ÖZAL: A PRESIDENT DESPITE POPULAR REFUSAL
In a new show "à la turque", on
October 31, 1989, Prime Minister Turgut Özal has become the "President
of the Republic". It is not the confidence of the citizens, but his
party's parliamentary group that has elevated Özal from Prime
Minister's Office up to the Presidential Palace in a low key
parliamentary ballot boycotted by the opposition.
He had failed to be elected in
the two previous parliamentary votes, on October 20 and 24, held in the
absence of two opposition groups, because he needed 300 out of 450
votes to ensure his elevation. In the third-round, in which a
simple majority of the 450-seat Parliament was sufficient for being
elected, he easily obtained 263 votes from his own parliamentary group.
Özal, aged 62, takes over from
General Evren, the leader of the September 12, 1980 military coup, as
the country's eighth President but only the second without a military
background. In a short address to the half-empty legislature, Özal
called his election a "victory for democracy."
Though General Evren's departure
from the Presidential Palace cane be taken as step towards the
demilitarization of the regime, the 1982 Constitution drawn up by the
military, the institutions set up by this Constitution such as the
National Security Council, dominated by the Chief of General Staff and
Military Forces Commanders, still remain in force. Consequently,
the Army will continue to play the role of the regime's watch-dog.
Even prior to the election of the
new President of the Republic, it was rumoured that the Armed Forces
had intention of staging a new military coup d'état if they are not
pleased with the outcome of the election.
Özal, as the man-on-the-spot of
the IMF and the World Bank, has always been the favourite of the
military. After the military coup of 1980, while the owerthrown Prime
Minister Demirel was being sent to prison, Özal was appointed by the
junta as Vice-Premier of the military government.
It is again the same Özal who has
ruled the country since 1983 as the prime minister appointed by General
Evren, always in a close collaboration with the National Security
Council.
An unpopular "President of the
Republic"
All opposition party leaders
described Özal's candidature as a "historic mistake" and "occupation by
force". Although his party has 285 deputies in a 450-seat National
Assembly, this parliamentary majority does not represent at all the
majority of the population. As his party's share of the vote was 46
percent in 1983 , it plunged first to 36 percent in 1987 and to below
22 percent in this year's local elections. Besides, more than 80
percent of the population, according to opinion polls, did not want him
to become president.
As for his present parliamentary
majority, the ANAP had obtained 67 percent of the seats with only 36
percent of the ballot at the legislative elections of 1987, thanks to a
last-minute change in the electoral code.
In fact, Özal's popularity has
slumped since he first won office in 1983, when he promised an economic
miracle. The miracle has since vanished, leaving in its wake soaring
inflation and falling standards of living. The cost of living in has
increased 10-fold during his six years in office. Although Özal
is confident of "Turkey taking its place among the most advanced 10
Western nations by the early 2000s," a heavy debt burden, large budget
deficits, stagnant economic growth and falling exports are all danger
signals.
As for the human rights records
of his 6-year rule, it too has not been so brilliant. Amnesty
International, in its new report issued on the same day Özal was
elected President, announced that at least 10 people have died in
Turkey this year as a result of systematic torture of political
prisoners in police custody. More than 500 political prisoners are
alleged by the AI to have been tortured this year. (See the AI Report
in the following pages).
"We shall see how anyone can
manage as President despite the nation's will," Erdal Inönü, the leader
of the Social Democrat Populist Party (SHP), said.
Suleyman Demirel, the chairman of
the Correct Way Party (DYP), claimed that Özal was elected "not by the
Parliament, but by the parliamentary faction of the ruling party. Just
because of the fait accompli, the nation has no intention of carrying
on its head someone it has rejected as a Prime Minister."
But the force of the rhetoric of
the opposition parties in Parliament has been undermined by their
failure to provide credible opposition to Özal's nomination. The main
opposition SHP had pledged to resign en masse in the event of his
election, but awkwardly retracted their threat before the third-round.
In his seven-year term Özal will
no doubt try to regain his own popularity and that of his party.
Despite the constitutional obligation on the President to be neutral,
Özal has said he will not sever his ties with the Government or the
ANAP. His preference as successor for Prime Minister and party chairman
from jockeying hopefuls among his party's factions will indicate how
much influence and control he still wants within government.
An Islamist President at the Head
of the State
What is the most important, he
has openly declared that he would not take heed of the principle of
secularism in the top office. As a tradition, all the presidents of the
Republic had, since Kemal Atatürk, never participated in public
prayers. One of the first things Özal did after his election was to go
to Friday Prayer at the greatest mosque of the capital and to pray in
the presence of a huge crowd. He said he would do same thing every
Friday after officially taking over the presidency on November 9, 1989.
His relations with the Islamist
circles and especially with the Saudi fundamentalism have been known
since his first appearance as a public figure in Turkey. (See:
Extreme-Right in Turkey, Info-Türk, December 1988).
Özal, as prime minister, has been
the frequent subject of derision by writers and cartoonists, and he has
not hesitated to sue those whom he felt had insulted him or his family.
