Sanliurfa on 17 June. The police officer did not allow them to get into the meeting place on the grounds that there was a “special order”.

Lawyer Muzaffer Demir announced that he called Erkan Kabakçili, Vice-Director of Anti Terror Branch of Sanliurfa Security Directorate, in connection with the incident and added that Kabakçili confirmed that there was a “special order”.  (Gundem-TIHV, June 19, 2007)
 
Rakel Dink Accepts IPA Prize

The International Publishers Association presented its 2007 Freedom Prize to Zimbabwean publisher Trevor Ncube, and two special prizes to murdered journalists Hrant Dink (Turkey) and Anna Politkovskaya (Russia).

The ceremony was held on 15 June, and IPA president Ana Maria Cabanellas honoured Ncube for "his courage, his passion for publishing and his determination."

Rakel Dink attended the Cape Town book fair in South Africa to accept a prize in the name of her murdered husband. She said, "of course it makes me happy to receive this prize. It is beautiful to be considered important. For us the most important thing is to appreciate. Thank you very much".

According to the IPA's website, Rakel Dink said in her acceptance speech: "My husband has been a defender of the basic human rights and freedom and he kept repeating that freedom of expression is the most important one. Also, he tried to reach to people's hearts in his own way to explain that the historical facts must be spoken and the pains must be shared. And this cost him his life.

[...]

Dear friends, the world has been witnessing similar ferocities since it's beginning.

One of these examples is the massacre in Malatya. With the pain of this event, we commemorated all those who suffered in the past. For instance, in 1915, one or two may have survived out of those big families. Moreover, the survivors were without their homes, lands, starving, bare and lonely... without a shoulder to put their heads on. They lived scattered, as a refugee, a concubine, without an identity. As I think of the difficulties they have been through my brain stops."

Reporters Sans Frontieres criticises Article 301

Meanwhile, the Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) has commented on the renewed use of Article 301 to continue court cases against writers and representatives of Hrant Dink's " Agos " newspaper : " Again, we are forced to condemn the use of Article 301 of the Penal Code to threaten freedom of expression ". RSF said that after Hrant Dink's murder, newspaper representatives continue to be tried for his comments on the "Armenian genocide" in an interview with Reuters News Agency. One of the Dink family's lawyers, Erdal Dogan, is now also on trial.

The trial concerning Dink's murder, in which 18 suspects will be tried (12 of them detained already), will start on 2 July in a Heavy Penal Court in Istanbul. The trial will be closed to the press. (BIA News Center, june 19, 2007)

"Why freedom of expression should be crashed everywhere it is seen?"

Turkish General Staff released two declarations on its website on April 27 and June 8, 2007, towards midnight. (Why midnight?)

In the first one, there was a very clear threat of a military intervention, and ended with the sentence "Whoever cannot say 'How happy it is to be a Turk' are our enemies and will stay as enemies forever".

The second one blamed human rights defenders to be the supporters of terror and invited the people on the street to show their "common reflex" which naturally reminded the lynch attempts encouraged by  officials and ended with the murders of a preacher in Trabzon and Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in Istanbul.

In the past, such declarations of military used to create fear. But it is very happy to see that many writers, journalists, academics gave very clear answers, blaming the military by committing a crime.
Here is one of them:
 
WHY IS FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION DANGEROUS?

Because if it exists in a country and someone says:

"1. We had announced that terrorism would be on the increase from May 2007 onwards. Recent terrorist actions proved us correct"… (*)

… someone else might ask:

"1. Hold on a second. How did you know, how could you be so certain? We have seen this film 27 years ago. All incidents came to an end on 13 September 1980 all of a sudden. Or is it because….?"

Someone could continue and say:

"3. It is time for people and institutions who use the universal values such as peace, freedom and democracy at every possible instance as a screen for the terrorist organisation in and outside Turkey, to see the real face of these incidents" (*)

… and someone else could ask:

"3. Those who defend universal values such as peace, freedom and democracy in and outside Turkey are non-governmental organisations and intellectuals. That is Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, PEN International Writers Union, International Publishers Association, IFEX International Federation of Freedom of Expression and NGOs and professional organisations working on the same issues in Turkey. Yes indeed they see the real face of the incidents and that is why they persistently defend such values despite all threats. What is your plan, do you want to hang them instead of feeding?"

