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INFO-TURK

A non-government information center on Turkey

Un centre d'information non-gouvernemental sur la Turquie

38th Year / 38e Année
Novembre
 
2011 November
N° 399
53 rue de Pavie - 1000 Bruxelles
Tél: (32-2) 215 35 76 - Fax: (32-2) 215 58 60
Chief Editor /Rédacteur en chef: 
Dogan Ozgüden

Responsible editor/Editrice responsable:

Inci Tugsavul
Human Rights
Pressures on  media
Kurdish Question
Minorities
Interior politics
Armed Forces
Religious affairs
Socio-economics
Turkey-Europe
Turkey-USA
Regional Relations
Cyprus and Greece
Migration


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Titres des évènements du mois
Titles of this month's events




Droits de l'Homme / Human Rights


"Turkey Takes Lead in Violations of Freedom of Expression"
KESK members sentenced to 156 years in prison
BPC: Intolerance extended to Defence Lawyers
Many Kurdish lawyers arrested
Lawyers react to KCK operations: Bells tolling for Turkey
Arrestation des avocats kurdes
Mehmet Tursun was sentenced for his defence
 Saturday Mothers in 347th Istanbul sit in
Chaotic Start of the trial on the Revolutionary Headquarters
Turquie: quel modèle pour le monde arabe?
 Hijacker's Family: We won't stay silent about this execution
The hijacker of a ferry shot dead in the SAS style operation
Vegan prisoner on hunger strike in Kırıkkale F Type prison
 460 torture applications to TIHV in 2011
 Turkey on 92nd Position in Human Development Index
Les dérapages en série de la lutte antiterroriste en Turquie
Hate crime to the earthquake victims
They were plaintiffs but they are convicted


Pression sur les médias / Pressure on the Media

Prominent professor Server Tanilli dies at age of 80
Kurdish Newspaper Özgür Gündem raided by the police
 Ouverture du procès de deux journalistes célèbres jugés pour complot
Turquie : la plus grande prison du monde pour les enseignants
Day of the Imprisoned Writer: 71 Journalists in Jail in Turkey
Journalist Şık's "Unpublished" Book Launched on Book Fair
 PEN International's Day of the Imprisoned Writer
 Journalists Emir and Yılmaz Died in Earthquake
 Euro team to question Turkish media, internet
BIA's Alarming Report on Press Freedom Violations in Turkey
66 Journalists in Turkish prisons during the Sacrifice Fest
4 Trials against "Laz Marks" Show

The Ankara Initiative for Freedom of Thought 
has launched the following signature campaign: That's enough!

SIGNATORIES LIST

2
Stop arbitrary detentions in Turkey

Here are extracts of the text of a new petition asking to stop arbitrary detentions in Turkey

TO SIGN
SIGNATORIES LIST
Présentation en français de ces deux petitions

3

AGA's Signature campaign for Zarakolu in Germany
*
(Zarakolu at the Book Fair - Photos)


*
Arrested publisher Zarakolu says he is in Kafkaesque novel
 International Media Organisations Renew Demand to Release Imprisoned Journalists
 Buzek tance Ankara au sujet des journalistes emprisonnés
Speech by Khatchatur Pilikian at the British Parliament
 Appel à la manifestation devant le parlement europeen
Actions taking place during Abdullah Gul’s official visit to the UK
Letter to Hillary Clinton by two US former attorneys on Zarakolu's arrest
Lettre du Collectif 1971 au Ministre belge des affaires étrangères
L'arrestation de Zarakolu a marqué l'ouverture de la Foire du livre d'Istanbul
 Zarakolu's Arrest Marked the Istanbul Book Fair's Opening
Le tournant liberticide turc - Bozarslan, Duclert, Taylan
Appel du journaliste Erol Özkoray pour Zarakolu
PEN  launched campaign for release of intellectuals in Turkey
Amnesty International: KCK arrests deepen freedom of expression concerns
AI: Arrestations contraires à la liberté d’expression

Zarakolu incarcéré dans une prison de haute sécurité de type F
 Arrested Ragip Zarakolu sent to high-security cell
Zarakolu and Besikçi Nominated to Martin Ennals Award
A message from Professor Ersanlı in Prison
KHRP greatly concerned at the arrest of Ragip Zarakolu
De Zarakolu à Charlie Hebdo: la liberté d’expression menacée
Programme d'AYP FM sur l'arrestation de Zarakolu
Appeal and Protest against KCK Arrests
"Zarakolu Deserves the Nobel Prize, not Prison"
EMHRN calls for the immediate release of HR activists
OMCT: Arbitrary detention of Zarakolu and Ersanlı
IPI Condemns Zarakolu's Arrest
Front Line's Concern Over Zarakolu's Arrest
Un dossier détaillé sur l'arrestation de Zarakolu
Ragip Zarakolu: la bonne conscience de la Turquie criminelle - Laurent Leylekian
Parliamentary Questions in Holland about the detention of Zarakolu
Arrêter des intellectuels, c'est indigne
Intellectuals protest arrest of publisher in Istanbul
HRW: Arrests expose flawed justice system in Turkey
EFJ Condemns Arrest of Ragıp Zarakolu
La première lettre de prison de Zarakolu
 Zarakolu's first letter from prison
Liberté de la presse menacée en Turquie
CCAF: Liberté immédiate pour Ragip Zarakolu !
Lettre au Ministre français des affaires étrangères
Signature campaign for Zarakolu in Germany
BDP issues warning over arrests and new charter
Human Rights Association's Protest Against Arrests
Zarakolu and Ersanli arrested by court
IPA: Turkish Freedom to Publish Hero Jailed
PEN International's Campaign
RSF condamne avec vigueur l'arrestation de Ragip Zarakolu
Appel du Collectif 1971 à la solidarité avec Ragip Zarakolu
Ragip Zarakolu's detention stirs NGO anger
Appel urgent de Genève pour la solidarité avec Zarakolu
Publisher and Human Rights Defender Ragip Zarakolu Detained
Ragip Zarakolu, éditeur et défenseur des droits de l'Homme, arrêté en Turquie



Kurdish Question / Question kurde

Lawyer Kiliç: "AKP government has opened a wide range war against Kurds"

152 Kurdish children killed during AKP rule
Turkish court classifies Molotov cocktail as 'weapon'
Nouvelle rafle dans le cadre de l'opération contre le KCK
Neuf ans et six mois de prison pour avoir chanté en kurde
Danielle Mitterrand: "Le jour où j’arrêterai l’action"
Décès Danielle Mitterrand: le Kurdistan irakien décrète une journée de deuil
Quatre questions d’actualité à Hamit Bozarslan
AKP deputy suggests returning title of “Dersim” to Tunceli province
Médiation des dirigeants kurdes irakiens entre le PKK et la Turquie
 Police attack mourners twice in Diyarbakır
 Prisons and Bombs Cannot Eliminate the Legitimate Demands of the Kurds
Police, demonstrators clash in southeast as tension climbs
Diyarbakir Mayor Baydemir faces up to 28 years in prison
Barzani s'oppose à des opérations turques en Irak
 "We are all KCK" campaign launched
BDP: Chemical weapons used against guerillas


Minorités / Minorities

 Un livre historique: “Liste des organisateurs du génocide arménien”
 Dersim: l'offense redoublée d'Erdogan
Erdogan s'excuse au nom de l'Etat pour les exactions de Dersim
Erdoğan exploiting Dersim genocide
 RSF:  Justice pour Hrant Dink,  le temps est compté
30 public officials to be prosecuted for aiding, abetting Dink's murder
 Father of suspect casts doubt on Dink trial’s fate
The Greek Genocide: The Mass Crime In Pontus
Non-Muslim minorities protest wealth tax, expect apology
Turkey's minorities still skeptical about new constitution
Hagia Sophia of Nicaea Opened as Mosque
Genocide, War Crimes and the AKP Government


Politique intérieure/Interior Politics

"Judicial system is under control of PM Erdoğan and AKP"

Özbudun: Work on new constitution seems to be stalled
 Parliament takes up bill against terror financing
Kaplan: Erdoğan trying to build an empire of fear
 Erdogan says: "I am Nationalist et Statist"
Prime Minister and Interior Minister defend KCK arrests
 KCK arrests spark intra-party disagreement within CHP



Forces armées/Armed Forces

Military stonewalls attempts to make its budget transparent

Landmark Ruling on "Conscientious Objection"
Third indictment in Sledgehammer coup plot case
 Turkish warplanes carried out air strike in northern Iraq
Bombardement turc dans le nord de l'Irak
Did Turkish army use chemical weapons?
 Arrêter la guerre est une mission de l’humanité - Ahmet Dere
BDP's Appeal For Resolving War Crimes in the city of Cukurca
German expert indicates possible use of chemical weapons by Turkish army
Military chief visits coup suspects in Hasdal Prison


Affaires religieuses / Religious Affairs
 

Africa seeks Turkish Islamic education
Arrestation de 15 personnes suspectées de liens avec Al-Qaïda


Socio-économique / Socio-economic

Turkey ratifies landmark accord to protect women

 Fitch révise ses perspectives pour la Turquie de "positives" à "stables"
About the Difficulty of being a Child in Turkey
 La presse et l'opposition accusent les autorités
Turkish police clash with protesters, fire tear gas in quake city
Nouveau séisme mortel à Van
Justice's favour for 26 men having raped a 13-year-old girl
"Child Brides" in Parliament


Relations turco-européennes / Turkey-Europe Relations

European lawyers: "Lawyers should be released"

Incident between Turkish minister Bagis and a MEP
 Leyla Zana sent message to European Parliament
Le chef du PE Buzek a évoqué la question kurde à Ankara
La France soutient la candidature de la Serbie à l'UE, pas celle de la Turquie
Dutch MP Says Holland Should Not Invite Turkish President
Gül au Royaume-Uni pour défendre l'adhésion de la Turquie à l'UE
 UE et Turquie tentent de surmonter l'impasse des négociations d'adhésion
"French present" for Turkish Prime Minister
Erdogan blasts Germany on PKK
Criminal complaint in Germany against Erdogan and Army Chiefs


Turquie-USA/ Turkey-USA

US cooperating on PKK fight, says top commander

 US Congress gives green light to SuperCobra helicopters sale to Turkey
Des drones américains basés en Irak repositionnés en Turquie
 Petition: Stop US Cobra sales to Turkey
Les USA affirment leur relation forte avec la Turquie en matière de sécurité


Relations régionales / Regional Relations

L'Iran, si menacé, prendra pour cible le "bouclier de l'Otan" en Turquie

Erdogan appelle Assad à quitter le pouvoir
Erdogan à Assad: "Le jour viendra où tu partiras aussi"
Les Frères musulmans pour une "intervention" turque en Syrie
Ankara adopte une ligne de plus en plus dure à l'égard de Syrie
 Une ligne de plus en plus dure d'Ankara à l'égard de la Syrie
Ankara ne fera pas escorter la mini-flottille vers Gaza


Chypre et la Grèce / Cyprus and Greece

A Chypre, des "indignés" occupent la Ligne verte pour l'unification de l'île

Négociations entre les deux dirigeants de Chypre


Immigration / Migration

Police attack in Berlin, 300 people taken into custody

Crimes racistes en Allemagne: un nouveau suspect arrêté
Brève occupation de l'Agora du Conseil de l'Europe par des Kurdes
A MEP to raise suspicious death of Turks in police custody in Europe
 Hommage des députés allemands aux victimes de crimes racistes
 Près de 400.000 migrants empêchés de rejoindre l'UE en 2010
L'Allemagne va rendre hommage aux victimes de crimes racistes
 Un journaliste belgo-turc empêché de se rendre en Syrie
Ankara exhorte Berlin à faire toute la lumière sur des meurtres de Turcs



Droits de l'Homme / Human Rights

"Turkey Takes Lead in Violations of Freedom of Expression"

Işıl Karakaş, judge at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), emphasized that periods of detention and custody in Turkey were a big problem. Moreover, the number of applications made to the ECHR by Turkish nationals significantly increased this year, she said.

Read here the summary of an interview with judge Karakaş held by NTV reporter Kayhan Karaca.

* The number of applications filed to the ECHR from Turkey in 2011 has increased incredibly. This year, about 9,000 applications were made compared with less than 6,500 last year. This shows that some things are not going right in Turkey despite a set of regulations, reforms or developments expected for the judiciary.

* Saying that the number of applications has grown exponentially shows that the rights and freedoms guaranteed under domestic law are not sufficient. Most of the applications coming from Turkey are concerned with the lengths of detention and trial periods. These two issues are connected to each other as a matter of fact.

"Arrest became the basis, release an exception"

* Arrest is not a concern that can be resorted to in any situation all the time. The decision on arrest can only be given under very specific and precise conditions. In Turkey, exactly the opposite is the case. Arrest became the basis and release an exception.

* The basic reason for us to find a violation in a trial are clichéd judge decisions that lack an explication of the matter and a sufficient justification. The law should be amended with regard to the period of detention.

* Considering press freedom and freedom of expression Turkey is the state in the worst condition. It is the country with the highest number of decisions for violations in the field of press freedom and freedom of expression. Turkey is followed by France with ten violations whereas this figure exceeds two hundred for Turkey.

* There are many problems arising from freedom of expression in Turkey, especially the Anti-Terror Law. Articles 2 and 5 are not in compliance with the case law of the ECHR and the European Convention on Human Rights.

"Article 301 violates freedom of expression"

* The result of the application filed by Taner Akçam is a very important decision. In fact, the ECHR had previously ruled in the Hrant Dink decision that the application and interpretation of Article 301 [Insulting the Turkish nation] by the Court of Appeals did not suit the requirements of a democratic social order. As pointed out by the ECHR in the Akçam decision, the mere existence of this Article is a violation of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human rights on freedom of expression. In other words, Article 301 is in breach of Article 10 of the Convention.

* The existence of this article violates freedom of expression. Its wording is vague and unclear. Additionally, changing the term 'Turkishness' to 'Turkish Nation' did not change much. It is an obligation for Turkey to remove Article 301 from the regulation.

* The ECHR Grand Chamber decided against Armenia in the case of Bayatyan. For the first time, the court interpreted the right to conscientious objection in the scope of Article 9 of the Convention on freedom of religion and conscience. Today, it is a right to have the issue of conscientious objection assessed in the scope of freedom of religion and conscience.

* Also in the Erçep decision it was said that "Turkey has to amend legal regulations accordingly by all means and has to recognize the right to conscientious objection. Furthermore, an additional public service as an alternative service should be put in place for people who use this right. I do not think Turkey has any other choice than that. (BIA, 30 November 2011)

KESK members sentenced to 156 years in prison

Twenty five KESK (Confederation of Public Workers Unions) members and executives have been sentenced to a total of 156 years in prison. Among them are KESK General President Lami Özgen and Eğitim-Sen (Education and Science Workers Trade Union) Women's Secretary Sakine Esen Yilmaz.

İzmir 8th High Criminal Court, where the trial of 31 KESK members within the scope of KCK investigation began in 2009, has ruled decision of acquittal for six members of the Confederation. The Court ruled six years and three months in prison for each defendant on grounds of “membership to an organization”.

The trial had begun on 28 May 2009 when 31 KESK members (most of them teachers) were taken into custody in İzmir and Ankara.

The chief judge asked for the acquittal of 31 KESK members in the summary judgment trial of the case, however 25 of defendants were sentenced by majority of votes. Defence attorney Mehmet Yıldız stated that they would make an objection to the court’s decision.
(ANF, 29 November 2011)

BPC: Intolerance extended to Defence Lawyers
 
Press Statement by
Britain Peace Council (Turkey):
 
At a time when Turkey is in desperate need of conciliatory talks with the representatives of its Kurdish people it has once again chosen to defy any means of a democratic and peaceful resolution by targeting and detaining 70 defence lawyers as part of its KCK operations; a union of civil society organisations.
 
Just last month we saw the arrest and detention of publisher Ragib Zarakolu and Professor Busra Ersanli; a prominent peace activist and member of the Peace and Democracy Party’s (BDP) constitutional reform commission.
 
Whilst this is a major blow to the heart of any democracy and democratic mechanism it leads to the conclusion that anyone in Turkey who speaks favourably for a peaceful resolution of the Kurdish question is at risk.
 
One of the cornerstones of any democracy is freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention. In its latest spate of arrests Turkey has not only violated this very requirement of a democratic society but has arrested those very people who defend and advocate this right. Whilst this irony is damaging for Turkey’s image as a regional democracy it is designed to signal a strong message to anyone who opposes its current AKP government, those who speak out on their behalf and now, lawyers who defend those whom use no more than their democratic right to oppose the government and its approach to the Kurdish people and the Kurdish question.
 
Indeed, it goes without saying that a majority of the lawyers arrested today are those who have conduct of the defence case of Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) and others charged in the main KCK case, whom were arrested as long ago as 2009 consisting of peace activists, politicians, intellectuals, members of civil society organisations and lawyers.
 
The raids that were carried out simultaneously in 16 provinces, including İstanbul, Şanlıurfa, İzmir, Bursa, Muş, Van, Batman, Kars, Denizli and Diyarbakır were historical in nature as such a flagrant attack on the right to an independent legal defence system has never been recorded in Turkish history. Even during the darkest days of Turkey’s 1982 coupe this level of intimidation, and attack on civil society’s right to oppose the government, freedom of thought and speech has never corresponded to the current situation.    
 
Any peaceful resolution of the Kurdish question will require mutual confidence on both sides. The mass arrest of lawyers and the continuation of this arbitrary wave of arrests under the premise of KCK operations cast doubt on any such intentions and therefore jeopardises any attempts at peace talks.
 
We call for an immediate end to this arbitrary practice and for peace talks to be reinitiated.

Arrestation des avocats kurdes

La police turque a procédé mardi à une vaste opération à travers le pays et arrêté plus de 70 personnes accusées de liens avec les rebelles kurdes, ont rapporté les médias turcs.

Les opérations policières ont essentiellement eu lieu à Istanbul et à Diyarbakir (sud-est), mais aussi dans différentes villes de Turquie, selon la chaîne d'information NTV qui avait dans un premier temps fait état de 60 interpellations.

Des avocats du chef rebelle kurde Abdullah Öcalan, emprisonné à vie, ainsi que des membres du principal parti pro-kurde (BDP, parti pour une société démocratique), figurent parmi les suspects arrêtés, accusés de faire partie du KCK (Union des communautés kurdes), a-t-on souligné de source de sécurité locale à Diyarbakir.

Selon l'agence semi-officielle Anatolie, 47 avocats d'Öcalan, qui lui rendent visite régulièrement dans sa prison d'Imrali (nord-ouest) et par le biais desquels le chef kurde transmet des messages à l'extérieur, sont parmi les gens interpellés.

Les autorités accusent le KCK, qui chapeaute le mouvement politique kurde, de vouloir remplacer les institutions officielles dans l'est et le sud-est anatoliens, peuplés majoritairement de Kurdes, et de favoriser une insurrection dans ces régions.

Depuis 2009, 700 personnes, selon le gouvernement, et 3.500 dont des députés et des maires, selon les milieux kurdes, ont été incarcérées pour collusion avec le KCK.

Deux intellectuels de renom ont également été incarcérés dans le cadre de cette vaste enquête au début du mois. On leur reproche notamment d'avoir participé à un forum politique pro-kurde.

L'arrestation de Ragip Zarakolu, écrivain et éditeur, et de la constitutionnaliste Büsra Ersanli ont provoqué des protestations en Turquie et à l'étranger.  (AFP, 22 nov 2011)

Many Kurdish lawyers arrested

Reports are coming through of searches at the office of Asrın Hukuk Bürosu in Istanbul. This is the office lawyers of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan are affiliated to.

It is understood that hundreds of policemen are in the building since earlier this morning and the road around the office has been closed until 2pm.

It is also understood that searches are going on in several other buildings in different cities. Indeed there are reports of some 70 people taken into custody. Of these, at least 48 are said to be lawyers.

Kurdish daily Özgür Gündem was also targeted by police this morning.

BDP former executive lawyer Hüseyin Çalışçı has been taken into custody. In Bursa, following a search at her house, Öcalan lawyer Ayşe Batumlu is said to have been taken into custody.

Police operations are carried in the context of the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK).

While details are coming through it seemed that raids have been carried out simultaneously in 16 provinces, including İstanbul, Şanlıurfa, İzmir, Bursa, Muş, Van, Batman, Kars, Denizli and Diyarbakır.

Among the people taken into custody are: BDP Diyarbakır co-chair Ömer Ömer, Bağlar council deputy mayor Derya Tamriş, Councillors Kadri Gökdemir, lawyers Baran Pamuk, Fuat Coşacak, Nuri Çelik, Mehmet Nuri Deniz, Bağlar BDP chair Ali Yüce, and Fatma Kızılkaya, Şafi Hayme.


Lawyers in Custody - Raid on Özgür Gündem Newspaper

At least a hundred people were taken into police custody in the most recent KCK operations carried out on Tuesday (22 November). KCK stands for the Union of Kurdish Communities, an organization that also includes the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The crackdowns started on Tuesday morning in Istanbul, Diyarbakır, Bursa and Ankara. About 70 persons taken into police custody are lawyers, among them Ayşe Batumlu and Sabahattin Kaya, lawyers of imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan. Many people taken into custody are also executives of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP).

Writer and journalist Cengiz Kapmaz, author of the book "Öcalan's Days on İmralı", was taken into custody in Istanbul in a crackdown on his home. The police also raided the home of lawyer Mahmut Alınak, a former MP, who was taken into custody as well.

The operation was carried out in 16 cities all over Turkey, including Diyarbakır, Istanbul, Ankara, Kocaeli, Şırnak, Bursa, Batman, Kars and Hakkari. These are the names of some of the people taken into police custody as reported by the ANF News Agency:

Diyarbakır

In the Kurdish-majority city of Diyarbakır in the south-east of Turkey, BDP Provincial Co-Chair Ömer Önen; Bağlar Deputy Mayor Derya Tamriş; Bağlar BDP District Chair Ali Yüce; Municipality Assembly member Kadir Gökdemir; Provincial Assembly members Fatma Kızılkan and Şafi Hayme; lawyers Baran Pamuk, Fuat Coşacak, Nuri Çelik, Osman Çelik, Mehmet Nuri Deniz and others were taken into police custody.

It was announced that crackdowns were also carried out in the villages of Gözeli, Hasuvar and Taşdibek.

Istanbul

The Asrın Law Office in Istanbul was raided, including many offices of lawyers in the building. It was reported that only in Istanbul at least 24 people were taken into police custody. Journalist Cengiz Kapmaz was taken into police custody during a raid on his home in Gültepe (Istanbul).

Kars

While the home of former MP Alınak was raided in the north-eastern city of Kars, it was announced that the lawyer was in Istanbul. His lawyer Bişar Abdi Alınak announced that books, CDs and documents were seized. Also his house in Istanbul was searched; three bags of documents were confiscated.

Hakkari

Four lawyers were reportedly taken into police custody during raids on their homes in Yüksekova/Hakkari (south-eastern Turkey).

Bursa

Öcalan's lawyer Ayşe Batumlu was taken into custody in Bursa (north-western Anatolia).

Batman

The home and office of BDP Batman Provincial Chair lawyer Mehdi Öztürk was reportedly searched on Tuesday morning in the scope of the probe started in Istanbul.

Van

The house of Öcalan's lawyer Sabahattin Kaya, member of the Van Bar Association, was raided in the morning. Kaya was taken into police custody and brought to the Van Police Directorate.

Mersin

Lawyer Bedri Kuran of the Asrın Law Office was taken into custody. Her home in Mersin (eastern Mediterranean coast) was searched.

Kocaeli

15 people, among them university students, were taken into police custody in Kocaeli (east of Istanbul).

Crackdown on Özgür Gündem newspaper

The police also raided the office of the Özgür Gündem ('Free Agenda') newspaper. The computers in the daily's Istanbul office were confiscated. Detained lawyers Batumlu and Kapmaz were also writing for the newspaper. The editorial board of the Özgür Gündem newspaper harshly criticized the operation in a statement issued after the probe.

Moreover, the offices of the monthly political magazines Demokratik Modernite and Dipnot were searched as well. (BIA, 23 November 2011)

Lawyers react to KCK operations: Bells tolling for Turkey

Reacting to today’s raids and searches in the houses and offices of many lawyers in the context of the “KCK operation”, lawyers said that; “These operations have no legal basis. The government want to intimidate the whole society.”

As raids and operations continue in 16 cities, and the number of detentions increases, lawyers stood up against the repression of their colleagues.

Eren Keskin: The state has lost it

“We have nothing more to say” said lawyer Eren Keskin to summarize the events and added that; “This operation is the evidence of the madness of the state’s mind. We went through hard times in 1990’s but the current events are the most incredible repression all sections of the society have experienced so far. Everybody is restless and waiting to be arrested. Everybody has the bag ready. There is no legal ground for this operation against lawyers. This is an attack targeting the public.”

Abdulbaki Boğa: Bells are tolling for Turkey

Human Rights Association (IHD) Istanbul Branch Chair Abdulbaki Boğa underlined that an operation targeting lawyers would aim to leave the public without defense. Boğa pointed out that this was a very dangerous situation in terms of Turkey’s democratic legal system.

Kemal Aytaç: Society is being intimidated

Saying that what is going on is an intimidation, lawyer Kemal Aytaç said that: “This is an unacceptable operation against the society and against those who call for law and democracy. However, those in power insist on using this violence. The operation was obviously a consequence of the disclosure of a list of people to be arrested. Lawyers will stand up to this prevarication by the political circle as it aims to isolate lawyers from the society.”
(ANF, 22 November 2011)

Mehmet Tursun was sentenced for his defence

Mehmet Tursun, father of Baran Tursun who died by the warning shot for not obeying the ‘stop’ warning at İzmir, was sentenced 11 months and 20 days of imprisonment for his defence. His words which is “Forgeries have been made at the lawsuit of Baran Tursun”, evaluated as ‘insult’ and Tursun was sentenced. The sentence didn’t postponed and didn’t turn into fine in the light of article 125/1-2 of TCC.

Mother of Baran Tursun, Berrin Tursun and uncle Süleyman Tursun were sentenced for “insulting police” for 6 months of imprisonment previously. Oral Emre Atar, cop who killed Baran Tursun was sentenced for 2 years and 1 month imprisonment.

10 months of imprisonment for press statement

Ankara Branch president of Guild of Human Rights, Gökçe otlu and 7 friends of her participated the press statement of Ezilenlerin Sosyalist Partisi on 2006.  It had demanded that ‘military operations should stop and Kurdish problem have to be solved by democratic ways’ at the press statement in front of Ministry of internal affairs. 11th High Criminal Court of Ankara gave 10 months of imprisonment to the suspects for “making terrorist organization propaganda” in the light of the photos taken at press statement. Also 9th Criminal Court of Yargıtay approved these judgements.

“Song that inspiring to commit a crime”

46 people were taken under custody at the police raids at İstanbul Okmeydanı on 10th of May. Members of Grup Yorum, Ali Aracı, Caner Bozkurt and Ali Papur were among these people. 29 people were on trial in the light of “Article 2 and 5 of Preventing of Terrorism Act” for “being a member of DHKP/C”. Music CD’s, books, banners, magazines, cards of İETT and one red scarf were proofs for this judgement. The song of Grup Yorum which was published on 1989, from the album “Gün Gelir/Cemo”, named Cemo evaluated as a song that inspiring to commit a crime in the light of terrorism organization at the accusation. Also Grup was accusated for “trying to add members to the organization”. (http://www.antenna-tr.org/sites.aspx?SiteID=48)

 
Saturday Mothers in 347th Istanbul sit in

Saturday Mothers were on the streets for the 347th time today to ask to know the fate of their loved ones who forcibly disappeared and to punish those responsible for their disappearance.

They carried the banner saying “Perpetrators are known, where are the disappeared people,” in front of Galatasaray High School, in the center of Taksim and Istanbul as well.

Mothers, who make a statement every week on the fate of a victim of unidentified murders and lost in custody, today asked the fate of Ahmet Çakıcı who was confirmed by the ECHR to have been lost in custody. Mothers also supported BDP’s woman deputies whom Prime Minister Erdoğan has recently insulted for joining the funeral ceremonies of guerillas.

The first speech was made by Hanifi Yıldız, mother of Murat Yıldız who was also lost in custody years ago. Mother Yıldız reacted to Erdoğan who said “They take advantage of the funeral ceremonies. Their hearts turned into stones” mentioning BDP’s woman deputies. Yıldız remarked that Erdoğan did politics over the tears of mothers for years as well as displaying “separatism” by distinguishing between Turkish and Kurdish mothers of young people who lost their lives in the conflict environment.

Yıldız continued as follows; “The Prime Minister is constructing a barricade between mothers whom he has been trying to separate. You are the one with a real stony heart. Are you charging us with having stone hearts while you yourself didn’t hear our voice when we were asking about the murderers of our children? You yourself should find a solution to this issue if you have a tender heart which I believe is dealing with banks or the bag law.”
(ANF, 19 November 2011)

Chaotic Start of the trial on the Revolutionary Headquarters


The hearing of the trial on the Revolutionary Headquarters organization was held before the Beşiktaş (Istanbul) 9th High Criminal Court on Thursday (17 November). 57 defendants are involved in the trial, 14 of whom are detained. Among the defendants are members of the legal Social Freedom Party Initiative (TÖPG) and the Socialist Democracy Party (SDP). The hearing started at 2.30 pm with a delay of 4.5 hours and went on till 10.25 in the evening. Both the defendants and their lawyers were surprised about the outcome that none of the defendants was released pending trial.

Family members and friends of the defendants who came to the Beşiktaş Courthouse for support were not allowed onto the premises. Upon a court request, only first-degree relatives carrying the same surname as the defendant were allowed to observe the session.

It took a long time to sort out who was allowed into the court room because the police did not have according name lists for reference. Also relatives from other cities who just came to Istanbul in order to observe the hearing were affected by the restriction.

"We do not accept to be tried together with Hanefi Avcı"

Before the proceedings started, Cemal Bozkurt, executive head of the Revolutionary Headquarters Organization, asked for admission to speak.

After President Judge Nurettin Ak gave his permission, Bozkurt announced that he refused to be tried in the same court room as defendant Hanefi Avcı, former Chief of Police of Eskişehir. Bozkurt demanded to have Avcı removed from the court room.

A discussion developed when Judge Ak declared that he was not able to expel Avcı from the courtroom. He said that under these circumstances he had to remove Bozkurt from the courtroom instead.

Defendant Bozkurt replied, "We do not accept to be tried in the same room with a torturer. The Revolutionary Headquarters is not his trial. If you expel me from the court room, who are you going to prosecute in the Revolutionary Headquarters case? I will not leave, he will go. If he will not go out we will block this hearing".

Three defendants forced to leave the hearing

In the meantime, Hanefi Avcı asked to speak and said, "I can leave once I have presented my defence". The court president rejected that request and asked if anybody else was of the same opinion as defendant Bozkurt. Detained defendant Fatih Aydın declared that he agreed with Bozkurt.

After a brief intermission of ten minutes, both defendants were forced to leave the court room. The hearing started all over and only then detained defendant Ulaş Erdoğan announced that he did not accept to be tried in the same room with Avcı either.

"I do not want to be prosecuted together with a torturer either. What do we have to do with murderers?" Erdoğan claimed and turned to Avcı shouting, "Tell me, what are you doing here?"

Court President Ak offered Erdoğan to leave the room but the defendant refused, "The police forces are ready. I will not leave this court room on my own. This is not Avcı's trial. If you like, you can drag me out of this room".

Thereupon, defendant Erdoğan was removed from the courtroom by gendarmerie officers. Erdoğan shouted slogans while he was taken out and some observers in the audience applauded him.

No releases

Istanbul Public Prosecutor Kadir Altınışık presented the indictment before the remaining defendants started to present their defence speeches. They are being prosecuted on charges of "membership of an armed illegal organization" according to Article 314/2 of the Turkish Criminal Court (TCK) under the section of "Offences against the Constitutional Order and against the Function of this Order".

Article 314 TCK stipulates, "If two or more persons make a deal to commit any one of the offenses listed in fourth and fifth sections of this chapter by using suitable means, the offenders are sentenced to imprisonment from ten years up to fifteen years, depending on the quality of offense. (2) Those who enlist to the organized criminal group defined in the first subsection are sentenced to imprisonment from five years to ten years. (3) Other provisions relating to the offense committed by forming organized criminal groups are applied exactly the same for this offense.

The court board listened to the defence speeches of defendants Tuncay Yılmaz, İbrahim Turgut, Özgür Dinçer, Özgür Aytulum, Selda Başusta Çalık, Osman Baha Okar, Semih Aydın, Hakan Soytemiz, Necdet Kılıç, Necdet Öztürk, Hanefi Avcı and their lawyers until 9.30 pm.

After an intermission, the court board announced at 22.25 pm that none of the defendants were going to be released pending trial. The court board requested to hear the plaintiff parties at the coming session which was set for 6 February 2012.

At the previous hearing on 13 August, customs civil servant Engin Öncü, SDP Chairman Rıdvan Turan, deputy chairs Günay Kulibay and Ecevit Piroğlu, party members Ulaş Bayraktaroğlu and Özgür Cafer Kalafat, unionist Kemal Hamzaoğlu and Oğuzhan Kayserilioğlu were released pending trial. (BIA, Işıl CİNMEN, 18 November 2011)


Turquie: quel modèle pour le monde arabe?

A l’heure où la Turquie s’insurge contre les violations des droits de l’homme en Syrie, alors qu’elle est donnée en modèle au monde arabe, il n’est pas admissible qu’elle « embastille » ses opposants non violents « pour terrorisme ». Il y a quinze jours, Ragip Zarakolu, éminent éditeur turc de 63 ans, était arrêté à Istanbul, avant d’être - au terme de sa garde à vue - inculpé pour « terörizm » et écroué dans une prison de haute sécurité. Son crime ? Editer des publications brisant le tabou du génocide arménien et traitant du problème kurde. Le Collectif VAN en appelle à Nicolas Sarkozy, Président de la République, à Alain Juppé, ministre des Affaires étrangères en visite ces 17 et 18 novembre en Turquie, au maire de Paris, aux principaux responsables politiques, syndicalistes et associatifs, aux intellectuels, aux instances de l’Union européenne. Ragip Zarakolu, Busra Ersanli et tous les dissidents qui sont l’honneur de la Turquie, doivent être libérés. Souhaitons qu’Alain Juppé fasse entendre à Istanbul et à Ankara la voix de la France des droits de l’homme, garante d’un idéal démocratique.

Ragip Zarakolu, directeur des Editions Belge (prononcer Bèlgué), Lauréat du Prix IPA 2008 (International Publishers’ Association) pour la Liberté de Publier, ex-président du Comité des écrivains emprisonnés (PEN-Turquie), récemment nominé au prestigieux Prix Martin Ennals pour les défenseurs des Droits de l’Homme, a été arrêté vendredi 28 octobre 2011 en Turquie, avec 47 opposants turcs et kurdes, parmi lesquels Madame Busra Ersanli, professeure de sociologie à l’Université de Marmara. Zarakolu et Ersanli ont ensuite été inculpés et incarcérés par le juge du Tribunal de Besiktas à Istanbul, pour « appartenance à un groupe terroriste armé » kurde, en vertu de l’Article 314 du Code Pénal turc, dans le cadre des « Opérations KCK ». Est-ce un hasard ? Tous deux questionnent l’histoire officielle turque sur le génocide arménien et sur les Kurdes. Ragip Zarakolu mériterait plutôt le Prix Nobel de la Paix : le samedi 21 avril 2005, cet humaniste, défenseur pacifique des droits de l’homme avait reçu à l’Hôtel de Ville de Paris en présence du maire Bertrand Delanoë, la Médaille du Courage pour ses publications sur le génocide arménien.

Homme de conviction et de justice, Ragip Zarakolu voit, une fois de plus, son engagement faire de lui la cible des autorités turques. Début octobre, son fils Deniz, éditeur chez Belge, était arrêté pour avoir donné une conférence sur La Politique d’Aristote à l’Académie du BDP, parti kurde ayant des sièges au Parlement turc. En mettant les Zarakolu « hors-jeu », la Justice turque étrangle financièrement cette maison d’édition dissidente et permet au gouvernement de donner des gages aux milieux nationalistes.

Les dérives totalitaires de l’Etat turc sont malheureusement encouragées par les accords de coopération franco-turcs, signés à Ankara par Claude Guéant le 7 octobre dernier. Depuis 2009, plus de 60 journalistes ont été emprisonnés en Turquie pour des accusations fallacieuses de « terrorisme » ou des délits de droit commun inventés de toutes pièces (cf l’arrestation de l’écrivain germano-turc Dogan Akhanli). Des milliers d’intellectuels, d’élus, d’étudiants, de militants associatifs, sont mis à l’isolement dans des prisons de haute sécurité, au péril de leur santé, dans l’attente d’un hypothétique procès. Suzan Zengin, traductrice pour les Editions Belge, d’articles et d’ouvrages concernant la purification ethnique et les génocides perpétrés en Turquie depuis le début du XXe siècle, est décédée le 12 octobre 2011, peu de temps après sa libération, faute de soins appropriés durant sa détention. Ironie de l’actualité, la répression du gouvernement AKP - parti islamo-conservateur au pouvoir - s’intensifie au moment où l’on érige la « démocratie turque » en « modèle » pour le monde arabe. Selon Erol Özkoray, journaliste turc, la Turquie cumule « l'ordre kaki et le fascisme vert ». Est-ce vraiment là le modèle que « mérite » le monde arabe ?

Pris en étau entre l’autoritarisme nationaliste et militaire des kémalistes, dits laïques, et celui du national-islamisme dit modéré, les démocrates de Turquie, bien commodément étiquetés « terroristes », sont abandonnés à leur sort par la communauté internationale. Le double langage cynique d’Ankara qui prône « plus de démocratie » comme « antidote au terrorisme » et qui propose d’insister « sur les droits humains, la justice et les libertés » (cf. propos du Premier ministre Erdoğan dans le Hürriyet Daily News du 30 octobre 2011) suffit à contenter les diplomaties occidentales.

Le Collectif VAN condamne fermement l’emprisonnement de Ragip Zarakolu, l’un des fondateurs de l’IHD [Association des droits de l’homme de Turquie], partenaire de nos actions annuelles de sensibilisation aux génocides et à leur négation, menées sur le Parvis de Notre-Dame de Paris. Le Collectif VAN appelle à signer les pétitions émanant des défenseurs turcs et kurdes des droits de l’homme pour exiger la libération de tous les prisonniers d’opinion en Turquie. Les représentants de la France et de l’Union européenne ne doivent pas accepter que l’usage de la liberté d’expression soit assimilé à un acte de terrorisme.

Espérons que ce soit le message porté par M. Alain Juppé auprès de son homologue turc Ahmet Davutoglu, du Premier ministre Recep Tayyip Erdogan et du ministre aux Affaires européennes Egemen Bagis.

Séta Papazian
Présidente du Collectif VAN [Vigilance Arménienne contre le Négationnisme]
BP 20083 - 92133 Issy-les-Moulineaux - France - contact@collectifvan.org - http://www.collectifvan.org

Hijacker's Family: We won't stay silent about this execution

Mensur Güzel was executed on a ferry in the Gulf of İzmit on 11 November by SAS-style special squads. He had hijacked that ferry because he wanted to call attention to the isolation of PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) Leader Abdullah Öcalan. He was unarmed and he did not harm anybody on the ferry. His was a spectacular action, aimed at highlighting the plight of Kurdish people.

The family of Güzel went to take his body from Yenibosna Forensic Medicine Institute. They said that Mensur had been shot six times, three of them in the head.

“They don’t even have respect for death. Mensur's body was subjected to a summary autopsy”, said Mensur’s cousin Birsen Tüzel adding that his head had been disfigured by the three bullets shot at him.

Birsen Tüzel emphasizes that they will not remain silent about the execution, adding; “We will take all legal steps to bring those responsible of this execution to account”.

“Mensur had a great heart. He was brave and could not tolerate injustice”, says Birsen about her cousin.

Birsen says that she shared her childhood with Mensur. She remembers his strength when coping with grieves.

Mensur Güzel was born in Kulp (Bahêmdan), in the village of Ayhan in 1984. As in all parts of Kurdistan, he also met state repression at a young age, when he was still a child. His village was being raided by special teams every day, while the people in the village were suffering from all kind of oppression for they were not giving in to the impositions of the state. Güzel’s family was forced to move to a metropolitan district when their village was burnt down by soldiers in 1992.

Birsen Güzel recalls those days and says “Our family fell to pieces after our village was burnt down. This separation was too much for us to overcome since we had grown up all together. Mensur was eight when his family moved to Kocaeli. After living there for five years, they moved back to Diyarbakır centre".

Birsen adds that "Mensur, like all of us, was also affected by the repression we had to live. The burning down of our village engraved in the heart of all of us. Still, the military service was the turning point for Mensur. - she recalls - He was exposed to great pressures and abuses during his military service in Lice district of Diyarbakır in 2008. He was once beaten so badly that he had his photo taken that day, so that he would never forget the day he took his decision. We have never heard from him since then. Long after, we heard that he had joined HPG.”
(ANF, 14 November 2011)

The hijacker of a ferry shot dead in the SAS style operation

Turkish security forces have stormed a hijacked passenger ferry and killed the lone assailant, ending a 13-hour siege on the boat anchored the coast of Silivri, in Istanbul, officials say.

According to the Istanbul's governor Hüseyin Avni Mutlu’s official statement, the hijacker was a member of People’s Defense Forces (HPG) and the hostages were all safe and in good health.

The identity of the hijacker, who according to the governor was carrying explosives, was announced in the morning as Mensur Güzel, born in Diyarbakır in 1984. Before his name was announced, security forces launched a raid his current home in Kocaeli where substantial amount of organizational documents were found, reported authorities.

The ship, Kartepe, was hijacked during its service from Gölcük to Değirmendere

Binali Yildirim, the Turkish transport minister, had said last night that the hijacker had not made any concrete demands and had only sought fuel, food and drink. There were reports saying that the intention of the hijacker was to head towards İmrali Island where Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan is being held. On this point the governor only said that “His demands were in accordance with the organization we believe he was a member of.”

Following the operation on the ferry, passengers were taken to the police station to give testimonies. Speaking to CNN Turk after the testimony, one of the passengers said that they themselves had seen neither the bomb nor the hijacker. He also denied the hijacker had seized their mobile phones. Indeed, he added, we never saw him as he stayed in the captain cabinet.
(DİHA, Nov 12, 2011)

HPG: Ferry action carried out by Kurdish guerrilla

In a statement HPG said guerrilla Mensur Güzel's action designed to highlight isolation of Kurdish leader Öcalan

People’s Defense Forces (HPG) Main Headquarters has said that the action on Kartepe ferry on 11 November had been carried out by HPG militant Mensur Güzel (Sinan Azad). HPG stated that the action aimed to call attention to the isolation of Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan and the torture he is subjected to for 12 years. HPG underlined that Güzel wasn’t carrying any arms or explosives and that every precautions had been taken to prevent hurting civilians in any way.

The statement noted that the action was carried out with the sole purpose of creating public opinion, and added that Güzel had been executed although he had never intended to hurt or kill anybody. He showed, the statement said, a remarkable sensibility and self-sacrifice.

The statement continued as follows; “This murder is a message the Turkish state is giving. Besides the great effort given to conceal the aim of the action as of the beginning, government officials also misinformed the public with the news that the ‘hijacker was killed because he did not surrender’. The AKP government has once more shown its real face when it comes to kill and bloodshed. By killing an unarmed person who does not represent a threat, the state has once more stated that who protects Kurds and their rights can be killed.”

HPG further stated that the fair and right struggle would continue in appropriate ways against the AKP government and its accomplices who attack the Kurdish people with all its war enforcements including all kinds of prohibited weapons.

The statement ended by calling on the Kurdish people and democratic and sensitive public opinion to read the purpose of the action by Mensur Güzel well and to do what necessary for the safety and freedom of leader Öcalan.
(ANF, 13 November 2011)

Vegan prisoner on hunger strike in Kırıkkale F Type prison

Association of Freedom for World staged a demonstration yesterday to protest Kırıkkale F-Type High Security Prison’s negligence about the demands of vegan prisoner Osman Evcan for the last four years.