His lawyers opened a total of 26 cases, 17 of them against journalists,
demanding damages totalling 1 billion TL ($500,000). A day before his
election to the presidency, his lawyers opened the latest libel case
against the daily Hurriyet for damages of 70 million TL ($35,000).
As President of the Republic,
Özal will not have to bring cases against people criticizing him. By
the forcce of law, the public prosecutors will open the cases
themselves. According to Article 158 of the Turkish Penal Code, whoever
insults the President of the Republic will receive a prison sentence of
not less than three years.
HARD DAYS AWAIT EVREN
"There are some people who don't like me," said
General Kenan Evren, two weeks before his seven-year tenure in office.
Speaking with journalists on the porch of his new house in the Aegean
summer resort of Marmaris, Evren said them that he would live in this
house until the fall of 1990, after which he plans to spend the winters
in Istanbul. Although the outgoing president expects to lead the quiet
life of a retired man, his victims are not willing to grant him this
luxury. His 9-year repressive rule, two years as the chief of the
military junta and seven years as "President of the Republic", earned
him many adversaries.
Aziz Nesin, Turkey's internationally famous humorist
who led the intellectuals' petition in 1983, said he is determined to
sue Evren for his remarks about the signatories.
Nesin's earlier attempts to sue Evren were turned
down by Turkish courts. He even filed a complaint to the European Human
Rights Commission, but the case was denied on the grounds that it took
place before Turkey had granted its citizens the right to apply to the
commission.
Now that Evren will no longer benefit from
presidential immunity, Nesin says, he is confident that the courts will
find his application eligible.
"Other cases must be opened against Evren, because
he is the chief architect of the military coup. These cases must be
opened so that no other general in the future will have the courage to
stage a takeover," said Nesin.
In the fear of a more radical revenge act, Evren has
made his Marmaris house surrounded by a high-tech electronic security
system and guarded by three separate security teams.
AI ACCUSES ÖZAL'S RULE
Amnesty International issued in
October 1989 a new research on Torture and Unfair Trial of Political
Prisoners, based on case studies between August 1988 and August 1989.
According to the report, at least 500 political prisoners have been
tortured in police custody and 10 people died as a result of torture in
Turkey this year.
"It is more than five years since
the return of civilian government in Turkey in November 1983, after
three years of military rule but Amnesty International has not observed
any fundamental change in the nature of human rights abuses in Turkey.
Chief among the organization's concerns is the widespread and
systematic use of torture, in some cases resulting in the death of
prisoner," says the report.
"Amnesty International believes
that the systematic nature of torture in Turkey can be deduced from the
following facts:
"1. the number of torture
allegations (during the past eight months alone Amnesty International
has received hundreds of torture allegations including reports that
prisoners died in custody as a result of torture);
"2. the same methods of torture
are reported by almost all detainees blindfolding and stripping
detainees naked, beating on all parts of the body and in particular on
the soles of the feet (falaka), hosing with ice-cold water and applying
electric shocks;
"3. confessions extracted under
torture are frequently used as prime evidence, in particular in
political trials in military and state security courts
"4. the reluctance of the Turkish
Government to take effective measures to prevent torture, such as
permitting detainees in practice to have prompt access to lawyers,
relatives and doctors.
"Amnesty International continues
to be concerned also about the imprisonment of prisoners of conscience
and the imposition of the death penalty in Turkey. This report,
however, concentrates solely on the torture of political prisoners and
shows how statements extracted under torture contribute to the denial
of fair trials to political prisoners."
Recent Deaths in custody
"Mehmet Yalcinkaya, convicted of
membership of PKK, and Huseyin Husnu Eroglu, on trial for alleged PKK
membership, died on 2 August 1989. They had been on hunger-strike for
35 days in protest against restrictions introduced at the end of June
in Eskisehir prison. On 2 August they and a further 257 prisoners on
hunger-strike were transferred to Aydin Prison. When they arrived at
the prison after a 15-hour journey, they were reportedly stripped
naked, hosed with ice-cold water and beaten. The Public
Prosecutor in Aydin announced that an autopsy had established that the
two prisoners died because of dehydration. However, a second autopsy on
Huseyin Husnu Eroglu reportedly also found bruises on the body.
"Another recent death was that of
Seyhmus Orhan from Yoncali village, near Hakkari He died on 18 July
1989 following interrogation by the security forces; On or around 18
July a group of soldiers, whose vehicles had broken down, approached
Yoncali village in search of Kurdish guerrillas reported to be
operating in the area. Some villagers started to run from the fields
when they heard shots; Two of them, Bunyamin and Sabri Orhan, were
killed, but at least six of the villagers surrendered shortly
afterwards, including Seyhmus Orhan.
"They were taken by helicopter to
the Command of the 118th Gendarmerie Regiment. The next day Seyhmus
Orhan was dead. According to the official version of events, he was
shot while trying to escape. The villagers, however, alleged that he
had been killed under torture and shot afterwards. Five of his fellow
detainees also alleged that they had been tortured and had to be
treated in hospital.
