Droits de l'Homme / Human Rights

La Turquie condamnée pour plusieurs violations des droits de l'Homme

La Cour européenne des droits de l'Homme a condamné jeudi la Turquie pour plusieurs violateions des droits de l'Homme, notammen pour avoir déchu avoir déchu de son mandat un député un député pro-foulard islamique, jugeant qu'il s'agissait d'une atteinte au droit à des élections libres.

Bekir Sobaci était depuis 1999 député du Fazilet Partisi (Parti de la Vertu) qui a été dissout en juin 2001 parce que certains de ses membres avaient qualifié de persécution l'interdiction du port de foulard islamique, en contradiction avec le principe de laïcité inscrit dans la constitution turque. Le député déchu et trois autres membres du parti reçurent en outre l'interdiction d'adhérer à un autre parti politique pour une période de cinq ans.

Le requérant se présenta aux élections législatives de novembre 2002 comme candidat indépendant, mais ne fut pas élu.

Dans son arrêt, la Cour européenne conclut à l'unanimité, à la violation de l'article 3 du Protocole n° 1 (droit à des élections libres) de la Convention européenne des droits de l'Homme.

Elle admet que la déchéance parlementaire avait pour finalité de préserver le caractère laïc du régime politique turc mais estime qu'elle n'était pas proportionnée aux buts poursuivis. "La déchéance d'un mandat parlementaire est une sanction d'une extrême gravité" selon la CEDH.

La Cour observe par ailleurs que certains membres du Fazilet Partisi, dont le président et le vice-président qui se trouvaient dans une situation comparable à celle du requérant, n'ont subi aucune sanction.

La mort d'un manifestant dans un commissariat

La Turquie a été condamnée jeudi par la Cour européenne des droits de l'Homme après la mort par balle d'un homme de 29 ans dans un commissariat d'Istanbul.

Les juges de Strasbourg ont alloué 15.000 euros pour dommage matériel au frère de la victime, un habitant de Montreuil (France) qui avait porté plainte devant la CEDH pour violation du droit à la vie.

Vedathan Gülsenoglu, un étudiant âgé de 19 ans, avait été arrêté en mars 1994, alors qu'il participait à une manifestation à Istanbul.

Conduit au commissariat, il avait été atteint mortellement à l'arrière du crâne par un coup de feu tiré par l'un des agents de la circulation qui l'avait appréhendé. L'agent fut condamné à 20 ans de prison, jugement ensuite cassé pour vice de procédure et l'affaire est toujours pendante.

La Cour a considéré que le recours à la force meurtrière tombe pleinement sous le coup de la Convention européenne des droits de l'Homme même si on avait prétendu que la victime était en possession d'une arme à feu au moment des faits.

Aucune réponse n'ayant été donnée à cette question, le gouvernement a manqué à son obligation de fournir une explication convaincante aux événements litigieux, selon l'arrêt.

Condamnation dans deux affaires pour garde à vue abusive

La Cour européenne des droits de l'Homme (CEDH) a condamné mardi la Turquie pour la durée jugée abusive de la garde à vue de citoyens turcs soupçonnés d'appartenir au Parti des travailleurs du Kurdistan (PKK) ou de l'avoir aidé.

Dans une première affaire, les juges de la CEDH ont alloué un total de 7.000 euros pour préjudice moral à trois requérants, Medine Yakut, Sebiha Zengin et Huseyin Hutanc, interpellés en 2000 et accusés d'être membres du PKK, dont la durée de la garde à vue, huit et neuf jours, est jugée trop longue.

Les juges de la Cour ont jugé à l'unanimité qu'il y avait eu violation de l'article 5.3 (droit à la liberté et à la sécurité).

Dans une deuxième affaire, le requérant, Mehmet Siddik Celepkulu, soupçonné d'avoir aidé le PKK, s'était plaint de tortures infligés par les policiers et d'aveux extorqués "sous la pression" en 1997, ainsi que d'une durée excessive de la garde à vue.

Dans son arrêt, la Cour n'a pas retenu les faits de tortures, estimant que "les allégations du requérant ne sauraient passer pour avoir été dûment étayées", mais elle alloue au requérant une somme de 2.500 euros pour préjudice moral pour violation de l'article 5.3. (AFP, 27-29 nov 2007)

Police Law Has Brought More Violence in Turkey

Ever since the government prepared the ground for human rights violations with changes in the Law on Police Duties and Authorities in June, there has been an increase in police violence.

The police are now entitled to stop anyone and ask for their ID, and more importantly, are allowed to determine the degree of violence used themselves.

After each case of violence, human rights organisations warned the government that the changes in law would lead to more torture, deaths in detention and extrajudicial killings. However, no action has been taken.

Below follows an overview of cases that were widely covered in the media:

24 November: In Izmir, 20-year old Baran Tursun, who is said not to have followed a police order to stop the car and not to have stopped at a barricade, is in a deep coma after being shot in the head. His friends Emre Ökcelik and Atilla Dogan, who were also in the car, said that there was no warning with sirens or megaphones, that there was no barricade, and that there were only shots.

24 November: In Istanbul, Mehmet Coskundeniz, editor at the Posta newspaper, was stopped by the traffic police when returning from a night out with his girlfriend Derya Özel, who was driving the car. Coskundeniz was handcuffed, thrown to the ground and beaten up. The Istanbul Police Department claims that Coskundeniz was "controlled with gradually increased force" and that Coskundeniz attacked the police.

21 November: 26-year old Feyzullah Ete in Avcilar, Istanbul, died as a result of a police officer kicking him in the chest. The Istanbul Police Department claims that Ete attacked the police and fell to the ground during a scuffle. The police officr in volved, Ali M., has been arrested.

17 November: When Muzaffer Ates was walking in Taksim, Istanbul, police asked him for his ID. when he asked, "Who are you?", he was punched by an officer. When Ates went to the nearby Beyoglu Police Station to complain, he was asked, "Who are you complaining about to whom?" and maltreated similarly. After undergoing a medical check-up, Ates took the report to the prosecution and filed a complaint.

14 November: Sertan Celik was beaten by traffic police in Taksim because he did not turn the music down. He was arrested.

7 November: 19-year old Ferhat Gercek, who was selling the "Yürüyüs" magazine in Yenibosna, outer Istanbul, was hit by a police bullet in the tumult. He is now paralysed.

24 September: In Sisli, Istanbul, a young woman who was arrested in a gold jewellry shop for suspicions of theft was first handcuffed and then exposed to physical violence. The shop's security cameras recorded the police violence.

18 September: Polish citizen Dariusz Witek committed suicide while in detention in the "guesthouse" of the Police Foreigners Branch. No one saw anything.

9 September: In Izmir, lawyer Mustafa Rollas was arrested when trying to see two of his clients who had been arrested. He was also physically assaulted. Later it was denied that he was arrested.

20 August: Nigerian Festus Okey was shot dead at the Taksim Police Station.

10 August: Mehmet Nezir Cirik was beaten at the Taksim Police Station and thrown onto the road. His spleen has been taken out.

2 August: In Kiziltepe, Mardin (southeastern Turkey), Eyyüp Dogan was trying to hitchhike a lift home. He gestured at a van, not knowing it was a police vehicle. He was then beaten by police from the van. He has registered a complaint with the Human Rights Association (IHD).

29 July: Lawyer Muammer Öz was beaten after arguing with police in Moda, Istanbul. His nose was broken.

26 July: In Istanbul, journalist Serkan Tekpetek was forced into a police car, beaten, and then thrown into the street.

17 June: 24-year old Mustafa Kükce was arrested for claims of theft. He was taken to three different police stations. He was not taken to the prosecution and claims of torture were not investigated. He later died at an E-Type prison in Ümraniye, Istanbul.

8 June: Sezai Yakar, who was beaten up at the Taksim Police Station in central Istanbul, had a broken nose and hand as a result.

6 June: E.T., who had been detained at a police station in Izmir for claims of theft, hanged himself.

5 June: Transsexual Esmeray was told by two police officers standing outside the Beyoglu Police Station that she could not pass and was beaten.

4 June: Hakki Canci, arrested for suspicion of theft, is said to have hanged himself at the Canakkale police station.

26 May: When, after an argument, Ferhat Yalcinkaya was searched, found not to have ID on him and to be caryring a knife, he was taken, beaten with wooden truncheons, and gas was sprayed in his face. He was thrown out of the police car at a deserted area in Yedikule, Istanbul.

22 May: Taxi driver Engin Topal was beaten by police. When Ali Bakca objected, he was beaten with wooden truncheons, fists and kicks.

1 May: Police used excessive violence on hundreds of people who had gathered for 1 May, as well as on the journalists covering the event. Thousands of people were arrested or held. People were forced to wait in buses and were sprayed with tear gas. A police officer slapped Masis Kürkcügil who was sitting in a restaurant. (BIA, Tolga KORKUT, November 28, 2007)

Nigerian Refugee Murder Case at Heavy Penal Court

The Beyoglu 7th Court of First Instance has decreed that there is a possibility of "intentional killing" in the case of the death of Nigerian refugee Festus Okey, who died while in detention at the Beyoglu Police Station in central Istanbul. The case has thus been sent to the Beyoglu Heavy Penal Court.