Making a statement to the press in front of Galatasaray High School in Istanbul, members of the Association of Freedom for World underlined that prisoner Evcan’s situation hasn’t been improved despite the application letters he wrote so far to express his situation. The statement added that; “Following the one-year process shaped with the insensitivity of authorities and their criminal acts, Osman Evcan has begun a hunger strike as of 4 November.

Osman Evcan's friends have launched a campaign on internet (http://osmanayemek.tumblr.com/english) where there is also a petition to sign. The support campaign is called the Campaign for Vegan Food to Osman Evcan has been started, but so far, the petitions to the authorities by Evcan himself and by the Campaign have been ignored. A member of parliament, Melda Onur, submitted a written question to Ministry of Interior in the National Assembly asking as to why Evcan’s issue is being ignored and not considered. She visited Evcan in prison, but the prison authorities wouldn’t let her give the food she brought for Evcan.

WHO IS OSMAN EVCAN

Evcan is a political prisoner in Turkey  kept in high security solitary confinement prison. Due to his political and ethical convictions, Evcan became a vegan (strict vegetarian who avoids all animal products) eight years ago.

Since the Turkish authorities do not respect his right to pursue a vegan diet, Evcan has been suffering from variety of health issues as he is not getting enough vegan food to eat and he is unable to pursue a balanced diet.

In a letter he wrote from prison, Evcan mentions prison authorities giving him food in an unhygienic state and there have been instances where harmful additives and chemicals have been intentionally added to his food.

In his last letter on the 6th of November 2011, Evcan added that on an arbitrary basis, prison officers have not being providing him with escorts, so that he misses medical appointments. Having already boycotted the prison food and managing by purchasing his own food at prison cafeteria, he says in his last letter that he needs to strengthen his attitude to be heard. Therefore he started an on-going hunger strike on 4 November 2011 for an indefinite time until his demands are met. (ANF, 10 November 2011)

460 torture applications to TIHV in 2011

460 people appealed to the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TIHV) in the first 10 months of 2011 complaining that they had been exposed to torture and ill treatment. Most of the applications were made from Istanbul and Diyarbakır while torture particularly increased following the protests staged against KCK operations and against PM Erdoğan in Hopa district of Artvin in the process of last elections on June 12.

Apart from 130 people applying from Istanbul and 110 from Diyarbakır, the number of applicants is also high in Ankara, İzmir and Adana. While the high rate astonishes human rights defenders, it drew attention that applications were mostly made by demonstrators who joined protest demonstrations at universities and in Hopa where PM Erdoğan was protested before the AKP election meeting.

Applications by victims were in general made with complaints of being subjected to insult, corporal punishment, contempt, threatening with death, chemical substance, threats against their relatives, forcing to wait in the cold, undressing and isolation in cell.

One more attention grabbing rate is of the detentions made at press releases that were issued to condemn the tough attitude of police during the demonstrations staged in Hopa where police violently attacked demonstrators and killed a fifty four years old teacher Metin Lokumcu who died after suffering a struck.
(ANF, 8 November 2011)

Turkey on 92nd Position in Human Development Index

"Sustainability and Equity: A Better Future For All" is the title of the Human Development Report 2011 of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

The report reviewed 187 countries having regard to indicators like health, education, income, inequality, poverty, gender, sustainability and demography. In the Human Development Index (HDI) featured in the report, Turkey ranks in the middle on 92nd position. The country profile of Turkey reveals, "Turkey's HDI is 0.699, which gives the country a rank of 92 out of 187 countries with comparable data. The HDI of Europe and Central Asia as a region increased from 0.644 in 1980 to 0.751 today, placing Turkey below the regional average. The HDI trends tell an important story both at the national and regional level and highlight the very large gaps in well-being and life chances that continue to divide our interconnected world".

The report also draws attention to 6.6 percent of the population in Turkey that live in poverty according to the multidimensional poverty index as one of the report's indicators.

Norway is on top of the list of the 2011 Human Development Index whereas the Democratic Republic of Congo brings up the rear.

"The 2011 Human Development Report argues that the urgent global challenges of sustainability and equity must be addressed together - and identifies policies on the national and global level that could spur mutually reinforcing progress towards these interlinked goals. Bold action is needed on both fronts, the Report contends, if the recent human development progress for most of the world's poor majority is to be sustained, for the benefit of future generations as well as for those living today" the introduction of the report states.

The report published annually since 1990 aims at establishing the necessary social structures and institutions for sustainability and equity. "A joint lens shows how environmental degradation intensifies inequality through adverse impacts on already disadvantaged people and how inequalities in human development amplify environmental degradation".

While human development increased in Eastern Europe and Central Asia according to the 2011 index, these regions failed to take measures against pollution. Energy in these countries is still dependent on fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions are also very high.

The projections of the report "suggest that in many cases the most disadvantaged people bear and will continue to bear the repercussions of environmental deterioration, even if they contribute little to the problem".

"Simulations for the Report suggest that by 2050 the global HDI would be 8 percent lower than in the baseline in an "environmental challenge" scenario that captures the adverse effects of global warming on agricultural production, on access to clean water and improved sanitation and on pollution (and 12 percent lower in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa)", the report warns and urges for bold measures to be taken. "The distribution of income has worsened at the country level in much of the world, even with the narrowing of gaps in health and education achievement".

In a report on the Human Development Index by Deutsche Welle German Minister for Economic Co-operation and Development, Erhard Eppler, was quoted as saying, "People who cannot afford to buy corn or rice due to increased food prices cannot access electricity and clean water either".

The Human Development Report identified deforestation as a major challenge. "Between 1990 and 2010 Latin America and the Caribbean and Sub-Saharan Africa experienced the greatest forest losses". This, together with other factors that increase pollution, is the reason for a decrease in human development in these regions even though inequality has improved.

Regarding Asia and the Pacific region, the report points to the threat created towards the development of island countries by pollution, deforestation and the rise of the sea level. Acute problems of poverty and inequality must be solved in order to maintain the progress achieved in countries in South Asia, the report emphasized. (BIA, 4 November 2011) - Source: UNPD Human Development Reports.

Les dérapages en série de la lutte antiterroriste en Turquie

Après 72 heures de garde à vue, Ragip Zarakolu a été inculpé et incarcéré, mardi, pour « appartenance à une organisation terroriste ». Un retour brutal à la case prison pour cette figure du monde intellectuel de 63 ans, éditeur, courageux militant des droits de l’homme et défenseur des minorités, coutumier des procès absurdes. En 1971, M. Zarakolu avait été emprisonné pendant cinq mois pour « des liens secrets avec l’ONG Amnesty International ». Puis à deux ans de prison pour un article sur la guerre du Vietnam. Les 40 dernières années de sa vie ont été émaillées d’une trentaine d’arrestations. Fondateurs de la maison d’édition Belge, Ragip Zarakolu et sa femme, Aysenur, décédée en 2002, ont été poursuivis, souvent condamnés, pour avoir publié des écrits de prisonniers politiques, des ouvrages sur le génocide arménien, sur les Kurdes, ou encore une anthologie de poésie chypriote-grecque.

Cette fois, M. Zarakolu paye son engagement contre la « sale guerre » qui sévit entre la Turquie et la guérilla du PKK (parti des travailleurs du Kurdistan). Il est soupçonné, comme 43 autres personnes, d’appartenance au KCK (Union des communautés kurdes), la branche civile et clandestine du PKK, que la justice turque s’est mise en tête de démanteler. Son fils, Deniz Zarakolu, étudiant en sciences politiques et éditeur, avait déjà été arrêté début octobre, avec une centaine d’autres personnes, à Istanbul. Plus invraisemblable encore est l’arrestation de Büsra Ersanli, professeur de sciences politiques à l’université Marmara, constitutionnaliste chevronnée qui participait aux travaux parlementaires de consultation sur la future réforme de la Constitution turque. « Elle est l’une des premières à s’être attaquée au sujet extrêmement sensible de la fabrication d’un récit historique entièrement tourné vers la glorification du peuple turc », précise l’historien Etienne Copeaux. En attendant leur procès, au mieux dans un an, les accusés resteront en prison.

Ces nouvelles rafles policières dans les milieux pro-kurdes jettent le trouble sur la procédure hors normes du KCK, lancée en avril 2009 et qui a conduit à environ 8.000 gardes à vue et 4.000 inculpations. Chaque semaine, des dizaines de noms viennent s’ajouter à la liste. « Demain, c’est à notre porte qu’ils peuvent sonner, il n’y a plus de justice », clamait lundi, Sebahat Tuncel, députée du BDP (parti de la paix et de la démocratie), devant le tribunal d’Istanbul. Sont déjà incarcérés, 5 députés, 10 maires élus, 30 conseillers municipaux, des dizaines de responsables locaux du parti kurde, des milliers de militants et de sympathisants. Les procès abusifs se sont multipliés. Une femme kurde illettrée a été condamnée à 7 ans de prison pour avoir brandi une banderole et un slogan favorable au PKK. Des centaines d’enfants pour avoir jeté des pierres sur la police… Pour le politologue Ahmet Insel, le parti au pouvoir mène désormais une guerre totale contre la société civile kurde. « Le premier ministre a adopté une stratégie d’éreintement du PKK, juste après les élections municipales de 2009, frustré de ne pas être sorti vainqueur contre le BDP. Depuis lors, les mentors et les partisans de cette stratégie mènent un bombardement de propagande (…) Elle vise à nettoyer le champ politique de tous les « Kurdes hypocrites » et de ceux qui les soutiennent. La police, la justice et les médias y travaillent main dans la main ».

Cette offensive menée au nom de la lutte contre le terrorisme s’inscrit dans une tradition judiciaire tenace. La Turquie détient, de loin, le record  mondial d’inculpations pour « terrorisme ». Selon l’agence AP, auteur d’une étude sur une décennie de « guerre mondiale contre le terrorisme » depuis le 11 septembre 2001, plus de 35.000 personnes ont été inculpées dans le monde, dont 13.000 pour la seule Turquie, loin devant la Chine et les Etats-Unis. Sur la seule année 2009, la Turquie a condamné deux fois plus de « terroristes » (6.300) que les Etats-Unis en 10 ans. L’immense majorité de ces condamnations concerne des militants kurdes, mais plus récemment, des dizaines de militaires et d’opposants virulents à l’AKP ont été incarcérés dans des affaires de complots contre le gouvernement. Des manifestants contre la construction d’une centrale hydroélectrique, ou encore des étudiants qui ont interrompu un meeting pour réclamer « un enseignement gratuit », ont été lourdement condamnés.

La Turquie détient enfin le record du nombre de journalistes emprisonnés, près de 60. « Aucun pour leurs écrits, tous pour des dossiers de terrorisme », tente de justifier Egemen Bagis, le ministre des Affaires européennes. Mais le champ de la loi anti-terroriste, élargi en 2006, e permet par exemple au parquet de Diyarbakir de poursuivre le journaliste Recep Okuyucu, pour s’être connecté au site de l’agence de presse Euphrate, proche du PKK, dont l’accès est interdit en Turquie. La couverture de manifestations et l’accès aux sources peuvent être criminalisés. « Les journalistes sont soumis à une pression sur le traitement de la question kurde qui équivaut à l’époque où l’Etat major qui dictait la ligne », constate Erol Önderoglu, correspondant de Reporters Sans Frontières.
(Le Monde, 3 novembre 2011)


Hate crime to the earthquake victims
 

People is committing hate crimes at media and television channels after the 7,2 severity earthquake happened at Van and after the attack which PKK killed 24 soldiers. Say Stop to the Racism and Nationalism Organization pointed out that these kind of expressions are elements of crime. (Click for viewing post from Twitter and Facebook). 
 
News-caster of Habertürk defined the earthquake with: “We are very sorry even though the earthquake took place at Van, east of Turkey”.  Also narrator of the Tatlı Sert which is broadcasting at ATV, Müge Anlı said that: “ Everyone have to know their place. You will throw rocks and then ask for help like you did nothing. The police immediately run for help. I curse the ones who throm rocks at them”. Cevat Beşi and Fatih Mehmet Şahin told Bianet that they will going to sue Müge Anlı for the comments she made. (
Freedom of Expression Weekly Bulletin (Issue 43/11, October 28, 2011)

They were plaintiffs but they are convicted
 
The police related the police station at Ankara Esat, took members of Pembe Hayat Buse Kılıçkaya, Derya Tunç and Naz Güdümlü on a night of June 2010 in their cars under custody. Lawsuit opened against the organization members who made a criminal complaint against police force for “Blocking police tasks”, “aspersion” and “damaging public property”. Buse Kılıçkaya convicted 5 months of imprisonment for “blocking police tasks and aspersion”, was acquitted of “damaging public property” at the “5th Criminal Court of First Instance of Ankara. Derya Tunç convicted 6 months of imprisonment and Naz Güdümlü convicted 1 year of imprisonment for “blocking police tasks and aspersion”. The convictions of Tunç and Güdümlü were delayed for five years but the conviction of Kılıçkaya weren’t delayed. Appeal deadline to the decision were announced as seven days. Kılıçkaya talked to Bianet and said that:
 
“Actually the event started like this. We made a criminal complaint and became plaintiff against police because of their use of force arbitrary. After that the police became plaintiff against us. Polis Our case was rejected, theirs accepted.”
Freedom of Expression Weekly Bulletin (Issue 43/11, October 28, 2011)

Pression sur les médias / Pressure on the Media

Arrested publisher Zarakolu says he is in Kafkaesque novel

Prominent publisher, writer and activist Ragip Zarakolu, who was arrested last month within the scope of the ongoing Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) trials, wrote a letter to the Hürriyet Daily News from prison, casting light on his present condition.

“Everything has been proceeding in an exceedingly Kafkaesque manner since the start,” Zarakolu, recipient of numerous prestigious awards, said in his letter to the Daily News.

Zarakolu spoke about his efforts to be transferred to the same penitentiary where his son Deniz Zarakolu, a Ph.D. student in Istanbul’s Bilgi University, has been detained in the northwestern province of Edirne due to his alleged links with the KCK since the start of October.

“Deniz is in Edirne, and I am in Kandira. I handed over a petition to the Bakirköy Coordination Prosecutor’s Office for our situation to be rectified. I requested to be transferred next to my son in Edirne,” said Ragip Zarakolu, who is held in an F-type prison in the northwestern province of Kocaeli where dangerous convicts are kept.

“My only chagrin is that the prosecutor’s office declined to let me see [my wife] Catherine. Fortunately, the police turned out to be more merciful and enabled us to meet in the Besiktaş courthouse on the day of the trial,” Zarakolu said in his letter, which bore a written statement that it had been reviewed by a prison committee.

Zarakolu also said he served prison time in 1972 due to a book published by his Belge Publishing House. He said his health was in good condition despite all the difficulties he had to face and described his time behind bars as “days passed under dim lights in long corridors.”

He also said he had begun to learn Kurdish because some of his fellow inmates spoke no Turkish. “I am learning Kurdish to conduct daily human conversations. I am also teaching German to my friends.”

Zarakolu said he picked up Tolstoy’s “Resurrection” and began reading it again after a lapse of 40 years. “This book is extremely important for me to be able to compare the past and the present. ‘Resurrection’ is about the problematic of conscience and catharsis.”

Ragip Zarakolu was arrested Nov. 1 alongside prominent academic Büsra Ersanli and dozens of other suspects upon the order of an Istanbul court.
(Hürriyet Daily News, Vercihan Ziflioğlu, November 29, 2011)

Prominent professor Server Tanilli dies at age of 80

Turkish Constitutional Law Professor and writer Server Tanilli died at the age of 80 yesterday in Istanbul.

Tanilli was a lecturer in Istanbul University Faculty of Law before 1980 and he was also at lecturing on the “History of Civilization” in the State Fine Arts College, also in Istanbul.

He was paralyzed from the waist down after a terror attack on April 7, 1978. He moved to France and worked in Strasbourg University for many years. He returned to Turkey in 2000 and started writing columns for daily Cumhuriyet.

His books titled, “History of Civilization” and “State and Democracy: Introduction to Constitutional Law” were influential in the intellectual environment of post-1980, especially among the youth. His book History of Civilization was a textbook in universities. His other books include “What Kind of an Education We Want?” six-volume “Truth and Heritage of Centuries,” “Dialectic of Change and Revolution,” “Constitutions and Political Documents.” Tanilli was awarded 2006 Sertel Democracy Award.

Tanilli observed the worldview of individuals who become Marxists without reading and understanding Voltaire, Diderot and Rousseau is reduced to a slogan. According to him, one cannot understand life without the culture of enlightenment, his former student İnci Hukum told the Daily News.
(Hürriyet Daily News, November 29, 2011)

International Media Organisations Renew Demand to Release Imprisoned Journalists

A mission of international journalists and media organisations - including the European Federation of Journalists and its affiliate, the Türkiye Gazeteciler Sendikası (TGS - Journalists' Union of Turkey), and a delegation of the German Deutscher Journalisten Verband (DJV), the International Press Institute (IPI), Reporters Without Borders (RSF), and the European Association of Journalists (AEJ) - on a visit to Turkey from 22-24 November to witness the deteriorating state of press freedom in the country today denounced the fact that 64 journalists are still in jail. 

"We are impressed by the fact that the journalistic community in Turkey is now joining forces to fight for media freedom and the release of their jailed colleagues," the delegation said. "The solution of the problem lies in Turkey. As representatives of international organisations, we strongly support our colleagues and urge the authorities to talk to them and find democratic solutions on the issue of press freedom. The climate of fear and self-censorship that we observed must be put to an end."

Demonstration and process

On Tuesday, mission participants took part in a demonstration in front of the Caglayan Justice Palace, Istanbul, where the trial of 10 imprisoned Turkish journalists was to start. The demonstration took place without any incident, despite a massive police presence. However, the conditions of the hearing left the observers deeply concerned. In a much-too-narrow and overcrowded court room, which some delegates could only reach after more than two hours queue, the journalists' lawyers demanded the recusal of one of the three judges for alleged bias and sought the release of their clients, who remain under indictment. The court refused the demand for release and postponed the case until 26 December, when a higher court is expected to make a decision on the recusal request.

Meeting with families

On Wednesday, the mission's members met with families of detained journalists at the headquarters of the Freedom for Journalists Platform. After numerous and moving testimonies of facts, fear and courage, the participants voiced a number of recommendations, including the establishment of an organization to help the imprisoned journalists' families, the production of an "information kit" for foreign journalists who are unfamiliar with the poor situation of press freedom in Turkey and legal training for young Turkish journalists to allow them to better report on judicial cases.

Meetings in Parliament

On Thursday, the delegation, whose request to meet the Turkish minister of Justice was declined, met in Ankara with vice-presidents of the parliamentary groups of all political parties in the Turkish Parliament.

The three opposition parties promised to support a special session in the Turkish Parliament on press freedom and also to send MPs as observers to the trials of journalists. The ruling AKP party declared it would "take into consideration" the first proposal, as well as the possible monitoring of conditions of detention of journalists "and other detainees". They also promised to involve NGOs, non-governmental organisations, in future legislation on press issues.

Following the meetings, the international journalists and media organisations:
-  repeat their concern and their anger over the worsening situation of press freedom in Turkey, which currently has the highest number of imprisoned journalists in Europe;
-  demand a change in legislation to drop cases opened against journalists under the umbrella of the anti-terror law and the Turkish penal code;
- maintain their request for the immediate release of imprisoned Turkish journalists.

(TGC-EFJ, 24 November 2011)


Buzek tance Ankara au sujet des journalistes emprisonnés

Le président du Parlement européen, Jerzy Buzek, a critiqué vendredi la Turquie au sujet des dizaines de journalistes emprisonnés, et a préconisé de régler cette question dans le cadre de la réforme de la Constitution.

"Je suis personnellement inquiet de la situation de la liberté de la presse et d'expression en général", a-t-il dit au terme de deux jours de discussions à Ankara avec les dirigeants turcs et des représentants de la société civile.

"L'incarcération d'autant de journalistes n'est pas une situation typique comparée aux autres pays d'Europe (...) C'est une situation absolument inhabituelle", a-t-il dit lors d'un point de presse.

Sur le dossier des libertés et des droits de l'Homme, pour lequel la Turquie est régulièrement épinglée, le gouvernement islamo-conservateur d'Ankara est accusé par l'opposition de mener une campagne d'intimidation contre la presse
 Quelque 70 journalistes et écrivains sont inculpés pour leurs écrits, notamment sur la question kurde. Plusieurs d'entre-eux sont accusés de comploter contre le gouvernement et jugés dans le cadre des lois anti-terroristes.

"Je dois clairement dire que je ne suis pas d'accord avec cet argument" qui consiste à juger les journalistes en invoquant des lois anti-terroristes, a souligné M. Buzek, exhortant les autorités gouvernementales à amender ces dispositions.

"Sans une presse libre nous ne pouvons bâtir une véritable démocratie", a-t-il estimé, se disant "optimiste" que la nouvelle loi fondamentale que le gouvernement turc souhaite faire adopter au Parlement l'an prochain serait à même de surmonter ce problème.

"Il existe une occasion historique pour la Turquie" avec ce nouveau texte de garantir les libertés individuelles, a ajouté le responsable. 
(AFP, 25 nov 2011)

Kurdish Newspaper Özgür Gündem raided by the police

'The operations of political genocide' with respect to Kurdish question, continues today with tens of arrests and the raiding of several houses and workplaces such as our newspaper's office. The central bureau of our newspaper, Özgür Gündem, has been raided by the police forces and all our computers have been taken under the possession of the same. Our writers, Cengiz Kapmaz and Ayşe Batumlu (Lawyer), have been arrested. Several lawyers of the PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan and many members and representatives of the Peace and Democracy Party have also been arrested. According to official declarations, approximately 120 people have been arrested.

We, as the tradition of Özgür Gündem, we are familiar with this kind of political repression. Although the government tells its lies under arrogant expressions as "Turkey, which is developing, changing and democritizing", there is an ongoing 'political genocide' towards the Kurdish politicians, intellectuals, journalists and their friends and comrades. We understand that they will continue this 'genocide' until "there is no one Kurdish supporting the Kurdish liberation movement".

We are protesting the government's party, Justice and Development Party's attitude and so called "KCK operations" towards our newspaper Özgür Gündem as well as towards all the Kurdish politicians, intellecutuals and media.

We, hereby, declare that the truth is our only motto. Anyone who take a look to our history, will understand that any kind of political repression will be useless to stop us. We will definitely continue to struggle and resist against the tyrants since the outrageous repressions continue against people fighting for liberty and democracy on this land of blood and tears. We also would like to declare that we will continue without any slight hesitation to reveal the truth as it is for what its worth.

We call our readers, friends and everyone who support the freedom of speech and press, to take side against this repressions and to promote the solidarity. Nov 22, 2012

Editorial Board of Özgür Gündem Newspaper

Ouverture du procès de deux journalistes célèbres jugés pour complot

Le procès de deux journalistes d'investigation de renom accusés d'avoir aidé une organisation qui cherchait à renverser le gouvernement islamo-conservateur s'est ouvert mardi à Istanbul au milieu des protestations des nombreux journalistes et défenseurs de la liberté de la presse.

En détention préventive depuis neuf mois, Nedim Sener, lauréat 2010 de l'Institut international de la presse, et Ahmet Sik, étaient présents à la première audience de leur procès, dans une salle bondée d'avocats et de journalistes, a constaté une source présente à l'audience.

Les deux hommes sont accusés, avec 12 autres inculpés, d'avoir aidé le réseau dit Ergenekon, soupçonné d'avoir tenté de créer un terrain favorable à un coup d'Etat militaire en multipliant les attentats et les campagnes de désinformation.

Sener et Sik risquent de sept ans et demi à 15 ans de prison.

L'acte d'accusation souligne que le réseau Ergenekon avait constitué une branche "médias" pour "orienter l'opinion publique", en s'assurant notamment que "des actions de provocation aient une résonance sensationnelle dans la société".

En mars, un tribunal a ordonné la saisie des brouillons d'un essai d'Ahmet Sik portant sur l'infiltration de la police par des milieux islamistes, estimant que l'ouvrage constituait "un document (...) faisant clairement la propagande pour une organisation terroriste", dans une allusion à Ergenekon.

Nedim Sener a pour sa part publié un livre sur le meurtre du journaliste d'origine arménienne Hrant Dink, tué en 2007 par un jeune nationaliste, dans lequel il critiquait l'enquête menée par la police.

Lors de cette première audience, les avocats de la défense ont réclamé la libération de leurs clients pour la durée du procès et le dessaisissement des juges, estimant notamment que l'un d'entre eux, Ali Fuat Yilmazer, s'était rendu coupable de malversations durant le procès Dink, selon une source à l'audience.

Hors du tribunal, quelque 200 journalistes et défenseurs des droits de l'Homme ont manifesté pour réclamer la libération des accusés. "Il n'y a pas de société libre sans journalisme libre", pouvait-on lire sur une banderole.

"Où sont les preuves que le procureur avait promis pour justifier l'incarcération de ces journalistes ? (...) L'acte d'accusation montre que c'est bien pour des activités journalistiques que ces journalistes sont en prison et c'est totalement intolérable", a déclaré à l'AFP Johann Bihr, de Reporters sans Frontières.

Quelque 70 journalistes sont actuellement emprisonnés en Turquie, dont "au moins 15 ou 20 pour leur activité journalistique", selon M. Bihr, soulignant que "l'effet d'intimidation qui découle (de ces arrestations) est extrêmement préoccupant".

"Ce genre de palmarès n'est pas vraiment compatible avec un pays qui prétend faire la promotion de la démocratie et de la liberté d'expression", a commenté devant le tribunal Stephen M. Ellis, de l'Institut international de la presse.

Pour le journaliste Ertugrul Mavioglu, les médias turcs sont la cible de pressions multiples depuis plusieurs années.

"Les patrons de presse ont été muselés avec des amendes fiscales et il y a des briefings pour expliquer aux journalistes comment ils devaient écrire. Certains journalistes qui ont publié des informations qui ne plaisaient pas ont été licenciés. Et parfois il y a des arrestations", a déclaré ce proche d'Ahmet Sik.

La cour a transmis la demande de déssaisissement à une cour d'appel et refusé de statuer sur une libération des accusés. Elle a fixé la prochaine audience au 26 décembre, a rapporté l'agence de presse Anatolie.

Des centaines de personnes sont actuellement en prison en Turquie, accusées dans différents complots supposés contre le régime.
(AFP, 22 nov 2011)

Appel à la manifestation devant le Parlement européen

La Turquie accusée d'avoir utilisé des armes chimiques

Depuis le 16 Août 2011,  l'aviation turque bombarde régulièrement les montagnes du Kurdistan irakien. Des milliers de soldats sont mobilisés dans ces montagnes pour combattre le guérilla. Les autorités politiques et militaires turques ont pris une position en faveur d'une guerre contre les Kurdes. Avec cette prise de position la Turquie s'éloigne plus en plus d'un règlement pacifique de la question kurde et elle risque d'entrer dans un nouveau cycle de violences.

En 22 et 24 octobre, l'armée turque avait utilisé des armes chimiques et des bombes au napalm, après la mort de 35 guérillas au cours d'une opération militaire. Les organisations de défense des droits de l'homme ont qualifié les corps entièrement brulés ou mutilés « d'atrocité ».

Ce n'est pas la première fois que la Turquie est accusée d'avoir violé les conventions internationales sur les armes interdites.

Au moins 437 guérillas kurdes ont été tuées par des armes chimiques lors des 39 opérations militaires menées par l'armée turque depuis 1994.

Arrestations massives de kurdes en Turquie 

Le 28 octobre 2011, dans une nouvelle vague d’arrestation, la police turque a arrêté à Istanbul M. Ragip Zarakolu, journaliste, défenseur des droits humains bien connu, directeur de la maison d’édition Belge et Président du Comité de liberté de publication de l’Association des éditeurs de Turquie, Mme Büşra Ersanlı, professeur du droit constitutionnel et membre du Parti pour la paix et la démocratie (BDP) ainsi que des dizaines de personnalités kurdes. Ces arrestations s’ajoutent à plus de 4500 membres et dirigeants du BDP arrêtés au cours de ces six derniers mois dont 1600 d’entre eux ont été incarcérés. Parmi ces derniers figurent également Deniz Zarakolu, fils du Ragip Zarakolu, et l’auteur Aziz Tunç.

 La paix ne pourra jamais être obtenue dans les conditions actuelles de peur au sein de la population, de paranoïa, et de politiques autoritaires. 

Nous faisons appel au tout le monde  mettre en place une pression internationale, devenue particulièrement cruciale et urgente en ces temps où tout citoyen de Turquie peut devenir la cible du gouvernement Erdogan, du pouvoir judiciaire et de la police, pour s’être engagé dans des actes politiques de solidarité avec les personnes détenues en vertu des "opérations KCK." Et qu’il arrête d’ utiliser des armes chimique contre le guérillas kurde.

Collectif des Immigrés Opprimés - info@kollektif.be
Union des femmes socialistes - skb-belcika@hotmail.com


Le mardi 22 novembre, de 15h à 17h,
Place Luxembourg
(Devant le parlement europeen)

Actions taking place during Abdullah Gul’s official visit to the UK

Solidarity with Prisoners of Conscience in Turkey,
with the support of Kurdish Federation UK,
KNK and Peace in Kurdistan Campaign invite you to a Vigil on

1) 22 November (7pm onwards) outside Buckingham Palace (at Buckingham Gate)

2) 23rd November morning at 10.30 till noon at Buckingham Gate

23rd November afternoon :1 p.m. till 2.30 p.m. opposite Downing St, Whitehall
to coincide with the visit of the Turkish President Abdullah Gul
and to a meeting on 23 November 5pm
to support Ragip Zarakolu, detained by the Turkish State in a high security prison
At 1 Parliament St., Parliamentary Offices, Houses of Parliament
(on the corner of Parliament Square and Bridge St. next to the Parliamentary Bookshop)

Information about the events as well as the full text of the speech delivered by Khatchatur Pilikian at the British Houses of Parliament:

http://www.armenianlife.com/2011/11/24/free-zarakolu-and-his-comrades-in-letters-and-human-rights-campaigners-in-turkey/


Letter calling to actions:

Last week, in a speech criticising the oppressive situation in Syria (for which he was lauded by “the international community”), Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Mr Assad to respond to demands to stop using violence. ‘No regime can survive by killing or jailing’, Mr. Erdogan, the hypocrite, said: ‘No one can build a future over the blood of the oppressed’.

Yet, in Turkey, he presides over a government that continues to engage in these very crimes. We urge him to heed his own advice. The Turkish government continues to engage in violence and state terror to perpetrate genocide and war crimes, whilst imprisoning thousands of people (many in isolation) – intellectuals, publishers, academics, trade unionists, ‘pro-Kurdish’ politicians, human rights activists, students, journalists, musicians and journalists – in his pursuit of a military as opposed to a peaceful resolution of the ‘Kurdish’ and ‘Other Questions’.

Our vigil on 22nd November and the meeting on 23rd November seeks to draw public attention to our calls for justice and our opposition to these shameful and criminal Turkish state practices. Nearly 4,000 people have been arrested in the past 30 months alone. According to the worldwide writers association PEN, Turkish authorities have arrested up to 1,000 scholars, writers, publishers and rights advocates alone during a two-year crackdown. The head offices of the Human Rights Association (İHD), the Education and Science Workers' Union (Eğitim-Sen) and the Health and Social Service Workers Union (SES) in the south-eastern city of Urfa have also been raided with members detained. Kemal Aydin, Executive of the Association for Solidarity and Support of Relatives of Disappeared People (YAKAY-DER) has been detained. In the most recent wave of detentions in October, internationally recognized freedom of expression advocate and human rights publisher Ragip Zarakolu was detained and placed in a high security prison, pending trial. There are very real fears for his safety and well-being, and we wish to express our concern that such detentions and the attempt to criminalise popular mobilisations against these crimes being perpetrated by the Turkish government and armed forces must be exposed and brought to an immediate end.

Under the guise of ‘anti-terrorism’ initiatives, no one is ‘safe’ any longer. The Turkish Prime Minister’s warning to those protesting against Ragip Zarakolu’s detention merely highlights the extent to which matters have reached crisis point. As the Director of Belge, Ragip has published key path-breaking books on the Armenian, Assyrian-Syriac, Greek, Kurdish and ‘Other’ genocides and the nature of Turkish state terror. He is the recipient of Turkey’s Journalist’s Society’s (2007) Press Freedom Prize, the International Association of Genocide Scholars’ (2007) Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Battle Against Deniers of the Armenian Genocide and All Denials of Genocides, the International Publishers Association’s (2008) Freedom to Publish Prize and the Hakop Meghapart Medal of Honour Lifetime Achievement Award (2011) from the Armenian Human Rights Association. He is currently a nominee for the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders. As European Federation of Journalists President, Arne König, clarifies: “The arrest of a journalist and well-known intellectual under the pretext of terroristic activities is clearly arbitrary and abusive ... It shows how eager the government is to muzzle any critical voice by using anti-democratic methods”.

Several intellectuals, including Murat Belge and Yaşar Kemal, have clarified that: “The [recent] detention of Professor Büşra Ersanlı is [also] a heavy blow dealt to Turkey's efforts towards a real democracy with equality, peace, social justice and academic and political freedoms. We demand the immediate release of Professor Büşra Ersanlı and all other jailed politicians, academics and journalists who work for peace, democratic rights and freedoms in our country”. The Platform for Solidarity with Arrested Journalists (TGDP) has also cautioned: "Who is next? The terror of mass detentions and arrests against Kurdish politicians who act in accordance with the Anti-Terror Law (TMY) and against journalists is a direct attack on free speech, freedom of demonstration and assembly and press freedom. TMY operations have no credibility at all with unfounded allegations”.

To the Ankara Initiative for Freedom of Thought, the Anadolu Culture and Research Association, the Effort, Peace and Democracy Party, the Modern Lawyers Association - Ankara Branch, the Freedom in the Revolutionary Way, the Federation of Democratic Rights, the Revolutionary 78's Federation, the Proletarian Movement Party, the Socialist Party of the Oppressed, the Lever, Struggle Solidarity and Socialist Democracy Party, the Socialist Party of Laborers, the Socialist Future Party Initiative, the 78's Initiative and the Partisan, Social Freedom initiative:

Hezbollah butchers who buried people alive in the Kurdish Geography are being released one after another. We call out to all components of the hegemonic apparatus which are accomplices of the genocide in this country, including the AKP government. You have no justice, your democracy is fake, your human rights discourse is eyewash! … We do not expect "justice" from you, too. As we memorialize our Akhparik Hrant [Dink] in the fourth year, we declare that we will continue to expose racist-genocidal practices which were conducted against Armenians, Nestorians, Chaldeans, Syrian Orthodoxes, Pontus and Aegean Greeks in the past and which are conducted against Kurds, Alevis, Romani-Gypsies today and the denial policies.

Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Group Vice President Hasip Kaplan has noted that ongoing 'operations' in Turkey represent a “policy of war”, not “a policy of negotiation”: “The Kurdish issue is a problem with political, economic, social, cultural, historical extents and its solution must be ensured at the Parliament through peaceful and democratic means … [But] the way [it is] following is the way of crimes against humanity and genocide”. The genocide claims have been backed up by the findings of key genocide scholars, including Tove Skutnabb-Kangas (Professor Emerita at Abo Akademi University, Vasa, Finland).

For Emma Sinclair-Webb of Human Rights Watch: “The arrests of Ragip Zarakolu and Büşra Ersanlı represent a new low in the misuse of terrorism laws to crush freedom of expression and... We are seeing the Turkish police casting the net ever wider in the crackdown on legal pro-Kurdish association in Turkey politics ”. In his first letter from prison, sent through his lawyer Özcan Kiliç, Ragip has stated that: "My arrest and the accusation of membership of an illegal organization are parts of a campaign aiming to intimidate all intellectuals and democrats of Turkey and particularly to deprive the Kurds of any support".

We call for your solidarity!

For information contact eilian@talktalk.net 07588256783  
& Peace in Kurdistan Campaign estella24@tiscali.co.uk tel 020 7586 5892


Turquie : la plus grande prison du monde pour les enseignants

Le gouvernement AKP du premier ministre Recep Tayyip Erdogan a transformé la Turquie en une grande prison pour les enseignants, comme pour les journalistes, étudiants et les élus. Environ 40 membres de la Confédération des syndicats des fonctionnaires  publics (KESK), dont plus de 20 enseignants, sont actuellement derrières les barreaux.

Le gouvernement AKP et son idéologue, la confrérie de Fethullah Gulen, deviennent de plus en plus menaçants pour la liberté d'expression  et d’association, réprimant systématiquement et brutalement les opposants.

Plus de 20 enseignants en prison

En neuf ans, le pays est devenu la plus grande prison du monde pour les journalistes avec environ 70, pour les étudiants avec 500 et pour les élus, dont 18 maires et 6 députés BDP, principal parti kurde, ainsi que 2 députés CHP, le parti kémaliste et principale formation de l'opposition qui reste toujours loin d’être un vrai parti de gauche.

Le gouvernement Erdogan a lancé en 2009 une campagne d’arrestations systématique dans le cadre de l’affaire KCK, accusé d’être la branche politique du PKK qui, selon Erdogan, œuvre pour un État « parallèle », quelques semaines après le succès historique du parti kurde lors des élections municipales de Mars 2009.

Cette affaire, considérée comme un complot politique par les kurdes, est devenue une arme redoutable de la justice sous contrôle d’AKP, pour intimider et arrêter tous les opposants. Depuis 2009, près de 8 000 membres du BDP ont été arrêtées pour des faits d'exercice de la liberté d'expression, sans compter l’arrestation des milliers d’autres personnes accusées d'entretenir des liens avec le PKK

Intimidation

L’un des cibles de ces opérations sont les activités de la Confédération des syndicats des fonctionnaires  publics. Environ 40 membres et responsables de cette confédération ont été incarcérés. Parmi eux figurent 21 enseignants, membres du syndicat des enseignants Egitim-Sen, au sein de la confédération KESK.

« Près de 120 fonctionnaires publics ont été tués dans les années 1990. Aujourd’hui, le concept n’a pas changé mais la forme » a dit à l’ActiKurde Mehmet Bozgeyik, le secrétaire générale du syndicat des enseignants. Pour lui, l’AKP et la confrérie Gulen veulent intimider les opposants pour renforcer les syndicats et les organisations « partisans ».

« Nettoyage » dans l’enseignement

Les écoles et les foyers de cette confrérie dans la région kurde mènent une politique d'assimilation des Kurdes, sans jamais reconnaitre la légitimité de leurs revendications. Apres la prise de contrôle de la police, de l’armée, des services secrets et de la justice, l’AKP et la confrérie ont lancée une veritable opération de « nettoyage » dans l’enseignement, visant notamment les étudiants et les enseignants kurdes.

« Que la police, enseignants, travailleurs sanitaires et procureurs aillent (dans la région kurde), entrent dans leurs érythrocytes et leucocytes. Qu’ils les envahissent, encerclent, bouleversent » disait récemment Fethullah Gulen, dans un message vidéo.

La confrérie Gulen gouverne la Turquie

« C’est un moment difficile pour les travailleurs du secteur public » affirme Bozgeyik, ajoutant que la police arrête les opposants avec des « accusations mensongères », sans aucune preuve.  Il souligne que plusieurs autres enseignants kurdes ont été exilés vers l’ouest du pays, dénonçant le conservatisme dans l’enseignement.

Attirant l’attention sur le clientélisme répandu dans le domaine de l’éducation, il affirme que les nouveaux enseignants sont désignés par la confrérie.  « C’est Fethullah Gulen qui gouverne maintenant la Turquie. Les membres du KESK et du syndicat Egitim-Sen deviennent  naturellement leurs cibles » a-t-il ajouté.

Ergenekon vert

Fethullah Gulen, qui vit actuellement sur une parcelle de terrain achetée au milieu des montagnes Pocono en Pennsylvanie au États-Unis, est accusé d’avoir instauré une organisation secrète, appelée   « Ergenekon vert » ou « Ötüken », à la place d’Ergenekon kemaliste, considéré comme « Etat profond ». Ce dernier a été partiellement démantelé par le gouvernement sous l’accusation d’avoir comploté pour renverser l’AKP, afin de le remplacer par le sien. Aucun jugement pour des crimes innombrables commis contre les kurdes !

Le PKK a récemment annoncé avoir détenir des documents sur « Ergenekon vert », ajoutant être prêt à les rendre à des journalistes « courageux » qui n’hésiteraient pas à publier ces documents.

Le mouvement Gulen est également accusé d’être un projet d’islam modéré soutenu  par Washington. « Relocalisée en Pennsylvanie peu après les attentats du 11-Septembre, la confrérie de Gülen dispose effectivement de liens étroits avec le renseignement américain. L’imam prêche un islam modéré qui permet à Washington de contrer l’influence des groupes djihadistes » résumait Intelligence Online, le magazine français. (
Maxime-Azadi, http://blogs.mediapart.fr/blog/maxime-azadi/181111/turquie-la-plus-grande-prison-du-monde-pour-les-enseignants)

Day of the Imprisoned Writer: 71 Journalists in Jail in Turkey

In a joint statement issued on 15 November, the Day of the Imprisoned Writer, the Writers Union of Turkey (TYS), the PEN Turkey Centre and the Publishers Association of Turkey demanded the abolishment of Articles 6 and 7 of the Anti Terrorism Law (TMK) on "Disclosure and Publication" and "Terrorist Organizations" respectively.

The group also protested against the arrest of publisher and writer Ragıp Zarakolu and academic Prof Büşra Ersanlı as two of more than 40 people who are detained in the context of the so-called KCK operations regarding the Union of Kurdistan Communities that also includes the outlawed PKK.

The press conference was held at the Istanbul Medical Chamber. It was emphasized in the statement that about 70 journalists and writers are currently incarcerated in Turkey besides thousands of pending trials.

Articles 6 and 7 of the TMK should be abolished

The President of the Publishers Association of Turkey, Metin Celal, reminded that most of the detained journalists and writers are being prosecuted under the amendments of Articles 6 and 7 of the TMK made in 2006. Celal urged for the immediate abolishment of both articles.

Situation in Turkey

A total of 71 journalists are behind bars on the Day of the Imprisoned Writer. They have been arrested under allegations of "membership in an organization", "propaganda for an illegal organization", "influencing a fair trial" and "praising crime and a criminal". The list of convicts, defendants and people in pre-trial detention is getting longer and longer.

Most of the journalists are being prosecuted in the scope of the TMK. The Anti-Terrorism Law quickly narrows down free and independent journalism and the people's right to information.

Ten of the imprisoned journalists are in jail on the grounds of their news or books. A total of 25 journalists are currently behind bars in the context of operations and investigations related to the Union of Kurdistan Communities - Turkey (KCK), the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Revolutionary Patriotic Youth (DYG), 16 in the context of the clandestine "Ergenekon" organization charged with the attempt to topple the government, seven in connections with the Marxist Leninist Communist Party (MLKP), six related to the Party and Revolutionary Front for the Liberation of the Turkish People (DHKP-C), two in the scope of the "Revolutionary Headquarters" terrorist organization, and one each in the context of the Turkey's People's Liberation Party-Front (THKP-C) and the Resistance Movement trial.

One journalist is tried under allegations of "affiliations with an illegal organization" even though the name of the "organization" has not been mentioned yet. Another journalist is being detained because he protested the Governor of Istanbul, Hüseyin Avni Mutlu. The investigation about Isamail Avan form the Halkın Günlüğü newspaper is still going on.

Persecuted because of their writings

Managing editors of the Kurdish Azadiya Welat newspaper Vedat Kurşun, Ruken Ergün and Ozan Kılıç are in detention on 15 November just as Azadiya Welat Batman representative Deniz Kılıç; Dicle News Agency (DİHA) Batman representative Erdoğan Alkan, Diyarbakır representative Kadri Kaya; Batman Post writer Mehmet Karabaş; Aram Publishing owner and executive of the Hawar newspaper Bedri Adanır; editor-in-chief of the Workers and Peasants on the Path of Revolution newspaper Barış Açıkel and New Comment and New Comment in the Country owner and manager Saadet Irmak.