If someone goes further and says:

" 7. Turkish Armed Forces expects holy Turkish nation to show its mass reaction against terrorist incidents" (**)

… there is no guarantee that someone else will not say in a democratic country with freedom of expression:

"7. What if some people takes that as a green light and starts shooting us, just as what happened to Akın Birdal after the leaked military info? Or what if the lynches begin again just as happened in 2005 after the calls to teach the "so called" citizens their place on the pretext of the two kids disrespecting the flag in Mersin? What if some people take such words as encouragement and want to become like the hero O.S. whose souvenir photos were taken with the security forces, and tries to add new murders to the murder of Hrant Dink, new lynches on top of the old ones… would the ones who encourage them be as guilty as them?

Those words constitute a crime, just like the ending words of 27 April @-Ultimatum, they openly incite hatred and hostility among the people inciting one part of the population against the other. This is where the former article 312 the new article 216 applies. What if the story of Sacit Kayasu the prosecutor who dared to prosecute Kenan Evren over praising a crime, and what happened to Şemdinli prosecutor Ferhat Sarıkaya have not intimidated all and there still are some brave members of legal profession who would investigate you? What if there is a political authority who respects the superiority of law?" You think nobody could say that who knows some might.

And someone could continue and say:

"Everyone speaks as they like in a democratic society. The only ones who are not suppose to speak are the ones with guns, the security forces of the state. They take orders from the elected ones. Only they do not have the freedom of expression, as long as they are in uniforms and holding guns. If you wish to make politics take off your uniform and use that right. Or shut up and go back to your job in the barracks."

That is how dangerous freedom of expression is.

...

Good old days of 1980, the aftermath of 12 September. Shall we remember the records?

Someone might ask:

"650.000 people were introduced to police stations, military barracks, torture, courts and prisons during 12 September regime. 230.000 people were tried, 7.000 people were tried under the demand of capital punishment, 517 people were condemned to it and 50 of them were hanged including the under aged ones. 14.000 people were expelled from citizenship. I am one of them, I am glad that I survived yet life became a prison for all. The institution you are heading has not yet apologised from the people for that dark period. You were probably a lieutenant colonel at the time following the orders of Evren pasha. Don't you think you too owe people an apology?"

…

That is why freedom of expression is so dangerous and should be crashed everywhere it is seen. (**)

Yet nobody in the world actually achieved that, so..

Good luck…

Sanar Yurdatapan, antenna@superonline.com, 9 June 2007

(*) ... from the @-ultimatom of General Staff 0n April 27, 2007.
(**) ... from the @-ultimatom of General Staff 0n June 8, 2007.
(***) A famous sentence from the days of cold war:

"Communism is the greatest enemy of the Turkish World. Should be crashed everywhere it is seen"

RSF condamne les poursuites à l'encontre de quatre journalistes d'AGOS

Le procureur d'Istanbul a requis, le 14 juin 2007, six mois à trois ans de prison contre Arat Dink. Fils du journaliste d'origine arménienne assassiné le 19 janvier, Hrant Dink, il a comparu en tant que rédacteur en chef de l'hebdomadaire Agos. Il est poursuivi pour "insulte à l'identité turque", en vertu de l'article 301 du code pénal. Trois autres journalistes du même titre subissent le même sort: Serkis Seropyan, Aydin Engin et Karin Karakashli.

Reporters sans frontières condamne les poursuites engagées à l'encontre des quatre journalistes. "Une nouvelle fois, il nous faut dénoncer l'utilisation de l'article 301 du code pénal. Celui-ci menace la liberté d'expression. Le 7 juin, un procès avait déjà été intenté contre Erdal Dogal, l'un des avocats de la famille de Hrant Dink", a rappelé l'organisation de défense de la liberté de la presse.

Les propos sur lesquels l'accusation se fonde sont ceux prononcés par Hrant Dink, dans un entretien accordé à l'agence de presse Reuters, en juillet 2006. Il évoquait la mémoire collective arménienne, marquée par le génocide de 1915. Il invitait les Arméniens à "se tourner maintenant vers le sang neuf de l'Arménie indépendante, seule capable de les libérer du poids de la Diaspora". Ces propos, publiés dans Agos, dans le cadre d'une série intitulée "L'identité arménienne", avaient valu au défenseur des droits de l'homme une condamnation à six mois de prison.

Le procès des dix-huit personnes accusées d'avoir participé à l'assassinat de Hrant Dink s'ouvrira à Istanbul, le 2 juillet prochain. (RSF, 15 juin 2007)

Article 301 Continues to Haunt Hrant Dink's Colleagues

Although murdered journalist Hrant Dink's cases have been dropped, other journalsists from the "Agos" newspaper are still in court.