Initially, police officer Cengiz Yildiz was accused of accidentally killing a person, but after the hearing yesterday (26 November), the prosecutor demanded that Yildiz be charged with "intentional killing" and that the case be sent to a heavy penal court.

The court of first instance had refused the demand of the Modern Lawyers' Association (CHD) to join the case as joint plaintiffs. Serhan Arikanoglu, the CHD Istanbul branch president, told bianet that the association would repeat its demand at the heavy penal court.

Members of the CHD Istanbul have previously made statements on the suspicious nature of Okey's death and the investigation into the death.

Okey's family, which lives in Nigeria, will not be represented, as they have not asked for representation and the Nigerian Consulate has not acted either. Should the CHD not be allowed to join the case, this would mean that only the prosecutor and the judge would be allowed to crossexamine the defendant and witnesses in order to clear up the contradictions currently existing.

Mavioglu:Highly suspicious circumstances

Journalist Ertugrul Mavioglu of the "Radikal" newspaper yesterday (26 November), drew attention to the lack of transparency in the case, drawing on information from the CHD.

    * First of all, defendant Cengiz Yildiz was one of the police officers who prepared the report on the event he was involved in himself.
    * Furthermore, this report was presented as evidence. It has also become clear that the prosecution was informed of the shooting three hours to late. The CHD, so Mavioglu, believes that three hours would be sufficient to get rid of evidence.
    * The fact that there were no gunpowder traces found on Yildiz's hand can only be explained by him washing his hands. Allowing a suspect to wash his hands is a serious case of negligence.
    * Furhtermore, the gun used in the incident, which was confiscated by the Criminal Court of First Instance, has been given back to the defendant. The police officer on trial has not been taken off duty and continues on full salary, with the gun back in his belt.
    * It is suspicious that Okey was taken to the room reserved for meetings with lawyers rather than being searched in the lockup.
    * One police officer, Mehmet Aldemir, said that he was not present, but saw the event on camera. However, no recordings of the incident are to be found. The police claimed that the computer coud not save images. However, images of Okey and the officers entering and leaving the station have been found. There is thus a great possibility that the images of the incident were later deleted.
    * Although Okey's shirt is to be seen on the police recordings entering and leaving the police station and on the hospital camera when entering hospital, it has now disappeared. The police claims that it disappeared in hospital. The shirt represents an important piece of evidence which would have thrown light on the distance and angle of the shot. (BIA, Tolga KORKUT, November 28, 2007)

La CEDH condamne la Turquie pour garde à vue abusive

La Cour européenne des droits de l'Homme (CEDH) a condamné mardi la Turquie pour la durée jugée abusive de la garde à vue de citoyens turcs soupçonnés d'appartenir au Parti des travailleurs du Kurdistan (PKK) ou de l'avoir aidé.

Dans une première affaire, les juges de la CEDH ont alloué un total de 7.000 euros pour préjudice moral à trois requérants, Medine Yakut, Sebiha Zengin et Huseyin Hutanc, interpellés en 2000 et accusés d'être membres du PKK, dont la durée de la garde à vue, huit et neuf jours, est jugée trop longue.

Les juges de la Cour ont jugé à l'unanimité qu'il y avait eu violation de l'article 5.3 (droit à la liberté et à la sécurité).

Dans une deuxième affaire, le requérant, Mehmet Siddik Celepkulu, soupçonné d'avoir aidé le PKK, s'était plaint de tortures infligés par les policiers et d'aveux extorqués "sous la pression" en 1997, ainsi que d'une durée excessive de la garde à vue. (AFP, 27 nov 2007)

Une association de gauche saccagée par des fascistes à Ikitelli
 
Suite à la dispersion brutale d’un rassemblement de près de 500 sympathisants du parti pro-kurde DTP par la police, hier soir à 19h20, heure turque, l’association pour les droits et les libertés fondamentaux (Temel Haklar ve Özgürlükler Dernegi) du quartier Atatürk dans l’arrondissement de Ikitelli à Istanbul a été mise à sac par près de 300 « Loups Gris », une milice fasciste liée au Parti d’action nationaliste (MHP).
 
Réunis initialement dans le cadre d’une contre-manifestation anti-kurde, les assaillants d’extrême droite s’en sont à nouveau pris à une association de gauche par esprit de vengeance.
 
Ils ont d’abord tenté de bouter le feu au local de l’association, puis ont tabassé les occupants, détruit le mobilier et tiré sur les murs et le plafond à l’aide de fusils à pompe.
 
Une fois de plus, la police a laissé faire les Loups Gris et s’est contentée d’observer leurs actes de barbarie.
 
A Okmeydani, un arrondissement d’Istanbul où l’opposition de gauche est très forte, dimanche soir, vers 20h, des enfants âgés de 9 à 14 ans qui se disputaient entre eux, ont été la cible des tirs de la police. Par chance, aucun enfant n’a été blessé mais l’on relève un grand nombre d’impact de balles sur les façades des maisons du quartier nord de Piyalepasa.
 
Ces dernières semaines, des policiers masqués qui sillonnent, mitraillettes au poing, les quartiers jugés rétifs à bord de petits blindés « Scorpion », ont multiplié leurs actes de terreur et d’intimidation, avec l’aide des milices d’extrême droite. (Dicle Haber Ajansi (DIHA), Halkin Sesi TV, www.temelhaklar.com, 26 novembre 2007)

Attentat à la bombe contre le domicile d’une militante de gauche !
 
La nuit du 22 novembre vers 2h00 du matin, le domicile familial de Gözde Buldu situé dans l’arrondissement stambouliote de Okmeydani  a été attaqué à l’explosif.
 
L’attentat n’a causé que des dégâts matériels.
 
Malgré la gravité des faits, les enquêteurs ne sont venus sur les lieux que deux heures après l’attentat et ont procédé à la collecte des preuves avec la plus totale désinvolture, en glissant celles-ci dans leurs poches et en se gardant bien d’attribuer un caractère politique à l’attentat.
 
La personne manifestement visée par l’attentat, Gözde Buldu, est une militante de gauche active dans l’association pour les droits fondamentaux (Temel Haklar) de son quartier. Cette association est une antenne locale du Front pour les droits et les libertés (HÖC), une organisation marxiste qui lutte depuis de nombreuses années par des moyens légaux, sur le terrain politique, social, culturel et syndical.
 
Dans un communiqué du Front pour les droits et les libertés lu le lendemain en public sur la place Dikilitas à Istanbul où se sont regroupés une quarantaine de militants, le nouveau directeur de la Sûreté de l’arrondissement de Beyoglu a été tenu pour responsable de cet attentat. Ce dernier aurait récemment juré de « nettoyer Okmeydani » de ses militants.
 
Ces derniers mois, profitant de l’hystérie ultranationaliste qui gagne le pays, les forces de police et les milices d’extrême droite (Loups Gris en tête) ont multiplié leurs attentats terroristes contre les organisations démocratiques, pro-kurdes ou de gauche. (www.halkinsesi.tv , 24 novembre 2007)

122 Distinguished Women Call for Peace

122 women, many of them singers, actresses, writers, academics and journalists, have published their peace messages on a website, www.vakitgeldi.org. They also published advertisements in newspapers. Other women are welcome to add their message on the website.

"We women have promised peace! We have expressed in words the greatest wish which holds us together."

Famous singer Sezen Aksu reminded the readers of Mahatma Gandhi's words: "An eye for an eye makes the world blind". Writer Oya Baydar said, "When the issue is peace, people and life, then the rest is details." Human rights activist and lawyer Fethiye Cetin wrote: "The right to peace is a human right which includes the right to live, to oppose violence, armament and war and the right to conscientious objection; like all rights, it becomes more powerful when it is used and shared."

Oya Eczacibasi, co-founder of the Istanbul Modern art museum, said: "As a whole nation, we have to make an effort towards peace and brotherhood to succeed in our country before more blood is spilt.

Human rights activist Eren Keskin said, "Understanding is the beginning of peace."

Women's rights activist Zozan Özgökce wrote, "The ones who survive war are those who cry, who have a bad conscience and who are wounded. I do not want to cry, have a bad conscience or be wounded. And you?"

Journalist Ece Temelkuran said, "I don't want the child I will give birth to to die. Is that too much to ask?"

Bosphorus University lecturer Prof. Dr. Nükhet Sirman, also a participant in the campaign, told bianet that the campaign was an effort to open a new space for women as an alternative to the hegemonic war discourses. However, she pointed out that the wide-spread anti-intellectualism in Turkey would obstruct the campaign.

The organisers have called on men to start a similar campaign.