KCK-PKK-DYG

14 journalists are in jail as convicts of trials related to the KCK, the PKK and the DYG: İhsan Sinmiş, Seyithan Akyüz, Murat İlhan, Ali Konar, Abdülcabbar Karabeğ and Ali Çat from Azadiya Welat; DİHA employees Behdin Tunç, Faysal Tunç, Mehmet Karaaslan and Ali Buluş; Gündem Mersin representative Bayram Parlak, GÜN TV radio speaker Rohat Ekmekçi; Dilşah Ercan, writer for the Yorum newspaper and the Yeni Özgür Halk magazine and Radio Dünya executive Kenan Karavail.

DİHA Hakkari reporter Hamdiye Çiftçi, DİHA Adana reporter Ahmet Akyol, GÜN TV General Manager Ahmet Birsin and Azadiya Welat Tunceli reporter Nuri Yeşil are detained pending trial.

DİHA reporters Sinan Aygül and Feyyaz Deniz still do not know what they are charged with. With arrests in the course of KCK operations in October, the number of people waiting for the announcement of the indictment rose to seven; including Özgür Gündem editor Kazım Şeker, DİHA reporter Aydın Yıldız, Azadiya Welat former general publications director Tayyip Temel, Özgür Gündem writer Songül Karatagna and writer and publisher Ragıp Zarakolu.

Ergenekon

The number of journalists imprisoned on the grounds of the Ergenekon case increased to 16 after the arrest of Turan Özlü, general Publications Director of Ulusal Kanal ('National Channel'), in August.

The other detainees are Cumhuriyet newspaper writer Mustafa Balbay, journalist and writer Tuncay Özkan, Kanal B Television concessionaire Mehmet Haberal, Ulusal Kanal television general publications director Hikmet Çiçek, Aydınlık magazine general publications director Mehmet Deniz Yıldırım, journalist and book author Ahmet Şık, Milliyet newspaper reporter Nedim Şener, Oda TV internet site concessionaire Soner Yalçın, Oda TV internet site general publications director Barış Pehlivan, Oda TV internet site news manager Barış Terkoğlu, OdaTV internet site writers Coşkun Musluk, Doğan Yurdakul, Müyesser Uğur Yıldız and Muammer Sait Çakır, journalist and writer Yalçın Küçük.

MLKP

Eylül Hapishane ('September Prison') editor Erdal Süsem, Atılm Magazine owner and editor-in-chief Hatice Duman and Atılım Magazine Istanbul reporter Dilek Keskin were convicted in the trial related to the underground Marxist Leninist Communist Party (MLKP).

Atılım Newspaper publications coordinator Sedat Şenoğlu, Atılım Magazine writer Hasan Çoşar, Bayram Namaz and Özgür Radio general publications coordinator Füsun Erdoğan have trials pending in the context of the MLKP.

DHKP-C

Yürüyüş magazine employees Naciye Yavuz, Kaan Ünsal and Cihan Gün, Kamu Emekçiler magazine owner Halit Güdenoğlu, Kamu Emekçiler magazine editor-in-chief Musa Kur and Emek ve Adalet magazine Ankara representative Mustafa Gök are in pre-trial detention and await their indictments related to DHKP-C trials.

Besides...

Hakan Soytemiz from Red/International and Osman Baha Okar from Bilim ve Gelecek are being prosecuted in the scope of the Revolutionary Headquarters trial. Odak magazine editor-in-chief Erol Zavar received a life sentence in the "Revolutionary Movement" case. In the trial on the "THKP-C Revolutionary Path", Devrimci Hareket magazine writer Mehmet Yeşiltepe was sentenced to imprisonment of eight years and nine months. Miktat Algül from the Mersin Mezitli FM-Ulus newspaper is tried under allegations of affiliation with an illegal organization while the name of the organization has not been disclosed yet.

Engineering Architecture and Planning + Acceleration Magazine editor-in-chief Fatih Özgür Aydın is in pre-trial detention since 25 July because he protested Istanbul Governor Hüseyin Avni Mutlu. (BIA, 17 November 2011)

Journalist Şık's "Unpublished" Book Launched on Book Fair

The book originally planned to be entitled "The Imam's Army" written by journalist Ahmet Şık was finally introduced to the public under its new title "000Book" at the TÜYAP Book Fair in Istanbul on Wednesday (16 November). Writer Şık has been detained for 260 days now after he was arrested on 6 March 2011 in the scope of the Ergenekon investigation.

The book was presented at press conference held at the booth of the PEN Writers Association. The event was attended by some of the 125 writers who signed the book that had previously been seized by the authorities before it could go to print but leaked to the internet later on.

The book deals with the impact of an alleged organization established within the police by the Fetullah Gülen religious community over the past 25 years. On 23 March this year, the digital copy of the then yet unpublished book was confiscated in a raid on the İthaki Publishing Company.

Thereupon, a group of 125 people came together to work on the draft of Şık's book. Some corrected typographical errors, others checked the punctuation and after all the book went to print at the Postacı Publishing House seven and a half months later.

The press conference at the PEN exhibition stand was attended by members of the civic initiative ANGA, i.e. "the journalist friends of Ahmet and Nedim [Şener]", among them Prof İhbrahim Kaboğlu, politician Ercan Karakaş and Fadime Göktepe, mother of journalist Metin Göktepe who was killed in police custody.

The attendees of the press conference declared, "We, the ANGA in short, are the Journalist Friends of Ahmet and Nedim. Our colleagues Ahmet Şık and Nedim Şener were arrested only and genuinely because they made journalism. For us, these arrests were an attack on press freedom, freedom of thought and against democracy so we came together".

"Today is an important day for us. A book was brought to light that is the joint product of 125 writers, mainly journalists but also friends of Ahmet Şık among them. Its title is "000Book". Its subtitle: "The one who touches gets burned", they announced.

"The book we hold in hand right now was written by one person and corrected, proofread and spell-checked by many. Some did the pre-reading, others made the final check and the entire group of 125 writers claim responsibility for the book".

"We fight for a Turkey where journalists are not being arrested because they do their job, where the news they make are not being obstructed and where the books they write are not being prohibited", the ANGA members concluded and added:

"Let us cut a long story short: We will touch even if we get burned".

The writers of the book

This is the list of people who signed the book as writers:

Ahmet Büke, Ahmet Meriç Şenyüz, Ahmet Şık, Ahmet Tulgar, Ahmet Ümit, Akın Tek, Ali Murat Hamarat, Ali Ömer Türkeş, Alper Kırklar, Alper Turgut, Arat Dink, Aslı Erdoğan, Aslı Tunç, Ayça Söylemez, Aydın Engin, Ayfer Tunç, Ayşe Düzkan, Ayşegül Devecioğlu, Ayşenur Arslan, Bağış Erten, Banu Güven, Berat Günçıkan, Burak Cop, Can Dündar, Candan Yıldız, Cem Özdemir, Çiğdem Mater, Çiğdem Öztürk, Claudia Roth, Deniz Gökçe, Didem Danış, Dinç Çoban, Ece Temelkuran, Ekin Karaca, Elif Ilgaz, Elif Yılmaz, Emine Ocak, Ercan İpekçi, Erdinç Ergenç, Eren Eğilmez, Erol Önderoğlu, Erkan Çapraz, Ertan Önsel, Ertuğrul Mavioğlu, Esra Arsan, Ezgi Başaran, F. Cengiz Erdinç, Fahri Alakent, Fatma Göktepe, Foti Benlisoy, Franziska Keller, Gaye Boralıoğlu, Gökçer Tahincioğlu, Gökhan Tan, Gülşah Karadağ, Gülşin Ketenci, Gün Zileli, Gürhan Ertür, Güventürk Görgülü, H. Hüseyin Tahmaz, Hakan Güneş, Hakan Lokanoglu, Halil Nalçaoğlu, Hazal Özvarış, Hilmi Hacaloğlu, İbrahim Aydın, İbrahim Kaboğlu, İrfan Aktan, İsmail Beşikçi, İsmail Saymaz, Jaklin Çelik,  Jean-Francois Julliard, Johann Bihr, Kemal Göktaş, Kumru Başer, Mahmut Hamsici, Maside Ocak, Mebuse Tekay, Mehmet Demir, Mehmet Güç, Mehmet Kaçmaz, Mehmet Kuyurtar, Melek Göregenli, Mirgün Cabas, Murat Hamarat, Murat İnceoğlu, Murat Sabuncu, Murat Uyurkulak, Murathan Mungan, Mustafa Alp Dağıstanlı, Nazım Alpman, Nevin Sungur, Nilgün Toker, Niyazi Dalyancı, Osman Kavala, Osman Şenkul, Özgür Gürbüz, Özgür Mumcu, Pınar Öğünç, Ragıp Duran, Rengin Arslan, Reyda Ergun, Rıdvan Akar, Serdar M. Değirmencioğlu, Serkan Seymen, Serra Akcan, Siren İdemen, Süleyman Arıoğlu, Şanar Yurdatapan, Şebnem İşigüzel, Şükrü Argın, Tuğrul Eryılmaz, Uğur Vardan, Ümit Alan, Ümit Kıvanç, Vecdi Erbay, Vedat Türkali, Yahya Şafak Eser Koçoğlu, Yaşar Kemal, Yıldırım Türker, Yücel Göktürk, Yücel Tunca, Zehra Kafkaslı, Zerrin Kurtoğlu, Zeynep Altıok, Zeynep Erdim. (BIA, 17 November 2011)

Letter to Hillary Clinton by two US former attorneys on Zarakolu's arrest

The Center for Armenian Remembrance (C.A.R.) is extremely concerned and outraged by the imprisonment of Mr. Zarakolu. Two publications by C.A.R. have been translated into Turkish in association with Mr. Zarakolu, including (1) Malta Belgeleri, the trial of the Young Turks responsible for the Armenian Genocide, and (2) Raphael Lemkin’s Dossier on the Armenian Genocide, a compilation of legal contributions made by the ‘father’ of the Genocide Convention.

CAR has informed us that Former City of Pasadena Mayor and attorney William Paparian, and attorney Vartkes Yeghiayan, protesting the arrest of Mr. Zarakolu and demanding a Congressional hearing in front of the House Foreign Affairs Committee addressed the following letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on November 4, 2011:.

The Honorable Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton

U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520

Dear Secretary Clinton,

It is with profound distress that we write you regarding the recent news that the prominent Turkish human rights activist, writer, and publisher, Ragıp Zarakolu, along with fifty other individuals, including his son Deniz and Büşra Ersanlı, a professor of political science at Istanbul’s Marmara University, were detained by Turkish authorities. Allegations that these prominent individuals are members of an “an illegal organization,” caught during a sweep-up that has been dubbed the KCK operation, are dubious. The operation, which has yet to conclude, is evidently targeting members of Turkey’s minority Kurdish community, namely those who belong to the political wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, the KCK (Union of Communities in Kurdistan).

Mr. Zarakolu has been charged under the country’s overbroad and vaguely-defined anti-terrorism laws for giving a lecture in Istanbul in 2010 to an assembly of the BDP (Peace and Democracy Party), a pro-Kurdish political party that boasts 36 seats in Turkey’s parliament. According to Zarakolu’s lawyer, Özcan Kılıç, his lecture was not recorded and there is little means of determining its content and what it may have contained to warrant his arrest. Moreover, aside from an article that was published by the online newspaper Dicle New Agency, no documents or other pieces of evidence have been adduced to even suggest that he has committed a crime. It should be borne in mind that the government has tried to link the BDP with the PKK, even though the former has avowed that there is no affiliation between the two.

Mr. Zarakolu has been a leading champion for the advancement of freedom of expression, civil liberties, social justice, and democracy in the Republic of Turkey for more than twenty years. He is a member of the Turkish branch of the PEN literary organization and is the chair holder of the Freedom to Publish Committee based in Turkey. Belge, the publishing house he and his late wife Ayşenur founded in 1977, has translated numerous books and other works that deal with the issues of the Armenian Genocide and the rights of the national minorities of Turkey. Zarakolu’s work has been hailed internationally and in recognition thereof, he has been awarded the NOVIB/PEN Free Expression Award, as well as the IPA Freedom to Publish Prize.

It is for this unfathomable reason that any of the allegations leveled against Mr. Zarakolu hold any water. Moreover, and unfortunately, it is all too clear that he and the others who are currently in custody were targeted in a coordinated campaign by Turkish authorities to crack down on dissenters. Mr. Zarakolu has been subject to this type of harassment for well over thirty years. His permission to travel outside of the country was revoked in 1971 and reinstated only twenty years later. In 1995, a right-wing group was blamed for a firebomb attack that destroyed the offices of his publishing house in Istanbul. In the past decade, the Turkish government has opened a multitude of cases against Zarakolu, charging him for violating the country’s draconian laws, including the notorious Article 301, which makes it a crime to “insult the Turkish nation.”

The United States State Department, as well as other international organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the United Nations, and the European Commission, have amply documented Turkey’s ongoing abuse of human rights and stifling of civil liberties. Your department’s own 2010 report on the status of human rights in Turkey highlighted the hostile political climate ordinary citizens are forced to submit to: “Individuals in many cases could not criticize the state or government publicly without risk of criminal suits or investigation, and the government continued to restrict expression by persons sympathetic to some religious, political, and Kurdish nationalist or cultural viewpoints.” Indeed, the Turkish republic’s repression of the cultural rights of Kurds is particularly egregious, as it has since its establishment in 1923 tried to limit the! use of their language and marginalized the Kurdish national identity.

Several organizations have stepped forward in defense of Zarakolu and the other defendants and condemned the Turkish government’s actions. In a letter published on November 1, Human Rights Watch remarked that the arrests “ the huge deficiencies of Turkey’s criminal justice system” and the detention of Zarakolu and Ersanlı “represent a new low in the misuse of terrorism laws to crush freedom of expression and association in Turkey.” It noted that there is “scant evidence to suggest the defendants engaged in any acts that could be defined as terrorism as it is understood in international law.” PEN International has similarly expressed its concerns over whether fair trial standards are being observed, including unusually lengthy detentions. This is especially significant considering that Mr. Zarakolu’s health is in poor state and it is unlikely! that he will be able to endure the harsh physical conditions of the Turkish prison system.

In light of all this, we call upon you to share precisely what approach will the State Department take regarding these politically motivated arrests. The United States government’s recent decision to sell three AH-1W Super Cobra gunship helicopters and Predator and Reaper pilotless drones to Turkey certainly does not inspire any confidence in the belief that the further supply of U.S. military matériel is contingent upon Turkey undertaking genuine reforms in the area of civil rights and democracy. The United States has silently abetted and thus been complicit in allowing the Republic of Turkey to continue to violate the human rights of its citizens. Because of this deplorable policy of “business as usual” we believe that it is most appropriate to contact the House Foreign Affairs Committee to hold hearings on the matter and have the State Department testify and explain i! ts position.

Thank you Madame Secretary.

William Paparian, Esq.
Vartkes Yeghiayan, Esq.

PEN International's Day of the Imprisoned Writer

The Day of the Imprisoned Writer is an annual, international day intended to recognize and support writers who resist repression of the basic human right to freedom of expression and who stand up to attacks made against their right to impart information.

This year PEN will focus on a number of specific cases from around the world that represent the type of threats and attacks faced by writers. The journalists which have been chosen as representatives of the threats and violence writers are subjected to are Turkish journalists, Nedim Şener and Ahmet Şık, who have been detained for writing books and articles disclosing police and other high level links to individuals arrested in the Ergenekon case under which over 200 people are accused of being involved in coup plots.

The other journalists are:

Reeyot Alemu (Ethiopia), political columnist who has been held incommunicado and without charge since her arrest on 21st of June 2011. Ms. Alemu is believed to be detained under Ethiopia’s sweeping 2009 antiterrorism law. 

Susana Chavez (Mexico), poet and human rights activist who was murdered on 6 January 2011 in an attack many have claimed was the result of her writing and activism. 

Tashi Rabten (Tibet), poet and essayist, convicted of inciting separatism for a collection of political articles he wrote concerning the suppression of the March 2008 protests in Lhasa.

Abdul-Jalil Al-Singace (Bahrain), activist and online blogger who has been sentenced to life imprisonment for publicising the deteriorating human rights situation in his home country. 

PEN will be also be using the day to commemorate the 33 writers and journalists killed since 15 November 2010.

PEN Centres around the world are organising various events to mark the day.

PEN German-speaking Writers Abroad will be hosting an event at the WDR Radio Studio in Cologne, including readings, music and an interview with Ragip Zarakolu’s lawyer. Highlights from the event will later be broadcast by the station. http://www.exilpen.net

Turkish PEN Centre will be holding a joint press meeting with the Turkish Authors Syndicate, Turkish Journalists Society, Contemporary Journalists Society and Turkish Publishers Association. The event we focus in particular on the recent arrests of Ragip Zarakolu and Busra Ersanli.
US Congress gives green light to SuperCobra helicopters sale to Turkey . (ANF,  15 November 2011)

Lettre du Collectif 1971 au Ministre belge des affaires étrangères

Monsieur le Ministre,

Objet : Arrestation de l'éditeur Ragip Zarakolu

Nous sollicitons, en tant que Collectif 1971 - associations issues de l'immigration politique en provenance de Turquie - votre intervention en faveur de Monsieur Ragip Zarakolu.

La police turque a arrêté le 28 octobre 2011 à Istanbul, Ragip Zarakolu, proéminent défenseur des droits de l'Homme et directeur de la maison d'édition Belge. Zarakolu est également président du Comité de liberté de publication de l'Association des éditeurs de Turquie.

Son fils, Deniz Zarakolu, éditeur de la Maison d'édition Belge, avait déjà été mis en état d'arrestation le 4 octobre 2011 à Istanbul.

Zarakolu a publié plusieurs livres sur l'oppression des minorités nationales en Turquie et sur le génocide des Arméniens.

Le même jour, dans le cadre de la même opération policière, la professeure Büşra Ersanlı, experte en droit constitutionnel et membre du Parti pour la paix et la démocratie (BDP), a été arrêtée avec des dizaines d'opposants kurdes.

L’arrestation a provoqué une vague d’indignation internationale.

En tant que Collectif, nous connaissons la courageuse et exceptionnelle contribution de Zarakolu à la defense des droits fondamentaux et des libertés des peuples arménien, assyrien, grec, kurde et turc.

Selon l'Association internationale des éditeurs (IPA), l'emprisonnement de Zarakolu et de son fils, ainsi que la professeure Ersanli et d'autres intellectuels, constituent une violation des obligations de la Turquie, définies dans l'article 19 du Pacte international relatif aux droits civils et politiques (PIDCP) et l'article 10 de la Convention européenne des droits de l'homme (CEDH).

Reporters Sans Frontières, la Fédération internationale des Journalistes, l'Institut International de la Presse, PEN International,  Fédérration internationale des droits de l'Homme et Human Rights Watch condamne avec vigueur l'arrestation de Ragip Zarakolu et s'inquiète de la situation des médias et de la liberté de la presse en Turquie. (*)


Amnesty International, via un communiqué du 11 novembre 2011,  appelle les autorités turques à libérer Ragip Zarakolu, Busra Ersanlı et les autres personnes détenues en vertu de la législation antiterroriste sans délai si elle ne peut pas présenter de preuves crédibles les liant à des actes violant les droits humains.

Etant donné ce qui précède, nous sollicitons Monsieur le Ministre votre intervention et restons à votre disposition pour tout autre renseignement que vous jugeriez nécessaire.

D’avance nous vous remercions de l’attention que vous réserverez à notre courrier.

Dans l’attente, veuillez agréer, Monsieur le Ministre, l’expression de notre parfaite considération.

*Information détaillées:
http://www.info-turk.be/399.htm#Ragip

COLLECTIF 1971

Bogos Ökmen
L'Association des Arméniens Démocrates de Belgique
74, rue des deux églises - 1210 Bruxelles

Nahro Beth-Kinne
L'Institut Assyrien de Belgique
15 rue Brunard - 1090 Bruxelles

Derwich Ferho
L'Institut Kurde de Bruxelles
16 rue Bonneels - 1210 Bruxelles

Dogan Özgüden
La Fondation Info-Türk
53 rue de Pavie - 1000 Bruxelles

Secrétariat: Iuccia Saponara, Tél: 02-736 78 95
E-mail: collectif1971@scarlet.be


Journalists Emir and Yılmaz Died in Earthquake

Journalists Cem Emir and Sebahattin Yılmaz from the Doğan News Agency (DHA) lost their lives in the 5.6 magnitude earthquake that hit the city of Van (eastern Turkey) on 9 November. The quake came as an aftershock of the major earthquake that had rocked the region with a force of 7.2 on Richter Scale on 23 October.

The funeral ceremonies for Van reporter Yılmaz Diyarbakır and Emir, reporter for the south-eastern province of Diyarbakır, were held on Sunday (13 November).

Emir was laid to rest in the district of Hozat (Çığırlı village) after a ceremony at the Dersim Cem House. Yılmaz was buried at the Eski Asri Cemetery in his hometown of Erzurum (north-eastern Turkey).

Emir and Yılmaz were in Van in order to follow the developments after the major earthquake in October. The 7.2 seismic shock with its epicentre in Eriç had caused the death of more than 600 people.

Both Cem Emir and Sebahattin Yılmaz were reported missing subsequent to the 5.6 magnitude aftershock on 9 November. In the night from Friday to Saturday (11/12 November), first Emir's body was found at around 22.30 pm. Towards the morning at around 4.00 am, also the remains of Yılmaz emerged from under the rubbles.

Nylon shelters against wintry weather conditions

People who lost their homes stay in tents or in primitive shelters they put up themselves because they were not able to find a tent. Six-year-old boy Deniz Olgun died of pneumonia he caught after wintery weather conditions made the situation even more difficult due to the cold. The family of Deniz was not able to find a tent after the earthquake so they stayed with twelve family members in a shelter made of nylon.

This first news of a death on the grounds of difficult conditions after the earthquake was reported by journalist Nevzat Çiçek on Twitter on 11 November. (BIA, 14 November 2011)

L'arrestation de Zarakolu a marqué l'ouverture de la Foire du livre d'Istanbul

L'arrestation de Ragip Zarakolu, directeur de la maison d'édition Belge, a marqué l'ouverture de la Foire international du livre d'Istanbul le 12 novembre 2011.

Lors de son discours d'ouverture, le ministre de la culture et du tourisme Ertuğrul Günay a déclaré: "J'observe avec grande préoccupation les développements dans  l'arrestation de l'éditeur distingué Ragip Zarakolu. Nous avons maintenant devant nous un nouveau processus qui devrait nous mener à une constitution démocratique. J'espère que, même sans attendre l'adoption de cette nouvelle constitution, nous pourrons apporter des modifications à la loi anti-terreur actuelle qui engendre de tels exemples de mauvaises et injustes interprétations."

A cette occasion, 24 auteurs dont les livres ont été publiés par la maison d'édition Belge ont diffusé un communiqué commun condamnant l'arrestation de Zarakolu.

Soulignant que Zarakolu a contribué de manière inestimable à l'illumination de l'obscurité, les auteurs disent: "Avec la publication des livres sur l'histoire et les valeurs culturelles des peuples arménien assyrien, kurde et hellénique, Zarakolu a contribué à briser les tabous et à la reconnaissance réciproques de ces peuples. Il est également un véritable ami toujours solidaire avec tous ceux qui ne peuvent pas s'exprimer librement, dont les livres, revues et journaux sont interdits et tous ceux qui se trouvent en prison ou en exil. Nous, les sous-soussignés qui nous trouvons dans différents pays, dont les livres ont été publiés par la Maison d'édition Belge, condamnons l'arrestation de Zarakolu comme un 'suspect de terrorisme' et demandons sa libération immédiate."

Ce communiqué, rendu public à la Foire Internationale du livre d'Istanbul, est signé par:

Abdülkadir Konuk - Allemagne
Doğan Akhanlı - Allemagne
Doğan Özgüden - Belgique
Emine Erdem - Allemagne
Erdal Boyoğlu - Autriche
Fadil Öztürk - Allemagne
Faysal Dağlı - Allemagne
Fevzi Karadeniz - France
Hasan Bildirici - Suisse
Haydar Işık - Allemagne
Helmut Oberdiek - Allemagne
Hüseyin Erdem - Allemagne
Hüseyin Şimşek - Autriche
Kemal Yalçın - Allemagne
Lokman Kondakcı - France
M.Şehmus Güzel - France
Mehdi Zana - Danemark
Mehmet Çetin - Pays-Bas
Mehmet Desde - Allemagne
Nuray Bayındır - France
Raffi Hermonn - France
Sabri Atman - Suède
Sirri Ayhan - Allemagne
Süleyman Danışman - Suisse


Zarakolu's Arrest Marked the Istanbul Book Fair's Opening

The Belge Publishing House's Director Ragip Zarakolu's arrest marked the opening of the TÜYAP International Istanbul Book Fair on November 12, 2011.

Opening the fair, Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay said: "I observe with great concern the developments in distinguished publisher Ragıp Zarakolu's arrest... We now have a new democratic constitution process ahead of us. I hope we can make amendments to the Anti-Terror Law that has the potential to create such examples of wrong interpretations and injustice without waiting for a new constitution to be written."

On this occasion, 24 writers whose books were published by the Belge issued a joint communiqué condemning Zarakolu's arrest.

Stressing that Zarakolu has made invaluable contributions to the enlightenment of darkness, the writers say: "Publishing the books on Armenian, Assyrian, Kurdish and Hellenic histories and cultural values, Zarakolu has contributed to breaking taboos and recognition of each other by these peoples. He is also the reliable friend and supporter of all those who cannot express themselves freely, whose books, reviews and newspapers are forbidden, and all those who are in prison or in exile.  We, the undersigned living in various countries abroad whose books were published by the Belge Publishing House, condemn Zarakolu's arrest as a 'suspect of terrorism' and ask his immediate release."

The joint communiqué, made public at the International Istanbul Book Fair, is signed by:

Abdülkadir Konuk - Germany
Doğan Akhanlı -
Germany
Doğan Özgüden - Belgium
Emine Erdem -
Germany
Erdal Boyoğlu - Austria
Fadil Öztürk -
Germany
Faysal Dağlı - Germany
Fevzi Karadeniz - France
Hasan Bildirici - Switzerland
Haydar Işık -
Germany
Helmut Oberdiek - Germany
Hüseyin Erdem - Germany
Hüseyin Şimşek - Austria
Kemal Yalçın - Germany
Lokman Kondakcı - France
M.Şehmus Güzel - France
Mehdi Zana - Denmark
Mehmet Çetin - Holland
Mehmet Desde -
Germany
Nuray Bayındır - France
Raffi Hermonn - France
Sabri Atman - Sweden
Sirri Ayhan -
Germany
Süleyman Danışman - Switzerland

Le tournant liberticide turc

L'Europe veut voir dans le gouvernement turc et dans son leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan la solution à toutes ses peurs devant la montée des partis islamistes au lendemain des révolutions

arabes. Puisque ceux-ci invoquent le modèle de l'AKP turc - promoteur dit-on d'une voie originale de démocratie islamo-conservatrice -, il n'y a plus lieu de s'inquiéter, la marche vers

la liberté se poursuivra sans faillir ! Ce soulagement est exprimé en boucle, notamment par de

nombreux commentateurs de politique internationale.

Les raisons de s'alarmer sont pourtant nombreuses dès lors que la réalité politique turque est considérée en ce qu'elle est, et non pour se rassurer à peu de frais. Car la fameuse "démocratie musulmane" (comme on a parlé en Europe de "démocratie chrétienne") n'a pas du tout les vertus qu'on veut bien lui prêter. En témoignent le sort des minorités ethniques et la situation de la liberté d'expression.

L'acharnement du pouvoir contre les médias indépendants osant aborder la situation kurde ou  la domination de l'AKP est devenu grave, comme l'a souligné Reporters sans frontières dans un communiqué du 26 octobre. Pour n'évoquer qu'un seul cas parmi les soixante-dix journalistes emprisonnés pour délit d'opinion, Ahmet Sik, auteur d'un ouvrage censuré avant même d'être publié, portant sur l'influence de l'organisation de sensibilité religieuse de Fethullah Gülen au sein de la police et de l'État, croupit en prison depuis mars.

S'engager pour la fin de la violence d'État contre les Kurdes et demander pour ces derniers la reconnaissance, comme citoyens turcs, de leurs droits à la liberté individuelle et au pluralisme culturel, ou simplement informer l'opinion publique, font l'objet d'une répression policière et judiciaire de plus en plus systématique.

Octobre figurera à cet égard comme l'un des mois les plus critiques pour les démocrates turcs. Le 4 octobre, Deniz Zarakolu, ingénieur, doctorant à l'université Bilgi d'Istanbul, et éditeur pour la maison Belge qui joue un rôle essentiel dans la diffusion des recherches de pointe, a été arrêté pour avoir donné une conférence sur "La Politique, d'Aristote", dans le cadre de l'académie du parti kurde BDP (Parti de la paix et de la démocratie), parti légal qui siège au Parlement. Puis ce fut le tour d'Ayse Berktay (Hacimirzaoglu), chercheuse et traductrice, d'être interpellée à son domicile d'Istanbul et incarcérée.

Le 28 octobre, Büsra Ersanli, professeure renommée de sciences politiques et de droit constitutionnel de l'université Marmara, était arrêtée la veille de la table ronde internationale qu'elle devait diriger à l'université Bilgi d'Istanbul sur "Les questions controversées de l'histoire de la République turque". Le même jour, Ragip Zarakolu, le directeur des éditions Belge (et père de Deniz), par ailleurs membre fondateur de l'Association des droits de l'homme et ex-président du Comité des écrivains emprisonnés (PEN-Turquie), était lui aussi placé en garde à vue. Quarante-huit autres interpellations étaient effectuées par la police qui a investi les bureaux stanbuliotes du BDP. Le maintien en détention, jusqu'à leur procès, de Büsra Ersanli et de Ragip Zarakolu a été prononcé, le 1er novembre, par le tribunal de Besiktas.

Menées par les unités antiterroristes de la police, ces arrestations dites "opérations KCK" (Rassemblement social du Kurdistan) visent à détruire le travail d'intellectuels, d'avocats et d'universitaires turcs pour bâtir une démocratie respectueuse des minorités et des droits individuels. Le gouvernement emploie contre eux la manière forte et compte sur la justice - qu'il contrôle - pour briser ces engagements pacifiques et le travail d'information.

Depuis 2009, près de 8 000 personnes ont été arrêtées pour des faits d'exercice de la liberté d'expression. En cela, la Turquie d'Erdogan révèle son vrai visage, celui d'un pouvoir qui a de moins en moins à envier au régime des généraux des années 1980. Rien à voir en tout cas avec la démocratie islamique tant vantée ces dernières semaines.

La Turquie est riche de ses démocrates, de ses artistes, de ses intellectuels indépendants. Plusieurs milliers d'entre eux se battent courageusement depuis des années pour repousser l'ultranationalisme, demander la lumière sur les crimes du régime militaire, défendre la mémoire arménienne et la liberté de l'histoire, protéger les droits de l'homme, rapprocher les communautés, exercer en d'autres termes leurs droits d'homme ou de femme dans un pays qu'ils veulent libre.

La voie démocratique en Turquie réside bien plus sûrement dans ce travail de liberté de la société civile et intellectuelle que dans les manœuvres dilatoires d'un gouvernement adepte des méthodes de désinformation pour mieux étouffer la vérité sur sa politique de répression. Celle-ci avait du reste guidé sa première appréciation du "printemps arabe", à travers un soutien affirmé aux dictateurs en place, de Mouammar Kadhafi à Bachar Al-Assad -, ce dernier qu'Erdogan qualifiait de "bon ami".

Le sort des démocrates turcs intéresse toute l'Europe. Leurs combats déterminent son avenir autant que celui de la Turquie. Ne l'oublions jamais. Et battons-nous pour Ayse, Büsra, Deniz, Ragip et tous ceux qui attendent leur procès en prison et sacrifient leur liberté pour un idéal commun.

Dans un moment où, par une remarquable opération de marketing, on promeut la démocratie turque comme un modèle pour le monde arabe, cette dernière vague d'arrestations révèle une fois pour toutes le mode de fonctionnement du pouvoir AKP : réduire à néant le mouvement politique kurde, inculper les intellectuels de Turquie qui travaillent à l'arrêt des combats à l'est du pays, s'emparer de l'appareil d'État pour écarter toute opposition, intimider l'ensemble des médias, et se draper pour finir dans le drapeau de la démocratie pour mieux égarer des opinions européennes complaisantes. En somme, c'est une démocratie "bonne pour l'Orient" qu'on essaie de nous vendre ici.

Nous dénonçons cette stratégie qui vise à terroriser la société turque au nom de la lutte contre le terrorisme. Un journaliste d'investigation n'est pas un terroriste, un universitaire engagé n'est pas un criminel, un éditeur indépendant n'est pas un traître. Ces hommes et ces femmes sont l'honneur de la Turquie. Nous appelons la communauté à faire pression sur le gouvernement turc pour la libération des prisonniers d'opinion. Nous demandons aux États européens de sortir de l'angélisme et de regarder l'histoire en face. (Le Monde, 11 novembre 2011)

Hamit Bozarslan, directeur d'études à l'Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS) ; Vincent Duclert, professeur agrégé à l'EHESS et Ferhat Taylan, doctorant en philosophie et traducteur.

Appel du journaliste Erol Özkoray pour Zarakolu

Ragip Zarakolu est quelqu'un de très précieux surtout pour les Arméniens.

Lors de nos différentes visites aux organisations Arméniennes à Paris, j'ai vu de mes propres yeux combien il est aimé et respecté par les Arméniens de France.

En Turquie, il est le premier à briser le tabou concernant le Génocide. Avec sa femme Aysenur il a déjà fait la prison parce qu'ils reconnaissaient le Génocide des Arméniens.

Sa femme est une Sainte pour nos amis Arméniens. Elle n'est plus en vie, et maintenant c'est son mari qui porte le flambeau.

C'est un éditeur hors pair qui brise les tabous et qui défait l'histoire officielle.

C'est grâce à lui que nous avons su que dans ce pays nous avons eu plusieurs génocides : Arméniens, les Roums (les Grecs d'Anatolie), les Khaldéens, les Cyriaques, brefs tous les chrétiens.

C'est un symbole aussi pour la démocratie, pour la liberté de presse et pour la liberté d'opinion. En l'emprisonnant c'est l'avenir démocratique du pays qui est en jeu, mais aussi toute une intelligentsia et les intellectuels opposants qui deviennent un appât entre les mains des islamistes. Zarakolu est actuellement une proie entre l'ordre kaki et le fascisme vert.

Il faut absolument sauver cet homme pacifique et humaniste, et nous comptons beaucoup sur les Arméniens de France et de l'Europe. Il faut que les Arméniens mettent toutes leurs connexions (ministre, députés, homme politique, écrivains, journalistes, défenseurs des droits de l'homme, etc...), bref tous les mécanismes de leur lobby à travers la France et l'Europe pour faire libérer le plus vite possible cette homme. C'est un "Grand Homme" rare pour nous tous, que nous devons protéger et nous sommes dans l'obligation de le sauver; ainsi nous pouvons bâtir une très forte amitié entre les peuples Arméniens et les peuples de Turquie, que symbolise déjà Ragip en sa personne depuis maintenant plus d'un quart de siècle.

Erol Özkoray
Journaliste-Ecrivain
(De : Imprescriptible <001@imprescriptible.fr>)

Qui est Erol Özkoray ?
..... fondateur et rédacteur en chef de la revue trimestrielle Idea Politika, poursuivi, en vertu de l’article 159 du code pénal, pour "insulte à l’armée " et "insulte à la République". Dans plusieurs articles, le journaliste a analysé le rôle que joue l’armée turque au sein des institutions, son omniprésence politique et son poids économique, qui bloquent la démocratisation du pays, candidat à l’Union européenne. Pour le seul article publié en mars 2001, intitulé "Coup d’Etat permanent et démocratie "alla turca"", Erol Özkoray risque douze ans de prison. Deux autres procédures judiciaires ont été ouvertes à son encontre. En additionnant les peines requises dans les différentes procédures, Erol Özkoray risque trente ans de prison. Le numéro d’automne d’Idea Politika "A quoi sert l’armée ?" avait été saisi et interdit de publication le 14 septembre 2001 par le ministère de la Justice, à la demande du chef d’état-major des armées. Le 4 octobre 2001, le deuxième tribunal pénal d’Istanbul avait levé l’interdiction de publication. Erol Özkoray estime que "nous sommes en face d’un acharnement de l’armée qui a peur de l’Union européenne, donc de la démocratie. L’armée veut empêcher l’entrée de la Turquie dans l’Union européenne car elle sait qu’elle perdra tout son pouvoir et son droit de regard sur le système politique". Article d'Erol Özkoray : Tout a été mensonge depuis 1923

PEN  launched campaign for release of intellectuals in Turkey

PEN International is closely following developments after the arrest of publisher Ragip Zarakolu. The International organization was in particularly worried by reports that Zarakolu had been moved to a high security ‘F-Type’ prison on 4 November 2011. F-Type prisons are normally used to house highly dangerous prisoners or those serving life sentences. Zarakolu was arrested on 29 October 2011, alongside over 40 other activists, including Professor Büşra Ersanlı, and is being held in pre-trial detention, charged under Anti-Terror legislation.

Both the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TIHV) and Amnesty International have previously criticized both the high levels of isolation suffered in F-type prisons and reports that individuals in these institutions have been subject to harsh and arbitrary disciplinary punishments.

Ragip’s son Deniz Zarakolu has also reportedly been moved to Edirne Prison in northwest Turkey.

PEN International is organizing a letters campaign to Turkish minister of justice, Sadullah Ergin.

The Swedish PEN has launched its own campaign first about the arrest of Deniz Zarakolu (publisher Zarakolu's son) and now for Professor Büşra Ersanlı and Ragip Zarakolu.

Ragip Zarakolu, a member of PEN Turkey and honorary member of Swedish PEN Centre, is a well known political activist who has been fighting for freedom of expression in Turkey for over 30 years, publishing books on issues such as minority and human rights. As one of the 50 writers chosen to represent the struggle for freedom of expression since 1960 for the Writers in Prison Committee's 50th Anniversary Campaign – Because Writers Speak Their Minds – Ragip Zarakolu's case is "emblematic of the ongoing struggles many writers, publishers and freedom of expression and human rights activists in Turkey continue to face", write Ola Larsmo (Swedish PEN), Eugene Schoulgin (PEN International) and Mats Söderlund (Swedish Writers Association).

The writers "condemn the arrest of writer and academic Professor Büşra Ersanlı, Deniz Zarakolu, and Ragip Zarakolu on charges that appear to be related to his peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression".

They call "for a full, impartial investigation into the arrests of other academics arrested under anti-terror legislation, including Aziz Tunç, Ayes Berktay and A. Dursun Yildiz".

And they also call on "the Turkish authorities to live up to their commitments to protect freedom of expression under Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights". (AF, Nov 12, 2011)

Amnesty International: KCK arrests deepen freedom of expression concerns

On 1 November an Istanbul court ordered the detention pending trial of 44 people, as part of the ongoing prosecution of individuals for suspected membership of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) an organization linked to the armed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Amnesty International has written to the authorities expressing concern about the arrests. Among those detained are writer, publisher and human rights defender Ragip Zarakolu and Professor Büşra Ersanlı. The detention of these two individuals raise particular concerns since the reason for their arrest appears to be solely due to speeches made to the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Politics Academy and their academic work.

Ragip Zarakolu, Professor Büşra Ersanlı and the other 42 people arrested are being prosecuted for “membership of a terrorist organization”, under flawed anti-terrorism legislation. These are the latest in a series of arrests since 2009 targeting thousands of individuals, many of them activists or officials representing the pro-Kurdish, a recognised political party in Turkey. Hundreds remain in extended pre-trial detention pending the outcome of the trials.

Records of their interrogation by prosecutors show that both Ragip Zarakolu and Büşra Ersanlı were asked about their participation with the Politics Academy. Büşra Ersanlı was also asked about notes she made at various academic meetings she participated in and Ragip Zarakolu regarding various unpublished manuscripts of which he was the writer or editor.

Ragip Zarakolu has been repeatedly prosecuted in Turkey in cases that violated his right to freedom of expression, including under Article 301 of the Penal Code for “denigrating Turkishness”.

Amnesty International is concerned that although no concrete evidence linking Ragip Zarakolu or Büşra Ersanlı to KCK or to any terrorism related offences was presented, they were charged and remanded in pre-trial detention.

Amnesty International has long held concerns regarding Turkey’s anti-terrorism legislation and its application. The definition of terrorism in this law is overly broad, vague and lacks the level of legal certainty required by international human rights law. Fundamentally, it defines terrorism by its political aims rather than its tactics.1 Provisions criminalising membership of a terrorist organization have also led to abuses. Persons can be found guilty of membership of a terrorist organization without being a member of the organization if found to have committed a crime ‘in the name of such an organization’.

Prosecutions brought under anti-terrorism legislation have frequently been based on secret witness testimony that cannot be examined by defence lawyers. Amnesty International is also 1concerned that people have been convicted of terrorism offences despite a lack of reliable evidence.

Amnesty International calls on the Turkish authorities to prevent unfair prosecutions under anti-terrorism legislation by bringing the definition of terrorism into line with international standards and norms, notably the principals of legality and legal certainty.

The Turkish authorities should conduct an urgent review of ongoing prosecutions brought under anti-terrorism legislation and send guidance to judges and prosecutors regarding the application of international human rights law and standards in this context.

Amnesty International calls on the Turkish authorities to release Ragip Zarakolu, Büşra Ersanlı and other persons detained under anti-terrorism legislation without delay if it cannot present credible evidence linking them to acts whose criminlization does not violate human rights law.

AI: Arrestations contraires à la liberté d’expression

Le 1er novembre 2011, un tribunal d’Istanbul a ordonné le placement en détention provisoire de 44 personnes dans le cadre de la procédure en cours concernant des membres présumés de l’Union des communautés du Kurdistan (KCK), une organisation liée au Parti des travailleurs du Kurdistan (PKK), un mouvement armé.

Amnesty International a écrit aux autorités turques pour leur faire part de sa préoccupation quant à ces arrestations. Parmi les personnes détenues figurent Ragip Zarakolu, écrivain, éditeur et défenseur des droits humains, et Büsra Ersanli, professeure d’université. La détention de ces deux personnes est d’autant plus inquiétante que le motif de leur arrestation semble être uniquement lié à des discours prononcés à l’Académie de politique du Parti de la paix et de la démocratie (BDP) et à leurs travaux universitaires.

Ragip Zarakolu, Büsra Ersanli et les 42 autres personnes arrêtées sont poursuivies pour appartenance à une organisation terroriste », en vertu d’une législation antiterroriste entachée d’irrégularités. Leurs arrestations sont les dernières en date d’une série visant depuis 2009 des milliers de personnes dont beaucoup sont des militants ou des responsables représentant le BDP, un parti politique pro-kurde pourtant reconnu en Turquie. Plusieurs centaines d’entre elles demeurent en détention provisoire prolongée en attendant l’issue des procès.

Les procès-verbaux de leur interrogatoire par des procureurs montrent que Ragip Zarakolu et
Büsra Ersanli ont été questionnés sur leur participation à l’Académie de politique. Büsra Ersanli a également été interrogée au sujet de remarques qu’elle a faites lors de réunions universitaires auxquelles elle a participé, et Ragip Zarakolu de divers manuscrits non publiés dont il est l’auteur ou l’éditeur.

Ce dernier a déjà fait l’objet à plusieurs reprises en Turquie de poursuites portant atteinte à sa liberté d’expression, notamment pour « dénigrement de l’identité turque » au titre de l’article 301 du Code pénal.

Amnesty International est préoccupée par le fait que, bien qu’aucun élément concret établissant un lien entre Ragip Zarakolu ou Büþra Ersanlý et la KCK ou une quelconque infraction liée au terrorisme n’ait été présenté, ces deux personnes ont été inculpées et placées en détention provisoire.