"It is difficult to gather
information from southeastern Turkey, where there have been violent
clashes between the Kurdish guerrillas and the Turkish security forces
since August 1984. Sometimes facts emerge only years after the event.
In February 1989 both the Turkish and international news media reported
that a mass grave been found in Siirt. Although some 60 bodies were
said to have been dumped in the grave, known as the "Butchers' River"
(Kasaplar Deresi), the first reports named only eight. Later the names
of another 18 victims were published in the Turkish Press.
"Amnesty International remains
concerned that it has not received satisfactory explanations from the
Turkish Government for over 170 deaths in custody which occurred in the
last 10 years, and that most of these deaths appear to have been
related to torture. The organization believes that most of these cases
have not been thoroughly investigated and has urged the government to
initiate impartial investigations into all those cases where the cause
of death remains unclear.
Ill-treatment in prisons
"In most cases torture is
inflicted by the police and takes place in police stations and
detention centers, but Amnesty International has also received detailed
allegations of torture inflicted in military and civil prisons.
"In September and October 1988
Amnesty International received a series of allegations of ill-treatment
concerning political prisoners in Gaziantep, Bursa and Sagmalcilar
Prisons, followed by a wave of hunger-strikes which continued until the
beginning of December 1988.
Unfair trial
"Trials at military courts were
still continuing in August 1989 despite the fact that martial law had
been completely lifted in July 1987. Since May 1984 special courts
known as state security courts have been established in eight Turkish
cities. However, these state security courts only began to operate
after martial law had been lifted in the areas under their
jurisdiction. Diyarbakir State Security Court, for instance, only
started to operate in July 1987. These courts hear cases involving
political offences committed after 1 May 1984. Their jurisdiction, as
provided for in Article 143 of the 1982 Constitution of Turkey, covers
offences against the state and offences directly involving the internal
or external security of the state.
"These courts assumed the duties
of the military courts in trying political offences and appear to have
been influenced by the system of military justice. many of the security
court judges draw their expertise from their previous periods in office
at military courts and one out of three judges in the panel must be a
military judge of first rank.
AI Recommendations
"Amnesty International has
repeatedly urged the Turkish Government to take effective steps to
prevent torture. Draft amendments to the Turkish Criminal Procedure
Code announced by the Council of Ministers in September 1989 fall short
of internationally recognized standards and Amnesty International's
recommendations to the Turkish Government concerning safeguards for the
prevention of torture. These include the obligation to bring all
detainees before a judicial authority promptly after detention, to
allow prompt access not only to lawyers, but also doctors and
relatives, and to ensure that detainees in police custody (gÖzalti)
have the right to confer privately with legal counsel In addition,
Amnesty International has called on the Turkish Government to establish
a procedure by which allegations of torture are properly investigated
by an institution independent of the police and the prosecutor's office;
"Amnesty International has also
repeatedly urged the Turkish Government to ensure fair and prompt
trials for all political prisoners, if necessary by amending the
Turkish Criminal Procedure Code. The organization calls on the Turkish
Government to implement all internationally recognized standards
concerning fair trials for political prisoners, in particular:
"1. to ensure that the use of
statements extracted under torture cannot be admitted into the
proceedings;
"2. to ensure that detainees are
granted adequate time and facilities for consultations with their
lawyers and, in particular, that such consultations can be conducted in
private;
"3. to impose on courts the
responsibility for ensuring that
defendants have had adequate time and facilities to prepare their
defence;
"4. to ensure that political
prisoners are tried by a competent, independent and impartial court."
STUDENT PROTESTS IN UNIVERSITIES
Turkish universities started the new academic year
in the beginning of October 1989 in an atmosphere marked by student
demonstrations.
At the Middle East Technical University (ODTU),
Prime Minister Özal gave a speech to approximately 50 students in a
lecture hall meant to hold 300, that was largely filled by policemen
and university professors.
When a group of students tried to enter the hall
during Özal's speech, they were blocked by police. Security forces
detained approximately 20 students, and one student was taken to the
hospital as a result of kicks sustained in the scuffle with police.
In opposition to the university-sponsored opening
ceremonies some of the student associations at Istanbul and Ankara
universities celebrated the start of the academic year with alternative
ceremonies that included folk dancing, playing the saz (Turkish musical
instrument) and guitar.
The student associations declared: "The university
authorities chose a student to give a speech on so-called developments
at the universities without mentioning the multidimensional academic
problems, the investigations and discipline punishments [for violating
rules set up by the Higher Education Council (YOK).] Our alternative
ceremony, which reflected the new spirit of energy and dynamism aimed
at presenting the problems of students and called on all students to
seek solutions."
TORMENT OF YOUNG STUDENTS
15-year-old high school student Melih Calaylioglu
was finally cleared of charges of spreading communist propaganda. The
court in Izmir decided on October 10, 1989, that the evidence submitted
was not sufficient to prove his guilt, ending one of the most
controversial political trials in Turkey. Young student collapsed in
the courtroom after hearing the decision. He thanked the judges for
their decision when he recovered.