The 122 women are:

Selma Acuner, Adalet Agaoglu, Meltem Ahiska, Nilüfer Akbal, Nebahat Akkoc , Sezen Aksu, Cihan Aktas, Gülen Aktas, Derya Alabora, Evrim Alatas, Leyla Alaton, Ayse Gül Altinay, Müjde Ar, İnci Aral, Jülide Aral, Nurdan Arca, Müjgan Arpat, Sibel Asna,  Cigdem Aydin, Aydan Baktir, Arzu Basaran, Oya Baydar, Saadet Becerikli, Aynur Bektas, Gila Benmayor, Fatmagül Berktay, Meral Danis Bektas, İdil Biret, Aksu Bora, Ayse Böhürler, Ayse Bugra, Nilgün Cerrahoglu, İpek Calislar, Ayse C avdar, Jaklin Celik, Fethiye Cetin, Nesteran Davutoglu, Ayse Bilge Dicleli, Adalet Dinamit, Gönül Dincer, Aynur Dogan, Yildiz Ecevit, Oya Eczacibasi, Sibel Eraslan, Sema Erder, Asli Erdogan, Ayla Erduran, Büsra Ersanli, Ayse Erzan, Sirma Evcan, Leyla Gencer, Nur Ger, Berat Günc ikan, Halime Güner, Ayse Hür, İpek İlkkaracan, Pinar İlkkaracan, Handan İpekci, Müge İplikci, Karin Karakasli, Yildiz Kenter, Eren Keskin, Zülal Kilic , Ayse Kulin, Reyhan Kumru, Jülide Kural, Dilek Kurban, Pinar Kür, Perihan Magden, Lale Mansur, Nur Bekata Mardin, Cigdem Mater, Türkel Minibas, Nil Mutluer, Meral Okay, Gülseren Onanc , Zeynep Oral, Günay Göksu Özdagan, İsil Özgentürk, Zozan Özgökce, Melek Özman, Jale Parla, Sirin Payzin, Yildiz Ramazanoglu, Rojin, Suzan Samanci, Türkan Saylan, Pinar Selek, Sennur Sezer, Nükhet Sirman, Sükran Soner, Hale Soygazi, Ayse Soysal, Müge Gürsoy Sökmen, Talin Suciyan, Nesrin Sungur, Gülriz Sururi, Meral Tamer, Zeynep Tanbay, Alin Tasciyan, Melek Uagay Taylan, Sirin Tekeli, Latife Tekin, Ece Temelkuran, Nuran Terzioglu, Ferai Tinc , Gülay Toksöz, Takuhi Tomasyan, Rojbin Tugan, Deniz Türkali, Emine Usakligil, Buket Uzuner, İlknur Üstün, Nazan Üstündag, Fatma Nevin Vargün, Reyhan Yalc indag, Yesim Yasin, Nese Yasin, İsik Yenersu, Serpil Yilmaz, Serra Yilmaz, Su Yücel. (BIA news centre, Gökce Gündüc, November 23, 2007)

Rights Activist Eren Keskin Sentenced for Saying “Kurdistan”

It seems that courts are confused as to what speeches represent “incitement to hatred and hostility”.

The Penal Court in Viransehir, province of Sanliurfa in the southeast of Turkey, has convicted human rights activist and lawyer Eren Keskin of this crime for saying,

“If we look at the state statistics on perpetrators of sexual violence in Turkey and Kurdistan, then soldiers are in the majority; the reason there are so many is the war in Kurdistan.”

On the other hand the Public Prosecution in Bulanik, province of Mus in the southeast of Turkey, dropped proceedings against Keskin after she used the word “Kurdistan”, arguing that “although it was unacceptable, it consisted of a statement of opinion”. 

In Bulanik, Keskin had spoken at an event on 17 September 2006, saying:

“It is impossible to understand the Kurdish question without coming to Kurdistan; here they see that the PKK has become like a state, this is a reality, and accepting that one has to try and find a solution.”

The decision to drop proceedings was justified by saying that Keskin “used the term Kurdistan to refer to the areas where Kurds are in the majority.”

At a Culture and Arts Festival in Viransehir on 2 October 2004, former Human Rights Association (IHD) president Keskin used the expression “Kurdistan”.

Speaking at a panel entitled “Woman, Society and Family”, Keskin had said: “But could you display this attitude in other places, in Istanbul, in Usak or in Izmir? Then we call the murders there ‘honour’ killings and the murders in Kurdistan ‘custom’ killings.”

In the same talk, she said: “Because in Kurdistan women have really always come on stage with demands” and “they are far from the reality of Kurdistan”. These expressions were used to justify her sentence.

On 16 October, she was sentenced to one year imprisonment under Article 312/2 of the old Penal Code.

Judge Hüseyin Ugurlu decreased the sentence to 10 months due to “the possible effects of the sentence on the defendant” and, based on Article 4 of Law No. 647, converted the sentence to a fine of 3,300 YTL.

The court had decreed that the use of “Kurdistan” “incited hatred and hostility of one social group against another based on regional difference”.

Fatma Karakas, Keskin’s lawyer, reported that they were informed of the decision on 20 November and would file an appeal in the next few days. Karakas said, “It is unacceptable in democracies that statements which do not contain violence and which represent an opinion are punished. In legislation on these issues, Turkey is below international standards.” (BIA news centre, Erol ONDEROGLU, November 21, 2007)

Leyla Zana is charged for wanting Kurdish Province

A case has been opened against former DEP MP Leyla Zana over her speech at a rally in Iğdır. Iğdır Criminal Court charges her under TPC 216 'inciting hatred and hostility among the people' (prison sentence between 1 and 3 years).

DTP Igdır City chairman Murat Yikit and former chairman Mehmet Nuri Güneş are also charged over the same rally.

Zana had argued at the rally: "Ankara knows what Kurds want. Kurds made a major change in their strategy since 1999. They said 'there is no need to draw borders, people can live together. If Only the rulers could accept that.'... We supported a process of peace and what did you do? Nothing you took one or two steps then went back.

The first thing you should do now is a general amnesty. The second thing is to set up a Kurdish province system… this does not mean division it means integration and coexistence. (www.antenna-tr.org, November 21, 2007)

"Anti-Terrorism Propaganda" at School

The Diyarbakir Police Department Anti-Terrorism Branch told bianet that for the last two years it had organised conferences at schools "in order to raise awareness about terrorism in students" and that these events were based on guidelines from the Ministry of the Interior and the Prime Ministerial office:

"The terrorist organisation spreads its propaganda through the media in order to increase its effectiveness. We are now spreading propaganda against them."

According to "Birgün" newspaper, a conference took place at the Dicle Necati Ceylan highschool in Diyarbakir ten days ago. After the conference, the students were given a questionnaire to fill in. It contained questions such as, "Do you believe that your family does enough to make you aware of terrorism? Do you believe that your teachers do enough to raise awareness of terrorism?"

The trade union of educators, Egitim-Sen, confirmed that there had been a conference. In an interview with the Dicle News Agency, Egitim-Sen's Diyarbakir branch secretary Hasan Güngür warned that "students, teachers and families were being put on lists." He added that such activities turned students into spies and directed them towards violence.

Other questions in the questionnaire were:

    * Have you been expposed to negative propaganda by one or more of the below? a) No b) my family c) my relatives d) my friend e) a religious authority f) member of an association g) boss h) teacher i) neighbour
    * What are the most-watched TV channels in your home?
    * Which of the following activities supporting an illegal ideology have you taken part in? (You may choose more than one) a) meetings in a home b) meetings at a workplace c) meetings at an association d) meetings in a teahouse e) meetings at a mosque f) meetings at an Internet cafe g) demonstrations and marches h) press briefings i) trips and picknicks j) I have not taken part in any of these

Students were also asked to write down their thoughts about the conference. They were given a card signed by Diyarbakir Province Police Chief Zeki Catalkaya, reading, "If you want to come and drink a cup of tea with us, we are here". The telephone number, address, email address and website of the Police Department were all given.

The police representative speaking to bianet said that the content of the conferences had been created "together with academics" and that similar activities would continue in other provinces.

"Just as we try to protect our children from drugs, we also try to protect them from terrorism. It is not true that we are pushing them into becoming spies. Our aim is to prevent illegality." (BIA news centre, Erhan USTUNDAG, November 21, 2007)

Acquittal after Remembering Student Death

Thirty years ago, Ertugrul Karakaya, a leader of the Student Representative Council at the Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ) in Ankara, was shot dead by gendarmerie at the university campus.

Last year, his 73-year old mother Ayse Karakya and 19 other people attending a memorial at his graveside in Salihli were charged with "praising a crime and criminal" under Article 215 of the Turkish Penal Code.

The prosecution based its charges on a police record which said that Karakaya had died while "battling against gendarmerie". The slogan "Ertugrul has not died, the struggle continues", which was shouted at the memorial was thus construed as praise of a crime.

At the court hearing at the Salihli 1st Penal Court on Friday, 16 November, Ayse Karakaya and the other nineteen defendants were acquitted.