In an interview with Reuters News Agency on 21 July 2006, titled "One Signature against 301", Hrant Dink had said that he believed that an "Armenian genocide" had happened. In the case opened against him, the newspaper's licence owner Sarkis Seropyan and the responsible editor, Arat Dink for "degrading Turkishness", the latter two will continue to be tried.

Dink had said: "Of course I say that there was a genocide because the result speaks for itself. You can see that a people who lived on this soil for 4,000 years disappeared after those events."

On the same day as this trial, another of Hrant Dink's trials will be considered: in a series of articles called "Armenian identity", in which he criticised the Diaspora Armenians, he had written that "the clean blood that will replace the poisonous blood emptied out of the Turks is to be found in the actual artery of Armenians with Armenia. Dink had received a six-month prison sentence, later postponed.

The Penal General Board of the Supreme Court of Appeals had rejected the Supreme Court of Appeals Chief Public Prosecutor's Office's argument that the statement did not represent a crime under Article 159 and the demand that the indictment be quashed on general grounds with 18 against 6 votes, and thus the case will be reconsidered by a penal court in Sisli, Istanbul.

In the initial trial, editor Karin Karakasli had been cleared at the first hearing, but after Dink's death, her case will be reopened.

Keskin Tried for Writing about Dink's Murder

The former president of the Istanbul branch of the Human Rights Association (IHD), lawyer Eren Keskin, is being tried for his article "Special Forces at Work" which was about the murder of Hrant Dink.

After his first hearing on 31 May at a penal court in Beyoglu, Istanbul, Keskin's trial will continue 27 September. He is being tried for "using the media to degrade the state's armed forces". Keskin claims: "In my article I did not degrade the army, but I think that the greatest obstacle to the democratisation of Turkey is the Turkish army."(BIA News Center, june 13, 2007)

ECHR Orders Turkey to Compensate Journalist

The European Court of Human Rights (EHCR) has ordered Turkey to pay compensation to journalist Nevzat Onaran, who had been convicted for distributing a "Freedom of Expression" brochure, which included an article by conscientious objector Osman Murat Ülke.

In February 2000, Onaran had been sentenced to two months imprisonment by the General Staff Military Court for "harming the image of the army".

After his sentence, the Ankara Governor's Office instigated the termination of his involvement in the Modern Journalists' Association (CGD).

Sanar Yurdatapan, the speaker for the Initiative Against Crimes of Thought, and Nevzat Onaran had received prison sentences for participating in the publication of a book entitled "Freedom of Expression 38".

Onaran appealed to the ECHR, arguing that according to the European Human Rights Agreement his rights to "a fair trial" (Article 6/1), "freedom of expression" (Article 10) and the "right of association" (Article 11) had been violated.

The ECHR stated that it questioned the neutrality of a military court, and decided unanimously that Article 6/1 had been violated.

Furthermore, the court decreed that although the distributed brochure criticised the military harshly, it did not contain any incitement to violence or calls for armed struggle or revolution, and that thus the right to freedom of expression had been violated.

The court further judged it unnecessary to consider Article 11 separately. The ECHR has ordered Turkey to pay Onaran 2,000 Euros damages and 1,000 Euros legal expenses. (BIA News Center, June 7, 2007)

Journalist Öner Tried for "Leader of the Kurds"

The owner of the monthly "Climate in Dersim", Ergüder Öner, and the editor-in-chief Emrah Öner are being tried for "praising crime and criminals". The montly newspaper appears in Tunceli, a mainly Alevi-populated province in the East of Turkey, which was called Dersim before 1938.

The trial is based on Article 215 of the penal code, according to which "whoever extols a crime or a person for committing a crime will be punished with two years imprisonment".

Ergüder Öner commented that the trial was unfortunate for democracy and the freedom of the press, especially as his newspaper was preparing to celebrate its fifth anniversary. The article in question was discussing the allegations that Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of the PKK who was imprisoned in 1999, was being poisoned.

Ironically, so Öner, he was sent the notification of trial just as he was watching Prime Minister Erdogan talk at the International Press Institute 56th General Assembly in Istanbul.

Öner spoke of the difficulties that the "alternative" media faced in the light of monopoly and state control in the media, mentioning the murder of "objectionable" journalists, the closure of magazines and newspapers, and the obstruction of information. He called on everyone to support independent media organisations.