The young student's troubles began on October 19,
1988, when
Turan Baysal, the principal of the Esrefpasa High School in Izmir,
informed the local prosecutor's office that Calaylioglu had been
spreading communist propaganda in the school by drawing communist
symbols on desks and notebooks and praising communism in his talks with
his friends. The high school student was promptly arrested by the Izmir
political police and remained behind bars for 87 days in Izmir. In the
meantime, Izmir State Security Court opened a case against him with the
prosecutor claiming a seven to 15-year prison term.
The court released Calaylioglu in December 1988, but
he was sent to Istanbul for psychiatric examination at the forensic
center. Calaylioglu was held incommunicado for 3 days in Istanbul where
a group of doctors held him under constant observation to determine
whether he was mentally fit to stand trial. The report submitted to the
Izmir court by the doctors said although the young man has no mental
disability that would exempt him from punishment, cultural differences
between Turkey and West Germany where he was brought up and his
problematic family circumstances should be taken into consideration at
his trial.
The court dismissed the report saying that it was
ambiguous and sent Calaylioglu again to Istanbul for examination. The
second report said the high school student was fit to stand trial.
At the beginning of the current academic year, the
Governor Ayaz of Izmir intervened and permitted Calayoglu to attend
classes at the Esrefpasa High School. But a disciplinary committee
decision coming from the Education Ministry in Ankara said Calaylioglu
should be barred from attending school in Izmir and should continue his
education somewhere outside the city. Governor Ayaz, despite this
decision, gave permission for Calaylioglu to continue his education in
Izmir.
Calaylioglu's case was also introduced in the
National Assembly with two opposition deputies criticizing the
treatment of the young high school student by the Education Ministry.
Other young victims of persecution
As Melih Calaylioglu was being
acquitted, many other were still subject to repressive practices
throughout Turkey.
September 11, in Diyarbakir,
11-year old A.0. was pursued by the public prosecutor for having
presented to singer Bilgesu Erenus a flower during her concert, by
saying "I present you this flower on behalf of all children of
Kurdistan."
September 13, in Erzurum,
fourteen youngsters between 8 and 12 years were taken into police
custody on grounds that they sit before a wall on which some political
slogans were painted. They were kept in detention for eight days.
October 16, in Denizli, the
public prosecutor indicted three 13-year old secondary school students,
O.O., A.C. and O.A., for having painted on wall the name of an outlawed
political organization. Each of the three students faces a prison term
of up to 2 years.
The weekly Sokak of October 15,
1989, reports that two high school students, G.O. and I.A., were
indicted in Istanbul for having distributed the tracts of an outlawed
organization. G.O. was condemned to a 5-year prison term, the other
acquitted.
According to the same weekly, in
August 1989, a high school student, Y.O., was arrested in Istanbul for
painting political slogans on the school's walls and participating in a
political meeting. Still tried at the State Security Court, he faces a
prison term of up to 24 years.
Turkey on the black list
On the other hand, two
international organizations, Terre des hommes and Défense des enfants
internationale, in a report that they sent to the United Nations, claim
that Turkey is one of the countries where children are often detained
and subjected to torture.
According to this report, the
duration of detention for children goes over one year and a third of
the detained children are subjected to ill-treatment and torture in
interrogation centers or detention houses. The two organizations report
as an example that a 16-year old girl who had been violated and
tortured for 15 days at the police headquarters of Istanbul and kept in
prison for three months in 1988.
SATANIC VERSES BANNED IN TURKEY
Acting on a written request, Prime Minister Turgut
Özal's cabinet decided at the beginning of October, to ban Salman
Rushdie's Satanic Verses. Two other publications, Insight Guide to
Turkey and the German magazin Geo Special Turkei were also banned. No
reason was given for the ban, and it was announced anyone caught
smuggling these books into Turkey would stand trial.
GROUP YORUM ARRESTED AGAIN
After their release, the nine members of the musical
group Yorum were arrested again, following the detention of 69 people
at their concert on October 8, 1989, marking the 20th anniversary of
Dev-Genc (Revolutionary Youth Organization) at istanbul Open-Air
Theater. Under police custody, the musical group started a hunger
strike, claiming they had been subjected to torture.
Earlier, on September 12, the
musicians were released by a criminal court in Icel following a 63-day
detention. They had been arrested in Mersin when they were making a
sit-in in protest against the governor's decision to ban a
concert that they would give in this city. The anti-establishment
singers said that they had been tortured during their detention and
that the three female members of the group subjected to an examination
of virginity.
DANISH MUSICIANS CHASED
A Danish musical group, Savage Rose, became the
target of police chase after having given a concert in Istanbul in
solidarity with the musical group Yorum. On September 17, police teams
carried out raids on the residence where the Danish musicians stayed
and the Association of Solidarity with the Families of Political
Prisoners (TAYAD). Two leading members of the Danish Group, Thomas
Koppel and Anisette Koppel, could escape arrest thanks to the
intervention by the Danish Foreign Ministry.