The court hearing had been attended by many members of the Izmir branch of the "78ers Initiative", by Izmir branch members of the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ÖDP), by writer Gönül Ilhan and relatives of Ertugrul Karakaya.

The defendants had been represented by lawyers from the Izmir branch of the Modern Lawyers' Association (CHD). One of them, Ömer Kavili said: "This is a case where the truth has to be found. The trial has been prolonged, and by forcing the 74-year old mother Karakaya and relatives and friends to the hearings, they are in effect being punished. There was no choice for the court but to decree an acquittal." (BIA news centre, Erol Onderoglu, November 19, 2007)

Landmine Monitor: Still Many Mines Left in Turkey

In 2005, 68 people died and 152 were injured because of landmines. Last year, says the Landmine Monitor Report 2007, 18 people died and 55 were injured, which represents "significantly fewer casualties".

Muteber Ögreten, coordinator of the Initiative for a Turkey without Mines, told bianet that a press briefing in parliament on landmines was held by MPs Abdurrahman Kurt, Mehmet Emin Ekmen and Akin Birdal. The briefing was joined by 14-year-old student Mehmet Nesim Öner, who lost an arm and an eye in a mine explosion in Diyarbakir in 2004.

Öner went to a school for the visually impaired and says he has difficulties taking notes and reading. He called for suitable education and rehabilitation facilities for mine victims. He said, "This is my story, but I know there are many people like me in this country."

The most recent Landmine Monitor report covers the period from May 2006 to May 2007:

    * Turkey has destroyed 94,111 stocked mines. There are 983,166 mines left, but it was also said that not all numbers had been reported.
    * The Turkish government has said that the PKK continues to use antipersonnel mines. In July 2006 Geneva Call reported that the PKK signed its Deed of Commitment renouncing antipersonnel mines.
    * Turkey prepared a mine action plan in June 2007, according to which it aims at clearing all emplaced land mines by 2014.
    * There has been improvement in the data collection on land mine casualties by NGOs.

 The report further says, "The Republic of Turkey acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty on 25 September 2003 and the treaty entered into force on 1 March 2004. Turkey has not enacted domestic implementation legislation, but has indicated that its constitution, criminal code and directives of the army general staff give legal effect to the treaty’s provisions."

Turkey has called for its neighbouring countries to sign the treaty, too. It also protested against the fact that the PKK had been allowed to sign the Geneva Call Deed of Commitment without Turkey being informed. (BIA, Erhan Ustundag, November 14, 2007)

252 Organisations Call for Peace and Democratisation

252 Organisations from 22 provinces in Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia have published a shared statement in which they have called for the ground to be prepared for a discussion of the Kurdish question. They have also demanded that the PKK lay down its arms, and that the government create the necessary conditions for this to happen. The organisations have also protested against planned cross-border operations into Northern Iraq.

The "Democratisation and Peace Declaration", prepared by rights organisations, bar associations, political parties and NGOs, was read by Ali Öncü, spokesperson of the Diyarbakir Democracy Platform.

Öncü said that Turkey’s most basic problem was the Kurdish question, that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s US visit had not resulted in solving, but in making the issue worse.

Öncü also warned that cross-border operations would have irreparable results.

The following statements were made in the declaration:

“The Kurdish question is Turkey’s most basic problem. The politics of denial which do not solve the problem but make it worse need to be given up, the Kurdish question needs to be considered together with its historical and social roots, and the ground for discussion needs to be paved. Concrete steps must be taken.”

“The PKK must announce that it has given up an armed struggle, must take concrete steps to realise this and must prepare to disarm.”

“The government must create the liberal and democratic conditions which will allow the PKK to give up arms; social, political and legal arrangements have to be made according to a specified timetable.”

“The recent nationalist wave against Kurds is worrying. There is a danger of brotherhood turning into antagonism between peoples. The government and public authorities must take precautions against this great danger.”

“Cross-border operations, which we believe will only result in great pain and irreparable economic loss, must not be carried out; the parliamentary bill [permitting these operations] must be withdrawn. Anticipating the contributions of the regional Kurdish government towards a solutoin, there must be diplomacy and dialogue based on peace and friendship, and neighbours and the law must be respected.” (BIA, Tolga KORKUT, November 10, 2007)

40,000 People Gathered for Peace Rally in Ankara

The Confederation of Trade Unions of Public Employees (KESK), the Union of Turkish Chambers of Engineers and Architects (TMMOB) and the Turkish Union of Physicians (TTB) had called for a rally in Ankara on Saturday (3 November).

The rally had been organised to call for a "free, democratic and egalitarian constitution". However, the current discussion over constitutional change has been pushed to the background in the face of possible cross-border operations into Northern Iraq. The rally thus turned into an anti-war demonstration.

At least 40,000 people, many of whom had travelled to Ankara by bus, gathered at the Sihhiye Square in Ankara, shouting slogans like "The bill [allowing operations] has been passed, let Baykal do his military service", "Murderer USA, collaborator AKP", "Silence the guns", "Don't cross the border, don't shoot your brother".

Parties of the left and DTP supported rally

The rally was also supported by parties of the left, the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ÖDP), the Labour Party (EMEP), the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Turkish Communist Party (TKP), as well as the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP), trade unions, professional associations, civil initiatives and NGOs. Four MPs from the DTP, Nurettin Demirtas, Selma Irmak, Ayla Akat Ata and Hamit Geylani, as well as ÖDP MP Ufuk Uras joined the demonstration.

There were also many young people and women present at the rally.

Particularly KESK had been successful in bringing people to Ankara. Cities in the Kurdish-majority areas or with a high percentage of Kurdish refugees had responded well to the invitation. Engineers, teachers, workers, doctors and nurses from all corners of Turkey took part in a lively and ordered walk. At least 4,000 people from Istanbul had travelled to Ankara in 70 buses and two trains.

The organisers interpreted the high number of participants as a response to the worrying increase in nationalism, particularly in small cities.

Turkish and Kurdish slogans

Participants carried placards reading "Silence the guns, peace now", "We are walking for peace", "No bill, but a democratic solution", "Imperialism is the enemy, peoples are brothers", "In Sivas we are Alevi, with Hrant [Dink] we are Armenian, with Ape Musa we are Kurdish, in Iraq we are Arabs".

The slogan "Long live the brotherhood of peoples" was chanted in Turkish and in Kurdish and there were placards and balloons with "peace" written on them in Kurdish.

When small groups started shouting slogans in support of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, the organising committee asked everyone to stick to prearranged slogans. (BIA news centre, Ertugrul KÜRKCÜ, November 5, 2007)

Student Making Death Threat in Court

Necati Abay, publisher and spokesperson for the Platform of Soldarity with Imprisoned Journalists, had written an article entitled “Another Journalist Has Been Murdered, the ‘Good Kids’ killed Hrant Dink” on the eve of Hrant Dink’s murder on 19 January.

Following the article, 20-year-old Mert Sahin had threatened him with death. Sahin was then a student in Akyazi, in the province of Sakarya, east of Istanbul. At the hearing, Sahin said that he did not know Necati Abay: “The statement that Abay made after Hrant Dink’s murder was sent to me by people I do not know and they demanded that I react to the statement. With my nationalist feelings aroused at the time, I reacted, but my aim was not to threaten.”

 Abay had received a threatening email the day after Hrant Dink’s murder, coming from the email adres meksikali87@hotmail.com. The mail said, “If you continue to inform the public by accusing such nationalists, your fate will be the same.”

The first hearing of the case took place on 30 October at the Sultanahmet 8th Penal Court (Istanbul) . Abay and his lawyer Gülüzar Tuncer, and Mert Sahin, who is being tried without detention, were present.

 Lawyer Tuncer has demanded that the defendant be tried under Articles 106/2-d and 115 for “benefiting the fear created by criminal organisations which exist or are believe to exist in order to threaten someone” and “obstructing the freedom of belief, thought and convictions”. She called for a sentence of between three and eight years.

The court said that the Sultanahment Public Prosecution had to decide on the sentence and postponed the hearing until 6 February 2008.

Abay made a statement in front of court after the hearing, saying: “Whatever O.S., the murder suspect of Hrant Dink is, Mert Sahin who threatened me is the same. They are both ‘good kids’. [Here Abay is referring to an utterance by now-Chief of Staff Yasar Büyükanit who defended two officers being tried for the bombing of a bookshop in Semdinli by calling them ‘good kids’.] It is not enough to try OS. and the Mert Sahins, the system which feeds them needs to be tried.”

Istanbul Public Prosecutor Abdülaziz Özaslan prepared an indictment on 19 June, in which he charged the defendant under Article 106/2-b and demanded between two and five years imprisonment. The charge is “hiding ones identity and threatening someone with an anonymous letter or special signs.” (BIANET/IFEX, November 2, 2007)

EMEP official convicted for allegedly "praising a crime and criminals"

After saying, “The death of soldiers, and the death of Kurdish martyrs pains us”, Tunceli’s Province Chair of the Labour Party (EMEP), Hüseyin Tunc, was sentenced to three months imprisonment, converted into a 1,500 YTL fine.