His monthly newspaper features commentaries on current affairs as well as Dersim history and culture. Every three months, there is a cultural supplement in Turkish, Zaza and Kirmanc. (BIA News Center, June 1, 2007)

Lawyer Eren Keskin tried for her article on Dink's murder

Not a day goes by in Turkey without human rights activists, journalists, writers or intellectuals being put on trial.

Eren Keskin, lawyer former head of the Istanbul branch of the Human Rights Association (IHD), is being tried for his article "The Special Organization at Work", published in the "Birgün" newspaper in January 2007. The article is about the murder of journalist Hrant Dink.

Yalcin Ergündogan, writer for the same newspaper and editor-in-chief of the online news website Sesonline.net, is being tried for an article on the leader of the religious-nationalist Independent Turkey Party (BTP), Haydar Bas.

Keskin's trial for "insulting the state's armed forces in the media" began yesterday at a penal court in Istanbul.

Keskin has a prior conviction under Article 301 for criticizing sexual violence against women and there is another ongoing trial under Article 312/2 of the old penal code for his use of the expression "Kurdistan".

The prosecution in Ergündogan's case demands a 3-year prison sentence and a fine for his article on the BTP. The trial was continued on 23 May at the same penal court in Istanbul.

Because there has been a third party case opened, with the wives of Haydar Bas claiming compensation fo 15,000 YTL, the case has been postponed until 26 September. (BIA News Center, June 1, 2007)

Kurdish Question / Question kurde

Trois soldats, un rebelle kurde tués dans l'est de la Turquie

Un rebelle kurde a été abattu vendredi soir lors de combats dans le sud-est anatolien et trois soldats turcs ont péri samedi dans l'explosion d'une mine dans l'Est, ont affirmé des sources locales.

Le rebelle du PKK a été tué par les forces de sécurité dans une zone rurale de la province de Bingöl alors qu'il préparait une opération, a déclaré le gouverneur de Bingöl Vehbi Avuç, sans préciser la nature de cette action.

Les trois militaires, dont un sous-officier, ont été tués par l'explosion d'une mine posée par le PKK au passage de leur véhicule dans la province de Tunceli, selon des sources locales de sécurité. (30 juin 2007)

Le décès de l'ex-député kurde Orhan Dogan, victime du régime raciste

Orhan Dogan, un homme politique kurde qui a été emprisonné pendant dix ans en Turquie, est décédé vendredi dans un hôpital de Van (est) où il avait été admis dimanche dernier après une crise cardiaque, ont déclaré ses médecins, cité par l'agence Anatolie.

M. Dogan, 55 ans, avait été hospitalisé dans un état grave alors qu'il participait à un festival dans la ville de Dogubeyazit, proche de la frontière avec l'Iran.

M. Dogan figure parmi les quatre anciens parlementaires qui sont entrés au Parlement en 1991 sur les listes d'un parti social-démocrate mais ont été condamnés à la prison en 1994 pour collaboration avec le PKK.

La plus connue de ces quatre ex-députés était Leyla Zana qui a reçu en 1995 le prix Sakharov des droits de l'Homme.

Ils ont été libérés en 2004, après 10 ans d'emprisonnement.

Les autorités électorales turques ont refusé qu'ils se présentent aux élections législatives du 22 juillet prochain en raison de leur casier judiciaire. 

Dans un communiqué, le porte-parole des Amitiés Kurdes de Bretagne, André Métayer, a rendu hommage à Orhan  Dogan en ces termes:

Je ne peux pas oublier Orhan DOGAN, une figure emblématique de la cause kurde qui vient de disparaître.

Avec, Leyla Zana, Hatipe Dicle et Selim Sadak (trois autres ex-députés kurdes du DEP (Parti de la Démocratie), Orhan Dogan avait été, en mars 1994, alors qu'il siégeait à la Grande Assemblée (parlement turc), arrêté, incarcéré, reconnu coupable d'appartenance au PKK et condamné à 15 ans d'emprisonnement.

J'ai rencontré cet homme, en mai, 2005, à peine sorti des geôles turques, lors de la Conférence Internationale de Diyarbakir sur "la Paix et la justice au Moyen Orient", organisée par la Ville et la "Plateforme Démocratique" et je ne peux pas oublier son regard pétillant d'intelligence et de bonté, sa force de conviction et son verbe pénétrant au plus profond de soi.