PERSECUTION OF THE MASS MEDIA
5.9, the September issue of the
monthly Emek was confiscated by the order of the State Security Court
of Istanbul for containing separatist propaganda.
6.9 the first issue of a monthly
review, Vatan Gunesi, was confiscated by the order of the State
Security Court of Istanbul, for some articles on the Kurdish question.
10.9, the owner of the Yurt
Publishing House, Mr Unsal Ozturk was arrested by a criminal court in
Ankara for having published a book entitled Interrogations without
addresses. The court also ordered the confiscation of the book.
13.9, the public prosecutor of
Izmir opened a legal proceeding against famous folk singer Ahmet Kaya
for having, during a concert, called on the listeners to raise their
fists and to repeat political slogans.
13.9, A defendant of the Dev-Yol
Trial, Tayfun Mater, was sentenced to a prison term of 16 months and 20
days by the State Security Court for having published the defenses in a
book entitled Before and After September 12th.
18.9, Miss Gulten Demir, chief
editor of the youth review Devrimci Genclik was arrested by the State
Security Court of Istanbul. The editorial staffs of four reviews, in a
joint communique, protested against this arrest and asked for the
release of all those who were detained on political grounds.
19.9, professor Yalcin
Kucuk, chief editor of the monthly Toplumsal Kurtulus, was taken
into custody in Ankara for his interviews with Abdullah Ocalan,
Secretary General of the Workers' Party of Kurdistan (PKK), published
in the last issue of the review. He was kept under arrest for five days.
20.9, the prosecutor of the State
security Court of Ankara opened six new cases against the monthly
Toplumsal Kurtulus and indicted Chief Editor Yalcin Kucuk and
responsible editor Ilhan Akalin for communist and separatist propaganda.
21.9, in Sivas, Tayip Bay was
arrested and indicted by the Kayseri State Security Court for having
listened to some musicassettes containing Kurdish ballads.
26.9, Aytac Varol, responsible
editor of the monthly Yönelis was arrested by the State Security Court
of Istanbul for separatist propaganda.
27.9, a teacher of the School of
Blinds in Ankara was arrested for having objected to the school
administration's order to take the students to prayer in a mosque.
27.9, the September issues of two
monthly reviews Medya Günesi and Yeni Demokrasi, were confiscated by
the order of the State Security Court.
28.9, famous folk singer Rahmi
Saltuk was tried by a criminal court in Istanbul for his musicassette
entitled Hoy Nare containing two Kurdish ballads.
29.9, Okay Gonensin responsible
editor of the daily Cumhuriyet, was brought before a criminal court in
istanbul for having published some necrological announcements
containing political expressions. He faces a 6-year prison term.
29.9, Servet Engin, responsible
editor of the daily Zaman, was condemned by a criminal court of Ankara
to a one-year prison term for religious propaganda The prison term was
later commuted to a fine of 855,000 Turkish Liras (about $400).
PEN REPORT ON TURKISH PRESS
The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN
issued in September 1989 a detailed report on the writers and
journalists who are victim of State repression. Ten out of 62 pages of
the report are filled with the names of Turkish and Kurdish journalists
and writers who are either imprisoned or awaiting trial under arrest.
On the other hand, the 54th Congress of the PEN was
held last in Montreal with the participation of 600 delegates from 62
countries. Since the affiliation of the Turkish PEN was not approved by
the Turkish Government, Turkey was not represented at the
Congess.
The congress made a statement at the conclusion that
government censorship in Turkey, South Africa, Burma and Rumania should
be abolished.
One of the congress participants made a request to
the Turkish Government at the meeting for the release of Recep Marasli,
a Kurdish writer and publisher jailed in Turkey since 1982.
ARRESTS AND TRIALS IN SEPTEMBER
The 9th anniversary of the
September 12, 1980 coup d'état was marked by a series of protest
actions throughout Turkey. Police arrested 160 people in Istanbul for
"unauthorized demonstration."
The other arrests and political
trials in September:
11.9, four defendants at the
trial of the Liberation Organization of Turkey and Nothern Kurdistan
(TKKKO) were condemned by the State Security Court of Istanbul to
prison terms of from five to eight years.
11.9, police announced the arrest
of ten militants of the Communist Party of Turkey/Union (TKP/B).
Besides, a young girl was arrested on the charge of placing explosives
in the US Consulate in Istanbul.
12.9, the trial of five leading
members of the Human Rights Association of Turkey (IHD) began at the
State Security Court of Ankara. The Secretary General of the IHD, Akin
Birdal, and for other members of the administrative board, Yavuz Onen,
Mahmut Tali Ongoren Emil Galip Sandalci and Bulent Tanor are accused of
having made declarations harmful to the country's interests during
their a meeting at the French Parliament in Paris.
27.9, twelve alleged members of
the Union of Young Communists of Turkey (TGKB) were released during
their trial at the State Security Court of Istanbul.