Tunc had uttered the words in a speech in Tunceli on 2 September 2006, saying: “There are battles in Sirnak and Silopi, and soldiers have died there. Believe me, our hearts are aching, when we think of their families. In the same way our hearts are aching, breaking apart because Kurds are going to be martyrs.”

The Tunceli Penal Court had sentenced him for “praising a crime and criminals” (Article 215/1 of the Turkish Penal Code).

Tunc’s lawyer Baris Yildirim said that because an appeal against the fine was not possible and because as a “person in a political position” Tunc should have more rather than less freedom of expression, they would appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on 17 October.

Yildirim said that they would base their appeal on Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, as well as Article 2 of Additional Protocol 7, which deals with the right to a two-tiered judiciary process.

Because of the same speech, Tunc was also tried, but acquitted, under Article 301. He had further said in the speech:

“Those who speak of peace are hit on the head with truncheons, are sentenced to imprisonment; …those in the country who speak of peace are lynched…we strongly condemn this hypocrisy…"

"If the state of the Turkish Republic and its government and its opposition do not accept Kurds, then they are liars, they are hypocrites, they are the enemy of the people, they are traitors.” (BIANET/IFEX, November 2, 2007)

Call to the Free and Democratic Turkey Demonstration

A group of intellectuals issued a statement saying they were concerned about “the violent hysteria”. The group including Adalet Ağaoğlu, Ercan Karakaş, Oral Çalışlar, Oya Baydar an other writers, journalists and artists called all to take part in the “Free and Democratic Turkey Demonstration“ organised by KESK (public sector workers union confederation), TMMOB (Architects and Engineers Chambers Federation) and TTB (Doctors Union) on 3 November in Ankara.

A delegation of the organisers visited President Abdullah Gül. The delegation said after the visit that Gül supported the demo and was pleased with a call against terror to be made at the rally.

Those supporting the demonstration include Mehmet Ali Alabora, İpek Çalışlar, Taner Öngür, Ece Temelkuran, Nuray Mert, Harun Tekin, Ercan Karakaş, Tarık Ziya Ekinci, Berat Günçıkan, Prof. Dr. Tahsin Yeşildere, Aydın Çubukçu, Adalet Ağaoğlu, Görkem Yeltan, Halil Ergün, Zeynep Tanbay, Pelin Batu, Kerem Kabadayı, Ertuğrul Kürkçü, Sennur Sezer, Oral Çalışlar, Macit Koper, Mahir Günşıray, Melek Taylan, Gülsüm Cengiz, Ayşe Berktay, Metin Boran, Roni Marqulies, Ayşegül Devecioğlu, Adnan Özyalçıner, Şinasi Haznedar. (www.antenna-tr.org, November 1, 2007)


Pression sur les médias / Pressure on the Media

ECHR Overrules Turkish Censorship

Ömer Sükrü Asan appealed to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) after his book "Pontus Culture" was confiscated for allegedly containing "separatist propaganda". The ECHR has sentenced Turkey to paying 1,500 Euros compensation.

The book was first published by Belge Publications in 1996. The first edition was not stopped. In 1999, the book was published in Greece, and the second edition came out in Turkey in 2000. The then State Security Court decreed the confiscation of the book in January 2002.

The ECHR questioned why the second edition was confiscated if the first one was not and there had been no changes in law. According to the ECHR, the only difference was that the media had pounced on the publication of the second edition.

The court said that it was not convinced that it was necessary in a democratic society for the government to limit the freedom of expression of Asan. It further recorded that the book did not contain any political theses but rather ethnological, cultural and linguistic information.

The book was allowed to be sold again in Augst 2003, after the ban on the book had been lifted.

Nur Radio: Earthquake "a warning from Allah"

In a separate case, the ECHR found no grounds for the six-month closure of Nur Radio station and TV channel by the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK). A person at the radio station had described the earthquake of August 1999 as "a warning from Allah". However, the ECHR did not consider it necessary to sentence Turkey to compensation or investigate a claim of discrimination in this case.

When the radio station reported the opinions of a spokesperson of the Mihr Community, who had said that the 1999 earthquake was "a warning against Allah's enemies" and that "Allah had decided on it", RTÜK had closed the station for six months in October 1999.

Radio representatives said that they had interpreted the earthquake from their own point of view, but that other people were free to believe or doubt their view.

The station appealed to the ECHR on 27 January 2003. The court found the 160-day broadcasting ban too extreme a penalty. (BIA, Erol ONDEROGLU, November 28, 2007)

Mesud Barzani Stands Trial in Turkey!

The first case against the editor Ali Rıza Vural over the book “Barzani and Kurdish National Liberation Movement” published by Doz publishing house was opened in 2003. The book was written by Mesud Barzani the leader of the regional government in Northern Iraq. That case was dropped due to legal amendments. As the second edition was published in May 2005 another case was filed against Vural with the charge of "insulting the republic through publishing" under article 301 of TPC.  Vural is asked to be imprisoned for up to three years. Ali Riza Vural will appear in Beyoğlu Criminal Court Num. 2 on 28 November 2007 at 09:45 am.

Beyoğlu Public prosecutor Nihat Erdem thinks the following excerpts of the book constitute crime under TPC 301. Memories and quotes from Mullah Mustafa Barzani (Mesud Barzani’s father, the leader of former Kurdish resistance in Iraq, 1903 - 1979):

“...Kurds rose up many times. They revolted against imperialists and the regional states that seized their rights. All revolts were crashed violently. M. Kemal in Turkey crashed Kurds. Yet he had succeeded in setting up the republic, getting Greeks out of Turkish land, got the Allies recognize the new Turkish state thanks to Kurds. Mustafa Kemal made generous promises to Kurds in the beginning. However he forgot them all once he felt secure.”

 “...Barzanis were in close contact with Armenians as well as Assyrians. I want to convey something I listened from Barzani himself (Mullah Barzani) about relations with Armenians. As Armenians suffered massacres towards 1920s, Antranik Pasha sent Seyh Ahmet a letter asking him to save them. Şeyh Ahmet Veli sent 200 armed men to help Antranik. I was in the armed groups. We went to help Armenians. As we moved through the regions controlled by Rekan and Orminiyan clans we were asked us “where are you going?” we answered “We are going to shoot the Armenians”. Unfortunately the Turkish government had convinced many of them that it was a war between Muslims and Christians and Turkey fought for Islam. We helped Armenians and we took them to Syria. Among the families we saved was the family of Antranik Pasha. We returned Barzana via Zaho. We lost 14 people in the fight with Turkish army as we helped Armenians.” (www.antenna-tr.org, November 27, 2007)

New Trials Against Journalists and Publishers

Beyoglu 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance , 28 November 2007 at 09:45 am

A case was opened against the editor of Doz Publishers Ali Rıza Vural for publishing “Barzani and Kurdish National Liberation Movement.” The book includes the memoirs and words of Mulla Mustafa Barzani (the father of Mesut Barzani and the former leader of Kurdish Resistance of 1903-1979). The first edition of the book dated February 2003 was prosecuted but the case was dismissed due to change of law. The recent case was opened for the second edition dated May 2005. (TCK 301/2)

Silivri 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance, 29 November 2007 at 02:00 pm

The case is opened against Hakan Taştan and Turan Topal with the charge of ¨insulting Turkishness, inciting hatred and hostility among the peope and collecting personal information unlawfuly¨ over their work to spread Protestant belief in Silivri. Fatih Köse, Alper Ekşi and Oğuz Yılmaz are complainants. (TCK 135, 216/1, 301/1)

Diyarbakir 4th High Criminal Court, 30 November 2007 at 09:00 am

A case has been opened against Aysel Tuğluk, Co-president of Democratic Society Party (DTP) and Abdullah Öcalan´s attorney and Hilmi Aydoğdu Diyarbakır city chairman of DTP over their speeches at a rally on the World Peace Day in Diyarbakır. They are asked to be imprioned for upto 5 years. (TMK 7/2)

See http://www.antenna-tr.org/dunya/first_page_en.asp for this month’s cases on freedom of expression and other statistics.

Writer- Journalist Ergündoğan Condemned

Yalcin Ergündogan, the editor-in-chief of the sesonline.net website wrote an article entitled "The disciples have rebelled against Haydar Bas", which was published in the "Birgün" newspaper on 26 April 2005.

Haydar Bas, chair of the Independent Turkey Party (BTP) then demanded compensation.

The Beyoglu 4th Civil Court of Peace has sentenced Yalcindogan to paying 1,500 YTL (around 850 Euros). The criminal trial which was opened following Bas' complaints, and in which three years imprisonment are demanded, will start at the Beyoglu 2nd Penal Court on 26 December.