Législation antiterroriste vague ouvrant la voie aux arrestations arbitraires L’organisation s’inquiète depuis longtemps de la législation antiterroriste de la Turquie et de son application. La définition du terrorisme y est trop large et vague et ne comporte pas le niveau de certitude juridique exigé par le droit international relatif aux droits humains. Dès le départ, elle définit le terrorisme par rapport à ses objectifs politiques, et non aux moyens employés. Les dispositions rendant passible de poursuites l’appartenance à une organisation terroriste ont en outre entraîné des violations des droits humains. Des personnes peuvent être déclarées coupables d’appartenance à une organisation terroriste sans en être membres s’il est établi qu’elles ont commis une infraction « au nom d’une telle organisation ».

Les poursuites engagées en vertu de la législation antiterroriste s’appuient fréquemment sur des témoignages secrets qui ne peuvent pas être examinés par les avocats de la défense. Amnesty International déplore également que des personnes aient été reconnues coupables d’infractions ayant trait au terrorisme en l’absence de preuves fiables.

L’organisation appelle les autorités turques à empêcher les poursuites abusives en vertu de la loi antiterroriste en alignant la définition du terrorisme sur celle des jurisprudences et normes internationales, notamment les principes de légalité et de certitude juridique.

Elles doivent procéder de toute urgence à un examen des poursuites en cours engagées au titre de la législation antiterroriste et faire des recommandations aux juges et procureurs quant à l’application du droit international relatif aux droits humains et des normes internationales en la matière dans ce contexte.

Amnesty International exhorte les autorités turques à libérer sans délai Ragip Zarakolu,
Büsra Ersanli et les autres personnes détenues en vertu de la législation antiterroriste si elles ne peuvent pas prouver par des éléments crédibles que ces personnes sont liées à des actes dont la criminalisation est conforme au droit relatif aux droits humains.

For a detailed description of the definition of terrorism in Turkish law see Amnesty International, Turkey: All children have rights: End unfair prosecutions of children under anti-terrorism legislation in Turkey, (Index: 44/011/2010), p15

Euro team to question Turkish media, internet

A delegation from the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) will hold talks today and tomorrow with Turkish officials concerning the state of Internet and media freedom as well as the constitution-making process.

The meetings are part of an official visit for European Parliament members to follow up on Turkey’s Progress Report released by the European Commission in October and is an “opportunity to speak directly to politicians, and learn about the issues in Turkey and it’s neighboring areas,” delegate Marietje Schaake, member of the European Parliament’s AFET and the Dutch political party Democrats 66, told the Hürriyet Daily News prior to her visit to Ankara.

The delegation’s two-day schedule includes a visit to Parliament today to meet with the government and representatives from opposition parties, with the meetings focusing on not only politics in general, but the reforms set to be brought to the Turkish Constitution.

A lunch meeting with U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Francis J. Ricciardone on the same day will provide insight in the U.S. perspective on Turkey.

Tomorrow the delegation will meet with the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) to discuss the training of judges and prosecutors with regard to human rights and media freedom, the urgent reform of the Internet law, long pre-trial detention periods, and the system of promoting and assigning judges. The same issues will also be brought up with a separate meeting with Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin.

The delegation will then meet with Turkish President Abdullah Gül to discuss the country’s relations with the European Union and the new constitution. The Minister of Internal Affairs İdris Naim Şahin will also discuss the country’s fight against terror with the delegation.

The final round of meetings will be held with NGOs, minority groups and journalists to discuss specific issues such as women and minority rights, and media freedom.
(Hürriyet Daily News, November 9, 2011)

Zarakolu incarcéré dans une prison de haute sécurité de type F

L'éditeur, écrivain et militant des droits de l'homme R. Zarakolu, arrêté la semaine passée dans le cadre de l'affaire concernant l'Union des communautés kurdes (KCK), a été transféré en quartier de haute sécurité en attendant son procès.

Il sera incarcéré dans une prison de type F abritant les « prisonniers et condamnés dangereux », à Kocaeli (NW de la Turquie), avec 17 autres suspects arrêtés également pour leurs liens allégués avec le KCK.

Özcan Kılıç, avocat de l'éditeur, a déclaré au quotidien Hürriyet qu'il a adressé une requête au ministère de la justice pour que son client soit emprisonné dans le même établissement que son fils Deniz Zarakolu, qui est également détenu dans une prison de type F à Edirne (province de Thrace).

« La loi reconnaît ce droit mais la procédure fait généralement trainer, souvent pendant des mois », a déclaré Kılıç, ajoutant que les détenus des prisons de type F sont à l'isolement ou dans des cellules de trois personnes au plus [Contrairement à ce qui se passe en France par exemple, la détention en petites cellules est considérées comme une brimade en Turquie, les dortoirs permettant une vie collective très appréciée. E.C.]

Zarakolu a des problèmes de santé et rencontrera de grandes difficultés pour se soigner dans une prison de ce type, a précisé Kılıç, exprimant sa préoccupation devant la perspective d'un emprisonnement du militant des droits de l'homme dans ce type d'établissement.

« N'importe quel acte peut y être considéré comme un manquement à la discipline. On peut y interdire le courrier, les libres, revues et même les visites. La Cour européenne des droits de l'homme a reçu beaucoup de plaintes à cet égard », a déclaré Kılıç. L'éditeur, qui a été récipiendaire de nombreuses récompenses internationales, a été interrogé dans un préfabriqué près du tribunal de Besiktas, comme Büsra Ersanlı, professeure à l'Université de Marmara, et 48 autres suspects de cette affaire.

Selon Kılıç, son client risque d'attendre des mois dans ces conditions avant de passer en procès, alors même qu'il n'a été convaincu d'aucun crime. Le délai d'attente avant le procès pourrait s'étendre à une année, a-t-il ajouté.

Le prétexte à l’arrestation de Zarakolu est une conférence qu'il a prononcée en 2010 à Istanbul, dans le cadre de l'Académie du Parti pour la paix et la démocratie (BDP), dont l'objectif principal est la résolution de la question kurde. Selon Kılıç, il a été dénoncé par un indicateur.

Par ailleurs, Kılıç a fait savoir que Büsra Ersanlı a été incarcérée à la prison de Bakırköy (Istanbul), dans des conditions un peu meilleures.

Ersanlı, qui et également défendue par Me Kılıç, n'a évité la prison de type F que parce qu'aucun établissement de ce type n'a été prévu pour des détenues féminines.

Ersanlı est également détenue pour avoir prononcé des conférences à l'Académie du BDP. (Traduction: http://etienne.copeaux.over-blog.fr)

Arrested Ragip Zarakolu sent to high-security cell

Prominent publisher, writer and activist Ragıp Zarakolu, who was arrested last week as part of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) case, has been sent to a high-security prison ahead of his trial.

Zarakolu will be incarcerated at an F-type prison that hosts “dangerous convicts and prisoners” in the northwestern province of Kocaeli, alongside 17 other suspects who were also arrested for their alleged links to the KCK.

The publisher’s lawyer, Özcan Kılıç, told the Hürriyet Daily News that they had issued a petition to the Justice Ministry for his client to be imprisoned in the same place as his son Deniz Zarakolu, who is also under arrest in an F-type prison in the Thracian province of Edirne.

“The laws recognize this right, but the procedure is likely to drag on, possibly for months,” Kılıç said, adding that convicts in F-type prisons were placed either in solitary cells or cells that contain up to three people at most.

Zarakolu, 65, is afflicted with health problems, and there are great difficulties regarding the medical treatment of patients in F-type prisons, Kılıç said, adding that they were quite worried by the prospect of the human rights activist being forced to serve time in such a penitentiary.

“Every act can turn into a disciplinary matter. Bans could be issued on letters, books, journals and, even more importantly, on meeting with visitors. There are a great many lawsuits filed in the European Court of Human Rights for this reason,” Kılıç said. The publisher, who is also the recipient of numerous prestigious international awards, was questioned in a makeshift hut established next to the Beşiktaş Courthouse in Istanbul, along with 48 other suspects in the case, including Marmara University Professor Büşra Ersanlı.

Kılıç said his client would await trial for months under the difficult conditions of an F-type prison even though has not been convicted of any crime. The entire trial process could take up to a year, the lawyer added.

Zarakolu was arrested due to a public speech he gave in Istanbul in 2010 at the political academy of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), which is primarily focused on the Kurdish issue. A secret witness informed on him, according to Kılıç.

Meanwhile, Kılıç said Ersanlı would be incarcerated at the Bakırköy Prison in Istanbul under conditions that are slightly better.

Ersanlı, who is also represented in court by Kılıç, was not sent to an F-type prison because there are no F-type prisons specifically for women.

Ersanlı was also arrested because she lectured at the BDP’s academy.

Twenty-one detained in anti-terror operations in Turkey

A total of 21 people were detained yesterday for allegedly conducting Molotov cocktail attacks in Istanbul on Oct. 29.

The 21 were charged with attacking several spots in the city’s Zeytinburnu district last week, including the district office of the ruling Justice and Democracy Party (AKP) and a vehicle of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).

The group also clashed with the police. The suspects were detained after police operations in Zeytinburnu and were charged with having ties with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the agency reported. Police were searching for 25 people in the wake of the Zeytinburnu disturbances; four people are reportedly still being sought. (Hürriyet Daily News, November 7, 2011)

Zarakolu and Besikçi Nominated to Martin Ennals Award

Ragip Zarakolu and Ismail Besikçi have been nominated for the prestigious Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders.

The goal of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders is to extend recognition and protective publicity to those who are currently involved in front line work for the promotion and protection of human rights. The Award aims to encourage individuals and – exceptionally – organisations who are currently working for the rights of others in conditions hostile to fundamental human rights and who are in need of protection. Special account is taken of those who have demonstrated an active record of combating human rights violations by courageous and innovative means.
 
The selection of the winning candidates is made by the Jury of the Martin Ennals Foundation. The announcement of the nominees is made around mid March and that of the laureates is made in early May.

The nominator is Tove Skutnabb-Kangas; the three Referees are Professor Shelley Taylor, University of Western Ontario, Canada, Professor emeritus Robert Phillipson, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark, and Søren Søndergaard, Member of the European Parliament. (
skutnabbkangas@gmail.com, 7 nov 2011)

A message from Professor Ersanlı in Prison

Marmara University Political Science and International Relations Department Faculty Member Prof. Dr. Büşra Ersanlı sent a message from prison through Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) MP Hasip Kaplan. Kaplan, along with other four BDP MPs and Co-Chairs Gültan Kışanak and Selahattin Demirtaş, visited Metris and Bakırköy Prisons some days ago. Ersanlı has been jailed together with some 80 people during raids carried out in the context of the ongoing so called KCK (Kurdish Communities Confederation) operation.

Ersanlı send the message below through Kaplan MP.

"During the search in my house, police looked for a document consisting of words ‘autonomy’ and ‘Kurd’ for hours. And they wanted to search the house of my neighbor when they couldn’t find any document but lawyers prevented them.

I wasn’t asked anything about ‘separatism’ or ‘rebellion training for people’. When they asked me ‘why I became a member to the BDP’, I answered that ‘because I saw the hope and horizon for the future only there’.

They asked me about the lessons I gave at the Politics Academy and I answered that I gave lessons of political culture, political system and political parties in Turkey. These subjects are already written on my book published by KA-DER (Association of Supporting and Training of Woman Candidates). What have these got to do with ‘separatism and rebellion’?

I told my lawyers to open a case against all slanders, threats and insults against me. I also thank all academicians who give support.”
(ANF, 7 November 2011)

BIA's Alarming Report on Press Freedom Violations in Turkey

Twelve people went to prison in the scope of freedom of expression until July 2011: Vedat Kurşun, Ruken Ergün and Ozan Kılıç, former chief editors of the Kurdish Azadiya Welt newspaper; Azadiya Welat Batman representative Deniz Kılıç; Dicle News Agency (DİHA) Batman representative Erdoğan Alkan; Diyarakır representative Kadri Kaya; Batman Post newspaper writer Mehmet Karabaş; Aram Publishing owner Bedri Adanır who is also in charge of the Hawar newspaper; Barış Açıkel as editor-in-chief of the Devrim Yolunda İşçi Köylü newspaper ('Revolutionary Workers and Peasants'); Saadet Irmak, owner and chief editor of the Yeni Yorum ('New Comment') and Ülkede Yorum ('Comment in the Country') newspapers and university students Berna Yılmaz and Ferhat Tüzer.

These ten journalists and two university students were tried/are still being prosecuted under Article 7/2 of the Anti-Terrorism Law (TMK) related to "propaganda for an illegal organization" on the grounds of their writings, news, publications and utterances.

A total of 68 journalists are in prison as of 30 June 2011.

A total of 56 journalists are currently behind bars in the context of operations and investigations related to the Union of Kurdistan Communities - Turkey (KCK) (22), the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the clandestine "Ergenekon" organization charged with the attempt to topple the government (15), the Party and Revolutionary Front for the Liberation of the Turkish People (DHKP-C) (6), the Marxist Leninist Communist Party (MLKP) (7), the "Revolutionary Headquarters" terrorist organization (2), the Maoist Communist Party (MKP) (1), the "Revolutionary Movement" (1) and the Odak Magazine ('Focus') (1).

The indictments about 19 journalists in prison have not been announced yet. They do not know the allegations put up against them while they are waiting for the day of their first hearing.

The 2011 April-May-June Media Monitoring Report of the Independent Communication Network (BİA) Media Monitoring Desk is structured under the following chapters:  "Killed Journalists", "Journalists in Prison", "Attacks, Threats and Obstructions", "Investigations, new/pending Trials and Decisions", "TCK 285; 288: How many Thousand Trials?", "The Prime Ministerial Board for the Protection of Minors from Harmful Publications", "Closures and Confiscations", "Trials related to Insult and Personal Rights", "Regulations, Effects, Reactions, Legal Remedies", "European Court of Human Rights - Applications and Decisions" and "RTÜK Reprimands".

The Media Monitoring Report draws special attention to the number of journalists in prison in Turkey in the period between April-May-June 2011, to lengthy detention periods, investigations and prosecutions in the context of freedom of expression and Article 7/2 of the TMK that entails restrictions of freedom of expression and press freedom. Moreover, the report touches upon Articles 215 (Praising the offence or the offender), 220 (Forming organized groups with the intention of committing crime), 285 (Genital controls), 288 (Confiscation and destruction of an officially delivered property) and 314 (Alliance for offense) of the Turkish Criminal Law (TCK) with regard to protests, announcements, reports and meetings /demonstrations. The media monitoring report reveals that these issues were the subject of letters sent to Prime Minster Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and that they were also put on the agenda of journalism and human rights organisations in Turkey and abroad and of international institutions.

Journalists and journalism organizations urged for implementing the necessary regulations for the immediate release of detained journalists. They demanded to bring the correspondent articles of the TMK and TCK to a democratic level for a free debate and journalism especially related to the Kurdish question.

The internet filter system announced to be enforced on 22 August encountered mass protests in April, May and June. The Communication Foundation/bianet applied to the Council of State on 14 April for the removal of the censorship implied by the internet filter for internet users all over Turkey.

Prison terms of 44 years and eight months under TMK

In the second quarter of 2011, nine journalists were sentenced to imprisonment of 44 years and 8.5 months in total and to monetary fines summing up to TL 36,380 (€ 17,500) under charges of "propaganda for an illegal organization" according to Article 7/2 TMK.

During the first three months of the year, 13 people received prison sentences of 21 years and ten months in total. Monetary fines amounted to TL 66,946 (€ 32,000).

In the period of April, May and June, eight people were facing imprisonment of a total of 223.5 years concerning freedom of expression, among them pro-Kurdish politicians Aysel Tuğluk and Ahmet Türk.

These prosecutions are usually based on Article 7/2 TMK and Articles 220 and 215 TCK.

35 people alleged of "insult"

35 persons stand trial by reasons of alleged "insult", attacks on "personal rights" and compensation claims. Nine people were handed down prison terms of nine years and four months in total. Five people were sentenced to monetary fines of TL 29,860 (€ 14,000) in compensation, three of whom are to pay their fines to Prime Minister Erdoğan. Subsequent to the elections in June this year, Erdoğan withdrew a number of compensation claims.

During the first quarter of the year, 44 people stood trial on the grounds of "insult". Three people were sentenced to a total of eleven months in jail and to monetary fines of TL 10,580 (€ 5,000) in compensation.

Closures and Confiscations

The 12 June issue of Azadiya Welat was seized under allegations of "propaganda for an illegal organization". The publication of the Kurdish newspaper was suspended for 15 days. Azadiya Welat is publishing since 2006 as the only daily newspaper in Kurdish in Turkey. Since then, the paper was exposed to eight publication bans. All copies of the second edition of the Özgür Halk ve Demokratik Modernite magazine ('Free People and Democratic Modernity') were confiscated on 8 June.

On 26 June, the Day of Solidarity with Torture Victims, banners were seized according to Article 301/2 TCK on "publicly humiliating military and security structures of the State". The posters featured the slogans "Zero tolerance for torture, indefinite tolerance for disproportionate force" and "Torture is a crime against humanity. Proportional power is the legal cover for torture in the street".

TCK 285 and 288: How many trials?

The exact number of trials opened under Articles 285 and 288 TCK on "violating the secrecy of an investigation" and "attempting to influence a fair trial" respectively is not known. The number of trials opened and pending against the newspapers Milliyet, Radikal, Habertürk, Star, Bugün, Zaman and Taraf in April, May and June 2011 is estimated to have exceeded 500. The newspapers do not give clear numbers in this respect either.

It is also not clear how many trials have been opened in this context between 2007 and 30 June 2011. According to an announcement of the Ministry of Justice, 4,139 investigations have been launched as of the end of 2009.

ECHR - Applications and Decisions

The Turkish government was to pay compensations of € 9,720 in total as ruled by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in two cases in the second quarter of the year. The convictions were based on violations of Article 6/1 of the European Convention on Human Rights (Right to a Fair Trial).

During the first three months of the year, Turkey was sentenced to monetary fines amounting to € 58,000 in the scope of 15 cases.

RTÜK

The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) stopped ten radio programs and 94 television programs under allegations of "obscenity". Three institutions received monetary fines of TL 184,914 (€ 90,000) in total and a hundred media outlets were reprimanded in the second quarter of 2011.

RTÜK issued 20 warnings for not identifying programs according to the age recommendations for children and juveniles.  15 warnings were related to violations of "human dignity and secrecy of private life"; seven reprimands were concerned with "harming the Turkish language". Three warnings were based on violations of the presumption of innocence. The remaining reprimands were related to technical and commercial issues such as advertising, sponsorship and program support. (BIA, 7 November 2011)

KHRP greatly concerned at the arrest of Ragip Zarakolu

Kurdish Human Rights Project (KHRP) is greatly concerned about the arrest of Ragip Zarakolu, a tireless defender of minority rights and freedom of expression in Turkey.
 
Mr. Zarakolu, highly acclaimed writer, publisher and chief editor of Belge Publishing House, was arrested in Istanbul on 28 October 2011 and stands accused of being a member of the KCK (Koma Civakên Kurdistan) party, an illegal organization under the Turkish anti-terror legislation. Mr. Zarakolu was transferred to the Metris high-security prison following a decision on the 14th High Criminal Court in Beşiktaş, Istanbul, on 1 November 2011.

The arrest of Ragip Zarakolu, alongside several other intellectuals including Professor Büşra Ersanlı and his son Deniz Zarakolu (earlier in October), is the latest example of a larger crackdown on people engaged in civic activism, including trade union and human rights activists, mayors and local politicians. The crackdown is part of a broader operation aimed at stifling the voices of those seeking greater rights and recognition for the Kurds in Turkey. KHRP has previously raised concerns about a number of areas of the operation including lengthy pre-trial detention without bail (some, including Muharrem Erbey, a prominent human rights defender and Vice President of the Human Rights Association of Turkey, have been held pending trial since the start of the operation in April 2009), politically motivated charges, and failure to adhere to international fair trial standards.
 
These latest arrests potentially violate numerous principles of international human rights law including the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. They also demonstrate the validity of the concerns recently raised by the European Commission in the latest EU Progress report on Turkey regarding the number of court cases against writers and journalists, and the restrictions on access to the Internet. Accordingly, KHRP calls on the Turkish authorities to investigate and monitor the prosecution of Mr. Zarakolou and all others arrested in this operation  and calls for their cases to be dealt with expeditiously. (www.khrp.org, 7 nov 2011)
 
The Kurdish Human Rights Project (KHRP) is a UK registered charity committed to the promotion and protection of the human rights of all persons living within the Kurdish regions.  Its innovative and strategic approach to international human rights practice, combined with a long-term and consistent presence in the region, enables it to secure redress for survivors of human rights violations and prevent abuse in the future.
 

De Zarakolu à Charlie Hebdo: la liberté d’expression menacée

Info Collectif VAN

La rédaction de l'hebdomadaire satirique Charlie Hebdo a été totalement détruite dans la nuit de mardi à mercredi par un cocktail Molotov jeté à l'intérieur de ses locaux. L’hebdomadaire devait publier mercredi un numéro intitulé "Charia Hebdo" avec en "Une" un portrait du prophète Mahomet s'exclamant: "100 coups de fouets si vous n'êtes pas morts de rire". Dans le même temps, le site internet de Charlie Hebdo a été piraté et affichait une photographie d'une mosquée et un verset du coran traduit en anglais. La France, patrie des droits de l’homme, doit être particulièrement vigilante envers les atteintes à la liberté d’expression et à la liberté de la presse. Au-delà des attaques diligentées sur le territoire de la République française, les autorités françaises doivent défendre la liberté d’opinion partout dans le monde où elle est mise en danger : il importe de dénoncer l’incarcération scandaleuse, ce week-end à Istanbul, de l’éditeur et journaliste turc, Ragip Zarakolu, éminent défenseur des droits de l’homme en Turquie, inculpé avec la sociologue Busra Ersanli d'«appartenance à un groupe terroriste armé». Attentat individuel ou attentat d'Etat : que ce soit en France ou en Turquie, ne laissons pas des menaces peser sur la liberté d’expression.

La rédaction de l'hebdomadaire satirique Charlie Hebdo a été totalement détruite dans la nuit de mardi à mercredi par un cocktail Molotov jeté à l'intérieur de ses locaux.

L’hebdomadaire devait publier mercredi un numéro intitulé "Charia Hebdo" avec en "Une" un portrait du prophète Mahomet s'exclamant: "100 coups de fouets si vous n'êtes pas morts de rire". Dans le même temps, le site internet de Charlie Hebdo a été piraté et affichait une photographie d'une mosquée et un verset du coran traduit en anglais.

"Nous condamnons avec la plus grande fermeté cette attaque qui s'inscrit dans une mouvance qui voudrait rétablir, directement ou indirectement, le délit de blasphème", s’indigne la confédération des Juifs de France dans un communiqué. Le secrétaire général de l'UMP, Jean-François Copé, a souligné pour sa part "Nous condamnons avec la plus grande force ce qui n'est rien d'autre qu'un attentat contre un journal dans un pays qui doit incarner la liberté d'expression".

En effet, la France, patrie des droits de l’homme, doit être particulièrement vigilante envers les atteintes à la liberté d’expression et à la liberté de la presse. Au-delà des attaques diligentées sur le territoire de la République française, les autorités françaises doivent défendre la liberté d’opinion partout dans le monde où elle est mise en danger : il importe de dénoncer l’incarcération scandaleuse, ce week-end à Istanbul, de l’éditeur et journaliste turc, Ragip Zarakolu, éminent défenseur des droits de l’homme en Turquie, inculpé avec la sociologue Busra Ersanli d'«appartenance à un groupe terroriste armé». Attentat individuel ou attentat d'Etat : que ce soit en France ou en Turquie, ne laissons pas des menaces peser sur la liberté d’expression.

Ironie de l’actualité, la répression du gouvernement AKP de Recep Tayyip Erdoğan contre les intellectuels turcs et kurdes s’intensifie au moment où l’on salue la « démocratie turque » et où on la présente comme modèle pour le monde arabe. Pris en étau entre l’autoritarisme nationaliste et militaire des Kémalistes, dits laïcs, et celui du national-islamisme dit modéré - qui régente désormais toutes les strates de l’Etat -, les démocrates de Turquie, du fait des accusations fallacieuses de terrorisme à leur encontre, sont abandonnés à leur sort par la communauté internationale.

Le double langage cynique du gouvernement turc est tout entier résumé dans cette récente déclaration d’Erdoğan : « Plus de démocratie est l’antidote du terrorisme. La solution au terrorisme réside dans l’insistance sur les droits humains, la justice et les libertés ».

Faut-il en rire ou en pleurer ?

Une prochaine Une pour Charlie Hebdo ?
(http://www.collectifvan.org/article.php?r=0&id=58367)

66 Journalists in Turkish prisons during the Sacrifice Fest

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) together with its affiliate in Turkey, the Journalists' Union of Turkey,  launched an international postcard campaign by sending a postcard with wishes for the Sacrifice Fest to the 66 colleagues currently in Turkish prisons.

Everyone is invited to join this solidarity campaign for journalists in jail in Turkey by sending a postcard before 6th November to a or several journalists (see the addresses).

Don't forget to use the phrase in Turkish "Iyi bayramlar" which means "happy fest", says EFJ.

Programme d'AYP FM sur l'arrestation de Zarakolu

La radio arménienne AYP FM
(99,5) à Paris vient de réaliser un programme sur l'arrestation de Ragip Zarakolu avec la participation des écrivains Yves Ternon et  Erol Özkoray ainsi que Ali Kiliç, président du Centre de la Recherche scientifique du Kurdistan, Charles Papazian, président du CDCA, et Johan Bihr, représentant de RSF.

Description :

Mobilisation pour la libération de Ragip Zarakolu: depuis son arrestation le 28 octobre à Istanbul dans le cadre de l'opération policière menée contre le parti pro kurde, BDP, les organisations de défense des droits de l’homme multiplient les appels pour demander sa remise en liberté immédiate. Pourquoi une telle répression aujourd’hui en Turquie dans les milieux kurdes et auprès de ceux qui les soutiennent, pourquoi les chancelleries occidentales ne se manifestent pas?

Le programme "Cartes sur Table" sera rediffusé le dimanche 6 novembre 2011 à 9h15.

On peut déjà écouter le programme au lien suivant:
http://radio-aypfm.com/?page=archives

Appeal and Protest against KCK Arrests

A bill of exception was handed to the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court to appeal against the detention of 46 people who were arrested on 1 November in the course of the so-called KCK operation (Union of Kurdistan Communities). Prof Büşra Ersanlı and publisher and writer Ragıp Zarakolu are among the detainees.

A group of academics and intellectuals gathered in front of the Beşiktaş (Istanbul) Courthouse on Thursday (3 November) to protest the arrests, among them Prof Füsun Üstel, Prof Fatma Gök, lecturer Meryem Koray, lecturer Nesrin Sungur, Prof. Tahsin Yeşildere, Prof Özden Cankaya, Ass. Prof Nilgün Tutal, actress Jülide Kural, Dr. Gençay Gürsoy, lawyer Hülya Gülbahar, writer Ayşegül Devecioğlu, Agos newspaper executive editor Arat Dink and singer Pınar Sağ.

"The smear campaign against Büşra is most saddening"

Sırma Evcan, sister of academic Ersanlı, said, "What hurts the most is the smear campaign against Büşra. She advocated for solving problems on a legitimate level without violence. I watched the announcement of the Minister of the Interior in amazement. It seems to mean 'What happens if just one single professor is being taken'. This is not an effort to eliminate violence".

"Academics will follow up the arrests"

Prof Fatma Gök expressed her concern about the arrests that have reached as far as into the field of academics. According to Gök, the arrests aimed at fading down the voices of the people who rack their brains over the situation of social politics in Turkey. However, what was actually created in society was indignation, she claimed.

Gök stressed that the academics were going to follow up these arrests. "We still have to enlarge this resistance", she declared.

"We will lecture at the Political Academy"

Prof Tahsin Yeşildere mentioned that several academics from Turkey and abroad wanted to lecture voluntarily at the political academy of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) where also Ersanlı gave a few lessons. He announced that this was going to be realized in the near future.

Actress Jülide Kural criticized, "Ersanlı and Zarakolu represent a symbolic issue; no opposing idea will be tolerated in this country. The power sees the right to say the only and last word lying solely with itself. We will fight against this always and everywhere"

"This is an invitation to the weapons; we have to fight"

Lecturer Meryem Koray emphasized that they came together not only for Ersanlı and Zarakolu but to stand up against the oppression of freedom of thought on their behalf. "It is an invitation to the weapons if those people who contribute to a peaceful solution of the Kurdish questions are being arrested", Koray added.

Academic Nesrin Sungur indicated, "We are at the end of words if academics and journalists say 'one day we might be arrested as well'. We do not know how long this will continue but with our struggle we can shorten that period".

"Our appeal should be reviewed in a court hearing"

Lawyer Ercan Kanar said that he invited the judiciary to remember the basics of law with the appeal against the arrests that were said to have been carried out under the tutelage of the political power.

"In our bill of exception we did not request to put an end to detention, to lift the decision of restriction and it is not an ostensible appeal. We demanded to examine the appeal at a court hearing where we are present as well".

Lawyer Ezgi Şahin said in the press release, "In the course of the investigation Ersanlı was asked questions as if she had obtained documents of an illegal organization because her notes include concepts like 'democratic autonomy' and 'citizenship of Turkey'. Zarakolu was assessed as a member of an illegal organization because he attended the opening ceremony of the Political Academy and the certificate ceremony. The registration list of the party's school 'seized' by the police was shown as an item of crime. Party members and executives and university students taking lessons at the academy were subject to technical surveillance. (...) All this indicates that law has abased itself". (BIA, Nilay Vardar, 4 November 2011)

"Zarakolu Deserves the Nobel Prize, not Prison"

The International Publishers Association (IPA) and the worldwide association of writers PEN International criticized the arrest of writer and publisher Ragıp Zarakolu. Zarakolu was arrested on 1 November in the scope of a crackdown on the Union of Kurdistan Communities (KCK), the umbrella organization that also includes the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

IPA called for the immediate release of Zarakolu. " Ragıp Zarakolu is the pride of publishing. He is the limelight of freedom to publish in Turkey. (...) This man does not belong to prison, he deserves a Nobel Prize.", Bjorn Smith-Simonsen, Chair of IPA's Freedom to Publish Committee (FTPC), said.

"The trial is likely to begin in a year's time only. Ragıp Zarakolu's health is not good. We fear that he will not stand his detention conditions in the terrible F-type (high security) prisons. This is an additional reason for the Turkish authorities to show compassion and release him immediately", the IPA urged.

PEN International described Zarakolu in their announcement as a person whose name is being "respected internationally in the struggle for freedom of writing and publishing".

PEN American Center Freedom to Write Program Director Larry Siems said in an announcement, "It is essential not to confuse the efforts of those who, like Ragip Zarakolu, have worked to bring down barriers of censorship in Turkey with those who press political agendas through violence. Zarakolu is an honored PEN colleague and an internationally-recognized defender of the right to write and publish freely. We emphatically protest his arrest." (BIA, 4 November 2011)

EMHRN calls for the immediate release of HR activists
 

Copenhagen-Brussels–The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) condemns the arbitrary arrest of Human Rights defenders Ragib Zarakolu and Büşra Ersanlı, both falsely charged with “being a member of an illegal organisation”, the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK).
On 28 October, 2011, Turkish authorities raided several offices of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) in the province of Istanbul and arrested prominent Human Right activists Ragib Zarakolu and Büşra Ersanlı, together with some fifty other people, mainly members and executives of the BDP.

This raid, a vast anti-terrorist operation allegedly aimed at dismantling the KCK -considered the urban branch of the armed Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK), constitutes a blatant attack on activists for their work on human rights and their attempts to find a peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue.

Ragip Zarakolu is an Honorary Board member of the Human Rights Association (İnsan Haklari Derneği – İHD). He is also Director of the Belge Publishing House and Chairman of the Publishers Association Freedom to Publish Committee of Turkey, and a prominent human rights activist who has published extensively on human rights, national minorities, and the Armenian genocide. His arrest comes little after receiving the Hakop Meghapart Medal of Honour Lifetime Achievement Award from the Armenian Human Rights Association for his contribution to Armenian history, culture, and literature in Turkey.

Büşra Ersanlı, a member of the Constitution Committee and the General Assembly of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), has worked with NGOs on women’s rights in the political sphere. In parallel, Ersanli works as a lecturer at the Faculty of Political Sciences and International Relations at Marmara University.

Both were charged on 1 November, 2011 for being members of an illegal organisation under Article 314 of the Turkish Penal Code by İstanbul Heavy Penal Court No. 14, despite the fact that neither of them belong to the KCK.  Zarakolu and Ersanli are currently detained in separate prisons, and are granted access to their families and lawyers.   

The EMHRN condemns the continued policy of arbitrary arrests of human rights defenders and activists in Turkey – in particular of IHD members, trade union members, and activists working on the Kurdish issue.

The EMHRN recalls the detainment and arrests of dozens of human rights defenders on alleged terrorism charges, including Muharrem Erbey, IHD General Vice Chairperson who has been in pre-trial detainment since 2009.

Moreover, the EMHRN calls upon the Turkish authorities to put an end to the current policy of harassment and arbitrary arrest of human rights defenders in an effort to undermine their work. The EMHRN asks for the immediately release of Zarakolu and Ersanli, together with the other activists who have been arrested on false charges.

In light of the professional background of both Büşra Ersanlı and Ragip Zarakolu, the EMHRN further urges the Turkish authorities to implement international standards related to the right to freedom of association and to freedom of expression in Turkey without delay.

For more information on the Human Rights situation in Turkey, please contact: Hayet Zeghiche at hze@euromedrights.net  (+ 32 2 503 58 87)

OMCT: Arbitrary detention of Zarakolu and Ersanlı

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Turkey.
 
Description of the situation:
 
The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the arbitrary detention of Mr. Ragıp Zarakolu, Honorary Board Member and Founder of the Human Rights Association (İHD), Director of the Belge Publishing House and Chairman of the Publishers Association Freedom to Publish Committee of Turkey, and Ms. Büşra Ersanlı, lecturer at the Marmara University Faculty of Political Sciences and International Relations in Istanbul, in the framework of a wide ranged anti-terrorist operation intended to dismantle an alleged terrorist network - the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK) - that in fact targets peaceful activists from the Kurdish community who are not related to any terrorist activities.
 
According to the information received, on October 28, 2011, Mr. Ragıp Zarakolu and Ms. Büşra Ersanlı were both arrested in Istanbul as part of a vast operation that targeted more than 48 people, mostly Kurdish political activists and particularly members of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP). On November 1, 2011, the two were officially charged with “being a member of an illegal organisation”, namely the KCK - an organisation said to be the “urban branch” of the armed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) - under Article 314 of the Turkish Penal Code by İstanbul Heavy Penal Court No. 14.

As of issuing this Urgent Appeal, Mr. Ragıp Zarakolu is detained in Metris prison while Ms. Büşra Ersanlı is detained in Bakırköy closed prison for females. They both have access to their lawyer and family.
 
Mr. Ragıp Zarakolu is a well known human rights activist since the 1970s and has particularly focused on freedom of expression and minorities' rights. Through the Belge Publishing House, he has published numerous books on the repression of national minorities in Turkey and on the Armenian Genocide and has been subjected to arbitrary detention and judicial harassment on numerous occasions. Ms. Büşra Ersanlı has been engaged with NGOs for political rights of the women.
 
The Observatory denounces the continuing policy of arbitrarily arresting human rights defenders in Turkey, and particularly İHD members, members of trade unions and those fighting against the impunity of serious crimes and calling for a peaceful resolution of the Kurd question, which seems to merely aim at sanctioning their human rights activities. To that extent, the Observatory recalls that several İHD members are currently in pre-trial detention, notably Mr. Muharrem Erbey, İHD General Vice Chairperson and Chairperson of its Diyarbakir Province branch who had been detained since December 2009, Mr. Arslan Özdemir and Ms. Roza Erdede, İHD members in Diyarbakır[1], as well as members and executives of İHD Şanlıurfa Branch, the Education and Science Workers Trade Union (Egitim-Sen), the Health and Social Service Workers Trade Union (SES)[2] and members of associations of families of victims of abusive anti-terrorism policies[3]. Dozens of other human rights defenders remain in provisional release pending the outcome of criminal trials on alleged terrorism charges.
 
Accordingly, the Observatory calls upon the Turkish authorities to put an end to the continuing harassment against human rights defenders and urges the Turkish authorities to release all human rights defenders currently held in detention immediately and unconditionally, since their detention is arbitrary as it only aim at sanctioning their human rights activities.
 
Actions requested:
 
i. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Ragıp Zarakolu and Ms. Büşra Ersanlı, as well as Mr. Muharrem Erbey, Mr. Arslan Özdemir and Ms. Roza Erdede as well as all other members of İHD, Egitim-Sen and SES Şanlıurfa Branch and members of associations of families of victims of abusive anti-terrorism policies, and in general, all human rights defenders in Turkey;
 
ii. Release Mr. Ragıp Zarakolu and Ms. Büşra Ersanlı, as well as Mr. Muharrem Erbey, Mr. Arslan Özdemir and Ms. Roza Erdede as well as all other members of İHD, Egitim-Sen and SES Şanlıurfa Branch and members of associations of families of victims of abusive anti-terrorism policies, immediately and unconditionally since their detention is arbitrary as it only aim at sanctioning their human rights activities;
 
iii. Put an end to all acts harassment, including at the judicial level, against Mr. Ragıp Zarakolu and Ms. Büşra Ersanlı, as well as Mr. Muharrem Erbey, Mr. Arslan Özdemir and Ms. Roza Erdede as well as all other members of İHD, Egitim-Sen and SES Şanlıurfa Branch and members of associations of families of victims of abusive anti-terrorism policies and, in general, all human rights defenders in Turkey;
 
iv. Comply with the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, especially its Article 1, which states that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”, as well as Article 12.2, which provides that “the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration” ;
 
v. More generally, ensure in all circumstances the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international and regional human rights instruments ratified by Turkey.
 
Addresses:

· President of Turkey, Mr. Abdullah Gül, Cumhurbaskanligi 06100 Ankara, Turkey; Fax: +90 312 468 5026; Email: cumhurbaskanligi@tccb.gov.tr
· Prime Minister, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Office of the Prime Minister Basbakanlik 06573 Ankara, Turkey, Fax: + 90 312 417 0476; receptayyip.erdogan@basbakanlik.gov.tr 
· Deputy Prime Minister Responsible for Human Rights, Mr. Beşir Atalay, Email :
besir.atalay@tbmm.gov.tr, Fax: 00 90 (312) 422 13 98
· Interior Minister, Mr. Idris Naim Şahin, 06644 Ankara, Turkey; Fax: + 90 312 418 17 95 / +90 312 418 7696,
· Justice Minister, Mr. Sadullah Ergin, Ministry of Justice/ Adalet Bakanligi, 06659 Ankara, Turkey; Fax: + 90 312 414 62 26
· Foreign Minister, Mr. Ahmed Davudoglu , Office of the Prime Minister, Basbakanlik, 06573 Ankara, Turkey; Fax: +90 312 287 88 11
· Ambassador, Mr. Oğuz Demiralp, Permanent Mission of Turkey to the United Nations in Geneva, Ch. du Petit-Saconnex 28b - CP 271, CH-1211, Geneva 19, Switzerland, E-mail : mission.turkey@ties.itu.int, Fax: +41 22 734 08 59
· Ambassador, Mr. Selim Kuneralp, Diplomatic Mission of Turkey to the European Union in Brussels, Avenue des Arts 36-38, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium, Fax: + 32 2 511 04 50.
 
Please also write to the embassies of Turkey in your respective country.
 
E-mail: omct@omct.org
Rue du Marteau 19
B-1000 Brussels, Belgium
Tel. / Fax: +32 2 218 37 19
E-mail: omcteurope@omct.org

IPI Condemns Zarakolu's Arrest

The International Press Institute (IPI) today condemned the arrest and pre-trial detention of Turkish publisher and free speech activist Ragip Zarakolu.

Zarakolu – director of the Belge Publishing House, a member of the Turkish PEN Center and chair of the Freedom to Publish Committee of the Turkish Publishers Association – was among approximately 40 suspects detained Friday under anti-terror laws.

A court ordered Zarakolu and 22 others arrested and jailed pending trial. Zarakolu’s attorney reportedly appealed, but Zarakolu is expected to face more than a year in detention before trial if the appeal fails.

The arrests came amid an ongoing crackdown by Turkish authorities against activists who focus on Kurdish issues, including the Koma Civakên Kurdistan (KCK) party, or Union of Kurdistan Communities, which is reportedly affiliated with the outlawed separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

According to worldwide writers association PEN, Turkish authorities have arrested up to 1,000 scholars, writers, publishers and rights advocates during the two-year crackdown. The group commented that “Zarakolu’s staunch belief in free expression, his tireless campaign against book bannings, and his courage in publishing works that challenge Turkey’s repressive censorship laws have resulted in a catalog of indictments dating back to the early 1970s.”

PEN said that the Belge Publishing House, which Zarakolu founded with his wife Ayse Nur in 1977, had tested Turkish publishing restrictions by translating and publishing controversial books from Armenian, Greek, and Kurdish authors including works on the Armenian genocide and the experiences of Turkey’s Kurdish minority. PEN also reported that a right-wing extremist group firebombed Zarakolu’s office in 1995 and that authorities banned him from travelling outside Turkey from 1971 to 1991.

Ferai Tinç, a member of IPI’s Executive Board and the chair of IPI’s Turkey National Committee, said: “Terrorism cannot be defeated by silencing opinions and creating a climate of fear to express ideas. The healthiest environment to dry the causes of terrorism is an environment of lively discussion. Only under these conditions can people isolate terrorists and insist on a search for political solutions to their problems. We call on the government to change anti-terror laws with which journalists, editors, writers and publishers can easily be threatened and deprived of their freedom of expression. "

In other news, IPI World Press Freedom Hero Nedim Şener was acquitted Monday following trial on charges of insult and breach of privacy. Bianet reported that the charges, which carried a punishment of six years in prison, stemmed from an article Şener wrote about bribery that allegedly mentioned a judge in Istanbul by nickname.

Şener, who has been detained since March following a police raid on the offices of Oda TV, was acquitted in June of charges of "violation of confidentiality" and the "attempt to influence a fair trial" related to another article.

However, he, investigative journalist Ahmet Şık and 12 others arrested in connection with the Oda TV raid face charges in the so-called “Ergenekon” probe into an alleged clandestine Kemalist ultra-nationalist organisation with ties to members of the country's military and security forces which has been accused of plotting to use terrorism to overthrow the government. Şener and the others are accused of working to form a media that would direct public opinion towards the interests of Ergenekon.

A hearing in the trial is set to take place in Istanbul on 22 November.

Turkey’s Justice Ministry in August acknowledged that it was holding 63 journalists in prison and that only 18 had been convicted of a crime. The ministry reportedly declared that four journalists were imprisoned due to their writings, but maintained that the others were not in prison because of their work.

Many of the imprisoned journalists have not been informed of the charges they face, nor have their attorneys, and many are subject to lengthy pre-trial imprisonment.

The South and East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an IPI affiliate, supports this statement.
(Steven M. Ellis, Press Freedom Adviser, 03 November 2011)

Front Line's Concern Over Zarakolu's Arrest

The International Foundation for the protection of human rights defenders (
Front Line) has issued the following communiqué:

On 1 November 2011, human rights defender Mr Ragıp Zarakolu was one of between 40 and 50 people remanded in pre-trial detention by the 14th High Criminal Court in Beşiktaş, Istanbul. He is accused of “membership of an illegal organisation” – Koma Ciwaken Kurdistan (KCK) (Union of Kurdistan Communities).

Ragıp Zarakolu, one of Turkey's most prominent freedom of expression and minority rights defenders, is a founding member of the Human Rights Association (IHD), Chairperson of the Freedom to Publish Committee of the Turkish Publishers Association and Director of the Belge Publishing House.

On 28 October 2011, a group of approximately 50 people were arrested when the police carried out a vast operation mainly targeting members of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) in Istanbul Province. Among those arrested was human rights defender Ragıp Zarakolu, who was arrested at his home. Once at the police headquarters, the arrestees were held in a waiting room during the interrogation which lasted over 24 hours with just a few chairs to be shared between them.