30.9, the President of the
Association of Women for Democracy (DEMKAD) was taken into custody by
police.
ARREST OF FOUR CHRISTIANS
On September 1, 1989, four
Swedish nationals Urban Thoreli, Nikel Anderson, William Eliakson and
Olaf Dencel Sivenson were arrested at Mugla of making Christian
propaganda. Pamphlets on Christianity were said to have been discovered
in their baggage.
A CHIEF OF HOSPITAL TORTURED
Turkish press of September 21,
1989 reported that the chief of the State Hospital of Cizre in Mardin,
Dr. Abdullah Bolcali, was detained and subjected to torture for having
given medical care to some Kurds who were wounded by security forces
during armed clashes with the PKK guerrillas. He was kept under arrest
for ten days.
After his release, Dr. Bolcali
said: "I have no relation with the PKK. My duty as a doctor is to give
medical care to whomever in need. I cannot know if the patient is a
terrorist or not. Furthermore, I am not obliged to verify it, it is not
my duty."
The Union of Turkish Doctors
(TBB) reproached the detention of Dr. Bolcali and declared that a
doctor has to give medical care even to an enemy soldier in the time of
war, if the latter is wounded.
On September 11, 1989, the
Socialist Party announced that one of its members, Osman Gencer, was
beaten for intimidation at police stationof Tekirdag.
On September 28, the daily
Cumhuriyet reported that a student leader, Erkan Kalafat, and his
brother were tortured by police during their 19-day detention at the
police center of Icel.
CAMPAIGN AGAINST TORTURE
Turkey's torture victims will be able to receive
treatment at a rehabilitation center set up by the Human Rights
Association of Turkey (IHD) if it can obtain the necessary court
permission to operate.
Nevzat Helvaci, chairman of the IHD, told that legal
proceedings for the establishment of the foundation started at the end
of September 1989 and it is now awaiting the magistrate court's
permission to implement its goals.
Helvaci cited the foundation's main goals as
providing health services at a rehabilitation center to people who have
developed physical and mental problems as a result of torture and
inhuman practices sustained during detention and imprisonment
Another goal of the foundation is to conduct
research and study on human rights issues to be gathered at a
documentation center.
OVERGROWTH OF TOP HOLDINGS
Turkey's two biggest industrial
groups, Koc and Sabanci, last year widened the gap between their sales
and profits and those of other industrial groups. Koc made the most
from sales, 8.1 trillion TL; Sabanci the highest profit, 750 billion
TL. Total 1988 sales of the eight top holdings, Koc, Sabanci, Akkok,
Profilo, Sönmez, Alarko, Sise Cam and Yasar Holding reached 19.5
trillion TL, a figure near Turkey's 1988 budget of 21 trillion TL.
- Sales: Koc group sales were the
highest at 8.1 trillion TL, followed by the Sabanci group with 6
trillion TL. Immediately after these longtime rivals came Sise Cam, one
of Isbank's affiliates, with 2 trillion TL sales. Izmir-based Yasar
Holding, which produces Pinar-brand foodstuffs, made 1.2 trillion TL in
sales; chairman of the Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's
Association Omer Dinckok's Akkok group 1 trillion TL; the Bursa-based
Sönmez Holding 457 billion TL; Profilo 402.3 billion TL and Alarko
234.3 billion TL. In 1987, Koc and Sabanci sales were 4.3 and 3.2
trillion TL respectively.
- Profits: Sabanci made a record
profit in 1988, 750 billion TL. Koc, which did best in sales, came
second in profits with 688.6 billion TL. Other groups which issued
their balance sheets fell behind these two giants. Sise Cam made 135
billion TL, Akkok group 110 billion TL, Sönmez 67 billion TL, Yasar
Holding 29 billion TL and Alarko 26.5 billion TL profit last year.
- Exports: In 1988, the eight
groups together exported goods worth $2.1 billion, 18 percent of
Turkey's total exports of nearly $12 billion. Koc exported goods worth
$552 million, Sabanci $278 million, Sise Cam $240 million, Yasar $159
million Akkök $113 million, Sönmez $87.2 million, Alarko $39.5 million
and Profilo $12 million.
- Profitability: Sönmez had the
highest profitability ratio among companies issuing their balance
sheets. Sönmez made 14.6 percent profit on every 100 TL worth of sales,
i.e. 14.6 percent profitability. Sabanci ranked second with 12.5
percent profitability. The ratios of profitability over sales for other
companies in the group are: Alarko, 11.3 percent; Akkok, 10.8 percent;
Koc, 8.5 percent; Sise Cam, 6.7 percent. Profilo has not yet announced
its sales.
- Profit per Staff member:
Sabanci ranked first in profitability per staff member, a figure
calculated by dividing profits by the number of staff. Last year, at
Sabanci, this figure was 25 minion TL. If we consider the average wage
at Sabanci to be around 1 million TL per month, then every Sabanci
staff member provided his company with twice as much as his annual
salary. Koc ranks second, with a profitability ratio per staff member
of 20.4 million TL. Comparable figures from the other groups are as
follows: Akkok, 10.9 million TL; Sönmez 10.5 million TL; Sise Cam 7.3
minion TL; Alarko 4.0 million TL and Yasar 2.8 million TL.