Journalist Ergündogan has announced that he will appeal against the court decision and said: "Is it not a news item that disciples who spent a long time with Haydar Bas, the chair of a party, have left the sect and have published their reasons on an Internet website [entitled: 'The real face of Haydar Bas']?"

Ergündogan has also been taken to court by people said to be Bas' wives. They have also demanded compensation. (BIA news centre, Erol Onderoglu, November 26, 2007)

Journalist faces imprisonment in "confidentiality of sources" case

The Beytüşşebap prosecution in the Sirnak province, southeastern Turkey, has charged Emin Bal for not informing legal authorities when people shouted "criminal" slogans at the funeral of a PKK fighter he was filming.

The charge has been justified with Article 278 of the Penal Code, which says that "a person who does not inform legal or administrative authorities when a crime is being committed is to be punished with up to a year imprisonment."

The article is often used when someone knows the whereabouts of a kidnapped person but does not disclose them, or if a person is aware of the illegal use of electricity.

Bal's case has been postponed until January 2008. Bal, who works for Dogan News Agency, told bianet: "I told the judge that I fulfilled my duty as a journalist and that I did nothing wrong."

Should Bal be punished, this case would set a precedent for all journalists, who would have to report criminal activities to the authorities. It would also mean that journalists would have to become experts on criminal law, in order to be able to discern all crimes... (BIA news centre, Emine Ozcan, November 23, 2007)

RSF Condemns Ban on PKK Interviews in Iraq

In a press release on 20 November, Reporters Without Borders condemned the Kurdish regional government for not allowing reporters to visit PKK bases.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urged the Kurdish regional government in Northern Iraq to lift a ban on journalists visiting the bases of the Turkish armed separatist group, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). It also called for the release of a correspondent of the satellite TV station Kolsat who was arrested yesterday in Mosul, 80 km west of Erbil, the regional capital.

“Kurdistan is one of few regions in Iraq where local and foreign journalists can move about freely without constant risk to their lives,” the press freedom organisation said. “This ban is a serious violation of their ability to report on the clashes in Iraq between the PKK’s fighters and the Turkish army. The regional government in Erbil and the national government in Baghdad must stop blaming journalists for crises.”

The Kurdish regional government yesterday banned journalists from going to meet PKK combatants who have found refuge in the Qandil mountains on the border between Iraq and Turkey. Kurdistan Regional Government spokesman Jamal Abdullah said “media reports have led to an acceleration of the crisis with Turkey.”

The Iraqi Journalistic Freedoms Observatory said several journalists were arrested near the Turkish border as a result of the regional government’s decision.

In a separate development, Fayçal Ghazala, the correspondent of the satellite TV station Kolsat, was arrested yesterday at his home near Mosul by Kurdish security forces and could face charges of “terrorist activity.” He is reportedly being held in the Dohuk police station.

The Iraqi news agency Aswat Al-Iraq meanwhile reported that the editor of the weekly Al-Fayçal, Mohammed Mazhar Al-Shaheen Al-Shumari, was freed on 17 November. He was arrested by the US military in October in Tikrit (180 km north of Baghdad) for reasons still unknown. (BIA news centre, November 21, 2007)

Ban on Kurdish Returns

A letter in Kurdish sent by the former DTP Kars city chairman Mahmut Alınak to Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan has become a matter of prosecution in three different cases. Alınak is charged with violating the 1928 dated Letter Revolution law, and political parties’ law in two different cases. His letter is also listed in the indictment against DTP.

Alınak had sent a letter to Erdoğan last February explaining the problems of his city. As he did not receive any reply he translated the letter into Kurdish and sent it again. Alınak could not reach Erdoğan but the judiciary heard him Ankara Criminal Court of Peace Num 4 charged him with violating the law on the usage of Turkish alphabet and letters under article 222 of TPC. Kars Criminal Court charged him under article 81 of political parties’ law “suggesting that there are minorities in Turkey and making propaganda in a language other than Turkish.

Alınak said that he sent the letter to highlight the problems of the city and also to note that Kurdish was treated with double standard.  (www.antenna-tr.org, November 21, 2007)

Two Journalists May Face Prison in New Year

Yakup Önal, journalist of the "Sarköy's Voice" newspaper is still on trial, charged with insulting the Justice and Development Party's (AKP) mayor Can Gürsöy and two municipal councillors.

The Sarköy Penal Court in the province of Tekirdag in Thrace has decided that an expert opinion is necessary in order to decide whether the journalist's article entitled "Fairy tales for adults- Pinocchio and the nine dwarves" represents a crime.

Court president Serkan İcöz has announced that the file will be sent to the Istanbul Duty Penal Court and the trial will be continued on 20 February 2008.

The newspaper had started a series called "President Pinocchio and the nine dwarves" on 20 July 2005. The story started, "Once upon a time...in a country, there was a president called Pinocchio in a coastal town called Sarki. Pinocchio had nine dwarves who approved all of his decisions like a suction pump."

The prosecution has demanded 10 years imprisonment, arguing that Önal has insulted the mayor and municipal councillors Olcay Yücel and Ercan Yücel.

The present case has been continuing for some time. On 21 November 2006, the Sarköy civil court of first instance had decided that the journalist had "gone beyond the limits of criticism" in his article about the fairy tales. However, it had not demanded any compensation payments.

The court had called on Önal to "end the unfair attacks" on mayor Gürsoy and had decided that the decree be published in the Sarköy newspaper in order that "third persons be informed" (Aticle 25/2 of the civil code). Önal had appealed against the decision.

In another case involving a journalist, Mustafa Koyuncu, responsible editor of the "Emirdag" newspaper in Afyonkarahisar, in the inner Aegean region, is still on trial for "insulting through the press".

Koyuncu had drawn attention to allegations of prostitution, beatings and insults at the police department.  The article in question, entitled "Should we have entered the EU like this? They are abusing their positions", was published on 12 March 2007. He spent a week in prison after being stopped in traffic on 13 March and arrested.

44 police officers have filed a complaint against him and he is facing a possible prison sentence and a demand for 440,000 YTL compensation.

The Emirdag Civil Court of First Instance and Penal Court decided on 15 November that the case would be continued on 30 January 2008. (BIA news centre, Erol Onderoglu, November 16, 2007)

Broadcasting and Print Ban on Hostage Investigation

The Gendarmerie Public Order Corps Command Military Court in Van, in south-eastern Turkey, has put in place a broadcasting and print ban concerning the investigation of the eight soldiers taken hostage by the PKK on 21 October and released two weeks later.

The decision was also announced on the website of the Radio and Television Supreme Commission (RTÜK).

The ban was decided on unanimously in order to "avoid a distortion of the aim of the investigation and misinformation of the public, to avoid giving rise to misunderstandings and in order to safeguard the authority and objectivity of the judiciary."

The decision cited Articles 13 and 28 of the constitution as well as Article 3 of Press Law No. 5187 and includes "activities to obtain, spread, criticise and interpret on information concerning the investigation".The ban is to stay in place until the investigation is completed.

The government had demanded a broadcasting ban on the PKK attack in Daglica/Hakkari two days after the attack, on 23 October, in which 12 soldiers were killed, 17 injured and eight taken hostage. However, the State Council had rejected the demand for such a ban, arguing that the extent of the ban was not clear.

This new ban includes all written and visual press and media institutions. Following the demand of hte Gendarmerie Public Order Corps Command Military Prosecution on Monday (12 November), the military court decided on the ban yesterday (13 November).

Parts of the decision read as follows: "Because the event under investigation happened when the unity of the state was threatened and activities aimed at separating state territory from state administration, most information and documents of this investigation need to stay secret for state security reasons." The ban is aimed at "preventing the publication of information which needs to stay secret in order to protect public order, public security and territorial integrity".
The broadcasting and print ban has been criticised by Ümit Kardas, retired military judge and prosecutor. He said that such a general decision was akin to "sweeping away press freedom". Kardas argued that court hearings could be closed to the public, but that a general ban was unnecessary.

Ercan Ipekci, president of the Turkish Journalists' Trade Union (TGS) has also protested against the ban: "It is not possible to understand why the need for such a ban has been felt." Like Kardas, he argued that closed court hearings and similar measures would have been sufficient. Referring to the State Council's rejection of the earlier broadcasting ban, Ipekci predicted a similar decision concerning this ban.

Ahmet Abakay, president of the Modern Journalists' Association (CGD), said: "We don't know what kind of information the court has, but there is no point in these kind of bans anymore. We are faced with a communication reality which overcomes limits. In Turkey, forbidden information can be found out through other channels."

Abakay argued that rumours about secret information would perhaps even reach a wider audience and would misinform the public to a much greater extent. (BIA, Erol Onderoglu, November 14, 2007)

Journalist Ersen Korkmaz On Trial For Last Five Years

Government representatives have said about the controversial Article 301, that "we cannot abolish it, we can change it".

However, Ersen Korkmaz, owner of the local Demokrat Iskenderun newspaper, is not being tried under Article 301, but under its predecessor in the old Turkish Penal Code, Article 159.