Je n'ai pas oublié son cri: "Je ne peux pas oublier cet enfant écrasé par un tank, à Sirnak (Kurdistan de Turquie). Je ne peux pas oublier ce soldat turc blessé, décoré pour son courage, criant "mes yeux" à la face de l'officier qui venait le féliciter. Je ne peux pas oublier les combattants tués, la presse qui ment, le gouvernement qui ment, les prisonniers humiliés, victimes de traitements dégradants. La guerre ne fait pas de différence entre les religions, les sexes, les nationalité... Les souffrances sont les mêmes, la douleur est identique ".

Marqué par les années de détention, Orhan Dogan, crâne dénudé, barbichette en bataille, se fait le chantre de la paix. "Je parle comme un 3° oeil" dit encore cet avocat qui n'hésite pas à manier l'autocritique pour mieux plaider une solution pacifique, globale et unitaire, que chacun souhaite, pour la question kurde :

"Les kurdes veulent la paix, mais sont-ils pacifiques ? Nous ne pouvons réclamer la paix et continuer à nous disputer. Les kurdes veulent l'unité, mais sont-ils unis? Nous ne pouvons pas continuer à cultiver nos divisions entre les différentes parties du Kurdistan (Turquie, Iran, Irak. Les kurdes veulent la liberté et la démocratie mais savent-ils être démocrates? Il n'y a pas des Kurdes noirs, des Kurdes blancs, des Kurdes light, des Kurdes extra light; il y a DES KURDES ».  (www.agencebretagnepresse.com, 29 juin 2007)

Erdogan can face charges for Öcalan comment

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan can have charges filed against him for referring to the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) as Sayın  a word that denotes respect in Turkish like Sir does in English  during a radio interview with Australia's SBS in 2000, a court in Ankara decided yesterday.

The affair first made it to the papers late March this year, with several people filing complaints against the prime minister.

The Ankara Prosecutor's Office assessed the complaints and found there was no ground for prosecuting Erdoğan. The office's decision was appealed and an Ankara court annulled the prosecutor's decision to drop the case.

Erdoğan enjoys parliamentary immunity from prosecution as an elected deputy.

Consequently, the prosecutor's office will now send an application to Parliament for the case to go ahead.

Erdoğan's party currently enjoys a huge majority in Parliament and it is unlikely that the prime minister's immunity will be revoked.

Similar complaints have been filed against the leaders of pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) and all are currently being tried for praising crime and a criminal through this form of reference. DTP leader Ahmet Türk is facing three years in jail for using Sayın while referring to Öcalan, but he is also running for Parliament in the upcoming general elections as an independent candidate. If elected, he will also enjoy immunity from prosecution.  (Turkish Daily News, June 29, 2007)

Huit militants kurdes tués par l'armée turque

Huit militants kurdes ont été tués mercredi au cours d'une importante opération menée par l'armée turque dans le sud-est du pays, ont annoncé des responsables locaux de la sécurité.

Les affrontements, qui ont opposé l'armée turque à des membres du PKK, se sont déroulés dans les zones montagneuses de la province de Sirnak, à proximité de la frontière avec l'Irak, ont précisé les mêmes sources. (AFP, 28 juin 2007)

Huit morts dans des affrontements en Turquie

Un militant kurde et un civil ont été tués samedi dans une tentative d'attentat suicide dans l'est de la Turquie tandis que cinq militants et un milicien gouvernemental ont été tués dans d'autres actes de violence, a-t-on annoncé officiellement dimanche à Diyarbakir, dans le sud-est du pays.

Les militants du PKK ont arrêté près de Tunceli (est) un camion citerne contenant du pétrole à bord duquel a pris place un militant transportant des bombes qui prévoyait de lancer une attaque suicide sur un poste militaire.

Des miliciens de faction dans ce poste ont ouvert le feu sur le camion et l'ont fait exploser, provoquant la mort du militant et du conducteur du camion.

Par ailleurs, dans la province d'Hakkari (sud-est), frontalière de l'Iran et de l'Irak, les militaires ont tué trois militants samedi soir dans une opération destinée à rétablir la sécurité, a annoncé le bureau du gouverneur de la province.

A Diyarbakir, deux militants kurdes et un membre d'une milice gouvernementale ont trouvé la mort dans un affrontement samedi soir, selon le bureau du gouverneur. Un autre milicien a été blessé. (AFP, 24 juin 2007)

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