FOREIGN CAPITAL TO SERVICE SECTORS
The State Planning Organization (DPT) has recently
announced that the number of foreign capital companies active in Turkey
now totals 1,401, the amount of foreign capital reached 1.53 trillion
TL ($6.67 billion). A total of $846 million in foreign capital has been
permitted to enter Turkey in the first nine months of the year.
The service sector has become the favorite sector
for foreign capital investments. Of the foreign companies in Turkey,
67.4 percent are active in such service sectors as trade and banking.
As for the manufacturing sector, it was chosen only
27.5 percent of foreign companies. While the food industry ranks at the
top of the manufacturing industry with 53 companies, non-industrial
chemical products rank second with 40 companies.
Considering all the foreign companies which obtained
permission to operate in Turkey through the end of September 1989, West
Germany ranks at the top with 216 companies. The share of the West
German companies in the total foreign capital is 384.3 billion TL.
After West Germany Iran ranked second as a source of
foreign capital with 161 firms.
INDEX OF THE 13th YEAR COLLECTION
November 1988 - No 145
Hunger strikes in Turkish
prisons; New Info-Türk pamphlets; Counter-guerilla turns into
territorial force; Protest actions by prisoner families; Gendarmery
taken over by the army; Putschists accused at parliament; Government
ceded before the military; State of emergency extended; A military
torturer shot dead; Amnesty International's new appeal; Arrest of
foreign observers at trial; Four innocents assassinated by police;
22-Year prison to a Kurdish mayor; Other political trials; Midnight
arrest of intellectuals; 27 journalists and editors in prison; New
pursuits against intellectuals; Professor Küçük tortured; A ballet
choreographer in trouble; Confiscation of publications; Protest
demonstration of doctors; No reinstatement of citizenship; No
citizenship to Nazim Hikmet; A new victim of passport ban; Worsening
conditions of Kurdish refugees; US ambassador's strange visit to
the East; Protest actions by university youth; Drama of
migrants returning home.
December 1988 - No 146
Dangerous escalation of
extreme-right in Turkey; Saudi-Iranian duel in Turkey; Turco-Islamic
alliance within the ANAP; Özal: the man of the Naksibendi order;
Independent Moslem intellectuals; Scission in The Grey Wolves
movement; Grey Wolves in the Holy Alliance of ANAP; Challenge to
Türkes in Europe; Centrist operation within the SHP;
New pursuits against Grey Wolves; Hunger strike nears end;
227 death sentences at parliament; Recent political
prosecutions; Pressure on intellectual life; A center of
post-torture rehabilitation; New PKK blow to the Army;
Turco-European relations; No solid support to Özal in Paris;
16.696 workers on strike; 1.9 million working days lost in
1987; Racist and xenophobic acts in Europe.
January 1989 - No 147
A 15-year old political accused,
in Turkey… and in 1989!; Journalists still in prison; Journalists at
tribunals; Recent actions against the press; General Evren and
intellectuals; Unlawful extradition of five exiles; Amnesty
International accuses Turkish government; International tribunal
condemned the Turkish regime; Political trials at the End of
1988; Underworld godfathers freed; Troubles in Turkish
prisons; Top judge knocks '82 constitution; IPI criticizes
Turkish press regime; The Human Rights association of Turkey
candidate for 1989 European prize; Socialist party
legitimated; IHD acquitted by court; A tough year for
Turkish economy; Increasing worker militancy; A new banking
scandal; Turkish troops to central Europe?; Fundamentalism gains
support; Holy Alliance anti-western show; Dispute on
Islamic head coverings; Severe cold kills Turkish refugees;
Archives on Armenian question; EC/Turkey joint Parliamentary
Committee met for first time in eight years.
February 1989 - No 148
Two crucial tests for Özal;
Kurdish peasants forced to eat human excrement by the military; A
Kurdish deputy censured by his party; A motion for Kurds;
Danish prize to the IHD; More adolescents arrested for communist
propaganda; Arrest of a 71-year old lawyer; Other new political
pursuits; Turkish courts overcharged; Foreign capital inflow; A
new anti-press law project; Monopolization and decadence in the
Turkish press; Decrease in book printing; New pursuits
against the press; State terror on student organizations;
Party chairman banned to go abroad; A bill to restore
citizenship; Second refusal for Nazim Hikmet; European
control on torture; Turkish government's counter-attack against
Amnesty International; Özal to address the Council fo
Europe; Ankara hires publicity firms; Turkey 4th in military
spending.