On the morning of 31 October, Ragıp Zarakolu was taken to the Istanbul Courthouse, together with the other individuals arrested. Following a 28-hour long hearing, the 14th High Criminal Court in Beşiktaş remanded Ragıp Zarakolu in pre-trial detention on charges of “membership of an illegal organisation” under Article 314 of the Turkish Penal Code in conjunction with the Anti-Terrorism Act. Ragıp Zarakolu is currently detained at the Metris high-security prison.

It is reported that during his interrogation, the police did not ask any questions on the organisation of which he is accused of being a member, but only questioned him about the books he authored or edited for publication as well as public meetings where he spoke or that he attended.

In the days leading up to his arrest, Ragıp Zarakolu had been campaigning for the release of his son, Deniz Zarakolu, who was arrested in early October after giving a lecture on political philosophy at the BDP Academy of Political Science.

The Turkish authorities initiated an investigation into KCK in December 2009 on the basis that, by virtue of including the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the KCK is a terrorist network. Since its commencement, the operation has led to the arrest of hundreds of peaceful members or supporters of the Kurdish community who are not related to any terrorist activity.

Among those arrested are Kurdish politicians and officials, intellectuals, academics and human rights defenders. Human rights lawyers have also been the target of judicial harassment, with four prominent members of the Human Rights Association (IHD) being currently tried on charges of “membership of an illegal organisation” by the 11th High Criminal Court in Ankara. Several other IHD members remain in pre-trial detention, including İHD General Vice-Chairperson Mr Muharrem Erbey. On 27 September 2011, Front Line issued an urgent appeal on the new wave of raids and arrests that targeted members of the Sanliurfa province branches of the IHD, the Education and Science Workers Trade Union (Eğitim-Sen) and the Health and Social Service Workers Trade Union (SES).

Front Line believes that the arrest and pre-trial detention of Ragıp Zarakolu are directly related to his legitimate work in the defence of human rights. Front Line expresses its deep concern that the ongoing crackdown targets human rights defenders and members of civil society engaged in peaceful human rights work, in particular the promotion and protection of the rights of the Kurdish minority. Front Line is further concerned that fair trial guarantees may not be fully respected, as shown in particular by the numerous cases of lengthy pre-trial detention. (http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/)


Un dossier détaillé sur l'arrestation de Zarakolu

Retrouvez sur le site du Collectif VAN toutes les informations sur le Dossier Ragip Zarakolu, éditeur, journaliste, militant des droits de l'homme en Turquie, arrêté à Istanbul le vendredi 28 octobre 2011, inculpé le mardi 1er novembre 2011, avec la sociologue Busra Ersanli, d'«appartenance à un groupe terroriste armé» et actuellement incarcéré dans la prison de haute sécurité de Metris.

La Turquie détient le record du nombre de journalistes emprisonnés : près de 60. «Aucun pour leurs écrits, tous pour des dossiers de terrorisme», se justifie Egemen Bagis, le ministre des affaires européennes !

Le Collectif VAN vous invite expressément à signer les pétitions internationales de soutien aux intellectuels turcs et kurdes détenus arbitrairement en Turquie.

(http://www.collectifvan.org/article.php?r=9&id=58378)

Ragip Zarakolu: la bonne conscience de la Turquie criminelle

Laurent Leylekian, Eurotopie

zarakolu arrestIl y a quelques jours, mon ami Ragip Zarakolu a été arrêté par la police de son pays, la Turquie. L'arrestation de Ragip, avec celle de Busra Ersanli, apparaît comme le point d'orgue d'une véritable rafle qui a mis aux arrêts tout ce que la Turquie compte de militants de la cause Kurdes, d'activistes des Droits de l'Homme, de syndicalistes, d'éditeurs indépendants et d'observateurs critiques du pouvoir en place. Bien évidemment, les intellectuels de connivence - que j'ai dénoncés autrefois - ne furent pas inquiétés par cette opération.

Si j'en ai le loisir, je reviendrai peut-être sur les raisons qui conduisent maintenant l'Etat turc à procéder à ces arrestations éminemment politiques; de toute façon, elles sont déjà connues de ceux qui s'intéressent à ce pays: En une phrase, il s'agit simplement d'une agression visant d'une part à laminer toute possibilité de protestation interne concernant la sale guerre que mène Ankara contre ses propres citoyens kurdes, et d'autre part à neutraliser l'avènement d'une représentation démocratique des Kurdes au sein du Parlement turc. Ce n'est certainement pas un hasard si la rafle du 5 octobre rappelle tellement un certain 24 avril, ni si elle survient précisément après la reprise de l'offensive turque au Kurdistan et après l'annonce du retour du BDP au Parlement.

Mais je voudrais ici évoquer Ragip, l'homme, et le peu que je sais de son engagement. En Turquie et hors de Turquie, Ragip est un symbole. Ce n'est d'ailleurs pas pour rien si son arrestation a déclenché un tollé international là où les arrestations précédentes n'avaient provoqué que des réactions d'organisations spécialisées (à ce sujet, j'invite tout un chacun à signer les pétitions qui dénoncent son arrestation).


 En Turquie, Ragip et son épouse Ayse - depuis lors décédée - furent les précurseurs de toutes les transgressions, les Saint Jean-Baptiste de toutes les causes perdues, les pourfendeurs de tous les tabous. Sur la question arménienne d'abord, sur la question kurde ensuite, sur l'absence de démocratie en Turquie, sur les privilèges étouffants et exorbitants des militaires dans ce pays, sur la torture, sur les prisons de type F, sur les massacres du Dersim, sur celui de Sivas ou simplement sur les rapports de domination sociale, Ragip fut de tous les combats, de tous et avant tous. Et Ragip n'est pas Arménien, ni Grec, ni Juif, ni Kurde, ni Alévi, ni Zaza; il est simplement humain, mais pleinement humain et c'est bien suffisant.

Pour ceux qui ont la chance de le connaître, ce qui frappe chez Ragip, c'est cette inflexible douceur qui imprègne ceux qui font de leurs croyance en l'Homme l'engagement d'une vie. Ragip n'a pas le verbe haut, il est souvent hésitant et son attitude n'est pas impressionnante, encore moins dominatrice. Ragip n'est pas l'homme des certitudes et des vérités; c'est l'homme des interrogations et des questionnements. Avec sa maison d'édition Belge (Document), c'est également la pensée critique traduite en action politique. Ce sont d'ailleurs des caractéristiques qu'il partage avec ses amis - depuis lors les miens aussi - Inci Tugsavul et Dogan Özgüden, réfugiés en Europe depuis quarante ans . Je me plais à croire que les résistants de tout lieu et de tout temps ont toujours fait preuve de la même modestie face aux prétentions à la Vérité comme face aux fatalités du destin.

ragip jeune

Ragip Zarakolu et Dogan Özgüden
lors de la rédaction de la revue Ant en Turquie en 1970 

Lorsque je regarde à nouveau cette photo défraîchie, j'imagine assez bien, me semble-t-il,  les espoirs les plus fous que nourrissaient alors ces démocrates turcs, eux qui mêlèrent avec allégresse leurs amours et leurs luttes. Le printemps 68 était passé là, la sève libertaire emplissait leurs veines; la démocratie semblait à portée de main et déjà en gestation, l'Europe, ses valeurs et ses promesses emplissaient leurs rêves.

Et puis vint le premier coup d'Etat, celui de 1971. L'Europe et la démocratie sont arrivés en effet, en Grèce, en Espagne et au Portugal, en Europe de l'Est même, mais pas en Turquie. Pour Dogan et Inci, ce fut l'errance puis l'exil en Belgique, et la promesse de centaines d'années de prison en cas de retour. "Retour interdit" comme sur les passeports des Arméniens qui, survivant au Génocide, avaient dû quitter leur pays, cette même Turquie, cinquante ans auparavant.  Pour ceux qui restèrent comme Ragip et Ayse, la clandestinité, la prison, la torture, les attentats à leur vie, l'angoisse et l'affliction aussi certainement; mais la peur, la vraie, celle du vide, jamais.

Cette peur irrépressible, elle est dans le regard des tortionnaires; dans les éructations d'Erdogan, dans les rodomontades de Gül, de Davutoglu, de Ciçek ou de leurs prédécesseurs. L'Histoire a déjà oublié les noms obscurs de ceux qui les précédèrent et qui, du Palais de Cankaya ou de l'Etat-major, croyaient pouvoir fabriquer une respectabilité pour absoudre les crimes de leur Etat multirécidiviste. A coup de milliards ou de menaces, usant tantôt du fard démocratique, tantôt de l'intimidation martiale, ils n'ont finalement réussi qu'à humilier leur nation et à jeter l'opprobre sur leur Etat.

Mais l'humble, le doux Ragip ne connaît pas cette peur, cette déréliction qui saisit les nihilistes face au vertige de l'abîme, eux que seule la force brutale aveugle et tient en respect, eux auxquels seule cette force brutale donne l'impression de vivre . Du fond de sa geôle, Ragip est l'homme libre, celui dont Léon Blum disait qu'il "n'a pas peur d'aller jusqu'au bout de sa pensée"; du fond de sa geôle, Ragip continue incorrigiblement de vivre et de rêver, de vivre parce qu'il résiste. Quand on pense à Ragip, viennent immédiatement à l'esprit les vers superbes mais quelque peu oubliés de Victor Hugo :

Ceux qui vivent, ce sont ceux qui luttent ; ce sont
Ceux dont un dessein ferme emplit l'âme et le front.
Ceux qui d'un haut destin gravissent l'âpre cime.
Ceux qui marchent pensifs, épris d'un but sublime.
Ayant devant les yeux sans cesse, nuit et jour,
Ou quelque saint labeur ou quelque grand amour.
C'est le prophète saint prosterné devant l'arche,
C'est le travailleur, pâtre, ouvrier, patriarche.
Ceux dont le coeur est bon, ceux dont les jours sont pleins.
Ceux-là vivent, Seigneur ! les autres, je les plains.
Car de son vague ennui le néant les enivre,
Car le plus lourd fardeau, c'est d'exister sans vivre.
Inutiles, épars, ils traînent ici-bas
Le sombre accablement d'être en ne pensant pas.
Ils s'appellent vulgus, plebs, la tourbe, la foule.
Ils sont ce qui murmure, applaudit, siffle, coule,
Bat des mains, foule aux pieds, bâille, dit oui, dit non,
N'a jamais de figure et n'a jamais de nom ;
Troupeau qui va, revient, juge, absout, délibère,
Détruit, prêt à Marat comme prêt à Tibère,
Foule triste, joyeuse, habits dorés, bras nus,
Pêle-mêle, et poussée aux gouffres inconnus.
Ils sont les passants froids sans but, sans noeud, sans âge ;
Le bas du genre humain qui s'écroule en nuage ;
Ceux qu'on ne connaît pas, ceux qu'on ne compte pas,
Ceux qui perdent les mots, les volontés, les pas.
L'ombre obscure autour d'eux se prolonge et recule ;
Ils n'ont du plein midi qu'un lointain crépuscule,
Car, jetant au hasard les cris, les voix, le bruit,
Ils errent près du bord sinistre de la nuit.

Quoi ! ne point aimer ! suivre une morne carrière
Sans un songe en avant, sans un deuil en arrière,
Quoi ! marcher devant soi sans savoir où l'on va,
Rire de Jupiter sans croire à Jéhova,
Regarder sans respect l'astre, la fleur, la femme,
Toujours vouloir le corps, ne jamais chercher l'âme,
Pour de vains résultats faire de vains efforts,
N'attendre rien d'en haut ! ciel ! oublier les morts !
Oh non, je ne suis point de ceux-là ! grands, prospères,
Fiers, puissants, ou cachés dans d'immondes repaires,
Je les fuis, et je crains leurs sentiers détestés ;
Et j'aimerais mieux être, ô fourmis des cités,
Tourbe, foule, hommes faux, coeurs morts, races déchues,
Un arbre dans les bois qu'une âme en vos cohues !

Et le rêve de Ragip, hors de sa geôle, nous le partageons. Avec lui, nous voulons croire que cette Turquie adviendra, celle qui conférera des droits sociopolitiques à ses citoyens kurdes comme à ses autres citoyens, celle qui reconnaîtra le Génocide des Arméniens et travaillera à son enseignement et à sa réparation, celle qui  quittera les territoires occupés à Chypre ou ailleurs, celle qui cessera de torturer, de menacer, d'insulter et d'enbastiller; celle qui, à défaut d'entrer dans l'Europe, entrera au moins dans l'Humanité.

Et si nous avons déjà oublié le nom des tortionnaires, personne n'oublie le sourire grave et discret de Ragip . Car ce qui impressionne les vrais hommes, c'est la force de la volonté bien plus que brutalité de la force. Ceux qui nous impressionnent, ce sont Martin Niemoller, Friedrich Bonhoeffer, Jean Moulin, Andreï Sakharov ou Aung San Sui Kyi.

Ragip Zarakolu est de cette trempe et il se compare à ces consciences car il est la bonne conscience de son pays criminel, celle qui le rachète et qui nous permet de continuer à espérer. Ragip Zarakolu mériterait de l'Humanité et de son prix Nobel et j'en appelle ici à toutes les autorités morales pour que lui soit conférée la reconnaissance internationale qui consacrerait en lui tant d'efforts individuels et collectifs pour la Paix, la Justice et la Démocratie.

Parliamentary Written Questions in Holland about the detention of Ragip Zarakolu

The Hague, 2 November 2011 - The Federation of Armenian Organisations of the Netherlands (FAON) was informed that the Dutch Parliament has submitted Written Questions to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Rosenthal on the recent detention of dozens of Turkish journalists, writers and publishers, including the Turkish writer and publisher Ragip Zarakolu. The questions were submitted on 1 November 2011 by the Members of Parliament Mr. Van der Staaij (Reformed Political Party – SGP), Mr. Dijkhoff ( Liberal Party – VVD), Mr. Voordewind (Christian Union), Mr. Kortenoeven (Party for Freedom – PVV) and Mr. Van Bommel (Socialist Party – SP).

The parliamentarians want to know how the Minister judges these detentions, how the further procedure for them will be and what exactly the accusations are against Zarakolu and other detainees? They ask also if the detention of Zarakolu is related to his publications on the Armenian Genocide? As it is known Zarakolu was convicted in 2008 for publication of a book on the Armenian Genocide. At the time Dutch parliament had also asked questions on his case.

The members of parliament also ask the Minister if the climate in Turkey in terms of press freedom and freedom of speech deteriorates.

The Parliament wants to know what are the steps that the Minister is going to take – both bilaterally and at EU level – to address the Turkish authorities on the recent detentions of Zarakolu and others.

Also they ask the Minister what, to the Minister’s opinion, should be the impact of these detentions on the accession negotiations with Turkey.

Federation of Armenian Organisations in The Netherlands (FAON)
Website: www.faon.nl
E-mail: info@faon.nl

Arrêter des intellectuels, c'est indigne

Quarante-quatre personnes, pour la plupart des intellectuels accusés de liens avec les rebelles kurdes, ont été arrêtées ces derniers jours. Le quotidien Milliyet dénonce ces pratiques, contraires à la démocratie et à la liberté d’expression.

Les libertés fondamentales et les droits de l'homme ont été constamment bafoués chez nous sous prétexte de lutte contre le communisme, le fondamentalisme musulman, le séparatisme [kurde] et le terrorisme. Et ils continuent de l'être. La liberté d'expression est l'une des conditions indispensables à l'instauration d'une véritable démocratie. Si la Turquie est encore aujourd'hui une démocratie de seconde zone, c'est principalement parce que cette liberté y est entravée. En s'appuyant sur plusieurs articles du code pénal, l'Etat a pendant des années sanctionné durement et envoyé derrière les barreaux écrivains, caricaturistes, journalistes et politiques.

Ainsi, pendant des années, les articles 141 et 142 ont puni l'adhésion aux thèses communistes et séparatistes, tandis que l'article 163 réprimait les "activités contraires à la laïcité". Quant aux articles 311 et 312, ils sanctionnaient ceux qui "[encourageaient] la population à la révolte". Si vous portez "atteinte à la personne morale de l'Etat ou du gouvernement", l'article 159 vous envoie tout droit en prison. A la fin de la guerre froide, en 1991, estimant que les articles 141, 142 et 163 commençaient à faire honte au pays, les autorités turques ont décidé de les supprimer du code pénal. Sauf que la loi antiterroriste promulguée au même moment a continué de porter des coups à l'exercice de la liberté d'expression, le plus souvent sous prétexte de séparatisme.

Est arrivé ensuite l'article 301 [condamnant les atteintes à la "turcité" et dont le journaliste turco-arménien Hrant Dink, assassiné en 2007, fut l'une des principales victimes]. Cet article, qualifié pas plus tard que la semaine passée d'"ennemi de la démocratie" par la Cour européenne des droits de l'homme, a été particulièrement liberticide pendant les années 2000 et l'est encore aujourd'hui [malgré la révision dont il a fait l'objet].

J'écris tout cela parce qu'il y a quelques jours l'éditeur Ragip Zarakolu* s'est fait arrêter dans le cadre d'une opération policière visant le KCK [organisation considérée comme faisant le lien entre le PKK et le parti prokurde BDP]. Ce même Ragip Zarakolu qui depuis les années 1970 subit les affres de tous ces articles liberticides. Cet intellectuel qui a toujours combattu les interdits et les tabous. Ce militant des droits de l'homme qui, par les livres qu'il a édités, a fait la lumière sur nos tragédies et sur les origines du totalitarisme chez nous. Comme me le disait un intellectuel kurde, "il n'a de cesse de prouver que les Kurdes existent dans ce pays et que les Arméniens y sont morts".

Si les tabous sur le massacre – ou le génocide – des Arméniens, en 1915, ou sur cette question kurde qui retarde les progrès de la démocratie dans notre pays, ont été un tant soit peu brisés, c'est notamment à lui qu'on le doit. Cet individu, qui a déjà connu la prison et la torture, a été l'un de ceux qui ont brisé le silence par rapport à ces tabous, ce qui n'était pas chose facile à une époque où tout le monde se taisait.

Je dénonce le placement en garde à vue de Ragip Zarakolu, celui de son fils Deniz Zarakolu [arrêté début octobre], et celui du Pr Büsra Ersanli. Je pense que ces opérations retardent l'instauration de la paix et de la démocratie.
(courrierinternational.com-Milliyet-Hasan Cemal, 2 nov 2011)

* Ragip Zarakolu a notamment fait publier par sa maison d'édition belge la traduction en turc d'ouvrages sur le génocide arménien.

Intellectuals protest arrest of publisher in Istanbul

A group of intellectuals staged a rally in front of the Beşiktaş Courthouse yesterday to protest the recent arrest of prominent publisher Ragıp Zarakolu and Professor Büşra Ersanlı on terrorism-related charges, while international organizations also condemned the arrests.

“[Ragıp Zarakolu] is a tireless person and minority rights activist. Up to now, his quest for truth, reconciliation and justice has been unstoppable. This man does not belong in prison, he deserves a Nobel prize,” said Bjorn Smith-Simonsen, who issued a press release on behalf of the Geneva-based International Publishing Association.

The arrests of the publisher and professor, who were among dozens of people rounded up in the latest raid against the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), the alleged urban wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), drew condemnation from other international groups as well.

“[Ragıp] Zarakolu is an honored PEN colleague and an internationally recognized defender of the right to write and publish freely. We emphatically protest his arrest,” read a statement issued by the American PEN association.

Ragıp Zarakolu’s son, Sinan Zarakolu, said in Beşiktaş the arrests were “arbitrary” and noted that his brother, Deniz Zarakolu, was also imprisoned last month on similar accusations.

“The accusations are shaky. Anything else is not possible anyway. Neither my father nor my brother have anything to do with the accusations whatsoever,” Sinan Zarakolu told the Hürriyet Daily News.

Sırma Ersanlı, Bürşa Ersanlı’s sister, also said a major and offensive smear campaign was being conducted.

“The image conjured up for Büşra has painted her as if she has a grenade in one hand and a pistol in the other,” the Marmara University professor’s sister told the Daily News.

Academics from Bosphorus University, one of Turkey’s most prestigious educational institutions, also plan to stage a rally in protest at the arrests this morning.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
(Hürriyet Daily News, November 3, 2011)

HRW: Arrests expose flawed justice system in Turkey

An Istanbul court’s decision on 1 November 2011 to imprison a publisher and a political science professor pending their trial on terrorism charges exposes the huge deficiencies of Turkey’s criminal justice system, Human Rights Watch said today.

The arrests are part of a crackdown on people engaged in legal political activity with the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP). Ragıp Zarakolu, the publisher, and Büşra Ersanlı, the professor, are among fifty people who have been arrested in Istanbul since 27 October. Three were released by the prosecutor and forty-seven brought before Istanbul Heavy Penal Court No. 14, which remanded forty-four to prison and released three pending trial.

“The arrests of Ragip Zarakolu and Büşra Ersanlı represent a new low in the misuse of terrorism laws to crush freedom of expression and association in Turkey,” said Emma Sinclair-Webb, Turkey researcher at Human Rights Watch.

All forty-seven suspects will be charged for alleged links to the Turkish Assembly of the Union of Kurdistan Communities (KCK/TM), a body connected with the leadership of the armed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Under a widening police operation over the past two and a half years, thousands of people associated with the BDP or related political circles have been charged for alleged links to the KCK/TM or PKK.

Zarakolu is the owner and chief editor of the Belge publishing house, a champion of freedom of expression and human rights, and vocal proponent of Kurdish rights. He has faced prosecution many times for the books he has published and his own writings, none of which have advocated violence. Ersanlı has a chair in political science and international relations at Marmara University, Istanbul, is a member of the BDP’s Party Assembly, and is part of the commission advising the party on its input for the new constitution.
Most of those arrested were involved in the BDP’s Politics Academy, which provides courses and training to party activists and officials. The arrests appear to be the continuation of the 4 October police operation in Istanbul in which about one hundred people were arrested for alleged KCK links, with ninety-six in pretrial detention. Among those arrested and imprisoned was Zarakolu’s son, Deniz Zarakolu.

“We are seeing the Turkish police casting the net ever wider in the crackdown on legal pro-Kurdish politics,” Sinclair-Webb said. “Unless there is clear evidence of people plotting violence or providing logistical support to armed groups, prosecutors and courts should throw these cases out.”
Turkey’s Anti-Terrorism Law contains a vague and overbroad definition of terrorism, Human Rights Watch said. Furthermore, court interpretations of the law make its misuse more likely. The UN special rapporteur on the protection and promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, Martin Scheinin, has criticized the definition and called for its reform, saying that such crimes should be confined to “acts of deadly or otherwise grave violence against persons or the taking of hostages.”
The European Commission has also repeatedly drawn attention to the misuse of terrorism charges in Turkey and has also said the definition of terrorism in Turkish law is too wide, most recently in its October 2011 progress report on Turkey.

“These prosecutions demonstrate that the problems identified by the UN and European Commission have not gone away,” Sinclair-Webb said.

 “Turkey urgently needs to amend its vague and widely drawn terrorism laws and stop using them to clamp down on legitimate and peaceful political activity.”

Trials of BDP members and activists for alleged links to the KCK and PKK are being carried out across the Turkey. After waves of arrests that began in April 2009, the first, and main, trial began at Diyarbakır Heavy Penal Court No. 6 in October 2010. Among its 152 defendants are a large number of public and well-known figures, including serving mayors and a human rights defender. In a 7,578-page indictment, they are charged with crimes such as “aiming to destroy the unity and integrity of the state” (separatism), being a “member or leading member of the PKK,” and “aiding and abetting the PKK,” If convicted, they face penalties of between fifteen years and life in prison.

The investigation that led to the Diyarbakir trial was initiated after a court order four years ago authorized police surveillance of suspects and wiretaps. The investigation was the first into alleged links between activists and officials of both the Democratic Society Party and the successor BDP with the PKK, via the KCK. It led to similar investigations in provinces throughout southeast, eastern, and western Turkey.

Human Rights Watch knows of many other related trials in the courts of Diyarbakir, Adana, Van, Erzurum, and Izmir, for alleged offenses in the many provinces over which those courts have jurisdiction. In each case, the indictments allege that the defendants belong to the KCK’s Turkey Assembly, and that this assembly operates in cities throughout Turkey under the control of the PKK.

The evidence against the defendants is largely based on wiretaps, surveillance of an office some of the accused frequented, intercepted email correspondence, and testimony from secret witnesses.

However, there is scant evidence to suggest the defendants engaged in any acts that could be defined as terrorism as it is understood in international law: namely, violent activities such as bombings and hostage-taking targeting civilians, or the plotting of such activities. The indictment in the main Diyarbakır trial also lacks compelling evidence of logistical or material support for an outlawed armed group, nor is there evidence that the accused directly incited violence.

The widespread and dispersed nature of the ongoing investigations and arrests and a lack of available official statistics on the investigations and trials, make it impossible to produce accurate up-to-date estimates of the numbers currently in pretrial detention and the total number on trial, though it certainly runs to several thousand on trial, Human Rights Watch said. An October Interior Ministry statement put the number in pretrial detention on KCK-related charges at 605, though the figure has fluctuated considerably over the past two years.
(DIHA, 3.11.2011)

EFJ Condemns Arrest of Ragıp Zarakolu

The European group the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the European group of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today condemned the arrest of Ragıp Zarakolu, Turkish columnist and writer.

"The arrest of a journalist and well-known intellectual under the pretext of terroristic activities is clearly arbitrary and abusive," said EFJ President Arne König. "It shows how eager the government is to muzzle any critical voice by using anti-democratic methods. Unless there is clear evidence showing the allegations of the Turkish authorities, we call for the immediate release of Mr. Zarakolu and of all other Turkish journalists currently detained in jail".

Mr. Ragip Zarakolu was arrested on Friday 28 October with 40 other people during a vast "anti-terrorism" operation conducted by units of Turkish special forces.  Mr. Zarakolu's son, Deniz Zarakolu, editor of the Belge Publishing House, had been arrested earlier on 4 October.

Mr. Ragıp Zarakolu is a writer, a publisher and a columnist at Evrensel daily. In addition to newspapers' articles, Mr. Ragip Zarakolu has also published several books on the Armenian genocide and how it is treated in modern Turkey, including under the angle of freedom of expression.

The EFJ affiliate, the Türkiye Gazeteciler Sendikası (TGS - Journalists' Union of Turkey) also strongly condemned the arrest of Zarakolu.

Together with the TGS, the EFJ has launched an international postcard campaign to express solidarity with jailed Turkish journalists. The campaign calls on people to send on the Turkish national holiday, the Bairam, a greeting card with best wishes to the 66 colleagues currently in Turkish prisons, asking again for the immediate and unconditional release. Everyone is invited to join this solidarity campaign for Turkish journalists in jail by sending a postcard before 6th November to one or several journalists whose names are available here: http://europe.ifj.org/en/pages/turkey-campaign-set-journalists-free

The EFJ will also conduct a special fact finding mission on press freedom in Istanbul on 22-24 November.

For more information contact the EFJ at 32 2 235 2200

The EFJ represents over 260,000 journalists in over than 30 countries worldwide.


La première lettre de prison de Zarakolu

L'éditeur Ragip Zarakolu est actuellement incarcéré dans la prison de haute sécurité de Metris alors que son fils Deniz Zarakolu, autre éditeur de la Maison d'éditions Belge, se trouve dans la prison d'Edirne.

Dans sa première lettre envoyée de prison par l'intermédiaire de son avocat Özcan Kiliç, Ragip Zarakolu dit: «Mon arrestation et l'accusation d'appartenance à une organisation illégale font parties d'une campagne visant à intimider tous les intellectuels et démocrates de Turquie et plus particulièrement à priver les Kurdes de tout soutien."'

Zarakolu a fait savoir que durant le raid à son domicile la police n'a confisqué que quelques livres comme «preuves du crime» et n'a rien trouvé au sujet de sa soi-disant relation avec l'organisation en question.

Les livres qui ont été confisqués comme preuves de crime sont le 2e volume de Vatansiz Gazeteci (Journaliste apatride) de Dogan Özgüden, rédacteur en chef d'Info-Türk, Habiba d'Ender Ondes, le processus de paix de Yüksel Genç, manuscrits de quelques livres sur le génocide des Arméniens et sur l'histoire arménienne.

Il ajoute que toutes ses cartes bancaires et de crédit ont été confisquées par la police.

Rappelant qu'il est invité à de nombreuses conférences à l'étranger, principalement durant la semaine prochaine à Berlin, puis à l'Université Colgate, à Los Angeles et dans le Michigan, Zarakolu dit: «Le gouvernement devrait leur répondre quant à la raison réelle de mon arrestation."

Zarakolu conclut sa lettre avec l'appel suivant:

«Lors de mon interrogatoire, ils n'ont posé aucune question au sujet de l'organisation dont j'étais accusé d'être membre. Ils ne m'ont posé des questions que sur les livres que j'ai écrits ou préparés à la publication, les réunions publiques où j'ai parlé ou auxquelles j'ai assisté. Je pense que tout le monde devrait conjointement réagir contre cette campagne d'arrestations qui se transforme en un lynchage collectif. Ces pratiques illégales doivent être arrêtées. "

Zarakolu's first letter from prison

Publisher Ragip Zarakolu is currently kept at the Metris high-security prison while his son Deniz Zarakolu, other editor of the Belge Publishing House is under arrest at the Edirne Prison.

In his first letter sent from prison through his lawyer Özcan Kiliç, Ragip Zarakolu said: "My arrest and the accusation of membership of an illegal organization are parts of a campaign aiming to intimidate all intellectuals and democrats of Turkey and particularly to deprive the Kurds of any support."

Zarakolu said that during the raid to his house the police confiscated only few books as "evidences of crime" and found nothing about his so-called relations with any organization.

The books that confiscated as evidences of crime are the 2nd volume of Vatansiz Gazeteci (Stateless Journalist) by Dogan Özgüden, chief editor of Info-Türk, Habiba by Ender Öndes, Peace Process by Yüksel Genç, manuscripts three books about the Genocide of Armenians and the Armenian History.

He added that at the police headquarters, all his bank and credit cards were confiscated.

Reminding that he is invited as speaker to many conferences abroad, mainly next week to Berlin, later on to the US University Colgate, Los Angeles and Michigan, Zarakolu said: "The government should give them an answer explaining the real raison of my arrest."

Zarakolu concluded his letter with the following appeal:

"During my interrogation, they did not ask any question about the organization of which I was accused of being a member. They questioned me only about the books that I wrote or edited for publication, the public meetings where I spoke or attended. I think that everybody should jointly react against this campaign of arrests that turns into a collective lynching. These illegal practices should be stopped."

Liberté de la presse menacée en Turquie

par Amitiés kurdes de Bretagne

"On espérait que l’époque où les autorités donnaient aux médias des directives pour la couverture des sujets les plus sensibles était révolue en Turquie. L’engagement des principales agences de presse à observer la ligne officielle fait aujourd’hui peser de sérieuses menaces sur la liberté de l’information," (déclaration de Reporters sans frontières - RSF)

Le tout puissant Premier Ministre R.T Erdogan a convoqué les cinq plus grandes agences de presse de Turquie pour leur intimer l’ordre d’observer la ligne officielle en se conformant aux interdits de publication des autorités compétentes, ce qu’elles ont accepté : Les informations et les images seront transmises aux abonnés en tenant compte "de leur utilité sociale et de la solidarité". Ragip Zarakolu, directeur des éditions Belge (Belge Yayınları), a été arrêté ce 28 octobre 2011 à Istanbul.

Place des medias dans le " modèle turc"

Le traitement des journalistes est identique à celui des militants politiques ou associatifs qui ne pratiquent pas la politique d’alignement. Nous avons déjà signalé que depuis le 14 avril 2009, plus de 5000 personnes ont été arrêtées dont les motifs sont basés exclusivement sur des conversations téléphoniques, de propos de campagne électorale ou tirés de conférences de presse. Nous signalions également qu’au moins 70 journalistes, kurdes pour la plupart, sont, à ce jour, en prison. RSF, qui dénonce "la prise en otage" des journalistes en Turquie, rapporte ce qu’il en coûte à ceux qui refusent de s’autocensurer.

les exemples abondent : citons la journaliste du quotidien Taraf, Nese Düzel, et son rédacteur en chef Adnan Demir, poursuivis pour deux interviews d’anciens dirigeants du PKK, publiés en avril 2010, et menacés de 7 ans de prison ; une connexion régulière sur le site de l’agence de presse ANF vaut également sept ans de prison ; le fait de couvrir une opération militaire des "forces spéciales", des manifestations kurdes à Diyarbakir ou Hakkari, le procès d’un gardien de village (supplétif de l’armée turque) accusé de viol sur mineure, peut vous conduire en prison. Eren Keskin, cette avocate bien connue à Rennes, a reçu un "avertissement" du barreau d’Istanbul à la suite d’une condamnation (prison avec sursis et forte amende), en tant que directrice de "Özgür Gündem", pour avoir prononcé le mot "Kurdistan" dans une conférence prononcée... en 2004. Recours massif à la détention préventive, lourdes amendes et sanctions administratives sont les moyens couramment employés pour étrangler la liberté d’expression.

Ragip Zarakolu, éditeur et défenseur des droits de l’Homme, arrêté en Turquie

Ragip Zarakolu, directeur des éditions Belge (Belge Yayınları), a été arrêté ce 28 octobre 2011 à Istanbul ; son fils, Deniz Zarakolu, éditeur également de Belge Yayınları, ingénieur, doctorant à l’université Bilgi d’Istanbul avait déjà été mis en état d’arrestation le 4 octobre 2011 pour avoir donner une conférence sur "La Politique d’Aristote" organisée dans le cadre des activités du très légal parti pro kurde BDP, Parti pour la Paix et la Démocratie.

Né en 1948, le turc Ragip Zarakolu est l’un des fondateurs de l’Association des Droits de l’Homme en Turquie. Menant son combat, en Turquie même, depuis de nombreuses années, il n’a jamais été ménagé, ni par les militaires, ni par les islamistes, ce qui lui a valu un certain nombre de séjour en prison : déjà en 1972, la junte militaire l’avait condamné pour ses relations avec Amnesty International. Militant pour la reconnaissance du génocide arménien, il fut l’ami et le compagnon de lutte du journaliste Hrant Dink assassiné le 19 janvier 2007. Sa maison d’édition a publié plusieurs livres sur l’oppression des minorités nationales en Turquie.

Le même jour, la professeure Büşra Ersanlı, experte en droit constitutionnel et membre du Parti pour la paix et la démocratie (BDP), était interpellée avec des dizaines d’autres kurdes.

Selahattin Demirtaş, co-président du BDP, menace de boycotter la commission de révision de la constitution et exige du gouvernement une remise en liberté immédiate pour tous.

CCAF: Liberté immédiate pour Ragip Zarakolu !

Le CCAF a appris avec consternation l'arrestation scandaleuse par les autorités turques de Ragip Zarakolu, directeur des éditions Belge à Istanbul ainsi que celle de son fils Deniz. L'incarcération d'un des plus grands militants des droits de l'homme en Turquie, défenseur infatigable des minorités opprimées, des Kurdes et des Arméniens, marque un nouveau recul de la démocratie dans ce pays.

Cette arrestation symbolise le retour des vieux démons fascisants que cet État n'a jamais eu le courage d'affronter de face et traduit la résurgence des fondements politiques de ce pays bâti sur le cadavre du peuple arménien et l'étouffement de sa diversité culturelle.

En s'en prenant aujourd'hui aux rares intellectuels turcs qui se sont toujours élevés contre les turpitudes de l'hypernationalisme, Erdogan est en train de tuer l'espoir qu'avait pu faire naître chez certains l'arrivée avec l'AKP d'un pouvoir susceptible, si ce n'est de rompre avec les idéologies criminelles Jeune turque et Kémaliste, du moins de proposer des avancées pour en sortir. Or non seulement les questions kurde arménienne et chypriote ne connaissent aucune progression, mais la Turquie ne fait qu'exacerber les tensions, comme en témoigne en particulier la situation actuelle au Kurdistan.

Le CCAF dénonce et condamne ces arrestations arbitraires et plus spécifiquement celle de Ragip Zarakolu, auquel il avait remis sa médaille du courage, lors d'une cérémonie qui avait eu lieu à la mairie de Paris, présidée par Bertrand Delanoë le 24 avril 2005. Il s'inquiète de cette nouvelle montée de l'intolérance et demande la libération immédiate de Ragip Zarakolu, qui a été le premier en Turquie à oser reconnaître le génocide des Arménien et à braver les interdits sur le sujet.

Conseil National du CCAF
Conseil de Coordination des organisations Arméniennes de France
34, avenue Champs Elysées
75008 Paris
contact@ccaf.info


Lettre au Ministre français des affaires étrangères

Monsieur Alain JUPPÉ
Ministre des Affaires Étrangères
37 Quai d’Orsay 75351
Paris

Alfortville, le 2 novembre 2011

Monsieur le Ministre,

Le 28 octobre dernier, lors d’une opération de chasse à l’homme, 44 personnes ont été arrêtées en Turquie sous le prétexte d’appartenance à un mouvement appelé KCK (Union des communautés du Kurdistan). Parmi ces personnes se trouve Monsieur Ragip Zarakolu, éditeur, défenseur des Droits de l’Homme, également président du Comité de liberté de publication de l'Association des éditeurs de Turquie et Madame Büsra Ersanlı, professeur experte en droit constitutionnel et membre du Parti pour la paix et la démocratie (BDP). Le nom de Ragip Zarakolu ne vous est pas étranger puisqu’en 1994, lorsque vous étiez Ministre des Affaires Étrangères, je vous avais sollicité pour attirer votre attention sur le risque d’emprisonnement qu’encourait son épouse Ayse Zarakolu à cause de la traduction et la publication d’un livre français, « Le Tabou arménien » de Dr Yves Ternon, livre qui traitait du génocide arménien. Dans votre réponse datée du 20 juillet 1994, vous écriviez : « [...] La France continuera dans son action afin que ceux qui aspirent au progrès de la démocratie dans ce pays, telle Mme Zarakolu, l’emportent sur tous les extrémismes. »

Après le décès de son épouse, Ragip Zarakolu continue son combat, avec son fils (arrêté lui aussi le 4 octobre) et autres progressistes, pour qu’une vraie démocratie s’installe dans ce grand pays qu’est la Turquie. Il en va non seulement du bien être des citoyens turcs mais aussi de la stabilité géopolitique dans cette région agitée du Proche Orient. Ragip Zarakolu est un ami et aussi rédacteur de notre revue géopolitique Europe&Orient que vous connaissez bien. C’est à ce titre que je vous adresse cette lettre. Je vous prie Monsieur le Ministre, de faire entendre la voix de la France, pour que Ragip Zarakolu soit libéré, en attendant son éventuelle apparition devant un tribunal, si la justice turque en décidait ainsi.

Bien entendu, je reste à votre disposition pour vous apporter des renseignements supplémentaires. Veuillez agréer, Monsieur le Ministre, l'expression de mes sentiments distingués.

Jean SIRAPIAN
Président-fondateur de l’Institut Tchobanian
Directeur de Europe & Orient

Signature campaign for Zarakolu in Germany

The association « Arbeitsgruppe Anerkennung - gegen Völkermord, für Völkerverständigung e.V »  (AGA) has launched the following signature campaign against Ragip Zarakolu's arrest:

Immediately release Ragip and Deniz Zarakolu – Stop the politically motivated arrest wave in Turkey!

Dear Mister President Gül,
Dear Justice Minister Ergin,

I am deeply concerned about the recent detentions of the following citizens of Turkey, who have been detained together with other intellectuals during a wave of arrests against members of the KCK, the legal parliamentary party BDP and related organizations:
Mr Ragip Zarakolu, founder and owner of the “Belge” Publishing House (Istanbul), internationally known human rights defender (founder of the Human Rights Association of Turkey, IHD; chairman of the Committee for the Freedom of Publishers of the Union of Publishers of Turkey - Türkiye Yayıncılar Birliği Yayımlama Özgürlüğü Komitesi Başkanı); detained on 28 October 2011; arrested 31 October 2011

Mr Deniz Zarakolu (Editor, author and translator of the Istanbul “Belge” publishing house and translator of academic publications for the Bilgi University; interpreter for human rights delegations from the UK and other European states; lecturer of philophy at the Kurdish BDP party’s Academy of Political Science;); detained 4 October 2011

Mr Aziz Tunç (Writer for the Istanbul “Belge” publishing house and lecturer at the BDP Academy)

I am also worried about health conditions during detention, in particular for those prisoners of Conscience who were arrested under the anti-terrorism law.

I appeal to you:

- To stop arbitrary arrests and detentions for political convictions and conscience;
- To immediately release the above mentioned persons and to review similar cases;
- To ensure full access to efficient medical treatment for all detainees and jailed persons in Turkey;
- To ensure that the basic liberties of free opinion, research, education, teaching and publishing as enshrined in international law and conventions are more effectively respected.

To sign:
http://aga-online.org/petition/detail.php?petitionId=8

BDP issues warning over arrests and new charter

The Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) has expressed commitment to the cross-party parliamentary panel tasked with drafting a new constitution for Turkey, but warned that it may reconsider its participation amid a massive investigation targeting its members.

“We have expended an extraordinary effort to be positive and be part of the [Constitution Conciliation] Commission. If we face attitudes that render our participation meaningless and hamper the making of a democratic constitution, our party organs will make the necessary reassessment,” BDP co-chair Gültan Kışanak said yesterday.

The BDP, which is mainly focused on the Kurdish issue, is enraged over the detention of dozens of its members as part of a probe into the alleged urban wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The party had insisted that the constitution-making process be backed up with democratic reforms in some legislation, including the anti-terror law, the penal code and the law on political parties, which it has described as “road-cleaning” for the new charter. Parliamentary Speaker Cemil Çiçek, however, has brushed aside the demand, arguing that the proposed reforms are not part of the Commission’s job.

“You cannot build a roof when the house is burning. We will continue to insist on road-cleaning at each stage of the commission work,” said Ayla Akat Ata, one of the BDP’s members on the panel.

Speaking earlier in the day, Çiçek voiced optimism that Parliament would succeed in drafting the new constitution.

Some 1,000 people and organizations have already submitted their views on the process via Parliament’s website on the new charter that went online three weeks ago, said Çiçek.

The four parties in Parliament have been given time until Nov. 15 to assign one member each to the three sub-panels to be formed under the Constitution Conciliation Commission to collect the views of nongovernmental groups, political parties outside Parliament and public institutions.

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) is expected to hold a closed meeting in Parliament tomorrow to discuss the process. Party members have shown signs of disagreements on some issues, especially proposals for constitutional citizenship, the Kurdish issue, and the first three articles of the current constitution. (
Hürriyet Daily News, November 1, 2011)

Human Rights Association's Protest Against Arrests

Today (on 1 November 2011) Ragıp Zarakolu, the Human Rights Association’s Honour Board Member and Büşra Ersanlı, Lecturer at the Marmara University (Istanbul) Faculty of Political Sciences and International Relations, were arrested on charges of “being a member of an illegal organisation -Koma Ciwaken Kurdistan-Kurdistan Communities League /Assembly of Turkey (KCK/TM), the KCK is the intend to organize the Kurdish people as an umbrella organization that includes Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)” under Article 314 of TPC by İstanbul Heavy Penal Court No. 14.

They had been detained with 48 people –mostly members and executives of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP)- on 28 October 2011 when police raided on the BDP’s various offices in Istanbul Province, including the BDP’s Istanbul Politics Academy.

We think that Ragıp Zarakolu, who has been the chairperson of the Committee of Freedom of Publishing of the Publishers Union of Turkey, became a target of the authorities after he had been awarded by the founders of the Armenian Human Rights Association with the Hakop Meghapart Medal of Honour Lifetime Achievement Award. He was awarded for his contribution to the publication of the Armenian history, culture and literature in Turkey.

Büşra Ersanlı, a member of the Constitution Committee and the Party Assembly of the BDP was arrested in connection with the lecture she had performed in BDP’s Istanbul Politics Academy.

This is not only an attack on the freedom of organisation and of expression but also on the attempts to find a peaceful solution to the Kurdish Issue.

We are seriously concerned with the physical and psychological integrity of the pre-trial detainees that were arrested on 1 November 2011. The authorities should immediately and unconditionally release Zarakolu, Ersanlı and others and put an end to any kind of harassment – including at the judicial level against them.