After watching a panel organised by the Turkish Communist Party (TKP) and writing an article entitled "The Leader of the Kurds Has Been Taken and Delivered to the Fascists", Ersen Korkmaz, as well as TKP member Necmettin Salaz have been charged with "insulting and ridiculing the army and security forces", a charge which carries a three-year prison sentence.

The panel took place in September 2002. At today's  (14 November) hearing at the Iskenderun Penal Court, it was decided that the analysis of a CD with recordings from the panel would be waited for. The next hearing is on 14 March 2008.

Korkmaz told bianet that he has been on trial for five years now. He has followed the government's messages on Article 301, but does not know what will happen, which worries him.

Minister of Justice Mehmet Ali Sahin has said, "we are not considering its abolition", but has announced that it would be discussed in parliament by the end of this year.

What does Article 301 say?

1. A person who publicly denigratesTurkishness, the Republic or the Grand National Assembly of  Turkey, shall be punishable by imprisonment of between six months and three years.
2. A person who publicly denigrates the Government of the Republic of Turkey, the judicial institutions of the State, the military or security organizations shall be punishable by imprisonment of between six months and two years.
3. In cases where denigration of Turkishness is committed by a Turkish citizen in another country the punishment shall be increased by one third.
4. Expressions of thought intended to criticize shall not constitute a crime.

What did Article 159 say?

A person who insults or ridicules Turkishness, the Turkish nation, the Turkishstate, the Turkish Grand National Assembly, the cabinet, ministries, courts, the state's armed or security forces or their representatives shall be punishable by imprisonment of between one and three years.

Should the crime described be committed in writing, it is accepted as insult or ridicule even if the target is not openly declared, if the target is easily identified.

Anyone damning the laws of the Turkish Republic or decisions passed by the Grand National Assembly shall be punished with imprisonment of bewteeen one and six months.

Should the insult and ridicule of Turkishness, the Turkish nation and the Turkish state be committed by a Turkish citizen living abroad, the punishment is to be increased by a third.(BIA, Erol Onderoglu, November 14, 2007)

Newspaper Confiscated for "Anti-Military" Article

The Gaziantep 1st Criminal Court of Peace has ordered the confiscation of the 32nd issue of the local "Coban Atesi" (Shepherd's Fire) newspaper after journalist Berkant Coskun wrote an article entitled "Mother, Don't Send Me to the Army". The newspaper stands accused of "damaging the public image of military service".

Judge Saban Kaplan decreed the confiscation of the issue "because the article contained passages which committed the crime of damaging the public image of military service". He cited Article 25/2 of Press Law No. 5187.

Article 25/2 is concerned with "Confiscation and a ban on distribution and sales". Since the article also calls for an investigation, the newspaper's editor-in-chief Yasin Yetisgen was called to the police station to give a statement.

The court's decision was an immediate response to the Public Prosecution's demand on the same day. The police went to the newspaper office and collected 130 copies of the relevant issue.

The article in question referred to the Geneva and LaHague Conventions and called operations of the Turkish Armed Forces in the Oremar (Daglica) region of Hakkari a "massacre"; it also referred to the social effects of these operations on children and Kurds.

One passage of the text reads: "I am afraid, mother, take me inside, I am afraid...The army wants [me] because they say there will be a war, mother they tell me 'lie down' and 'get up'. Mother, they give me a gun and tell me 'kill'...Switch off your television, mother, they are deceiving you as well...This song goes around in my head when I watch the heroic (!) soldiers' operations on television..."

Article 318 of the new Turkish Penal Code, which is concerned with "damage to the public image of military service",  has been used against pacifists, journalists and rights activists. Journalist Perihan Magden of the "Aktüel" magazine was acquitted under the article, but conscientious objector Halil Savda, writer Serpil Köksal, pacifists Murat Dünsen and Ibrahim Kizartici, "Birgün" reporter Gökhan Gencay and "Ülkede Özgür Gündem" reporter Birgül Özbaris are still on trial under the article.

The first case against conscientious objection began in 1989, when Tugrul Eryilmaz, editor-in-chief of the "Sokak" (Street) magazine and self-declared conscientious objectors Tayfun Gönül and Vedat Zencir were given suspended sentences for "damaging the public image of military service". The "Günes" newspaper which covered the statements of the objectors was later also investigated.

The article reads: "(1) People who suggest or encourage activities which damage the public image of military service are to be punished with a prison sentence between six months and two years. (2) Should the act have taken place in the media or press, the punishment is increased by a half." (BIA, Erol Onderoglu, November 14, 2007)

Gün TV: Kurdish Broadcasts Difficult

The local Gün TV channel in Diyarbakir, in south-eastern Turkey, is the only channel to have broadcast Kurdish programmes for the last one and a half years. However, the channel, which is legally allowed to broadcast four hours a week in Kurdish, has faced many difficulties, both over its news and music programmes.

Gün Radio-TV representative Ahmet Birsin says that because they are obliged to translate everything into Turkish as well, they have to organise dubbing, translation and editing serivces. Because they have not got simultaneous translation facilities, they cannot have live programmes.

The channel has broadcast a twelve-part porgramme on handicrafts and an EU-supported programme on "conscious farming". Birsin said that the latter programme had allowed farmers to discuss agricultural problems in their own language and had been very popular.

Birsin regretted the fact that the regulations on non-Turkish broadcasts forbid programmes targeting children, which meant that producing programmes related to health problems were severely restricted.

Birsin also reported that the Gün Radio, part of the same group, has been taken to court for a song entitled "Mesopotamia", which was played by the radio station on 9 November 2006. Based on the translation and report of the police department, the radio station's former executive editor, Cemal Dogan,  faces a trial under Article 216 of the Penal Code for "inciting the public hatred and hostility or denigration".

The Diyarbakir Public Prosecutor Turan Güzeloglu said in his indictment of 28 February that the song said, "Who said that you have no owner, here we have come Lice, we have come, Emperor, Shah Kurdistan" and "With wounds and blood, with guns and stars, with religion and belief".

Birsin said that "we ask ourselves whether we face these situations because we broadcast in Kurdish".

On 25 January 2004, the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) amended Article 4 of  RTÜK Law No. 3984 and Law No. 4471, so as to allow "the broadcast of traditionally used different languages and dialects used by Turkish citizens". Institutions wanting to broadcast in Kurdish were given permission two years later, but with a daily limit of 45 minutes and a weekly limit of four hours. All programmes must have Turkish subtitles. Radio stations are allowed one hour of Kurdish daily and five hours weekly, also with mandatory translation. (BIA, Erol Onderoglu, November 14, 2007)

RSF: 301 Needs "Deeds not Words"

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) today urged the Turkish authorities to move to ‘deeds not words’ on reform of Article 301 of criminal law allowing prosecution for “insulting Turkish identity” after the justice minister yesterday (6 November) made a new statement of intent.

“It’s been two years now since, alongside Turkish journalists and press freedom organisations, we have called for the law to be amended and proceedings dropped against those who criticise, on the pretext that they are” insulting Turkish identity,” the worldwide press freedom organisation said.

“We cannot forget that Turkish authorities have used Article 301 as a tool of terrible repression. It gives voice to and stokes up nationalist tensions at work in Turkey and finds fervent advocates in the Turkish legal system,” the organisation said.

The Turkish journalist of Armenian origin Hrant Dink, murdered on 19 January 2007, was himself prosecuted under this article. His son, Arat Dink was given a one-year suspended prison sentence on 11 October, for reprinting in the weekly Agos an interview given by his father to the Reuters news agency, in which he recalled that the massacres of Armenians between 1915 and 1917 were genocide”, it continued.

Justice minister Mehmet Ali Sahin told the Anatolie news agency yesterday that the government in Ankara had decided to amend Article 301. He specified that the council of minister would “at the first opportunity” examine various projects on the basis of proposals from civil organisations, select some and then seek debate on them in parliament.
This statement was in response to the conclusions of the annual report on the state of negotiations on Turkish membership of the European Union (EU), released by the European Commission on the same day.

The report stressed that “considerable effort is still required on freedom of expression” and urged the Turkish government to take “immediate steps” in this area.

Turkish President Abdullah Gül told the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on 3 October that he was in favour of amending Article 301. The Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, made similar promises in November 2006 ahead of the publication of the annual EU report.

Article 301 headed “denigration of Turkish identity, of the republic, the institutions or organs of state”, imposes a sentence of six months to three years on “anyone who openly denigrates the government, organs of state justice or military or police structures.”

Not only do the Turkish courts severely apply this law, but they ignore paragraph 4 which stipulates that, “Expressions of thought intended to criticize shall not constitute a crime”. (BIA, November 10, 2007)

Local TV in Diyarbakir Fined by RTÜK

The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) has given the local Gün TV channel fines totalling 200,000 YTL (around 115,540 Euros) for "broadcasts violating truth and neutrality" and preventing people from making up their mind freely.