March 1989 - No 149
Autodafes; Ankara's Satanic Stand
on "The Satanic Verses" and Fundamentalist demonstrations throughout
Turkey; Turkey: Champion of destroying books; Is Tehran behind
demonstration?; Controversy on demonstrations; Turkey's stand and the
West;Ankara and the Satanic Verses; Islamic investments in
Turkey; Persecution in February; Books banned in Turkey since
1955; 442 deprived of nationality; No passport to a
filmmaker; Ankara's defense on torture; Prison doctor
reports torture; Turkish Regime's double-faced attitude;
Other cases of torture; Hunger strikes in prisons; DISK to
reorganize itself; US Unions' action against Ankara.
April 1989 - No 150
Özal Routed at local elections;
Distribution of big city municipalities; Distribution of town
municipalities; First murder related to Rushdie affair in
Belgium; An appeal by a group of Turks and Maghrebians in
Belgium; Privileges of Turkish officers; Former army generals in
Business; Monopolization in Turkish economy; State
terrorism throughout Turkey; Medical report on Calaylioglu;
Strike stopped by government; European Parliament's report on
Turco-European economic relations; Huge tax rebate for
exporters; NATO talks and Turkey; Jewish lobby supports
Ankara; Recent data on Turkish immigration; 1,2 million
Turks repatriated; Turkish business in Germany; Climbing of
far-right in Germany; Xenophobic aggressions in Germany.
May 1989 - No 151
Bloodshed on May Day; More terror
by police in two months; Persecution of students; Özal's
face-lifting after electoral defeat; Gain of extreme-right
parties; Arrest of an Islamist mayor; Islamist mayor's
segregationist actions; Islamists in defense of Jesus;
Helsinki Watch report on Turkish prisons; Amnesty international's
new report of Turkey; International conference: Human Rights in
Kurdistan; Recent violations of press freedom;
Rectification from the German Greens; Helsinki Watch on the
press; Return of six more exiles.
June 1989 - No 152
Political tumult in Ankara; May
Day detainees tortured; Chief judge accuses the government;
Political prisoner suffering from Leukemia; A torture victim at
Parliament; Fundamentalist attack on journalists; Protest
from IPI and CSCE; Censorship in 50 provinces; 36
publishers in the dock; Prosecution of the media in May;
More troubles in prisons; Meetings on torture banned; 7,000
deaths sentences claimed; Arrests and trials in May;
100,000 political refugees from Turkey; Yagci-Sargin case at
Strasbourg; A British teacher to be expelled; Wage rises
under inflation rate; Injustice in regional investment;
Armament fair in Ankara; Turkey-South Africa trade; US
bases in Turkey to be modernized; European Parliament adopted three
resolutions on Human Rights in Turkey; Turkey-EEC Parliamentary
meeting; Özal's failure in Brussels talks; Ankara's anger
against Mrs Mitterrand; Growing Turco-Bulgarian tension;
Ankara still denies Kurdish language; Groundless arrests in the
East; A 17-year old prisoner; First women's congress in
Turkey; Drastic increase of prostitution.
July/Aug. 1989 - No 153-154
Hypocrisy on the Turkish immigrants from
Bulgaria!; Death of hunger strikers in prison; Seven death
sentences to Dev-Yol; Escape of two ailing prisoners; Double standard
of Turkish justice; A new state security court; Human Rights activists
charged; State terrorism intensified in Turkish Kurdistan; "Excrement
case" to Strasbourg; Kurdish refugees poisoned in a camp;
Other prosecutions in two months; State terror at university
campus; Intimidating inquiry at a school; Calaylioglu still under
surveillance; Demonstration banned; The unwritten memoirs
of Kenan Evren; Islamist mayor indicted; Carrying firearms
to be legalized; Evren allergic to democrats; A musical
group under torture; Pressures on intellectual life;
Blackout scandal at the Turkish TV; Recent confiscations of
publication; Drama of Turkish immigrants from Bulgaria;
Turkey shelters 2.5 million refugees; Two Helsinki reports on
Turkey; IFJ to check on press freedom in Turkey; Turkish
Pen waits for official approval; Minimum wage hike
insufficient; Turkish flags at half-staff for Khomeiny;
Turco-British visa quarrel; Turkey on the ILO's black list; An
unwanted US ambassador.
September 1989 - No 156
Özal's lies in Strasbourg;
Turkish government insists on Info-Türk editors remaining
stateless; Özal lost also his own party's support;
Restrictions on capital punishment?; Özal's maneuvers on the
constitution; SHP in the socialist international; Left
wing's rise in the SHP; Turkish government insists on Info-Türk
editors remaining stateless; An exiled physician arrested at his
return; New threats against political refugees; A campaign
for freeing Yilmaz Güney's films; Extra-parliamentary left's
perspectives; Hunger-strike ended, unrest continues;
European Parliament on Turkish prisons; Helsinki Watch's report
on Turkish prisons; Death of a former political prisoner;
Rehabilitation centers for torture victims; People revolt against
the repression in Kurdistan; Army to climb state terrorism;
Proposal to set up a Kurdology institute; Arrests and trials in
August; Pressure on the mas media; Heavy fines to Turkish
press; Ankara's blow to the Bulgarian Turks; European
Parliament warns Bulgaria; Council of Europe warns Turkey as well.