Human Rights Association (IHD)
Chairperson
Öztürk Türkdoğan

Human Rights Association (IHD)
Tel: 00 90 312 230 35 67-68-69
Fax: 00 90 312 230 17 07
E-mail: ihd@ihd.org.tr
Web: http://www.ihd.org.tr/english/
Address: Necatibey Caddesi 82-11, Kizilay, Cankaya 06430
Ankara, Turkey

Zarakolu and Ersanli arrested by court

A Turkish court on Tuesday decided to put under arrest 44 people, including Publisher Ragip Zarakolu and Prof. Busra Ersanli, on charges of membership in  the so-called KCK (Union of Kurdistan Communities). They were among about 50 suspects detained over the weekend in a crackdown on the same charges.

After the interrogation at the police, all 50 persons were taken to the Istanbul Courthouse on Monday morning. The prosecutor decided to take 47 of them to court with the demand to arrest them.

According to lawyer Ercan Kanar, they were interrogated by 12 different prosecutors.

The interrogation was carried out for more than one day under torture-like conditions without sleeping. At the waiting room, 47 detainees had to share only few chairs in turn.

Ninety-six people were arrested as part of another operation against the KCK in İstanbul earlier this month.

The KCK investigation started in December 2009 and a large number of Kurdish politicians, including several officials from the BDP, have been detained as part of the case since then.

The suspects have been accused of various crimes, including membership in a terrorist organization, aiding and abetting a terrorist organization and attempting to destroy the country's unity and integrity. The suspects include mayors and municipal officials from the BDP, which has said the investigation is the government's method of suppressing its politicians, denying any links between its deputies and terrorist organizations.

“It will be a mass trial with a 150 people in total. We undoubtedly will have to wait for a year before the trial,” said lawyer Özcan Kılıç, who is representing Ersanlı and Zarakolu.

Zarakolu was arrested despite the lack of any documents or information that would indicate that he was involved in a crime, Kılıç said.

Zarakolu is the head of the Turkish Publishers’ Union’s Committee for the Freedom of Publishing, as well as the recipient of numerous prestigious awards pertaining to freedom of expression.

“Ragıp gave a speech at the academy of the BDP [Peace and Democracy Party], which was a legal political party in 2010. This was a meeting open to the public and attended by 150 people in Istanbul. He stands accused of being a member of the KCK due to the speech he gave at this meeting. There are no sound recordings anywhere; they point to a news piece that appeared in the Dicle news agency,” Kılıç said.

Ersanlı was also arrested because she gave lectures at the BDP Academy, he added.

“Figures who dedicated their lives to the defense of human rights like Zarakolu and Ersanlı are getting arrested and imprisoned through the use of the Kurdish issue as a pretext. We’re at a point where words fail,” Kılıç said.

Ersanlı, a political science professor at Istanbul’s Marmara University, is also a member of the BDP Assembly and has a seat on the party’s charter preparation commission, which is working toward drafting a new constitution. The BDP is primarily focused on the Kurdish issue.

Protests in front of the courthouse

While academic Ersanlı and human rights defender Zarakolu gave their statements at the Beşiktaş (Istanbul) Courthouse, hundreds of people protested the latest wave of police custodies in front of the building.

The demonstrators had lots of renowned supporters such as Kurdish politician Sebahat Tuncel, columnist Yıldırım Türker, widow of slain Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, Rakel Dink; journalist Özgür Mumcu, academic Koray Çalışkan, Gencay Gürsoy, Necmiye Alpay, Celalettin Can, President of the Press Institute Association Ferai Tınç, Provincial Chairman of the Republican People's Party (CHP) Oğuz Kaan Salıcı, Chair of the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ÖDP) Alper Taş and lawyer İbrahim Çiçek on behalf of the People's Democracy Congress. Moreover, many of Ersanlı's students joined the protest. They said that they were going to persevere in front of the courthouse until a decision about the people in custody would have been taken.

The group of protestors held Ersanlı's book entitled "Power and History" and chanted slogans like "Teacher Büşra is not alone", "Long live the people's brotherhood", "We are all Kurds, we are all KCK members" or "Peace cannot be struck with handcuffs".

Meanwhile, a large group of Turkish intellectuals, mainly academics, have launched a petition campaign to protest the detention of Professor Ersanlı and to call for her release. A joint statement by the group said the detention of Ersanlı, who has for years been working for sustainable peace and a new constitution in Turkey, led to outrage among all circles in the country that believe in the democratic state of law.

“The detention of Professor Büşra Ersanlı is a heavy blow dealt to Turkey's efforts towards a real democracy with equality, peace, social justice and academic and political freedoms. We demand the immediate release of Professor Büşra Ersanlı and all other jailed politicians, academics and journalists who work for peace, democratic rights and freedoms in our country. The detention and arrest of people without any concrete and serious evidence under the primitive mentality of ‘though crimes' is against human rights,” the statement said.

Among the intellectuals who have signed the joint statement are Ahmet İnsel, Ali Bayramoğlu, Cengiz Aktar, Cengiz Çandar, Hülya Gülbahar, Murat Belge, Mithat Sancar, Oral Çalışlar, Ümit Cizre, Baskın Oran, Fuat Keyman and Yaşar Kemal.

IPA: Turkish Freedom to Publish Hero Jailed

Publisher Ragıp Zarakolu, recipient of the 2008 IPA Freedom to Publish Prize, was arrested on Friday, 28 October 2011 in Istanbul. The 14th High Criminal Court in Beşiktaş, Istanbul decided earlier today, following a 28-hour long hearing, to incarcerate the man whom many view as Turkey’s most prominent freedom of expression and minority rights activist. In particular, he is being accused of being a member of an illegal organisation under the anti-terror legislation. IPA considers his imprisonment to be in violation of Turkey’s international treaty obligations.  IPA therefore demands that he be released immediately until the trial begins.

Ragıp Zarakolu is widely considered as a freedom to publish hero. One of Ragıp Zarakolu’s son, Deniz Zarakolu, was also arrested on 2 October 2011 after having lectured on political philosophy at the (legal) BDP party political science academy, and has been detained since at the Edirne F-type (high security) prison. These arrests are part of a larger crackdown initiated in 2009 and still on-going against Kurdish political parties. IPA is concerned that Ragıp and Deniz Zarakolu’s imprisonment, alongside several other writers and intellectuals like Professor Büşra Ersanlı, is in violation of Turkey’s obligations under Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

Says Bjørn Smith-Simonsen, Chair of IPA’s Freedom to Publish Committee (FTPC): “October is an extremely sad month for freedom to publish in Turkey and worldwide. Ragıp Zarakolu is the pride of publishing. He is the limelight of freedom to publish in Turkey. He is a tireless human and minority rights activist. Up to now, his quest for truth, reconciliation and justice has been unstoppable. This man does not belong to prison, he deserves a Nobel Prize. We demand that Ragıp Zarakolu, the recipient of IPA’s Freedom to Publish Prize be released immediately. The trial is likely to begin in a year’s time only. Ragıp Zarakolu’s health is not good. We fear that he will not stand his detention conditions in the terrible F-type (high security) prisons. This is an additional reason for the Turkish authorities to show compassion and release him immediately”.

Jens Bammel, IPA’s Secretary General, adds: “As the EU Commission’s 2011 Turkey Progress report stresses, legal amendments to the Turkish anti-terror legislation are very much needed to comply with various rulings of the European Court of Human Rights. We too have witnessed in the last two years an increasing use of the anti-terror legislation to stifle freedom to publish in Turkey. On behalf of the International Publishing community, I will seek to meet as soon as possible the Permanent Representative of Turkey to the United Nations Office in Geneva[1] to raise our serious concerns with the Turkish authorities, urging his government to release publisher Zarakolu immediately. Already in March the authorities had condemned Zarakolu for spreading propaganda under the anti-terror legislation. Now they go one step further in accusing him of being a member of an illegal organisation. The rule of law and the principles of freedom of expression must prevail”.

NOTES FOR EDITORS:

More about Ragıp Zarakolu:

Ragıp Zarakolu is a Turkish publisher born in 1948. Since starting his publishing house Belge with his wife Ayşe Nur in 1977, he has been subjected to harassment from the Turkish authorities. Ragıp Zarakolu refused to abandon his campaign for freedom of thought, striving “for an attitude of respect for different thoughts and cultures to become widespread in Turkey”. Over the years, the charges brought by the Turkish authorities against Ragıp Zarakolu and his wife resulted in imprisonment, confiscation and destruction of books, and the imposition of heavy fines, endangering the survival of the Belge publishing house. Ragıp Zarakolu is the chairperson of the Freedom to Publish Committee of the Turkish Publishers Association (TPA/TYB). He is also, among others, a founding member of the Turkish Human Rights Association.

Throughout his publishing career Ragıp Zarakolu has been singled out by the conservative elements of the judiciary because of his decades of struggle for freedom of expression, and particularly his promotion of minority rights and his quest for truth and justice.  Ragıp Zarakolu's work as a publisher and his wholehearted support of freedom to publish have often brought him into conflict with the authorities and endangered his personal safety. His publishing house Belge was fire bombed in the mid-1990s. Despite the string of attacks, he has persistently continued to tackle contentious issues, thus encouraging healthy debate and democratization in Turkey.

Throughout his life, Ragıp Zarakolu has been subjected to a series of long, time-consuming and expensive court hearings for shedding light on controversial issues. A publisher in the courts is a publisher who spends time and money away from his work. Like a terrible disease, such procedures can drain time and energy. The court case in itself becomes the punishment for the publisher.

Ragıp Zarakolu, as recently as March 2011, was condemned by an Istanbul court to paying a TL 16,660 (€ 8,330) fine for publishing N. Mehmet Güler's "KCK File / Global State and Kurds without State". N. Mehmet Güler was also condemned to a suspended 15-month prison sentence. Both Zarakolu and Güler were accused under article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law of “spreading propaganda” for an illegal organization, the banned Kurdish Workers Party (PKK).  The book, which was banned immediately after its release at the Diyarbakir Book Fair in May 2010, remains banned. IPA had condemned their convictions and called for their acquittal when appeal time would come.

More about Freedom to Publish in Turkey:

Following the 25 October 2011 ruling of the European Court of Human Rights in Altuğ Taner Akçam v. Turkey concluding that Article 301 TPC as amended in 2008 still violates Article 10 of the ECHR, IPA supports its Turkish member’s request that Article 301 be repealed. Following the recent explosion of obscenity cases under Article 226 TPC[2], IPA also supports its Turkish member’s request that the Prime Ministerial Board for the Protection of Children from Harmful Publications be disbanded as it insists on banning literature for adults, which the European Court of Human Rights has described as “belonging to the European literary heritage”.

IPA further notes with concern the ruling made by Istanbul’s 14th High Criminal Court in August 2011 that the printer of a book be considered “like its author”, condemning the owner of Berdan Printing House, Sadik Daşdöğen, to a 9-month prison sentence in absentia for printing a book that included interviews of Abdhullah Öcalan. Sadik Daşdöğen was convicted of “spreading propaganda for an illegal organisation”. The publishers had already opposed such a move in the early 1980s. If the printers were held responsible for the books they print, the consequences on freedom of expression and freedom to publish in Turkey could be severe.

To curb the flow of freedom of expression and freedom to publish trials in Turkey, Turkish

legislation (Articles 125, 216, 301 […] TPC, Law 5816, Anti-terror legislation, etc.) and practice should be amended to meet international standards, including the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, as Turkey was reminded of by its peers when it came under review during the 8th Session of the Universal Periodical Review (UPR) of the UN Human Rights Council in May 2010 in Geneva. To see the joint submission on Turkey to the UPR Working Group of IPA, PEN International and Index on Censorship, please go to:

http://www.internationalpublishers.org/images/stories/MembersOnly/FTPC/UPR/turkey%20upr%20_3_.pdf

More about IPA:

The International Publishers Association (IPA) is the global non-governmental organisation representing all aspects of book and journal publishing worldwide. Established in 1896, IPA's mission is to promote and protect publishing and to raise awareness for publishing as a force for cultural and political advancement worldwide. IPA is an industry association with a human rights mandate. IPA currently has 65 member associations in 53 countries.

For further information, please contact:

Alexis Krikorian                               
Director, FTP                                  
IPA                                                  
krikorian@internationalpublishers.org
www.internationalpublishers.org

PEN International's Campaign

The arrest this weekend of publisher Ragip Zarakolu, one of Turkey’s most prominent freedom of expression and minority rights activists and a leading member of PEN Turkey is greeted with alarm and concern by PEN International. Arrested at the same time was Professor Büsra Ersanli, of the faculty of Political Science at Marmara University. The arrests are part of a larger crackdown initiated in 2009 and still ongoing against Kurdish political parties. PEN is concerned that Zarakolu and Ersanli, alongside several other writers and journalists also detained under this crackdown, are held in denial of their rights to peaceful freedom of expression and association.

Ragip Zarakolu and Professor Büsra Ersanli were arrested on 28 October 2011. Forty one people had also been arrested around the same time under what is known as the Democratic Society Congress (Koma Civaken Kurdistan - KCK) operation that has been under way since 2009 leading to several hundred, some say over 1,000, arrests and trials. The KCK is seen as its civil/political wing front for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), and thus also illegal.

Human rights groups monitoring the operation have reported concerns over a number of areas including lengthy pre-trial detention without bail (some have been held pending trial since the start of the operation in April 2009), that the charges may be politically motivated, and that fair trial standards are being ignored. Trade union and human rights activists, mayors and local politicians are among those arrested. For more on the KCK arrests read a report by the Kurdistan Human Rights Project.. 

Among the organisations being linked to the KCK is the Peace and Democracy Party (Barish ve Demokrasi Partisi - BDP). Thirty BDP representatives took their seats in the Turkish parliament on 1 October, among them longstanding Kurdish rights activist, Leyla Zana, a former PEN case. The BDP was created after the Democratic Society Party (DTP) was forcibly closed down in 2009 on accusation of affiliation to the PKK. The BDP has made it clear that is not affiliated to the PKK and that it does not influence it political policy. Despite this, BDP and former DTP members have been arrested and harassed. Some activists claim that over 1,000 have been arrested on charges ranging from speaking Kurdish, making statements critical of the government, as well as having links to the KCK. The United Nations High Commission on Refugees has recently issued an analysis of the BDP and events since its formation in early 2010.

Background

Professor Büsra Ersanli is an academic based at Istanbul’s Marmara university’s  Faculty of Political Science and International Relations. She is an expert on constitutional law and at the time of her arrest was working with the BDP’s Constitutional Commission.

Ragip Zarakolu is a well known political activist who has been fighting for freedom of expression in Turkey for over 30 years, publishing books on issues such as minority and human rights. As one of the 50 writers chosen to represent the struggle for freedom of expression since 1960 for the Writers in Prison Committee's 50th Anniversary Campaign - Because Writers Speak Their Minds. In the days running up to his arrest, he had been campaigning for the release of his son, Deniz Zarakolu, who had been arrested three weeks earlier on 7 October, also under the KCK operation. Deniz is a PhD student of political thought and has translated academic works including Thomas Hobbes’ De Cive. See PEN alert.

Among the early KCK operation arrests was Muharrem Erbey, lawyer, writer and Turkey PEN member, arrested in December 2009, who is still detained, and his trial is underway. Representatives from PEN Centres have observed his trial, See alert.

Please send appeals:

Expressing alarm at the arrests of Ragip Zarakolu, Professor Büsra Ersanli and Deniz Zarakolu, as well as the continued detention of Muharrem Erbey, and other writers and journalists accused for their affiliation with Kurdish political parties.
 
Referring to concerns that the arrests flout international standards protecting the rights to freedom of expression and association as guaranteed by both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the European Convention on Human and Democratic Rights, to which Turkey is a signatory.
 
Raising concerns that the trial are politically biased and do not conform to fair trial standards, and seeking assurances that these concerns are addressed as a matter of urgency.

Send appeals to:

Mr Sadullah Ergin
Minister of Justice
06669 Kizilay
Ankara
Turkey
Fax: 00 90 312 419 3370
Also to the Turkish ambassador in your country.


RSF condamne avec vigueur l'arrestation de Ragip Zarakolu


Reporters sans frontières condamne avec vigueur l'arrestation de Ragip Zarakolu, chroniqueur pour le quotidien de gauche Günlünk Evrensel et directeur des Editions Belges, au cours d'une rafle contre des militants pro-kurdes dans la nuit de vendredi 28 octobre 2011 à Istanbul. Une nouvelle fois, l'utilisation abusive de la loi antiterroriste sert à faire taire les activistes sur la question difficile des minorités. L'organisation demande sa libération immédiate.

La vague d'arrestation lancée dans le cadre de l'affaire du KCK (Union des communautés du Kurdistan, branche du PKK, Parti des travailleurs kurdes, interdit en Turquie) vendredi soir à Istanbul a touché une quarantaine de personnes.

Aucun motif officiel d'arrestation n'a été pour l'instant établi. Selon son avocat Özcan Kiliç, il a été interrogé sur plusieurs articles publiés dans la revue pro-kurde Özgur Gündem, sur des voyages effectués à l'étranger entre 2001 et 2011 et sur sa participation à l'inauguration de l'Académie politique d'Istanbul, perquisitionnée le vendredi 28 octobre). Il a été entendu par le procureur d'Istanbul le 31 octobre.

Accusé en août 2010 de propagande terroriste pour avoir publié l'ouvrage de Mehemt Güler « Le dossier KCK : L'Etat global et les Kurdes sans Etat », Ragip Zarakolu avait fait appel de sa condamnation. Son dossier est depuis examiné en cour de cassation.

2 août 2010 Un nouveau procès contre les voix de la minorité kurde

Reporters sans frontières dénonce l'ouverture d'un nouveau procès à l‘encontre de Mehmet Güler, auteur du livre « Le dossier KCK : L'Etat global et les Kurdes sans Etat » et de son éditeur, Ragip Zarakolu.

Ils seront jugés le 30 septembre prochain par la 10ème chambre de la cour d'assises d'Istanbul pour « publication de déclarations du PKK » (Parti des travailleurs du Kurdistan) et « propagande du PKK ». S'ils sont reconnus coupables, ils encourent un minimum de huit mois de prison. Le PKK est en lutte armée contre la Turquie depuis 1984 et placé sur la liste des organisations terroristes par le gouvernement.

L'ouvrage d'investigation journalistique « Le dossier KCK : L'Etat global et les Kurdes sans Etat », a été publié en mai dernier par les Editions Belges, sous la direction de Ragip Zarakolu. Le KCK désigne le système politique du PKK, qui a pour projet d'établir un régime de « confédéralisme démocratique » en Turquie. Le livre a été saisi par la cour d'assises d'Istanbul dès sa parution, à l'occasion de la Foire de livre, à Diyarbakir (sud-est de la Turquie).

Le procureur Hakan Karaali a réclamé la condamnation du journaliste et de l'éditeur en vertu des articles 6 et 7 de la Loi antiterroriste (LAT). C'est en vertu de ce texte que de nombreux journalistes des médias kurdes sont poursuivis et condamnés à de lourdes peines.

L'éditeur Ragip Zarakolu a affirmé que l'ouvrage avait été publié afin d'assurer « le droit à l'information des lecteurs » et de pouvoir présenter « une autre version des faits ». Mehmet Güler affirme avoir « évité d'employer un langage qui soit au profit ou au détriment de quiconque ». « Les partis politiques des Kurdes sont interdits. Des anciens ministres et maires, des intellectuels, des militants des droits de l'homme et des avocats sont incarcérés. Les citoyens ont le droit de savoir ce qui se passe. J'ai rédigé ce livre en toute objectivité », s'est défendu l'auteur.

Ragip Zarakolu et Mehmet Güler avaient récemment été jugés en raison du livre « Des décisions à prendre plus difficiles que la mort ». Le 10 juin dernier, la cour d'assises d'Istanbul avait condamné Mehmet Güler à 1 an et 3 mois de prison pour « propagande du PKK » et avait relaxé Ragip Zarakolu. Les deux hommes craignent à présent le verdict de ce nouveau procès.

Reporters sans frontières s'inquiète de la situation des médias et de la liberté de la presse en Turquie. Les pressions judiciaires et physiques sont de plus en plus fréquentes sur les professionnels des médias, et en particulier sur les médias kurdes.

L'inquiétude de Reporters sans frontières porte également sur les nouvelles résolutions, concernant la diffusion des informations à la télévision, adoptées par le gouvernement turc le 15 juillet.

Le ministre de l'Intérieur, Besir Atalay, a annoncé que le haut conseil de l'audiovisuel avait déterminé, avec l'accord des responsables des chaînes nationales, que « certains principes devaient être suivis en situation de risques terroristes et autres circonstances extraordinaires ». Selon ces « principes », les chaînes de télévision s'engagent à limiter la durée et la fréquence des flashs d'information.

Une autre résolution, qui ressemble surtout à une mise en garde à l'adresse des médias, concerne la responsabilité des chaînes dans la diffusion « d'émissions, interviews et déclarations, qui semblent donner raison aux actes terroristes, susceptibles d'être interprétées comme de la propagande des personnes à l'origine d'attentats ou encourager de futures attaques » .

Le ministre de l'Intérieur s'est félicité de ces « positions très décisives concernant le terrorisme ». L'Association contemporaine des journalistes a, elle, critiqué l'adoption de ces résolutions, « susceptibles d'entraîner des abus ».

Reporters sans frontières craint que ces formulations imprécises, qui laissent libre cours à de multiples interprétations, ne poussent les chaînes d'information à l'autocensure. Ces résolutions, qui viennent compléter la phase judiciaire de la LAT, risquent effectivement de fournir aux autorités de nouveaux prétextes pour procéder à des arrestations et engager des procès arbitraires.

Appel du Collectif 1971 à la solidarité avec Ragip Zarakolu

Dans le cadre de l'opération policière contre le KCK (Union des communautés du Kurdistan), la police turque a arrêté le 28 octobre 2011 à Istanbul, Ragip Zarakolu, proéminent défenseur des droits de l'Homme et directeur de la maison d'édition Belge. Zarakolu est également président du Comité de liberté de publication de l'Association des éditeurs de Turquie.

Son fils, Deniz Zarakolu, éditeur de la Maison d'édition Belge, avait déjà été mis en état d'arrestation le 4 octobre 2011 à Istanbul.

Zarakolu a publié plusieurs livres sur l'oppression des minorités nationales en Turquie et sur le génocide des Arméniens.

Le même jour, dans le cadre de la même opération policière, la professeure Büşra Ersanlı, experte en droit constitutionnel et membre du Parti pour la paix et la démocratie (BDP), a été arrêtée avec des dizaines d'opposants kurdes.

Les arrestations massives visant ce parti pro-kurde se poursuivent de façon frénétique.

En tant qu'associations issues de l'immigration politique en provenance de Turquie, nous sommes connaissons la courageuse et exceptionnelle contribution de Zarakolu à la defense des droits fondamentaux et des libertés des peuples arménien, assyrien, kurde et turc.

Ragip Zarakolu et tous les autres défenseurs des droits de l'Homme et des peuples doivent tout de suite être mis en liberté.

L'Initiative d'Ankara pour la liberté de Pensée vient de lancer une campagne de signature: Ca suffit!

Nous appelons tous les démocrates belges et européens à soutenir cette campagne.

COLLECTIF 1971
L'Association des Arméniens Démocrates de Belgique
L'Institut Assyrien de Belgique
L'Institut Kurde de Bruxelles
La Fondation Info-Türk

Tél: 02-736 78 95
E-mail: collectif1971@scarlet.be

Ragip Zarakolu's detention stirs NGO anger

The detention of prominent intellectual, author and publisher Ragıp Zarakolu on suspected charges of membership in an illegal organization have prompted a huge reaction from a variety of progressive nongovernmental organizations. Turkey Publishers’ Union, the Contemporary Journalists’ Association (ÇGD) and the Human

Rights Association (İHD) called for Zarakolu’s release after he was detained in an Oct. 29 raid for alleged involvement in the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), the alleged urban wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

His detention came one day after approximately 70 people, including Marmara University academic Büşra Ersanlı, were also detained for alleged KCK involvement.

“Ragıp Zarakolu is a writer and publisher who works for the freedom of publishing and who defends the right to the freedom of expression. He has been tried dozens of times because of this stand,” a statement from the Turkish Publishers’ Union said yesterday. “We find it very wrong and believe it is fateful … for our democracy that journalists, columnists, writers and publishers are being detained through mass detentions.”

The statement also said Zarakolu’s lawyer, Özcan Kılıç, had not yet been informed about the nature of the accusations against the publisher.

ÇGD Chairman Ahmet Abakay said the detention of Zarakolu, who is also the head of the Turkey Publishers’ Union’s Freedom of Publishing Committee, was indicative of how the country’s present atmosphere was damaging press freedom and freedom of expression.

“While we are waiting for journalists and writers who are in prison to be released and for measures restricting press freedom and freedom of speech to be removed, these new detentions and arrests are unacceptable,” Abakay said. Hundreds of people, including elected mayors, are already on trial on charges of ties to the PKK.
(Hürriyet Daily News, October 30, 2011)

Appel urgent de Genève pour la solidarité avec Zarakolu

Le 28 octobre 2011, dans une nouvelle vague d’arrestation, la police turque a arrêté à Istanbul M. Ragip Zarakolu, journaliste, défenseur des droits humains bien connu, directeur de la maison d'édition Belge[1] et Président du Comité de liberté de publication de l'Association des éditeurs de Turquie, Mme Büşra Ersanlı, professeur du droit constitutionnel et membre du Parti pour la paix et la démocratie (BDP) ainsi que des dizaines de personnalités kurdes. Ces arrestations s’ajoutent à plus de 4500 membres et dirigeants du BDP arrêtés au cours de ces six derniers mois dont 1600 d’entre eux ont été incarcérés. Parmi ces derniers figurent également Deniz Zarakolu, fils du Ragip Zarakolu, et l’auteur Aziz Tunç.

Contexte

Ces arrestations font partie d’une campagne de terrorisme d’Etat du gouvernement turc, lancée lors des dernières élections en Turquie (juin 2009), pour réduire au silence ses opposants, en particulier toute personne défendant les droits fondamentaux du peuple kurde. Pourtant, habilement transformées en référendum sur la nouvelle constitution à écrire, le parti AKP de M. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, le Premier Ministre, a largement remporté ces élections. C’était aussi un succès pour le BDP (parti pro-kurde) qui, malgré tous les obstacles (arrestations massives arbitraires, procès politiques, loi électorale défavorable l’obligeant à présenter des candidats indépendants, etc.), a obtenu 36 sièges. C’est ce qui aurait rendu furieux M. Erdogan, étant donné qu’il a changé de discours à l’instar de ses prédécesseurs pour qui la question kurde en Turquie « n’existe pas », surtout « si l’on évite d’en parler » !

Plus grand prison mondiale pour les défenseurs des droits humains, journalistes et élus

On compte actuellement dans les prisons turques plus de 70 journalistes incarcérés, sans parler des milliers de procès intentés à l’encontre des journalistes, écrivains et politiciens.

Depuis le printemps 2009, les arrestations arbitraires se comptent par milliers, mais aussi des incarcérations parmi les rangs du BDP. En effet, ce dernier paie le plus grand tribut à cet égard, étant donné qu’il est quasiment décimé avec au moins 4000 incarcérations dans ses rangs parmi lesquelles on trouve des parlementaires, Maires, Conseilles municipaux, dirigeants de sections et cadres dudit parti. A titre d’exemple, seul dans la province de Sirnak, 500 membres du BDP dont cinq Maires, quatre Maires-adjoints et 15 Conseillers municipaux se trouvent en prison.

Ceux et celles qui sont en liberté, pour le moment, ne sont nullement épargné-e-s. Le chef-Procureur de Diyarbakir a récemment inculpé (mi-octobre 2011) trois députées du BDP, dont Mme Leyla Zana, lauréate du Prix Sakharov des droits de l’homme, pour lesquelles il demande une peine de prison de 148 ans dont 45 ans pour Mme Zana ! Leur crime ? Avoir participé à des meetings non autorisés et « avoir fait la propagande en faveur d’une organisation terroriste (PKK) ».

Parmi les défenseurs des droits de l’homme opprimés, le cas de M. Muharrem Erbey, Vice-Président national de l’Association des droits de l’homme de Turquie et Président de la section de Diyarbakir, est illustratif. Arrêté le 24 décembre 2009 à 4h30 du matin chez lui par une unité anti-terroriste, il est incarcéré depuis dont l’acte d’accusation a été rendu récemment en public. Son crime : avoir dénoncé les violations des droits humains dans sa région auprès des instances européennes et onusiennes des droits de l’homme !

Dysfonctionnement du système juridique turc et méthode d’Erdogan

M. Thomas Hammarberg, Commissaire aux droits de l’homme du Conseil de l’Europe, qui s’est rendu récemment en Turquie, estime que « Le système judiciaire turc présente de longue date des dysfonctionnements systémiques qui compromettent la jouissance des droits de l’homme et des libertés fondamentales. » Selon son analyse, « La Cour européenne des droits de l’homme a rendu plus de 2 200 arrêts contre la Turquie entre 1995 et 2010. Près de 700 concernaient des violations du droit à un procès équitable et plus de 500 des atteintes au droit à la liberté et à la sûreté. (…) Un autre aspect de ce problème complexe est l’imprécision de la législation turque au sujet de certaines infractions, en particulier celles afférentes à des liens présumés avec des organisations criminelles. (…) une attention insuffisante est portée à la qualité des preuves dès le début de la procédure. Cette combinaison de facteurs fait que la simple ouverture de poursuites peut devenir – en elle-même – une sanction. Il en résulte un effet inhibiteur très préoccupant. »[2] <#_ftn2>

C’est décidément la procédure judiciaire qui constitue la méthode d’intimidation de M. Erdogan. En effet, les six députés d’origine kurde membres du BDP élu en juin 2009 se trouvent toujours derrières les barreaux. L’un d’eux, M. Hatip Dicle qui a déjà purgé 10 ans de prison avec Mme L. Zana suite à un autre procès politique en 1994, a été remplacé par un membre du parti de M. Erdogan (Mme Oya Eronat).

Un journaliste turc écrivait cet été que M. Erdogan garderait dans sa poche une liste de 800 à 1400 personnes à emprisonner parmi les quelles des politiciens. Cette information est confirmée non seulement par la présidence du BDP, mais aussi dans la pratique comme relatée ci-dessus. D’ailleurs, M. Hasip Kaplan, Vice-Président du groupe parlementaire du BDP, dénonçait récemment la politique de guerre menée par M. Erdogan et les 200 000 (deux cents mille) procès en cours concernant la liberté d’opinion et d’expression.

Il faut souligner par ailleurs que, selon la législation turque actuelle, en cas de procès à leur encontre, les élus municipaux sont exclus d’office de leur fonction durant toute la procédure judiciaire par le Ministre de l’Intérieur.

C’est dans ce contexte que survient l’arrestation de M. Ragip Zarakolu, éminent intellectuel turc. Cela signifie que M. Erdogan ne supporte plus les critiques à l’encontre de son gouvernement. Il a choisi apparemment la « méthode judiciaire » pour éliminer ses adversaires politiques. C’est aussi sa réponse apparemment à une solution pacifique et démocratique à la question kurde et à la reconnaissance du génocide arménien.

Il est à déplorer que ce personnage et son parti, pourtant notoirement ennemie des droits de l’homme, qui est promu par l’Occident comme exemple de démocratie aux peuples arabes.

Nous appelons les Etats, institutions, Parlementaires et organisations qui respectent et œuvrent pour l’application effective des normes internationales sur la liberté d’opinion et d’expression d’intervenir d’urgence en faveur de la libération de M. Ragip Zarakolu et tous les prisonniers politiques en Turquie.

Maison Populaire de Genève

Case postale 1141
1211 Genève
http://www.assmp.org


Publisher and Human Rights Defender Ragip Zarakolu Arrested

Within the framework of the KCK (Kurdistan Communities Union) affair, the Turkish police detained Ragip Zarakolu, a well-known human rights activist and director of Belge Publishing House, in Turkey. Zarakolu is also the chairman of the Publishers Association Freedom to Publish Committee of Turkey.

Zarakolu was taken into custody on October 28, 2011, during a large-scale manhunt in Istanbul against Kurdish activists.

His son, Deniz Zarakolu, editor of the
Belge Publishing House, was arrested on October 4.

Ragip Zarakolu’s Belge Publishing House has published numerous books as well on the oppression of the national minorities in Turkey as the Armenian Genocide.

Earlier on same day, within the same man-hunt, Professor Büşra Ersanlı, a constitutional law expert and a member of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party's (BDP) intra-party constitutional commission, was detained along with dozens of others.
 
Counterterrorism units launched simultaneous operations against suspected KCK members early on Friday and detained 41 people. Police raided various BDP offices in İstanbul as well, including the BDP İstanbul Politics Academy and several BDP branches.

Ersanlı, who has been taking part in the BDP's preparations for a draft constitution, is also among the detainees. Sources said the number of detainees may increase as the operation is still under way.

BDP Co-chairman Selahattin Demirtaş strongly criticized the new wave of detentions on Friday. “We will not be able to talk about a healthy constitution-making process if we go ahead like this. We will have no party member who can join efforts for [drafting] a new constitution,” Demirtaş said.


Who is Ragip Zarakolu?

Ragıp Zarakolu was born in 1948 on Büyükada close to Istanbul. At that time his father, Remzi Zarakolu, was the district governor on that island. Ragıp Zarakolu grew up with members of the Greek and Armenian minority in Turkey. In 1968 he began writing for "Ant" and "Yeni Ufuklar" magazines.

In 1971 a military junta assumed power in Turkey. Ragıp Zarakolu was tried on charges of secret relations to Amnesty International. He spent five months in prison, before the charges were dropped. In 1972 Ragıp Zarakolu was sentenced to 2 years' imprisonment for his article in the journal Ant (Pledge) on Ho Chi Minh and the Vietnam War. He stayed in Selimiye Prison (Istanbul) and was released in 1974 following a general amnesty.[2] On his release Zarakolu refused to abandon his campaign for freedom of thought, striving for an "attitude of respect for different thoughts and cultures to become widespread in Turkey".

The Belge Publishing House, established in Istanbul in 1977 by Zarakolu and his wife Ayşenur, has been a focus for Turkish censorship laws ever since. Charges brought against the couple resulted in imprisonment for both Ayşenur and Ragıp Zarakolu, the wholesale confiscation and destruction of books and the imposition of heavy fines.

In 1979 Ragıp Zarakolu was one of the founders of the daily newspaper Demokrat and took responsibility for the news desk on foreign affairs. The paper was banned with the military coup of 12 September 1980 and Ragıp Zarakolu was shortly imprisoned in 1982 in connection with this position in Demokrat. He was banned from leaving the country between 1971 and 1991.[2] In 1986 he became one of 98 founders of the Human Rights Association in Turkey (HRA or in Turkish IHD). For some time Ragıp Zarakolu chaired the Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN in Turkey. Currently (beginning of 2007) he chairs the Committee for Freedom of Publication in the Union of Publishers.

Until the military coup of 12 September 1980 Belge Publishing House mostly published academic and theoretical books. Afterwards Belge started to publish a series of books written by political prisoners. The series of 35 books consisted of poems, shorts stories, novels. The list of publications (see a list of selected publications below) include more than 10 books (translations) of Greek literature, 10 books on the Armenian Question and five books related to the Jews in Turkey. There are also a number of books dealing with the Kurds in Turkey.[2]

He also has published several books on the Armenian Genocide,[3] such as George Jerjian's The Truth Will Set Us Free: Armenians and Turks Reconciled and Professor Dora Sakayan's An Armenian Doctor in Turkey: Garabed Hatcherian: My Smyrna Ordeal of 1922 — which brought new criminal charges in 2005.[4] In November 2007 Zarakolu published David Gaunt's book "Massacres, resistance, protectors" about the Assyrian Genocide in Turkish ("Katliamlar, Direniş, Koruyucular").[5]

In 1995 the Belge Publishing House offices were firebombed by a far right group, forcing it to be housed in a cellar. Since his wife's death in 2002, Zarakolu continued to face further prosecutions.

Recent court cases against Ragıp Zarakolu and Belge Publishing House (until her death Ayşenur Zarakolu stood trial instead of him) include[6]:

2002
On 21 March Istanbul State Security Court (SSC) No. 1 heard the case of Ayşenur Zarakolu on charges of having disseminated separatist propaganda by publishing a book by Hüseyin Turhallı, former chairman of the Democracy Party (DEP) for Diyarbakır province, entitled Songs of Freedom. During the hearing her husband Ragıp Zarakolu stated that this would have been the 34th court case against his wife, if she had been alive. On 4 June Istanbul SSC dropped the charges against her after establishing that Hüseyin Turhallı was living in France and Ayşenur Zarakolu had died in January.

2003
On 3 December Istanbul SSC acquitted Ragıp Zarakolu from charges under Article 312 TPC. The trial had been opened for his translation of the book The Regime of 12 September on Trial, written by Dr. Gazi Çağlar from Hannover University.

2004
On 10 September, Istanbul Heavy Penal Court No. 14 (former Istanbul SSC No. 4) concluded the case launched against publisher Ragıp Zarakolu, owner of the newspaper Ülkede Özgür Gündem (Free Agenda in the Country), Ali Çelik Kasimogullari and editor-in-chief of the newspaper Mehmet Çolak in connection with an article titled Sana Ne (What’s that to you) that was published on 8 March 2003. The court sentenced Kasimogullari to a fine of TL 3.3 billion and Mehmet Çolak to 6 months’ imprisonment and a fine of TL 1.65 billion under Article 7/2 of the LFT (making propaganda for an illegal organization). Çolak’s sentence was commuted to a total fine of TL 3.73 billion. Zarakolu’s file was separated due to legal change made regarding Article 312 TPC. He was to be tried at a Penal Court.

Beyoglu Penal Court No. 2 heard the case on 2 March 2005 and adjourned the hearing to 12 May.[7] Further hearings were held on 21 September and 11 October 2005. Result unknown.

2005-2007
Ragıp Zarakolu was indicted for the Turkish translation of Professor Dora Sakayan's book entitled An Armenian Doctor in Turkey. G. Hatcherian: My Smyrna Ordeal in 1922, Montreal 1997.[4] According to the indictment, Zarakolu was to be sentenced following Article 301 new TPC (Article 159 of the former TPC). The first hearing was set for 21 September at Istanbul Penal Court No 2.

On 20 September Istanbul Penal Court No 2 continued to hear the case against Ragıp Zarakolu, owner of Belge Publishing House, in connection with the book about the Armenian genocide entitled The Truth Will Set Us Free written by the British writer George Jerjian.[4] The hearing was adjourned to 22 November for investigation of the expert report. The charges related to Article 301 new TPC (of June 2005). The latest two cases were combined and further hearings were held on 21 November and 15 February, 19 April, 21 June and 14 December 2006.[8] The next hearing was scheduled for 15 March 2007.

2008
In June 2008, Zarakolu was found guilty of "insulting the institutions of the Turkish Republic" under Article 301 of the Turkish penal code for translating and publishing Jerjian's book. The judge sentenced him to five months in prison. However, the judge, citing Zarakolu's "good behavior", stated that the author may avoid imprisonment by paying a fine.

2011
 
On 10 March 2011, Ragip Zarakolu, publisher and free expression activist, was sentenced to a fine, and author Mehmet Güler to a 15-month suspended prison term. The two were convicted of spreading propaganda seen to support the banned Kurdish Worker’s Party (PKK), following the publication of Mehmet Güler’s book The KCK File/The Global State and Kurds Without a State. The Writers in Prison Committee of PEN International is troubled by the sentences against  Zarakolu and Güler which contravene international standards safeguarding the right to freedom of expression.

Ragip Zarakolu, éditeur et défenseur des droits de l'Homme, arrêté en Turquie

Dans le cadre de l'opération policière contre le KCK (Union des communautés du Kurdistan), la police turque a arrêté le 28 octobre 2011 à Istanbul, Ragip Zarakolu, proéminent défenseur des droits de l'Homme et directeur de la maison d'édition Belge. Zarakolu est également président du Comité de liberté de publication de l'Association des éditeurs de Turquie.

Son fils, Deniz Zarakolu, éditeur de la Maison d'édition Belge, avait déjà été mis en état d'arrestation le 4 octobre 2011 à Istanbul.

La Maison d'édition Belge a publié plusieurs livres sur l'oppression des minorités nationales en Turquie et sur le génocide des Arméniens.

Le même jour, dans le cadre de la même opération policière, la professeure Büşra Ersanlı, experte en droit constitutionnel et membre du Parti pour la paix et la démocratie (BDP), a été arrêtée avec des dizaines d'opposants kurdes.

Les arrestations massives visant ce parti pro-kurde se poursuivent de façon frénétique. La police a procédé à des perquisitions simultanées dans les locaux et l’Académie du BDP à Istanbul, arrêtant 70 personnes dans le cadre de l’affaire KCK, accusée d’être la branche urbaine du PKK.

Début octobre, plus de 100 membres du BDP avaient été arrêtés à Istanbul et parmi eux 98 personnes, dont Deniz Zarakolu, fils du Ragip Zarakolu et l’auteur Aziz Tunc,  avaient été écrouées.

Le premier est un traducteur de plusieurs œuvres dont "La philosophie politique" de Thomas Hobbes et le dernier est connu pour  son livre sur le massacre de Maras, désigné comme le livre du mois par le PEN.

Alors que cinq députés kurdes sont toujours en prison et le siège d’un sixième ayant été invalidé par les autorités après les élections législatives du 12 juin, la justice veut enfermer les autres députés BDP qui sont dehors.  Des enquêtes ont été ouvertes samedi 29 octobre par le Parquet de la République d’Ankara contre trois anciens députés BDP, Osman Ozcelik, Fatma Kurtulan et Sevahir Bayindir, en vertu de l’article 117 de la Loi sur les partis politiques.

Des milliers de personnes ont été arrêtées  arbitrairement dans le cadre de l’affaire KCK, considérée comme un complot politique par les organisations kurdes. Cette affaire est devenue une arme redoutable du gouvernement AKP du premier ministre Recep Tayyip Erdogan pour intimider et enfermer tous les opposants kurdes.

Plus de 4500 membres du BDP ont été arrêtés au cours de ces six derniers mois. Parmi eux, plus de 1600 personnes ont été écroués.

Aujourd'hui, des milliers de membres actifs dont 18 maires sur 99 et six députés BDP sont en prison.  Plus de 500 élus ont été enfermés dans la seule ville de Sirnak depuis le grand succès du parti kurde aux élections locales du 29 mars 2009.

La Turquie est aujourd’hui la plus grande prison pour les élus et les journalistes. Selon les organisations de soutien aux journalistes emprisonnés, près de 70 journalistes sont toujours en prison. 
(actukurde.fr, 29 octobre 2011)

Qui est Zarakolu?

Ragıp Zarakolu est né en 1948 à Büyükada, près d’Istanbul, alors que son père Remzi était sous-préfet de l’île. Ragıp a grandi parmi les membres des communautés grecque et arménienne de Turquie. En 1968, il a commencé d’écrire pour les revues Ant (Le Serment) et Yeni Ufuklar (Nouveaux Horizons).

En 1971, lors de la prise de pouvoir par une junte militaire, Ragıp Zarakolu a été poursuivi pour « relations clandestines  avec Amnesty International ».  Il a passé cinq mois en prison, puis les charges ont été levées. En 1972, il a été condamné à nouveau à deux ans de prison, qu’il a accomplies au centre de détention de Selimiye (Istanbul) pour un article dans Ant sur Ho Chi Minh et la guerre du Vietnam. Il a été libéré en 1974 à la faveur d’une amnistie générale. Mais Zarakolu n’en a pas pour autant renoncé à sa campagne pour la liberté de pensée, luttant pour « la diffusion d’une attitude de respect envers la diversité des pensées et des cultures de Turquie ».

Les éditions Belge ont été la cible de la censure turque depuis leur création en 1977 par Zarakolu et sa femme Aysenur. Les charges ont valu au couple des peines d’emprisonnement, la confiscation et la destruction des stocks de livres, et de lourdes amendes.