In a news item referring to the bomb explosion in Diyarbakir centre on 16 September 2006, when children were also killed, the channel had said that "the police made the traders close up their shops". It received a 80,000 YTL fine for this item and had to pay within 15 days. The fine was given on 27 February 2007, with RTÜK citing Article 4 of Law No. 3984 on Radio and Television Institutions and Broadcasting Rights.

The prosecution had also investigated this case, but decided that the news item was referring to the fact that the police asked traders to keep their shops closed for security reasons and that no trial should be opened.

In a second case, on 8 April, Gün TV had broadcast a news item based on information from the Dicle News Agency, saying that two distributors of the "Gündem" newspaper had been beaten up by police and one been arrested. This item was broadcast on the main news programme for 1.5 hours.

RTÜK again fined the channel for "a broadcast violating truth and neutrality". Citing Article 33 of Law 3984, which allowed a 50 percent increase in a punishment if a violation occured for the second time within a year, RTÜK handed out a fine of 120,000 YTL.

Gün TV has gone to court in order to fight against this heavy fine and is waiting for the decision of the Ankara Regional Administrative Court. (BIA, Erol Onderoglu, November 10, 2007)

Judges and Prosecutors Criticise Prime Minister

The Union of Judges and Prosecutors (YARSAV) has reacted to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s comments on the decision of the State Council’s 13th Chamber  to stop the ban on broadcasts relating to the PKK attack in Daglica/Hakkari on 21 October.

The government had decided on a broadcasting ban after the attack, but the State Council later overruled the decision.

At a meeting of province party leaders of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) on 2 November, Erdogan criticised the State Council’s decision in terms which YARSAV called “lacking in legal judgement, deliberate and extremely unfortunate.”

"Enough is enough"

The Kanaltürk TV channel had asked the State Council to revoke the broadcasting ban. Erdogan referred to “a known TV channel”, saying: “Our government wanted to ban broadcasts. It used the legal paths for that. And there are rights which the government has and which it wants to use…But then you see that a TV channel makes an appeal, a known one. In response, another institution decides in that direction. This makes us think, you cannot see anything like this in any other country in the world. Enough is enough.”

“Is it right that our televisions show our martyrs every day, and all operations in an agitated manner? Those who watch the country from those TV channels believe that there is war all over the country”, said Erdogan.

He added that he expected “sensitivity” from all channels:

“If all our institutions cannot show the same sensitivity, then whether we want to or not, we start to think differently. It comes down to opposing the government. The reason why I say this so clearly is because I am hurting. I am hurting for this country, for this nation.” (BIA news centre, Erol Önderoglu, November 7, 2007)

Sabah Journalist Talu "Warned"

Following the death of well-respected politician and physicist Erdal Inönü, "Sabah" journalist Umur Talu had written about a headline referring to Inönü as "The Politest Politician" and to news about Erdal Inönü which had circulated six years earlier, in an article published on 21 October 2001, entitled, "Saved from Confiscation by Foundation".

Talu had insinuated that some of those now mourning Inönü's death had engineered this article about him in 2001 at a time of early elections, when Inönü was preparing to form a new party. Inönü had then given up politics.

Lawyers of the Dogan Media Group, which owns the "Hürriyet" newspaper that published the above mentioned article in 2001, sent a letter of refutation, in which they asked, "Does a person who has allowed his personal hostility to become an obsession that has led to unbelievable false accusations have the right to continue being a journalist?"

Talu calls for protests

Umur Talu printed the letter of refutation and his own reply in his column on 4 November. He called for professional associations and international organisations of freedom of expression to react to this threat to press freedom.

The Turkish Journalists' Society (TGC) and the Turkish Journalists' Trade Union (TGS) have condemned the lawyer's text, arguing that the legal right of "correction and answer" has been abused for a different purpose.

The TGC pointed out that the right to contradict a publication had recently been abused in order to insult, target and spread slander; the society accused the judiciary of encouraging such abuse by disregarding the content of such corrective statements in trials.

The TGS reacted to a sentence in the statement which questioned "whether Talu had the right to be a journalist": "Talu has the right to be a journalist, but it should be debated whether media bosses who value commercial profit over the principles of the profession have the right to print and broadcast newspapers and TV programmes."

The TGS further said that those media bosses and editors-in-chief who member of the Association of Turkish Industrialists and Businesspeople (TÜSIAD) did not have the right to question Umur Talu's right to be a journalist:

"Asking whether he has the right to be a journalist is an open invitation for his dismissal. The media bosses secret alliances which prevent the employment of journalists who leave their group has become declared in this call by the employer's representative.

"We remind everyone that journalist Umur Talu and all people employed in journalism are protected by law against arbitrary demands and decisions of media owners and we announce the TGS's unconditional support for them. " (BIA news centre, Erol Önderoglu, November 7, 2007)

Cumhuriyet Dismisses Writer Speaking on Roj TV

Journalist and writer Erdogan Aydin has been dismissed from the “Cumhuriyet” newspaper after taking part in a discussion programme on Roj TV recently.

The programme, which was broadcast on 23 October, discussed obligatory religious education at school and the appeal of an Alevi citizen to the European Court of Human Rights. The programme also discussed the current attempts by the government to create a new constitution.

The programme was also joined by Dutch MPs, including Senator Düzgün Yildirim, and the President of the Alevi Pir Sultan Abdal Association Kazim Genc.

Aydin expressed the opinion that although the draft for a new constitution seemed to be civilian, it was not really different from the constitution put in place by the military junta in 1982. He also said that the Kurdish question could not be solved with arms, that arms needed to be put down and that stability could only be achieved with  politics of peace.

The Pir Sultan Abdal Association has started a campaign in support of Aydin and in order to react to the Cumhuriyet newspaper. The statement says,

“We call on all those individuals and organisations who consider themselves democrats, who support the freedom of expression, who consider themselves social democrats or socialists, and who support human rights and freedoms not to stay silent in the face of the injustice that Aydin has suffered.”

Aydin told bianet, “I know that there is no problem with the content of my articles. I would have expected the Cumhuriyet newspaper to defend the right of people, particularly its own writers, to be different, to express their opinions.”

The fact that Aydin had joined a programme on Roj TV, the channel which is broadcast in Turkey from Denmark, and the closure of which the Turkish government has been pushing for, was widely reported and distorted in the Islamist press and websites.

Following this coverage, an article Aydin had written criticising French historian Francois Georges’ book on Sultan Abdulhamit was not published.

Aydin said, “Freedom is not something that can be increased by double standards. Indeed, this is Turkey’s greatest wound. […] And I am its latest victim. Unfortunately I don’t think I will be the last.”

Aydin holds the “nationalist streak” at the newspaper responsible for his dismissal, adding that he was not even informed himself.

He believes that he was dismissed because he openly expressed his support for peace.

At the TÜYAP book fair which took place in Istanbul last week, his eight books were not displayed, his panel and signature day were cancelled. “People asking for me were told “He has cut contact with us”.

Aydin, who has published his books with Cumhuriyet Publications for the last eight years and who wrote on historical themes for the Cumhuriyet Saturday supplement and book critiques on Thursdays, was forced to display his works by himself at the fair. (BIA news centre, Erol Önderoglu, November 6, 2007)

Freedom of expression under the siege of Article 301

As more than 100 people have been on trial under TPC article 301 since 1 June 2005, 22 people have been on trial during July-September 2007 period.  Among them the late chief editor of AGOS weekly Hrant Dink who was assasinated, and Nobel winner Orhan Pamuk, and many other journalist, writer and academic.

This week's '301' victims are journalist Hacı Boğatekin, publisher Ahmet Önal and writer Murat Çoşkun. Boğatekin is charged over his article published in "Fırat Gerger" newspaper, Önal and Coşkun are  charged over the book "Language of Suffering".

"Freedom of Expression" Trials of this week:

Accused: Haci Bogatekin

Court and Date of Hearing:: Gerger Criminal Court of First Instance, 06 November 2007 at 10:00 am

Introduction: Journalist Boğatekin is charged with ¨openly insulting the state¨ over and anonymous article published ¨Gerger Fırat Newspaper¨. The article wrote ¨State made a mistake. Where and When?. Yesterday in the East and South East, and then in İstanbul. In Maraş and Sivas. Today in Trabzon, Mersin and the south east.

Accused: Muzaffer Erdogdu on behalf of Pencere Publishers, Ahmet Guner, Taner Akcam

Court and Date of Hearing: Ankara 6th Legal Court of First Instance, 08 November 2007 at 09:35 am

Introduction: Republic People Party (CHP) MP Şükrü Elekdağ opened a case over the book “Treatment of Armenians in Ottoman Empire, 95-96” against the publisher Muzaffer Erdogdu, the translator Ahmet Guner and the historian Taner Akçam whose article was published in the book. Elekdağ claimed 20.000 Turkish Liras of compensation.

Accused: Ahmet Onal, Murat Coskun

Court and Date of Hearing: Beyoglu 2nd. Criminal Court of