En 1979, Ragıp Zarakolu a été l’un des fondateurs du quotidien Demokrat  et en a pris la responsabilité de la section « étranger ».  Demokrat  a été interdit à la suite du coup d’État militaire du 12 septembre 1980 ; Ragıp Zarakolu a été brièvement emprisonné en 1982, en raison de sa position dans Demokrat, puis expulsé du pays jusqu’en 1991. En 1986 il a été parmi les 98 fondateurs de la section turque de la Ligue des droits de l’homme. (IHD). Il a été président du comité pour les écrivains emprisonnés du PEN-Club International en Turquie. Depuis 2007, il est président du Comité pour la liberté de publier de l’Union des éditeurs.

Jusqu’au coup du 12 septembre 1980, les éditons Belge avaient surtout publié des livres académiques et théoriques. Puis, Belge a commencé de publier  une série de 35 livres écrits par des prisonniers politiques : recueils de poèmes, nouvelles, romans. La liste des publications de Belge inclut aussi plus de dix traductions de la littérature grecque, une dizaine sur la question arménienne et cinq livres concernant les Juifs en Turquie. De nombreux ouvrages concernent également la question kurde en Turquie.

Parmi les livres concernant le génocide arménien, figure celui de George Jerjian, La Vérité nous délivrera : Arméniens et Turcs réconciliés ; et celui de Dora Sakayan, Un Médecin arménien en Turquie, Garabed Haztcherian qui a valu de nouvelles accusations en 2005. En novembre 2007 Zarakolu a publié le livre de David Gaunt Massacres, Resistance, Protectors sur le génocide des Assyriens.

En 1995 le siège des éditions Belge a subi un attentat à la bombe, perpétré par  un groupe d’extrême droite. Depuis le décès de sa femme en 2002, les poursuites judiciaires ont continué contre Ragıp Zarakolu . ( Communiqué de « Kuyerel – Küresel Düsünce Platformu, 29 octobre 2011. Traduction d’Étienne Copeaux)


 
4 Trials against "Laz Marks" Show

The "Laz Marks" political stand-up program by actor and director Haldun Açıksözlü has been performed 225 times in front of almost a hundred thousand spectators since 2009. Yet, Laz Marks got famous in other ways too. Four trials were opened on the grounds of the play so far. Sometimes they could not find a theatre to perform, sometimes the people in the audience were registered by the police.

In an interview with bianet, Açıksözlü talked about the filming of the show by the police with special permission one night prior to a hearing. "They are trying hard to get my show on video but they will not succeed", he commented.

Trial after trial

The first trial against Laz Marks was opened on charges of "insult of the Prime Minister" on 15 January 2010 before the 2nd Magistrate Criminal Court of Rize, a city in the Laz region on the eastern Black Sea Coast. On stage, Açıksözlü had told an anecdote about 'Recep Tayyip from Rize' - a hint to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan whose family originates from Rize. Thereupon, the trial was launched against the political show. The 7th hearing was set for 19 January 2012.

While the first trial was still pending, a second case was opened under allegations of "praising crime and a criminal" in Tunceli (eastern Anatolia) in the same year. The new allegations were based on Article 215 of the Turkish Criminal Law (TCK) and stemmed from the reference in the play to Turkish revolutionaries from the 1970s, i.e. Deniz Gezmiş, Mahir Çayan, İbrahim Kaypakkaya and Mazlum Doğan.

Açıksözlü told bianet he found it "weird" that only the names of Doğan and Kaypakkaya were included in the indictment whereas Çayan and Gezmiş were not mentioned. He presented his defence on 30 September 2011. The next hearing of this case is scheduled for 19 November. However, Açıksözlü said he was not going to change anything about the play: "I will still say these names at the end of the show because they have a value for me".

"To hell with such a system!"

In 2011, one trial was launched against the play in Çorum on 14 January and one in Amasya on 31 January. Reason of both trials was a character called "Netçek Hasan" who in the play had just been made redundant and said, "To hell with the mother and the wife of this kind of system, this kind of capitalism, this kind of prime minister and minister, beeep!"

Both trials also put forward allegations of "insult of the Prime Minister" according to Article 125 TCK. The hearing of the case in Amasya was postponed to 29 December. The lawyer of Prime Minister Erdoğan is a joint plaintiff at the trial in Çorum. The fourth and last session of this trial was held on 7 October. Açıksözlü has not been notified yet but he is facing imprisonment of between three months and two years or an according monetary fine.

Açıksözlü thinks that people are being disturbed about Laz Marks because things that nobody else dares to say are being said on stage with a sharp tongue.

"I see that there is no opposition any more in arts for the time being. People apply auto-censorship because they are afraid that they might not be picked for a role in a series, they will not find work or will be thrown out of a newspaper. They do not oppose the political power. With the Laz Marks play I try to be the voice of the thoughts against the power. People are being disturbed when I plain and clearly say what I want to say. I am going to continue to the utmost of my power. Otherwise, I will play in prison", Açıksözlü claimed. (BIA, Emel GÜLCAN, 1 November 2011)

Kurdish Question / Question kurde

Lawyer Kiliç: "AKP government has opened a wide range war against Kurds"

Some extracts from an interview ANF has done with Asrın Hukuk office lawyer Özcan Kılıç. Kılıç speaks about the recent arrests and the new situation in Turkey.

- What is the reason for the arrest of lawyers affiliated to Asrın Law Office, whose main client has been PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan for 12 years now?

- This operation has been launched within the context of the state KCK theorem which targets all Kurds including press members, lawyers, intellectuals and BDP (Peace and Democracy Party) members. The accusations against lawyers referring to the fact that they have a connection with an illegal organization and/or convey Öcalan’s instructions to it are actually not something new. In over 100 cases opened against our lawyers so far, the state has presented tape recordings of all their meetings with Öcalan as evidence. However, except for two cases, all have ended with the acquittal of lawyers. If these accusations were real, they would have already been put in prison. In other words, this operation doesn’t and can’t have a justification for being carried out today. In my opinion it bears a different purpose.

- What kind of a purpose?

- The AKP government has opened a wide range war against Kurds. The people who have been remanded in custody are not only lawyers, but also BDP members, members of women associations and civil society organizations, journalists, academics, writers and even the Chairman of an Alewi association. This operation which has been given the name of KCK operation and is going on for 2, 5 years now is a completely political operation that isn’t grounded on any crime or illegal activity. In fact we have been expecting this operation for two weeks since Habertürk paper published and targeted the schema of Asrın Law Office and its press committee departments.

However, this operation is the result of a file which has been prepared jointly by the prosecutor and police by means of audio surveillance and wire-tapping since February of 2010. Along this process, when the public opinion expected a ceasefire term, the state didn’t raise difficulties regarding meetings on İmralı and neither the prosecutor nor judge ruled that they ‘committed a crime’. However, today the state wants to negotiate with Öcalan after isolating him from the outside world completely for some time.

- What kind of a benefit do the state expect from this policy of isolation?

- They want to solve the problem with actors they themselves choose. This is a kind of suppression operation. They are making an effort to determine a different actor, like Kemal Burkay for example, after disposing of Öcalan’s political position and leadership. In this regard, we recently see Fethullah Gülen giving messages on this line in connection with the Kurdish issue.
(ANF, 28 November 2011)

152 Kurdish children killed during AKP rule

According to a figure published by IHD, (Children Rights Institution), 152 Kurdish children have been killed in Turkey during the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

The chairman of IHD in Amed, Mr Raci Ilici reported the AKP has killed 152 Kurdish children in Amed; “over the course of last 24 years they have killed 530 children,” he added.

A number of civil institutions and NGOs organised a meeting to commemorate the sevenths anniversary of the killing of a Kurdish child, Igor Kaymaz, in which they strongly condemned the killing of Kurdish children. The posters of the slain children were put on the walls of the venue.

The chairmen of IHD, Ilici stated in the meeting that the rights of children have always been violated in Turkey. “We are celebrating the International Day of Children, while Igor Kaymaz’s body was riddled by bullets,” added Bilici.

Mr Ilici also added that not only Kaymaz but 530 Kurdish children have been killed by Turkish state in the last 24 years.

The chairman of IHD also stated that, 152 children during the AK Party power and 15 children in 2011 have been killed by the police officers who are still on duty.(http://www.rojhelat.info/english/component/content/article/1845-turkey-152-kurdish-children-killed-during-akp-rule)

Turkish court classifies Molotov cocktail as 'weapon'

A Turkish court convicted two suspects today on charges of "supplying weapons to a terrorist organization” after being caught with Molotov cocktails.

The court’s ruling, which is unprecedented, sentenced the pair to 12 years and six months in prison.

A phone conversation between the suspects was tapped as part of a probe into the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) in 2010.

One of the suspects, Kadir C., was heard as saying, "We have prepared the fruit juices and left you two bottles," to which Hakan Z. responded, "Okay, I have two bottles as well."

Police acted on the exchange over the phone and apprehended the two suspects, seizing four bottles of Molotov cocktails, 16 fireworks and several bottles filled with an incendiary material.

In its verdict, the 4th Serious Crimes Court in Van ruled that the transfer of Molotov cocktails, their ingredients and fireworks constituted the crime of "supplying weapons to a terrorist organization."

“The penal code does not specify what quality or quantity a material should be in, in order to be considered weaponry ... In this case, it is certain that the seized items were meant to be used to attack public personnel and civilians," the verdict said, referring to a planned demonstration to protest the detention of Abdullah Öcalan, head of the  Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

"Suspects were in knowledge of the purpose of the terrorist organization and the means in which the material they were transferring would be used," it added.

In its decision, the court noted the 2009 Molotov attack on an Istanbul city bus by PKK militants in which a single Molotov cocktail was enough to fatally burn 17-year-old Serap Eser. 
(Anatolia News Agency, November 28, 2011)

Nouvelle rafle dans le cadre de l'opération contre le KCK

Des tribunaux turcs ont ordonné samedi la mise en détention de 66 personnes accusées de liens avec les rebelles kurdes, ont rapporté les médias turcs.

Un total de 43 personnes ont été arrêtées au cours de cette nouvelle rafle à Istanbul, et le tribunal a ordonné la mise en détention pour 34 d'entre elles, accusées d'être liées au KCK (Union des communautés kurdes), a précisé l'agence turque Anatolie.

Parallèlement, une opération semble à Diyarbakir, dans les régions kurdes du sud du pays, s'est terminée à 32 mises en détention, toujours selon Anatolie, ce qui porte le total à 66.

Plus tôt cette semaine, 60 personnes liées aux mouvements kurdes avaient été arrêtées, dont 40 ont été ensuite placées en détention, au cours d'opérations policières simultanées dans plusieurs villes de Turquie.

Parmi elles figuraient des avocats du chef rebelle kurde Abdullah Öcalan, emprisonné à vie, ainsi que des membres du principal parti pro-kurde (BDP, parti pour une société démocratique).

Depuis 2009, 700 personnes, selon le gouvernement, et 3.500 dont des députés et des maires, selon les milieux kurdes, ont été incarcérées pour collusion avec le KCK.

Deux intellectuels de renom ont également été incarcérés dans le cadre de cette vaste enquête au début du mois. On leur reproche notamment d'avoir participé à un forum politique pro-kurde.

L'arrestation de Ragip Zarakolu, écrivain et éditeur, et de la constitutionnaliste Büsra Ersanli ont provoqué des protestations en Turquie et à l'étranger.

Mais le Premier ministre turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan a affirmé que la ligne dure serait maintenue contre les nationalistes kurdes. "La Turquie n'autorisera jamais un Etat parallèle (du KCK). Et il n'est pas question de baisser les armes" face au PKK, a récemment déclaré M. Erdogan, qui avait lancé, sans succès, en 2009, une tentative d'"ouverture démocratique" en direction des Kurdes.
(AFP, 26 nov 2011)

Neuf ans et six mois de prison pour avoir chanté en kurde

Un chanteur kurde a été condamné vendredi 25 novembre à neuf ans et six mois de prison par un tribunal turc pour avoir chanté en kurde lors de la campagne électorale pour les législatives du 12 juin dernier.

Seyithan Karatas, le soliste du groupe Gimgim, a été condamné par la 4e cour d'assise d'Erzurum à neuf ans et six mois de prison pour avoir chanté en kurde lors des meetings organisés  par le principal parti kurde BDP dans le cadre de la campagne électorale et pendant les festivités de Newroz, le nouvel an kurde et le jour de la résistance, célébré tous les 21 mars depuis 3 000 ans.

Il est accusé de « propagande  d'une organisation terroriste » et d'être le « membre » de cette organisation. L'accusé a demandé son acquittement lors de l'audience, affirmant que les paroles des chansons incriminées étaient universelles.

Irfan Sari, l'avocat de la défense, a dit que ces chansons n'ont aucun lien avec l'organisation (Parti des travailleurs du Kurdistan-PKK) et qu'il fera appel de ce verdict devant la Cour de cassation turque.

Pour le gouvernement AKP du premier ministre Recep Tayyip Erdogan, il n'y a aucune restriction devant l'utilisation de la langue kurde qui était longtemps interdite. Malgré une chaine de télévision ouverte par le gouvernement, aucune mesure concrète ou législative n'a été prise. Cette télévision kurde est devenue comme les autres médias turcs un instrument de propagande d'Erdogan.

Parler, chanter ou faire de la propagande en langue kurde est libre uniquement quand on est partisan du gouvernement AKP. Toutes les autres voix alternatives ou opposantes font l'objet de poursuites et de condamnation. Aujourd'hui, pas seulement les kurdes mais tout le monde, sauf les partisans  d'AKP et les adeptes de la Confrérie Gulen, est en danger. (blogs.mediapart.fr/blog/maxime-azadi, 25 nov 2011)

Danielle Mitterrand: "Le jour où j’arrêterai l’action"

par  Amitiés kurdes de Bretagne

Les Kurdes chérissaient Danielle Mitterrand comme leur mère. Cette militante, qui puisa ses convictions dans la Résistance française à laquelle elle participa dès l’âge de 17 ans, fut, durant toute sa vie, sur tous les fronts, quand il s’agissait de la défense des droits humains, et ce, jusqu’à son dernier souffle : "Le jour où j’arrêterai l’action, c’est que j’aurai baissé le rideau".

Jamais les Kurdes n’avaient trouvé meilleure avocate, en premier lieu auprès du Président François Mitterrand, mais aussi partout dans le monde, même au péril de sa vie : en juin 1992, elle échappa miraculeusement à un attentat sur la route de Souleimaniyeh, Saddam Hussein n’ayant pas pardonné à la présidente de la Fondation France Libertés d’avoir dès 1989 rencontré les Kurdes et dénoncé l’utilisation des armes chimiques. Suite à son action opiniâtre, le Conseil de sécurité des Nations Unies adoptait, en avril 1991, la résolution 688 qui a constitué la base juridique de la création d’une zone de protection au Kurdistan. C’était la première fois dans l’histoire de l’ONU qu’une résolution faisait mention du peuple kurde.

Elle était aussi persona non grata en Turquie pour avoir défendu avec beaucoup de pugnacité la députée kurde Leyla Zana et créé, en 1995, le Comité International pour la Libération des Députés Kurdes Emprisonnés en Turquie (CILDKT), avec le patronage de personnalités comme le Dalai Lama, François Mitterrand, Desmond Tutu. Depuis, elle n’a jamais cessé son soutien pour la cause kurde, par le biais de sa fondation France-Libertés, et encouragé les amis du peuple kurde à agir. Les Amitiés kurdes de Bretagne (délégation rennaise "Kurdistan", à l’époque) lui doivent d’avoir pu produire, en 1998, le film "Kurdistan, je reviens d’un pays qui n’existe pas" dont elle honora de sa présence la première projection.


Elle apportera également son soutien au festival de Cinéma de Douarnenez en 2003, consacré au Kurdistan. Malgré le protocole lié à sa fonction d’ex-première dame de France, qui imposait garde du corps, etc... la voilà au beau milieu de la place du Bicentenaire contente de pouvoir manger des sardines "et avec les doigts, c’est tellement meilleur" rapporte Caroline Troin, directrice alors du Festival qui ajoute :

J’ai le souvenir intact de la rencontre à la MJC où elle exprima vivement son soutien indéfectible aux Kurdes. J’apercevais ses mains se croisant nerveusement sous la table. L’émotion semblait l’étreindre, alors même qu’elle répondait aux journalistes d’une voix terriblement douce et déterminée.

Cette grande dame capable d’affronter les grands de ce monde surprenait par sa simplicité et son courage. A 87 ans, Madame Danielle Mitterrand Danielle a "baissé le rideau", mais son action en faveur des Kurdes restera gravée à tout jamais.

Les Amitiés kurdes de Bretagne adressent leurs condoléances à toute sa famille et à ses collaborateurs et collaboratrices de France-Libertés. (andre-metayer@orange.fr,
jeudi 24 novembre 2011)

Décès Danielle Mitterrand: le Kurdistan irakien décrète une journée de deuil

La région autonome du Kurdistan irakien a décrété une journée de deuil mercredi après le décès de Danielle Mitterrand, veuve de l'ancien président français François Mitterrand qui a ardemment défendu la cause kurde.

Décédée à Paris dans la nuit de lundi à mardi à l'âge de 87 ans, "Danielle Mitterrand représente pour les Kurdes la solidarité avec la cause kurde pendant ses jours les plus difficiles", a déclaré à l'AFP le chef du gouvernement du Kurdistan irakien, Barham Saleh.

"Elle a soutenu les droits de l'Homme au Kurdistan et était l'une des rares voix à défendre le peuple kurde et à s'élever contre l'injustice qu'il subissait", a-t-il souligné. "Danielle Mitterrand était un vrai défenseur des droits des Kurdes partout dans le monde".

Il a salué "une femme courageuse qui avait des principes" et qui a "mis la cause kurde et la défense des droits des Kurdes devant des intérêts supérieurs, alors que la position de son pays et du monde occidental était alors différente" sur cette question.

"Elle va nous manquer mais elle demeurera dans notre esprit", a-t-il affirmé annonçant que "le gouvernement de la région a décrété une journée de deuil pour demain" mercredi.

Danielle Mitterrand a été toute sa vie une militante de gauche, infatigable voix des peuples "opprimés". Elle s'est battue en faveur des déshérités du monde entier, notamment pour enrayer la progression du sida et pour un partage plus équitable de l'eau sur la planète. 
(AFP, 22 nov 2011)

Quatre questions d’actualité à Hamit Bozarslan

par  Amitiés kurdes de Bretagne

Hamit Bozarslan, né en 1958 à Lice, près de Diyarbakir, en Turquie, est kurde. Historien et politologue, spécialiste du Moyen-Orient et du problème kurde, il est directeur d’études à l’École des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS). Il est l’auteur notamment de "Sociologie politique du Moyen-Orient" (Paris, La Découverte, coll. Repères, 2011), "Conflit kurde, le brasier oublié du Moyen-Orient"(Paris, Autrement, 2009), "La question kurde : Etats et minorités au Moyen-Orient" (Paris, Presses de Sciences-Po, 1997).

Hamit Bozarslan était en 2003 l’un des invités du festival de cinéma de Douarnenez, dont le thème était cette année-là le Kurdistan. Il était aussi présent au "14ème Rendez-vous de l’Histoire" de Blois, les 13/16 octobre derniers, pour participer à deux débats : "Les Arméniens, l’Empire ottoman et la Turquie" et "La Turquie, Orient de l’Europe" avec notamment Ahmet Insel, écrivain turc, professeur à l’Université Galatasaray d’Istanbul et à Paris 1.

Difficile d’imaginer Erdogan s’engageant sur la voie de la démocratie locale

André Métayer - La reprise des opérations militaires s’ajoute à une vague sans précédent d’incarcérations de militants, de cadres, d’élus associatifs et politiques, aux attaques contre la presse, aux arrestations de journalistes, et à l’assassinat de certains d’entre eux. Pour autant on présente la Turquie comme un modèle de démocratie pour les pays arabes et même les institutions européennes saluent les résultats de ses efforts pour adopter des réformes démocratiques. L’AKP, qu’un mode de scrutin favorable a mis en position de parti ultra majoritaire, va proposer une réforme constitutionnelle. Pensez-vous possible que, dans ce contexte, l’AKP puisse présenter des textes législatifs favorisant la démocratie locale et régionale et ouvrant la voie à un règlement politique de la question kurde ?

Hamit Bozarslan - La question n’est pas seulement l’hégémonie réelle que l’AKP exerce dans le parlement, mais aussi dans la société. Depuis 2007, l’AKP se considère désormais ouvertement comme le parti d’Etat, aussi bien dans le sens du parti qui commande l’Etat que comme le parti qui redéfinit l’Etat. Au cours de ce processus, il a perdu son élan réformateur (qui lui avait pourtant permis de briser le tabou autour de la question kurde) pour s’acheminer de plus en plus vers une posture nationaliste, reconnaissant l’existence des Kurdes à condition qu’ils acceptent, en retour, de se ranger derrière la bannière "d’un Etat, d’un drapeau, d’une nation musulmane".

La demande de décentralisation est formulée en Turquie, et ce depuis 1908, par de multiples courants. On pourrait faire l’hypothèse que l’AKP, qui puise une bonne partie de ses forces des provinces anatoliennes, n’y serait pas insensible. De même, il n’aurait aucune raison de rester attaché à un cadre kémaliste (même s’il accepte d’y faire quelques allusions). Mais à défaut d’une transformation radicale du parti, dont le ministre de l’intérieur dit ouvertement qu’il n’y a aucune question kurde en Turquie, il me paraitrait difficile qu’Erdogan s’engage sur la voie de la démocratie locale, en tout cas telle qu’elle est définie et espérée par des acteurs kurdes.

Impossible d’isoler le PKK des autres acteurs

A.M. - Le gouvernement AKP a réussi à faire passer tout opposant pour un "terroriste", partant du postulat que celui qui ne dénonce pas le PKK comme un mouvement terroriste est forcement lui-même un terroriste ou terroriste en puissance. Pensez-vous qu’une négociation pour trouver un règlement politique de la question kurde puisse aboutir sans la participation d’Öcalan et du PKK ?

Hamit Bozarslan - Je ne saurai répondre à cette question. Je remarquerai seulement qu’autant le BDP constitue l’acteur représentatif majeur de l’espace kurde, autant le PKK en fait figure d’acteur de référence. Mais pour moi, l’essentiel est ailleurs : l’espace politique kurde en Turquie est aujourd’hui radicalisé par la coexistence de plusieurs générations et plusieurs traditions militantes, qui interagissent. Certes, la société kurde est infiniment plus différenciée aujourd’hui qu’il y a 10 ou 15 ans. Mais le fait que des expériences de radicalité communiquent, se frottent mais aussi s’alimentent mutuellement, finit par brouiller les frontières entre les formations politiques légales et illégales, les ONG, les associations, les cercles de socialisations ou les organisations professionnelles. Comment définir le PKK dans ces conditions et comment le différencier, l’isoler des autres acteurs ? La tâche est devenue impossible, impensable. Ce que l’AKP a du mal à comprendre c’est que c’est tout cet espace, dans sa totalité et dans sa pluralité, qui est aujourd’hui en quête de reconnaissance et de légitimité.

Le glissement vers un soulèvement : un scénario toujours plausible

A.M. - Les carences de L’Etat pour faire face au dernier séisme, la découverte des charniers, les funérailles des combattants du PKK sont autant d’occasions pour des manifestations, organisées ou spontanées, parfois violentes, parfois réprimées durement. La persistance de cette contestation dans la rue, soutenue par le BDP (députés, élus locaux) encouragée par les milliers de détenus politiques, est-ce, selon vous, les prémices d’un soulèvement, genre "printemps arabe", s’organisant autour de la question kurde et de la défense des libertés publiques ?

Hamit Bozarslan - Il est difficile d’évaluer l’impact des contestations arabes sur le Kurdistan. mais je dirai que le mouvement contestataire kurde se nourrit avant tout de sa propre historicité et de ses propres renouvèlements générationnels. N’oublions pas l’héritage symbolique, mais aussi, en termes de transmissions des récits et des expériences, des mobilisations des années 1990 et plus récemment de 2005 à nos jours. Le glissement des mobilisations actuelles vers un soulèvement est toujours un scénario plausible, mais il n’est pas pour autant une fatalité. On peut parfaitement imaginer une « rue » dynamique qui « parle », « revendique », « proteste », manifeste sa colère et expérimente une socialisation intense sans pour autant sortir d’un cadre pacifique. La présence sur scène des figures anciennes, qui ont une autorité morale sur la société peut servir d’un élément de régulation de ces contestations, à condition toutefois qu’ils ne soient pas tous déclarés "terroristes" et incarcérés.

Un tournant dans l’organisation des luttes

A.M. -. Quelle est la signification exacte de la participation d’intellectuels turcs aux assises du BDP ? Assiste-t-on à un tournant dans l’organisation de la lutte pour la démocratie ?

Hamit Bozarslan - Définitivement. Le pouvoir ne veut pas qu’on touche à la "nation", terme qu’il sacralise, et partant, considère toute dissidence venant des intellectuels turcs comme une trahison en puissance. Il a oublié qu’une partie de ces dissidents libéraux ou de gauche s’est battue précisément pour défendre l’AKP (et ils avaient raison de le faire) lorsqu’il était menacé par les généraux en 2007. L’introduction du soupçon de "trahison" et de l’accusation du "terrorisme" montre clairement qu’on sort graduellement d’une logique démocratique qui accepte et légitime l’existence des conflits. Face à l’arme de la critique des intellectuels dissidents, le pouvoir est tenté par le recours à la critique des geôles. Cela est inquiétant. (andre-metayer@orange.fr)


AKP deputy suggests returning title of “Dersim” to Tunceli province

Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy Mehmet Metiner on Monday became the latest politician to join the fray in a growing political dispute over the 1937 Dersim massacre, proposing that Tünceli province, the scene of the massacres, be restored to its historic name of “Dersim.”
 
The Adıyaman deputy's Monday comments come following a similar declaration he made over the weekend regarding İstanbul's Sabiha Gökçen Airport. Metiner suggested that the name, which honors Gökçen's status as the world's first combat pilot, overlooks Gökçen's role in the brutal 1937 suppression of Alevi Kurds and Zaza minorities at the hands of Turkey's early republican state.

Metiner has also echoed calls for the establishment of a parliamentary commission for the massacres, telling the press on Sunday that “the archives should be opened, and our commission should investigate the allegations related to this period.” Both President Abdüllah Gül and Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç voiced similar opinions over the weekend, with the president applauding an increasingly critical stance towards the “taboos” of Turkey's past.

The Dersim massacre became a matter of heated discussion this month when Republican People's Party (CHP) deputy Hüseyin Aygün stated in a Today's Zaman interview that the ruling CHP government of the time should be held accountable for the 1937 Dersim massacres. Adding that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and other high members of the state were closely involved in the operation, Aygün asserted that in 1937, the state forces used an alleged uprising by Alevi-Kurdish and Zaza minorities as a pretext for the massacre of tens of thousands of minorities in Dersim province.

Metiner on Monday stated that Turkey must investigate the facts of 1937, telling the press he plans to make a motion in Parliament to found a truth commission and rename Gökçen airport. Metiner also stressed the necessity of gaining support from the opposition CHP for the establishment of a truth commission. “If the CHP looks upon these two concrete steps favorably, we can think about coming to terms with the historical legacy of Dersim,” he stated on Sunday.

The CHP itself has been rocked by infighting since the publication of Aygün's comments, with a rogue group of 12 deputies calling for Aygün's resignation last week at a press conference unauthorized by the central party.

But while party leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has denounced the actions of both Aygün and the 12 rogue deputies as “chaotic,” he has voiced support for Aygün's statements regarding his party's role in the massacre. On Saturday, CHP Deputy Chairman Gürsel Tekin stated that Kılıçdaroğlu had called to “open the archives” of the Dersim event, and called on Prime Minister Recep Tayyıp Erdoğan to “open not just the page of the Dersim incident, but all the pages which have remained dark in Turkey, including its unsolved murders.”

As calls to investigate the massacres increase, Aygün asserted that he will soon discuss the massacres personally with President Gül, who applauded Aygün's remarks on Sunday by stating “in Turkey everything can be debated, there aren't taboos any more.” (TODAY'S ZAMAN, 21 November 2011)

Médiation des dirigeants kurdes irakiens entre le PKK et la Turquie

Les deux principaux dirigeants kurdes irakiens mènent actuellement une médiation entre le gouvernement turc et les séparatistes du PKK pour mettre fin aux accrochages aux confins de l'Irak, la Turquie et l'Iran, a affirmé lundi un responsable.

"Le président (irakien) Jalal Talabani et le président de la région autonome du kurdistan irakien Massoud Barzani mènent une médiation entre le gouvernement turc et le PKK (Parti des travailleurs du Kurdistan) pour faire cesser les combats sur la frontière entre l'Irak, la Turquie et l'Iran", a déclaré Azad Jundiany, porte-parole de l'Union Patriotique du Kurdistan (UPK de Talabani).

"Durant la dernière visite de Massoud Barzani à Ankara, le gouvernement turc a exprimé son désir de mettre fin aux accrochages", a-t-il ajouté.

Lors de sa visite début novembre en Turquie, M. Barzani s'était déclaré opposé à des opérations militaires turques dans le nord de l'Irak contre les rebelles kurdes, affirmant que seul un règlement pacifique pouvait mettre un terme au conflit kurde en Turquie.

Classé parmi les organisations terroristes par la Turquie, les Etats-Unis et l'Union européenne, le PKK a pris les armes en 1984 pour créer un Etat kurde dans le sud-est de la Turquie. Les affrontements entre les forces turques et le PKK se sont intensifiés ces derniers mois, et aucune solution politique n'est en vue.

Par ailleurs, a ajouté M. Judiany, "les efforts de M. Barzani, lors de sa récente visite à Téhéran, ont permis de faire cesser les combats entre l'Iran et le PJAK".

Le 29 octobre, le ministre iranien des Affaires étrangères, Ali Akbar Salehi, et Massoud Barzani avait indiqué que la question du PJAK (Parti pour une vie libre au Kurdistan), principal mouvement kurde de lutte armée contre le régime de Téhéran, était "réglée".

En septembre, les Gardiens de la révolution avaient indiqué avoir "nettoyé" les zones frontalières au nord-ouest de l'Iran des groupes rebelles kurdes armés et tué 180 rebelles du PJAK. 
(AFP, 14 nov 2011)

Police attack mourners twice in Diyarbakır

People in Diyarbakır were attacked by police as they joined the funeral of People Defense Forces (HPG) members Mizbah Ezer and Ömer Erdoğan.

The bodies of the two HPG members, who lost their life during Turkish army operation in Çukurca on the 22-24 October, have been brought from Malatya to Diyarbakır. The funeral convoy was stopped few times by the police this morning while on its way to Diyarbakır.

50 thousands of people gathered in front of the Bayramoğlu Mosque where the bodies would be brought from the cemetery. Then police attacked the crowd with tear gas when people started a march as the coffins were not brought.

Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş, Diyarbakır Independent MP Leyla Zana, BDP deputies Emine Ayna and Ayla Akat Ata, BDP mayors came to the mosque and engaged in negotiations with the police. Following their meeting with the police, the attendees continued marching to the grave yard since the bodies were taken to the graveyard.

Great mass held another march to the Dicle Public Mourning House after burying the coffins of the HPG members.

Police attacked the marchers one more time and the marchers responded to the police with stones. The skirmishes are still continuing in the side streets.
(DİHA, Nov 12, 2011)

Prisons and Bombs Cannot Eliminate the Legitimate Demands of the Kurds

Communiqué by Peace in Kurdistan Campaign:

Turkey has arrested thousands of people, mainly Kurds, over the past few years for activities, affiliations and beliefs that it defines as political crimes.  Indeed over the past decade around 12,000 mainly Kurdish citizens have been arrested and charged under the country’s sweeping anti-terror legislation. The arrests have been stepped up in the last three years, with nearly four thousand arrests in the last 30 months. The latest high profile arrests are of writer and publisher Ragip Zarakolu and political scientist, Professor Büşra Ersanlı, who were detained on 28 October in the continuing operation targeting Union of Kurdistan Communities (KCK) members and supporters. These latest arrests have provoked widespread outrage inside the country and protests internationally. Intellectuals inside Turkey have raised their voices against the persecution of their colleagues and even took the unusual step of organising a vigil outside the courthouse in Istanbul when the cases were being heard.

Earlier a wave of arrests was carried out in several districts of Istanbul on 4 October when a total of 92 people were taken into police custody on the basis of alleged membership in the KCK, the umbrella organisation that includes the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) among many other Kurdish civil society and cultural organisations.

It is perfectly obvious to all who take an interest in Turkish politics that this is no simple legal process but is a highly politicised action aimed at criminalising the Kurds and political dissent generally during what is a crucial period when the ruling AKP is drawing up a new constitution. Ersanli, for example, is an expert on constitutional law and has been working with the Peace and Democracy Party BDP’s Constitutional Commission.

The repeated waves of arrests against leading Kurdish activists, politicians, intellectuals and community leaders also adds more fuel to an already increasingly volatile political situation, with the war against the Kurds also being stepped up on the military front with the operations across the border and air raids on Kurdish camps. This two-pronged strategy of repression at home and cross-border military action is clearly aimed at the elimination of all Kurdish resistance. This misguided exercise exposes a blinkered approach on the part of Turkey as repression has shown that it can provide no lasting solution. The conflict, in fact, will ultimately need to be resolved through dialogue and negotiation as steps towards an enduring peace settlement, which is what Kurdish spokespeople have consistently advocated and continue to do so despite all provocations.

Turkey adopted its extremely aggressive stance towards the Kurdish movement in recent months, when it ratcheted up the repression in the wake of the June general election as a response to the political success of the Kurds. Kurdish backed candidates made surprise and significant gains in that election.

The AKP government of Prime Minister Erdogan, with the support of its international allies, is attempting to combine repression at home with military action across the border aimed at destroying the Kurdish guerrillas and going for a “Tamil solution” to its Kurdish problem. It appears to believe that this “more of the same” approach will solve the decades-long conflict. 

But, as Peace in Kurdistan has repeatedly stated, the Kurdish issue is not at root a problem of terrorism but it is a conflict whose origins lie deep in Turkish history and can only be resolved through the constitutional recognition of a people denied their fundamental legal, social, cultural and political rights. Indeed, Turkey still refuses even to acknowledge the distinct identity or language of the Kurdish people. Until these fundamental anomalies are addressed, Turkey will not be able to achieve a solution and peace will remain elusive. The country, which currently has a strong economy and a high profile in the region where it is becoming a more active player in regional politics, is bound to remain weakened as long as it fails to address the fundamental issues raised by the Kurdish conflict because at stake is not only the fate of the Kurds, but of the character of the Turkish Republic, how it is governed and the relationship of the state with all its citizens. If Turkey is going to truly become a modern, transparently governed democracy then it cannot continue to rule by fear and repression, stifling dissent and throwing thousands of people into prison simply for expressing opinions that are at variance with the official narrative of events.

In the course of the recent operations against the KCK hundreds of people have been detained to add to the thousands already arrested. Where will it all end?

Since Turkey's parliament voted to extend by another year a mandate allowing the Turkish military to carry out cross-border operations against Kurdish camps in northern Iraq (south Kurdistan), the death toll has sharply increased on both sides. Recent controversy has emerged with allegations of the use of banned chemical weapons against Kurdish guerrillas following air raids in the Kazan Valley which led to the discovery of badly mutilated and severely burned bodies of some 24 Kurdish guerrillas. After the attack dismembered body parts were found scattered across the valley.

As of 6 November the bodies were being held at the Forensic Medicine Institute in Malatya and according to PM Erdogan “everything is proceeding according to the law, down to the DNA tests." While the Turkish government unexpectedly repudiates the allegations of the use of chemical weapons, human rights activists maintain that the only explanation for the kinds of burns seen on the bodies is that chemical agents had been used. Calls for an investigation have been made by the BDP in the political arena and taken up by the Turkish Human Rights Association (IHD). The fact is that lack of clarity on this issue can only add to the deep mistrust that exists between Kurds and the Turkish state and will add yet more fuel to the conflict. 

PIK reiterates its call for all those who want to see an end to the conflict to exert their influence to ensure that Turkey changes course before its aggressive manoeuvres engulf the country in a full-scale and an ever more bloody conflict. That is why the intention of the United States to supply Turkey with three new deadly Cobra attack helicopters is just one more misguided move and should be prevented. It can only exacerbate an already deteriorating situation.

The Kurds desperately want to live in peace; but at the moment, it seems quite clear from all their actions that Turkey’s leaders have chosen the path of war in a futile bid to eliminate every manifestation of independent Kurdish organisation, activity and even thinking.  (estella24@tiscali.co.uk, Nov 8, 2011)

Police, demonstrators clash in southeast as tension climbs

Clashes between protestors and police officers entered their second day yesterday in the eastern province of Hakkari’s Yüksekova district following a recent escalation of violence between security forces and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Police used pressurized water cannon and tear gas to disperse 100 demonstrators who responded by burning tires and throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at the law enforcement officials on Cengiz Topel Avenue in central Yüksekova.

Some 20,000 people attended funeral ceremonies on Nov. 7 for Aynur Kırbaş and Reşat Aslan, who were among the 37 PKK militants killed by the Turkish military during a recent operation in Hakkari’s Kazan Valley in the Çukurca district. The bodies of the two were brought to Yüksekova and buried in the Akalın Cemetery, three kilometers away from the district center.

Some of those who attended the funeral then initiated protests after returning to the district center, throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at law enforcement officials who responded with pressurized water and tear gas.

Meanwhile, Gültan Kışanak, the co-chair of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP,) which is primarily focused on the Kurdish issue, indicated that her party was going to discuss whether to withdraw from the ongoing work of framing a new constitution and from Parliament in response to developments in the southeast.

Duran Kalkan, who is a member of the legislative council of the outlawed Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), said the timing and circumstances of withdrawing from mainstream Turkish politics would have to be carefully considered as it would otherwise serve the purposes of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

The current Parliament would lose its democratic legitimacy if the BDP withdrew from it, leading to more violence, as well as greater separation between Kurds and Turks, Kalkan said in daily Özgür Politika, which has alleged links to the PKK.

The proposal will be discussed on Nov. 11 at a meeting that will be attended by all the BDP’s provincial heads, mayors and party council members, according to reports.

The KCK is the alleged urban wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey and much of the international community.

Compiled from Doğan news agency and daily Özgür Politika stories by the Daily News staff in Istanbul.
(Hürriyet Daily News, November 8, 2011)

Diyarbakir Mayor Baydemir faces up to 28 years in prison

Diyarbakır Metropolitan Mayor Osman Baydemir faces up to 28 years in prison on charges of spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization and committing a crime on behalf of a terrorist organization without being a member of it.

The indictment says that "It has been confirmed that Baydemir on 4 May 2011 attended the funeral ceremonies held in Diyarbakır for seven of four HPG members who lost their life in Kızılmescit village of Pülümür on 27-28 April 2011, made propaganda for the organization during the march organized by BDP on 30 April 2011 and attended the activity organized at the anniversary of PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan’s being brought to Turkey”.

In connection with three separate articles of the Anti-terror Law, the indictment demanded up to 28 years imprisonment for Baydemir whose trial will begin at 7th High Criminal Court in the coming days.
(ANF, 8 November 2011)

Barzani s'oppose à des opérations turques en Irak

Le dirigeant kurde irakien Massoud Barzani, en visite en Turquie, s'est déclaré opposé à des opérations militaires turques dans le nord de l'Irak contre les rebelles kurdes, affirmant que seul un règlement pacifique pouvait mettre un terme au conflit kurde en Turquie.

"Honnêtement, je désapprouve toutes ces opérations (turques) (...) Je ne pense pas que l'on puisse obtenir de résultat avec l'option militaire", a-t-il dit, cité par le journal turc Hürriyet.

Le président de la région autonome du Kurdistan irakien, arrivé jeudi en Turquie pour évoquer la lutte avec les rebelles du Parti des travailleurs du Kurdistan (PKK) qui a des bases arrière dans la montagne irakienne, a affirmé qu'il était "très difficile" pour l'armée turque de remporter une victoire décisive sur un mouvement disposant d'une force irrégulière.

Le 19 octobre, une série d'attaques du PKK dans le sud-est turc, près de la frontière avec l'Irak, a entraîné la mort de 24 soldats turcs, ce qui a poussé le gouvernement turc à ordonner une offensive transfrontalière contre les cibles du PKK en Irak.

M. Barzani a qualifié de "crime" le meurtre de soldats turcs et exhorté une nouvelle fois le PKK à cesser ses activités militaires. "Quand le PKK aura fait cela, la Turquie n'aura plus de prétexte de poursuivre sa campagne militaire", en Irak, a-t-il estimé.

Le leader kurde qui a rencontré le chef de la diplomatie Ahmet Davutoglu et le chef de l'Etat Abdullah Gül, s'est entretenu samedi à Istanbul, avant de quitter la Turquie, avec le Premier ministre Recep Tayyip Erdogan qui avait demandé un soutien plus actif de son administration et des peshmergas (combattants kurdes) contre le PKK.

Au terme de l'entrevue, M. Barzani a déclaré soutenir une politique d'ouverture lancée en 2009 par le gouvernement islamo-conservateur turc en faveur de la communauté kurde de Turquie, un processus qui s'est cependant enlisé en raison de l'engrenage dans le conflit kurde, d'une part avec la multiplication des attaques du PKK et la répression par Ankara du mouvement politique kurde.

"Cette politique aura des répercussions favorables en Turquie et dans la région" où plusieurs pays (Irak, Syrie et Iran) abritent des minorités kurdes, a-t-il dit, cité par l'agence de presse Anatolie.

Il a dénoncé les activités armées du PKK mais prôné une solution pacifique au problème kurde. "Le combat doit se faire au Parlement", a-t-il insisté.

M. Erdogan, a pour sa part, selon son entourage, cité par les médias, fait part du grand malaise de la Turquie au sujet d'attaques commises en Turquie par des rebelles provenant de leurs repaires irakiens.

Classé par bon nombre de pays parmi les organisations terroristes, le PKK a pris les armes en 1984. Les affrontements entre les forces turques et le PKK se sont intensifiés ces derniers mois, et aucune solution politique n'est en vue. 
(AFP, 5 nov 2011)

"We are all KCK" campaign launched

Following the arrest of 61-year-old professor and Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Assembly member Büşra Ersanlı and 63-year-old publisher and writer Ragıp Zarakolu, intellectuals have started a campaign they labelled "We are all KCK". KCK (Kurdish Communities Union) is alleged by the prosecutors to be the "urban wing" of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party). What exactly is this "urban wing", what its scopes and role is hard to say because the prosecutors so far have not been able to explain it themselves. Indeed they keep asking for the arrest of thousands without specifying why. Worse, they hide behind the KCK fig leaf and put other charges into the bargain so to make it almost sure that the people they want to see in jail actually end up behind bars.

A reaction to this indiscriminate and above all unmotivated arrests has been mounting in recent weeks, and it kind of reached a pick with the arrest, last week of Ersanlı and Zarakolu. If there was any further evidence that the "KCK excuse" could be used against anyone, that was it.

The new campaign, "We are all KCK", is being launched by lawyers Eren Keskin, Ayşe Batumlu, Leman Yurtsever, Hürriyet Şener and photographer Veysi Altay invited people to take part in this activity. By now, 50 people, including writer, activists and poet Roni Margulies, sociologist İsmail Beşikçi, Dr. Şebnem Korurfincancı, ecologist Bilge Contepe, writer A.Hicri İzgören, singer Ferhat Tunç, Şanar Yurdatapan and many leaders from leftist parties and organizations, signed the petition.

The campaign's promoters announced that this action will take place in a couple days.

Workers from Office Workers’ Trade Union have today staged a protest against the government policy of indiscriminate attacks against people who are organizing against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). (ANF,
2 November 2011)

BDP: Chemical weapons used against guerillas

In a statement concerning 24 bodies at Malatya State Hospital, BDP Deputy Co-chair Lawyer Meral Danış Beştaş remarked that guerillas had been killed with chemical weapons.

Beştaş stated that the nonbeing of a bullet mark on the bodies -which were burnt and torn into pieces- strengthened the allegations regarding use of chemical weapons.

Beştaş also reacted to the silence of the media on the subject of and commented this silence as a sign of press associations’ loyalty to the instructions given recently by Prime Minister Erdoğan. “Authorities, press and judiciary are silent about the subject”, added Beştaş and directed the following questions to the AKP government;

“Is there a stock of chemical weapons?

Were chemical weapons used in the recent operations?

Why are the autopsy reports of guerillas kept secret?

What is the cause of death written on these autopsy reports? ”

While still 15 families couldn’t identify their children’s bodies and had to give blood samples for DNA test, a delegation, consisting of DTK, BDP, IHD, MEYADER, MAZLUMDER, Diyarbakır Bar Association, Peace Mothers, DTK Coordination Board Member Demir Çelik and BDP Mardin MP Emine Ayna, has arrived in Malatya to stand by families and meet with Prosecutor to ask for autopsy reports.

Guerrilla families: Bodies are beyond recognition

Families who went to Malatya's morgue today were only shown photos of the bodies of their children. The families said that “We are unable to identify our children’s bodies. We were shown photographs of bodies mutilated beyond recognition - they added - Indeed some of the bodies are without head.”

Only four of the bodies have been identified and reclaimed by their families so far. The bodies of other 20 HPG guerrillas are still held at the morgue in Malatya and families are unable to identify them.

“Two of the bodies were without head and some others were torn to pieces. I wasn’t able to find out which of the bodies belonged to my son” said grief- stricken Seyithan Çelik, father of HPG member Oktay Çelik.

To add grief to pain, the families of the unidentified bodies will have to give a blood sample to enable a DNA test to be carried out.

Batman-born Sezar Arslan, whose body was identified yesterday, will be buried in Muş today.
(ANF, 31 October-1 November 2011)

Minorités / Minorities

Un livre historique: “Liste des organisateurs du génocide arménien”

Le chercheur turc Sait Çetinoğlu vient de publier un livre historique dans cette Turquie qui peine à entamer officiellement son devoir de mémoire. L’universitaire verse au dossier du génocide arménien, la « Liste des organisateurs du génocide arménien: Exterminateurs et musulmans vertueux » du patriarche Zaven Der Yeghiayan (1868-1947). “Vous pouvez trouver les noms et les biographies de ceux qui ont tué ou sauvé des Arméniens. Il est grand temps de déchirer les ténèbres parce que “Ce monde nous suffit à nous tous!" comme le dit Sarkis Çerkezyan.” Le Collectif VAN vous propose la traduction de la présentation de cet ouvrage.

Exterminateurs et musulmans vertueux

Il y a cent ans, l'humanité a connu une catastrophe d’une proportion magistrale, à savoir, le genocide arménien.Tout le monde en a parlé, discuté... Certains ont dit "les Arméniens méritaient de mourir, d’être tués parce qu'ils n'étaient pas islamisés!"; d’autres ont déclaré "Les Arméniens ont disparu parce qu'ils étaient en train de tuer des musulmans". Alors que certains arguaient que "Les Turcs, les Kurdes, les Circassiens et les autres sont innocents; nous n'avons pas été impliqués dans cela", d'autres ont soutenu que "les principaux assassins sont les Kurdes! Les Turcs ont sauvé le reste [de la population].

Certains prétendent que “la République turque n’est pas concernée par la déportation ottomane. Appeller la République à rendre des comptes signifie être occupé à des vétilles." Certains ont dit "ce n'est pas un génocide; les Arméniens ont été vaincus et chassés à la fin d’un conflit mutuel ! »

D'autres ont dit :" Pendant qu'ils gênaient les musulmans, Dieu les a damnés, et ils ont disparu ! "...

Il y a beaucoup de gens brillants qui ont répété, à chaque fois qu’ils étaient mécontents : «Je vais en finir avec vous comme avec les Arméniens!", ou “Fils de pute Arménien !”.

Beaucoup de vieillards étaient présents, et ils ont pris le génocide comme point de référence en disant "l’année où le massacre des Arméniens s'est produit!"

Mais ces discussions ont été remplacées au cours des vingt dernières années. Les documents et la conscience historique ont prévalu. Malgré le fait que l'idéologie officielle n’arrive pas à affronter cela elle-même, les gens qui font partie de l'histoire de l'humanité ne peuvent plus dire "cet événement n’a pas eu lieu”.

Maintenant, nous devons mettre à nu l'identité des assassins responsables des massacres et présenter leurs actes et leurs biographies à la nouvelle génération

Dans ce livre, Sait Çetinoğlu s’efforce de lancer une nouvelle discussion sur la base de la «Liste des organisateurs du génocide arménien: Exterminateurs et musulmans vertueux» du patriarche Zaven Der Yeghiayan (1868-1947).

Vous pouvez trouver les noms et les biographies de ceux qui ont tué ou sauvé des Arméniens. Il est grand temps de déchirer les ténèbres parce que “Ce monde nous suffit à nous tous!" comme le dit Sarkis Çerkezyan.

©Traduction de l’anglais Collectif VAN – 25 novembre 2011 – 07:33 –www.collectifvan.org

Patrik Zaven’in Türkiye’deki Ermeni Soykırımı Örgütleyicilerinin Listesi Exterminators/Yok Ediciler ve Erdemli Müslümanlar”.
Sait Çetinoğlu
Pêrî Yayınları Tabu Tanımıyor Karanlığa Işık Tutuyor! (Les Editions Pêri jettent la lumière sur les ténèbres, sans tabou !)

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Dersim: l'offense redoublée d'Erdogan

Laurent Leylekian

Il est excuses plus insultantes encore que l'offense qu'elles sont censées racheter. En matière d'obscénité politique, force est de reconnaître que le Grand Turc vient de repousser les limites: Selon plusieurs dépêches de presse de son pays, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, le Premier ministre a récemment déclaré : "S'il y a des excuses à présenter au nom de l'Etat (...) je voudrais présenter mes excuses et je présente mes excuses" à propos des massacres de masse commis en 1938  par l'armée de la République kémaliste naissante dans la région reculée du Dersim.

Nul doute que les zélateurs d'Ankara sauteront des deux pieds sur l'opportunité et sur la méconnaissance de la réalité turque par les Occidentaux pour présenter ces "excuses" comme un indice révélateur des "progrès de la Turquie" et autres billevesées. Parmi les extrapolations aventureuses qu'ils en tireront, se trouvera sûrement la prophétie que ces "excuses" pourraient constituer un prélude à une prochaine  demande de pardon à propos du génocide des Arméniens. Bref, on entendra sous peu formulée la comparaison pour le moins osée entre l'actuel homme fort d'Ankara et l'ex-chancellier allemand Willy Brandt qui s'était agenouillé avec sincérité, courage et dignité devant le mémorial du Ghetto de Varsovie en 1970 et qui avait effectivement engagé son pays dans une démarche de contrition et de réparation (...)

Texte complet de l'article de Laurent Leylekian:
http://eurotopie.leylekian.eu/2011/11/dersim-loffense-redoublee-derdogan.html#more

Erdogan s'excuse au nom de l'Etat pour les exactions de Dersim

Le Premier ministre Recep Tayyip Erdogan a présenté mercredi des excuses au nom de l'Etat turc pour la répression meurtrière de la rébellion kurde du Dersim (est) en 1937-1938, un mea culpa inédit pour la Turquie mais motivé d'abord par des considérations politiques. "S'il est nécessaire que l'on s'excuse au nom de l'Etat, s'il existe une telle littérature (confirmant les exactions, ndlr) je m'excuserai et je m'excuse", a dit M. Erdogan lors d'un discours devant des membres de son Parti de la justice et du développement (AKP, issu de la mouvance islamiste) à Ankara.

Le Premier ministre, qui a aussi mentionné 11.000 personnes déplacées, a ainsi brisé le silence officiel de la Turquie sur la répression du Dersim.

Pour certains analystes cependant, cette ouverture à l'autocritique manque de sincérité et vise avant tout à mettre à mal l'opposition. "Le gouvernement manipule cet événement, il ne veut pas vraiment ouvrir le livre des massacres commis en Turquie, sinon il lui faudrait parler aussi des Arméniens. (...) Il reste attaché à l'idéologie officielle", affirme le sociologue Hakan Yücel, spécialiste de l'alévisme à l'université stambouliote de Galatasaray.

La Turquie, régulièrement appelée par la communauté internationale à reconnaître le caractère génocidaire des massacres d'Arméniens survenus en Anatolie dans les dernières années de l'empire ottoman (1915-1917), qui ont fait plus d'un million et demi de morts selon les Arméniens, refuse ce terme.

Pour M. Yücel, les déclarations de M. Erdogan visent avant tout à déstabiliser le principal parti d'opposition au Parlement, le CHP (Parti républicain du peuple), fondé par Atatürk et qui a gouverné sans partage la Turquie jusqu'en 1946, mal à l'aise par rapport à cet épisode de l'histoire turque.


Citant un document officiel de l'époque, le Premier ministre a évoqué un bilan de 13.806 tués lors des bombardements aériens et terrestres suivis d'exactions et d'exécutions sommaires dans la province du Dersim (ensuite renommée Tunceli), peuplée de Kurdes alevis -- une confession musulmane hétérodoxe, proche du chiisme.

Les tribus kurdes du Dersim, une région montagneuse, se sont rebellées contre l'autorité d'Ankara au printemps 1937, sous la conduite du chef de tribu Seyit Riza, enclenchant un processus de répression qui se poursuivit jusqu'à la pendaison des meneurs de la révolte et à l'exode forcé de dizaines de milliers d'habitants.

Les historiens évoquent en général un bilan de plusieurs dizaines de milliers de morts.

"Le Dersim constitue l'un des événements les plus tragiques et douloureux de notre histoire contemporaine", a souligné M. Erdogan, estimant que toute la lumière devait être faite "avec courage" sur ce dossier.

"Ceux qui n'ont pas le courage de faire un travail de mémoire sur les pages sombres de leur histoire ne peuvent bâtir d'avenir", a martelé M. Erdogan, appelant le CHP à assumer ses responsabilités dans cette affaire.

Un des cadres du CHP, Onur Öymen, avait fait scandale en 2009 en prenant la défense de la répression du Dersim. Il a depuis quitté le parti, actuellement dirigé par Kemal Kiliçdaroglu, lui-même originaire du Dersim.

Récemment, un député du parti de M. Erdogan a proposé de débaptiser l'aéroport international Sabiha Gökçen, du nom de la fille adoptive de Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, fondateur de la République turque en 1923, qui avait activement participé en tant que pilote aux bombardements du Dersim. 
(AFP, Nicolas CHEVIRON, 23 nov 2011)

Erdoğan exploiting Dersim genocide

In a move designed to keep the image of an understanding and ready-to-face-the-past Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has today apologised for the 1937 Dersim massacre. It is interesting to note how "selective" are the public apologies of the PM. Indeed no question of an apology over the Armenian genocide. And indeed over Cyprus the Turkish government's stance has been one of reclaiming its right to occupy and to keep North Cyprus from the South despite any international law. No question then to even deal with the Kurdish question in a different way from repression, detentions, criminalisation.

Yet Erdoğan is keen to present himself as the prime minister ready to deal with the heavy and often controversial past of the Republic. Indeed it is not a coincidence that he has chosen to apologise for the Dersim massacre. He has done so in the days of a big rift within the CHP (Republican's People Party), the only party at the time (the party founded by the father of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk) has erupted precisely over the responsibility of the party in the Dersim genocide.

In his apology Erdoğan said that “Dersim is among the most tragic event in near history. It is a disaster that should be now questioned with courage. The party that should confront this incident is not the ruling Justice and Development Party [AK Party]. It is the CHP, which is behind this bloody disaster, who should face this incident and its chairman from Tunceli.” And he added "“Is it me who should apologise or you [referring to CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu]? If there should be an apology on behalf of the state and if there is such an opportunity, I can do it and I am apologising. But if there is someone who should apologise on behalf of the CHP, it is you as you are from Dersim. You were saying you felt honored to be from Dersim. Now, save your honour.”

In the widening debate, Erdoğan said at his party's group meeting in Parliament on Tuesday that he planned to release a number of state documents about the incident on Wednesday. He then read excerpts from archive documents related to the massacre on Wednesday, saying thousands of people, including women and children, were killed during the Dersim operation and that the CHP was the part of the single-party government of the time.

Referring to a document dated 1939, Erdoğan said a total of 13,806 people were killed in Dersim between 1936 and 1939. He said the document bears the signature of then-Interior Minister Faik Öztrak. Another document Erdoğan revealed related to the Dersim events was a Cabinet decree dated Dec. 23, 1938, which said 11,683 people were deported from Dersim and that 2,000 more were to be deported from Dersim.

“All of these documents have the signatures of İsmet İnönü,” Erdoğan said.

The CHP is in a middle of a controversy over the Dersim genocide since the region MP, Hüseyin Aygün had stated the 1937 Dersim massacre took place with the consent of the state and the ruling CHP and that it is just a “myth” that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was not aware of it. Interestingly but not surprisingly, the leader of the CHP, Kemal Kılıçdroğlu, who is from Dersim and of Kurdish origins and lost many of his relatives in this massacre, did not stand behind Aygün. Of course the people of Dersim will know only too well that once again the genocide and the sufferance are being exploited for political games. Certainly by the Prime Minister who sees this as an opportunity to lash out to the main opposition party much more than a real chance to come to terms and deal with the Republic history of violence and repression. Likewise in the CHP the issue has come out - coincidentally ? - at a time where Kılıçdroğlu is not enjoy big support among his people nor popularity.

DERSIM GENOCIDE

The Dersim rebellion in the summer of 1937 and the spring of 1938 by the local population of Dersim, now called Tunceli was crashed in blood. Tens of thousands of Alevi Kurds were killed and thousands more forced into exile, depopulating the province. A key component of the Turkification process was the policy of massive population resettlement, a result of the 1934 Law on Resettlement ('İskân Kanunu' Law No.2510, 13 June 1934) , a policy targeting the region of Dersim as one of its first test cases with disastrous consequences for the local population. Three types of resettlement zones were defined in the resettlement law as follows:

- districts to be evacuated for health, economic, cultural, political and security reasons and where settlement was forbidden;
- districts where the population was to be transferred and resettled for the purposes of assimilation to Turkish culture and,
- districts where an increase of the population having 'Turkish culture' was recommended.
(ANF, 23 November 2011)

RSF:  Justice pour Hrant Dink,  le temps est compté

« A aucun prix, le procès des assassins de Hrant Dink ne doit se refermer dans les conditions actuelles, a déclaré Reporters sans frontières au terme de la 21e audience qui s’est tenue à Istanbul le 14 novembre 2011. Des éléments clés manquent encore au dossier, et trop de questions restent sans réponse. »

Depuis que le procureur Hikmet Usta a rendu son réquisitoire le 19 septembre dernier, le procès avance à marche forcée. Alors que les audiences ont longtemps été séparées d’au moins 3 mois, la prochaine se tiendra dès le 5 décembre 2011. Pourtant, de séance en séance, les mêmes questions lancinantes demeurent. Pourquoi la Haute Instance des télécommunications (TIB) persiste-t-elle, en dépit de plusieurs décisions judiciaires, dans son refus de transmettre à la justice les registres des appels téléphoniques passés aux alentours du lieu du crime, le 19 janvier 2007 ? Pourquoi la Cour refuse-t-elle de faire analyser les enregistrements de vidéosurveillance ? Pourquoi tous les témoins n’ont-ils pas été produits ?

Peu avant la 21e audience, la Haute Instance des télécommunications (TIB) avait une nouvelle fois refusé de transmettre à la 14e chambre de la cour d’Assises d’Istanbul, la liste des appels téléphoniques passés aux proches alentours du lieu du crime, le 19 janvier 2007. D’après elle, la Cour devrait préciser sa requête et indiquer à quels appels exactement elle fait référence : émis par qui, reçus par qui, à quelle heure, etc. Dans le passé, la TIB s’était déjà retranchée derrière la « vie privée » des usagers pour justifier son refus. Mais les avocats de la famille Dink ne demandent qu’à consulter la liste des appels passés, non leur contenu. Le recoupement de cette liste avec les enregistrements des caméras de surveillance des commerces voisins pourrait largement faire avancer l’enquête et contribuer à identifier des complices, voire à remonter jusqu’aux commanditaires.

Obtenir les registres de télécommunication est d’autant plus urgent que selon la loi, la TIB doit les détruire le 19 janvier 2012, au terme de cinq ans de conservation. Reporters sans frontières lui a adressé un courrier insistant pour qu’elle transmette de toute urgence ces données à la justice. Une pétition circule actuellement en Turquie (traduction en français disponible ici) pour demander aux députés d’intervenir à leur tour.

« De précieux enregistrements vidéos ont déjà été détruits par la ‘négligence’ ou la mauvaise volonté des forces de l’ordre. Comment pourrait-on tolérer que de nouveaux éléments de preuves essentiels soient anéantis à leur tour ? », s’est indignée l’organisation.

La police n’a toujours pas retrouvé les témoins Cemal Yildirim et Ergün Cagatay pour qu’ils soient à nouveau entendus à la barre, conformément à la requête des parties civiles. Mais le président du tribunal, Rüstem Eryilmaz, a malgré tout annoncé que les prochaines audiences seraient consacrées aux plaidoiries. Les avocats de l’accusation s’apprêtent à demander la révocation du jury si leur demande de complément d’enquête n’est pas satisfaite.

L’audience s’est tenue en présence de nombreuses personnalités venues soutenir la famille de Hrant Dink et manifester leur désir de justice, dont Robert Koptas, directeur de la publication de l’hebdomadaire turco-arménien Agos pour lequel travaillait le journaliste, Elise Arfi, Secrétaire de la Conférence des avocats de Paris, Alexandre Couyoumdjian, représentant du Barreau de Paris et de l’AFAJA (lien), Yves Ochinsky, ancien bâtonnier du Barreau de Bruxelles, Raffi Hermonn, maire adjoint des Iles des Princes d’Istanbul, le professeur Ahmet Insel, le journaliste Oral Calislar, et le correspondant de Reporters sans frontières Erol Önderoglu. (RSF, 19 novembre 2011)

30 public officials to be prosecuted for aiding, abetting Dink's murder

A prosecutor overseeing an investigation into claims of negligence by public officials in protecting Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who was shot dead in 2007, has decided to prosecute 30 high-level public officials, including İstanbul's former governor and police chief, on charges of “aiding and abetting murder” instead of negligence.
 
The Anatolia news agency reported on Thursday that prosecutor Muammer Akkaş recently filed a non-prosecution order for the 30 suspects on negligence charges after the denial of permission from the İstanbul Governor's Office to launch a probe against the suspects. The İstanbul Prosecutor's Office appealed the decision at the İstanbul Regional Administrative Court, but the court ruled that the 30 public officials could not be prosecuted on charges of negligence due to a lack of evidence.

The İstanbul Prosecutor's Office then filed a non-prosecution order with regards to the charges of negligence and has reportedly decided to move forward with the investigation by filing charges against the suspects of aiding and abetting the commission of Dink's murder.

The initial investigation, which includes former İstanbul Governor Muammer Güler and former İstanbul Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah, was launched following repeated demands from Dink family lawyers that a new investigation be launched into several public officials who were allegedly negligent in their duty to protect Dink.

Dink was gunned down by a teenager outside his newspaper's İstanbul office in January 2007, but the ensuing investigation has been highly controversial. The investigation made it obvious that the young man hadn't acted alone but was in fact driven by a group of people whom he called older brothers and who had plotted for more than a year.

In addition to there being suspicious links between the suspects and state security institutions, lawyers representing the Dink family have accused the police of destroying vital evidence and concealing crucial information from the court and the prosecution. Dink family lawyers also claimed that some public officials had prior knowledge about a plot to kill Dink, since July 2006, and failed to take the necessary precautions, suggesting that they had personal relations with the suspects in Dink's murder, whose trial is under way at İstanbul's 14th High Criminal Court.

Also in September of last year, the European Court of Human Rights declared that the Turkish government had failed in its duty to protect the life of Dink and to effectively investigate his murder. The court said police in both Trabzon -- the hometown of the assailant, Ogün Samast -- and İstanbul and the Trabzon gendarmerie had been informed of the likelihood of an assassination attempt and even of the identity of the suspected instigators.
(TODAYSZAMAN.COM, 17 November 2011)

Father of suspect casts doubt on Dink trial’s fate

The father of one of the suspected conspirators in the Hrant Dink murder has withdrawn his initial testimony due to fears about his personal safety and expressed no confidence that the case will ever be resolved in its entirety.

“I am in full agreement with the Dink family’s lawyers. I do not believe that the dark side of this case will truly come to light. I cannot look at the faces of the Dink family; it gives me pain,” Bahattin Hayal, the father of suspect Yasin Hayal, who allegedly instigated hitman Ogün Samast to assassinate the Turkish-Armenian journalist, told reporters yesterday after a hearing.

Only minutes before the end of the most recent hearing in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş courthouse, Bahattin Hayal requested to act as a witness, adding that he held important information. His request, however, was denied by the court.

“They warned me that I would find myself in trouble. I told them that I had shared the truth with them, but they forced me to change my testimony,” he said.

A high-ranking official in the southeastern province of Mardin has frequently transmitted messages to him through an intermediary, he said, adding that he would share that information with the public in short order.

 “Following the murder, many people who got involved in the incident, including [suspect] Erhan Tuncel, received bonuses,” the suspect’s father said.

“Erhan [Tuncel] takes a computer printout of Hrant Dink’s picture and tells my son that it is the ‘Armenians’ Atatürk’ and thus depicts him as a target. How would my son know anything about Hrant Dink or Agos?” he said, adding that his son was used by Tuncel.

“Erhan Tuncel ought to reveal [the identity of] his superiors and what their connections are. My son has become a snack in the feast of the wolves,” he said.

Meanwhile, just over two months are left until the erasure of phone records relevant to the case. The Telecommunications Directorate (TİB), which possesses the records, earlier refused two court demands to disclose the records; when a higher court also ruled in the same vein, the body then issued a series of demands of its own for the records to be revealed. Phone records are only kept for five years, meaning authorities must convince TİB to release the transcripts by Jan. 19, 2012, the fifth anniversary of Dink’s murder.

Dink, a journalist of Armenian origin, was the chief editor for weekly Agos, a paper published in both Turkish and Armenian. He was shot in front of his office in January 2007; Samast was sentenced to 22 years in prison on July for the murder.

GOVERNMENT BLAMED FOR RECORDS

The Malatya deputy of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has accused the country’s Telecommunications Directorate (TİB) of attempting to hamper the Dink case and accusing the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of standing behind the body’s actions.

“Nearly all state institutions are working to prolong the [trial] process and to make [people] forget about the murder, rather than trying to shed light on it,” CHP deputy Veli Ağbaba told members of the press in Parliament.

The TİB’s behavior bordered on the negligent and intentional, Ağbaba said, adding that he TİB’s temerity comes from the fact that its president is protected by the AKP.
(Hürriyet Daily News, Vercihan Ziflioğlu, November 14, 2011)

The Greek Genocide: The Mass Crime In Pontus

RAGIP ZARAKOLU – SAIT ÇETINOGLU - THEOFANIS MALKIDIS
Bilingual edition:  Greek/English
Kavala 2011

During its genocide commemorative services in 2009, the Pontic Club of the Kavala Prefecture of Greece invited well known Turkish editor and writer Ragip Zarakolu to honour the athletes of the "Pontus" Association of Anatolia College, Merzifounta (Merzifon).

In the Kavala Tech Educational Institution amphitheatre on the 22nd of May 2011 a minute’s silence was shown by attendees in memory of the victims of the Genocide. The event began with a speech by the president of the Kavala Club Mr. Haralampos Alexandridis. Theofanis Malkidis and Ragip Zarakolou then spoke on the Genocide.

In concluding the event, club dancers took part in a rendition of the ancient Greek war dance, the Pirihios.

Feeling a need to speak out about the Genocide, and in particular from the side of Turkish intellectuals and writers, we decided to produce a publication in Greek and English.

This volume includes the speech by Mr Haralampos Alexandridis, the presentation papers of Ragip Zarakolou titled “Turkey and People’s Genocide” and the presentation by Theofanis Malkidis titled “The Greek Genocide and International Community”. We also included the paper titled “The Independence Ideal and the Genocide of the Pontic Greeks” written by author Sait Cetinoglu, a colleague of Ragip Zarakolou.

The publication was funded by the Pontic Club of the Kavala Prefecture in its effort to shed light on historical, political and moral efforts towards recognition and the truth. At this point we would like to thank everyone for their cooperation in the publication of this book, in particular the two Turkish intellectuals who struggle towards the recognition of Genocide.

One of these intellectuals, Ragip Zarakolu, was arrested last week for those actions and has been sent to a high-security prison ahead of his trial.

Ragıp Zarakolu was born in 1948 in Büyükada close to Constantinople and grew up with members of the Greek and Armenian minority in Turkey.

The Belge Publishing House was established in Istanbul in 1977 by Zarakolu and his wife Ayşenur, and has been affected by Turkish censorship laws ever since. Charges brought against the couple resulted in imprisonment for both Ayşenur and Ragıp Zarakolu, the wholesale confiscation and destruction of books and the imposition of heavy fines.

Until the military coup of 12 September 1980, Belge Publishing House mostly published academic and theoretical books. Afterwards Belge started to publish a series of books written by political prisoners. The series of 35 books consisted of poems, short stories and novels. The list of publications (see a list of selected publications below) include more than 10 books (translations) of Greek literature, 10 books on the Armenian question and five books related to the Jews in Turkey. There are also a number of books dealing with the Kurds in Turkey.

In 1995 the Belge Publishing House offices were firebombed by a far right group, forcing it to be housed in a cellar. Since his wife's death in 2002, Zarakolu continued to face further prosecutions.

Recent court cases against Ragıp Zarakolu and Belge Publishing House (until her death Ayşenur Zarakolu stood trial instead of him) include, disseminated separatist propaganda, making propaganda for an illegal organization, insulting the institutions of the Turkish Republic, and others.

As of the 28th of  October 2011, Ragip Zarakolou has been in prison for his ideas and for his struggle towards genocide recognition and human rights in Turkey.

Sait Çetinoglu was born in Trabzon and is an activist for human rights and a member of the Free University An­kara Independent Initiative.  He authored the book “Varlik Vergisi 1942-1944 - Ekonomik ve Kültürel Jenocid (Capital Tax 1942-1944- an Economic and Cultural Genocide)” based on his research. The book was published by Belge International Publishing House. He also coauthored with Fikret Bashkaya the research books: “İttihatçılıktan Kemalizme (From Unionists to Kemalists) and  Türkiye’de “Azınlıklar” (The “Minorities” in Turkey)  both published by Free University. 

He authored the publications: “The ‘turkification’  of the Capital” and the Secret Agenda of the Union and Progress (İttihat ve Terakki'nin Gizli Ajandası) published in the series “Discussions on the Official History” and also authored lemmas in the Concepts Dictionary  and Official Ideology on the topics of official ideology/official history, genocide, issues related to Turkish economic history, etc.

His works on “The 20 years Conscription to Work Battalions”- A Terror Act against the Minorities, The Assassination of Justice in 1909 at Cilicia and on various other topics will be published by Belge International Publishing House in the series Myths of Official History- Sayings and Truth.

Presently he is working on the research topic of the Development of the Turkish-Muslim wealth after the looting of the Greek and Armenian fortunes to be published in a book entitled “The Turkish Bourgoise and the Dark side of the Turkish Economy”. He has published articles on the Committee Union and Progress, Kemalism, The Nature of the Kemalist Regime, Armenian, Pontic Greek and Assyrian Genocides, The Turkish Economic Histiryand “Minorites” at various newspapers in Turkey as well as in the journals.

Dr Theofanis Malkidis of Alexandroupolis is a member of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, which in 2007 recognized the Greek, Armenian and Assyrian Genocide.  He has also raised awareness on the Genocide in Greece and abroad and his efforts have been rewarded by variable institutions.

In 2009 he spoke at the first commemoration event for the Greek Genocide outside the building of the United Nations (New York), and in 2010 he was invited by the Republic of Armenia to speak at the International Congress on the Convention on the Prevention and the Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

He edited the instructional handbook of Rοnald Levitski on the «Genocide of Greeks of Pontos» in the English language (The Pontian Society of Chicago Xeniteas) and he also translated it to Greek.

Among his papers and books are the following:

The policy of Greece and Turkey for Thrace, after their integration in  NATO, The Armenian Genocide, The Greek minority in Albania (in Greek, English and Albanian), The Greek Genocide (in Greek, English, Russian, Italian, Spanish and Armenian).

Non-Muslim minorities protest wealth tax, expect apology

Victims of the discriminatory wealth tax, who are all non-Muslim minorities, demand an apology from the state 69 years after legislation was passed by Parliament on Nov. 11, 1942, requiring non-Muslims to pay a much higher rate of tax to the state.
 
Many well-known families in Turkey are among the victims. One such victim is the prominent Turkish Jewish businessman Hayim Alaton, the father of Alarko Holding’s executive board chairman İshak Alaton. Hayim Alaton was sent to Aşkale in the province of Erzurum to perform manual labor because he had failed to pay two separate taxes imposed on him.

Within the scope of wealth tax payment requirements, 1,229 non-Muslims were sent to Aşkale via the Haydarpaşa railroad station in İstanbul to perform the jobs assigned to them.

İshak Alaton and a group of his friends have stated that they will visit the Haydarpaşa railroad station on Nov. 11 in order to keep the memories of this tragic incident alive. He will be accompanied by lawyer Cem Murat Sofuoğlu, Professor Serap Yazıcı, Professor Ergun Özbudun and others.
(TODAY’S ZAMAN, 10 November 2011)

Turkey's minorities still skeptical about new constitution

Representatives of Turkey’s various minority communities have expressed skepticism regarding ongoing efforts to draft a new constitution for the country.

“Considering the current political conditions in Turkey, I do not believe the new constitution will be an egalitarian one that embraces all sections of society,” Arev Cebeci, a Turkish-Armenian who became a candidate nominee for the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) in the most recent election, recently told the Hürriyet Daily News.

If a new constitution is drafted, then it will be the first time such a text will be produced in a democratic milieu since the establishment of the founding constitution of 1924. Other previous constitutions were written in the wake of military coups in 1961 and 1980.

“The first four articles of the 1980 constitution will be overturned in the new constitution that is underway. This will not be to Turkey’s benefit. Everyone is a Turk according to the laws of the Turkish Republic; that clause ought never to be amended,” Mari Loker-Gormenazano, a Turkish Jew, told the Daily News.

Current political conditions are not suited for making the right decisions about a new constitution, while Turkey should first concentrate on the problem of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), said Loker-Gormenazano, the grandchild of former deputy Adolf Loker, who designed the hats for modern Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

“I want to see Turkey as a society [composed] of citizens of the Turkish Republic, without any regard for race, religion or language,” Loker-Gormenazano said.

Meanwhile, Cebeci also said they would never give up on rights granted to minorities through the Treaty of Lausanne in the event that the new constitution brought fresh problems regarding the status of non-Muslim minorities.

The Lausanne Treaty of 1923 granted certain rights to officially recognized non-Muslim minorities in Turkey, including the freedoms to establish and manage social, religious and charity institutions, to use their native languages and to conduct their own religious rituals.

Cebeci, however, also expressed reservations about the new Foundations Law enacted by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which received much applause from minority communities.

“For instance, in order for us to retrieve our cemeteries that are recorded in the 1936 declaration, they still need to be open to use for burial purposes. How could we still be using our cemeteries that were seized and expropriated?” Cebeci said.

Turgut Alaca, the president of Turkey’s Mesopotamia Culture and Solidarity Association (Mezo-Der), a Syriac association, also rebuffed claims about the new constitution’s benefits.

“We cannot make use of our rights, either as normal citizens or as members of a minority. We cannot teach our language to our children. Who are we? And what will change with the new constitution? I would like to ask,” Alaca told the Daily News.

“The current constitution states that all citizens of the Turkish Republic are equal, but that is not what we see in practice,” Alaca said.

“If they truly want to do something, then a new institution ought to be established instead of the Religious Affairs Directorate, such as a Supreme Board of Faith. We presented to relevant authorities in Ankara a file that was accordingly prepared. All religious faith groups must be represented under this autonomous structure,” Metin Tarhan, the founder of the Alevi Associations Federation, told the Daily News.

Tarhan said, however, that he did not believe such an institution could be founded and thus lacked trust in the new constitution and Parliament.

Despite all the pessimism and lukewarm attitude toward the new constitution, however, certain members of the Anatolian Greek and Bulgarian minorities remain hopeful.

“The new constitution is being prepared in goodwill. I have no doubts about this. I am certain this will be an egalitarian and successful constitution,” Dimitri Zotos, one of the managers of the Anatolian Greek Foundations Association (RUMVADER), told the Daily News.

“We expect freedom and democracy. Of course, everything will not be flawless, but the idea of a new constitution is a positive idea. The work is hope-inspiring,” Lüben Chalmov of the Bulgarian Community Council told the Daily News.
(Hürriyet Daily News, VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU, November 8, 2011)

Hagia Sophia of Nicaea Opened as Mosque

The Hagia Sofia of Nicaea, the meeting place of the Seventh Ecumenical Council in the year 787 is to be declared a mosque by the Turkish authorities. As the Turkish press reported last Thursday, the call to prayer of the Muezzins is being sung for the first time that eve since the founding of the Turkish Republic in 1923. The minaret was attached during the Ottoman period to the Church in the city the Turks call Iznik. Last year it was restored. With the celebratory prayer at the beginning of the Islamic sacrificial feast on Sunday morning, it will free the former church for Islamic religious ceremonies.

The decision of the Office of the Board as the competent authority sparked a fierce debate. The art historian Selcuk Mülayim of Marmara University pointed to the importance of the building in the history of Christianity and warned the move would draw protests to itself from around the world. The Chamber of Commerce of Iznik criticized the move as totally incomprehensible, as the small town lives from tourism.

Also controversial is whether it is due to the Board to explain how the previous church is converted from a museum to a mosque. The Office explained that the building had been set aside by the community unjustifiably as a museum, according to their documents, since it had never been used as a museum before. In the past year in any case, a sign stood before the restored church structure with "Museum" written on it; a warden collected entrance fees.

In the Hagia Sophia of Nicaea the Bishops of the East Roman Empire gathered in 787, in order to decide the Byzantine Iconoclast Controversy and to permit the veneration of Icons. Nicaea was also the meeting place of the first Ecumenical council in the year 325. The palace in which the Council took place, is no longer extant, however.

The Hagia Sophia was changed into a mosque by the Muslims in 1331 when they captured the city, and after a fire it was restored by architect Mimar and destroyed at the Battle of Bursa in the Turkish War of Independence in the 1920s. The ruins were restored in 2007 and has drawn Christian religious tourism.
(kath.net/KNA, Nov 4, 2011)

Genocide, War Crimes and the AKP Government

Communiqué by Solidarity with the Victims of All Genocides and the Forum for Stateless Nations:

"Genocide, War Crimes and the Role of the AKP Government in obstructing the peace process in Turkey - An Appeal to UK MP's to sign EDM 2267"

Last week, our lobby of MP's and protest outside the Turkish Embassy in London sought to bring attention to the recent wave of arrests of academics and politicians in Turkey. These arrests came as no surprise. Have successive UK governments not turned a blind eye to the fact that the modern Turkish State came about following the seal of approval by Britain and its allies (in the Treaty of Lausanne) of the successful and merciless Genocide of the Armenian, Assyrian-Syriac and Greek populations as well as 'Others' from 1915 onwards? (by the CUP and/or Kemalist led nationalists). Have we not turned a blind eye to continued persecution of its national 'minorities' by the state of Turkey since its inception? What will it take, I wonder, for a British Prime Minister to robustly call for the government of Turkey to respect its National Minorities, to bravely face its Genocidal past, and to confront the reality of its totalitarian present posing as a democracy?

Anyone associated with human, cultural, political and ‘minority’ rights protection work, alongside work exposing the anti-democratic policies and practices of the state as it applies to prisons and the targeting of political prisoners, mass graves and the neoliberal framework (even within the educational sphere) faces targeting under the anti-terror laws, in the name of catch-all “anti-KCK [Kurdistan Communities Union] operations”. The Platform for Solidarity with Arrested Journalists (TGDP) has just issued the following statement: "Who is next? The terror of mass detentions and arrests against Kurdish politicians who act in accordance with the Anti-Terror Law (TMY) and against journalists is a direct attack on free speech, freedom of demonstration and assembly and press freedom. TMY operations have no credibility at all with unfounded allegations” (BIA, 7 October 2011). According to BIA (3 October): “Members and executives of the Human Rights Association, the [teachers’] education union and the social service sector union were taken into custody in Urfa on 27 September. Private homes and the branch head offices were searched. The head offices of the Human Rights Association (İHD), the Education and Science Workers' Union (Eğitim-Sen) and the Health and Social Service Workers Union (SES) in the south-eastern city of Urfa were raided simultaneously on Tuesday morning” (27 September). At the same time, the homes of executives of the association and the union offices were searched. A total of 23 people were taken into custody, among them İHD Branch President Cemal Babaoğlu ... and Eğitim-Sen Branch President Halit Şahin”. Even Kemal Aydin, Executive of the Association for Solidarity and Support of Relatives of Disappeared People (YAKAY-DER), and Deniz Zarakolu, editor of Belge Publishing House (also a noted academic, political scientist and translator) were taken into custody after a raid on 4 October 2011.

On Friday 28 October, Info-Turk confirms that “a large-scale manhunt in Istanbul against Kurdish and human rights activists” took place in which Ragip Zarakolu (director of Belge Publishing House and Chair of the Publishers Association's Freedom to Publish Committee of Turkey) and Professor Busra Ersanli (Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences, Marmara University, a constitutional analyst and a member of the Peace and Democracy Party’s/BDP’s intra-party constitutional commission) were detained. As the Director of Belge, Ragip has published key path-breaking books on the Armenian, Assyrian-Syriac, Greek, Kurdish and 'Other’ genocides and the nature of Turkish state terror. He is the recipient of Turkey’s Journalist’s Society’s Press Freedom Prize (2007 – alongside the late Hrant Dink and Gulcin Cayligil), the International Publishers Association’s Freedom to Publish Prize (2008) and the International Association of Genocide Scholar’s (2007) Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Battle Against Deniers of the Armenian Genocide and All Denials of Genocides. Selahattin Demirtas, BDP co-chair, in response to the latest wave of detentions, clarified that democratic initiatives were being silenced by the state: “We will not be able to talk about a healthy constitution-making process if we go ahead like this. We will have no party member who can join efforts for [drafting] a new constitution” (Info-Turk, 30 October). The Ankara Initiative for Freedom of Thought <http://gercek-inatcidir.blogspot.com> has launched the following signature campaign that we encourage you to sign, which protests at the above detentions: “That's enough!” Click the signature form (Destek için imza formu) at the above web-address and submit it with the mention of name (adi soyadi), profession (meslegi) and city/country (sehir ve/veya ülke).

Coverage of popular demonstrations against repressive state policies and practices has also been criminalised in Turkey (something that has received scant coverage in the British mainstream press). Several Turkish journalist organisations have concluded that the repressive atmosphere has intensified since the Prime Minister’s meeting with national media owners and executives on 21 October, in which he “urged journalists to show restraint in their coverage of the conflict” (reported by Info-Turk, 30 October). Following state pressure, on 24 October, five leading Turkish state agencies issued a communique which, disturbingly for freedom of expression advocates, announced that: “Common principles have been adopted concerning the coverage of terrorist incidents”. These included sweeping agreements to engage in censorship of news and to “comply with the publication bans issued by the competent authorities” (reported by Info-Turk, 30 October). For Reporters Without Borders: “Minimising the scale of human losses or choosing not to report certain operations will just increase mistrust of the media. Complete and objective coverage of developments in eastern Turkey is an essential precondition for reaching a peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue” (reported by Info-Turk, 30 October).

The Turkish government, moreover, continues to engage in Armenian, Assyrian, Syriac, Greek, Greek Cypriot, Kurdish and 'Other' genocide denialism even as ‘minorities’ continue to face discrimination and targeting of various kinds. Equally of concern are recent 'security/migration co-operation' undertakings between Turkey and France and Turkey and the UK, respectively. Reporters Without Borders has already cautioned that: “We hope that the French authorities”, which signed a security agreement on 7 October, “will be much more discriminating than their Turkish counterparts as regards combating terrorism … We urge them not to be sucked in by Ankara’s indiscriminate and repressive approach” – which, we have seen, has targeted academics, politicians, journalists, respected book publishers, human rights organisation and teaching union representatives, musicians and students under the guise of ‘anti-terrorism’ [anti-PKK/KCK/DHKP-C] initiatives (see our previous Press Release, 19 October) – “which causes many collateral victims, including journalists” (reported by Info-Turk, 30 October). On 25 October, UK Home Secretary Theresa May “pledged stronger support for Turkey in efforts against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party-PKK, speaking after talks with [Turkish] Interior Minister Idris Naim Sahin” (Hurriyet, 26 October) resulted in a joint declaration on migration co-operation. “‘We have imprisoned any PKK member found and a number of others supporting PKK have been arrested … We’ve strengthened and will continue to strengthen our work to counter terrorism’, she said” (Hurriyet, 26 October). She made no statement criticising Turkish state terrorism of the kind described in this release, merely underlined and emphasised the UK government’s intensified support for Turkey’s ‘anti-terrorism initiatives’. Perhaps not coincidentally, and seemingly to highlight the state’s commitment to ‘monitor’ Kurdish ‘activists’, soon after, it was reported by Sadie Robinson (27 October, Socialist Worker, Issue 2275) that British police with automatic weapons approached a Kurdish tent outside St. Paul’s cathedral, where, with others, Kurds were peacefully gathering to register their anti-capitalist/anti-bankers protest:

Police armed with machine-guns raided a Kurdish tent at the Occupy protest outside St. Paul’s Cathedral [in the evening]. Protesters quickly gathered around the tent to support those inside. Evahi Emanon … told Socialist Worker: ‘This is a peaceful protest – guns are a bit over the top. They’re trying to find an excuse to clear us out’. One officer said police were ‘responding to a call’ and that ‘threat warranted a police armed response’ … After more than half an hour of searching the tent, police left, [of course], having found nothing. Deniz Cetiner is a student and one of those in the Kurdish tent: ‘In Turkey, we live with this kind of operation every day … It’s not new to us. They [absurdly] said there could be a gun inside here – but they found nothing. We’re here because we are against the capitalists’”.

We ask MP's and concerned members of the public to please take note of the findings of two recent reports - one by the noted academic Tove Skutnabb-Kangas (presented on 10 October 2011 at the Frankfurt Book Fair) and the other by a Human Rights Delegation from Hamburg and Stuttgart (based upon a 21-day Human Rights Delegation visit in September 2011). They add weight to the already substantial evidence pointing towards the repressive character of the Turkish government which is frustrating any moves towards a peaceful, non-military based resolution to the Kurdish conflict. Instead, genocidal policies and practices, as well as war crimes continue to be committed against the ‘Other’. Freedom of expression and association has been under immense attack as our previous Press Release noted (19 October). In light of all of these troubling developments, we ask MP's to please consider signing Early Day Motion (EDM) 2267 and we also ask concerned members of the public to please alert their MP's to this important EDM:

TURKISH - KURDISH PEACE NEGOTIATIONS: That this House is deeply concerned at the worsening of relations between Turkey and the Kurds since the election in June; warns against the consequences of the renewed wave of arrests of leading Kurdish politicians, civil society activists and professionals; calls on Turkey to halt immediately its cross-border military operations and bombing of Kurdish camps inside Iraq; believes that this policy of seeking a solution to the Kurdish question by military means and increased repression will prove futile and can only provoke future unrest and conflict; and urges the Government to exert its influence on Turkish leaders to change course and take steps towards a negotiated settlement with the legitimate representatives of the Kurdish people. Primary Sponsor: Hywel Williams MP.

The Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Group Vice President has noted that ongoing 'operations' in Turkey represent a “policy of war”, not “a policy of negotiation”: “The Kurdish issue is a problem with political, economic, social, cultural, historical extents and its solution must be ensured at the Parliament through peaceful and democratic means … [But] the way [it is] following is the way of crimes against humanity and genocide” (ANF, 5 October 2011).

The report by the Human Rights Delegation from Hamburg and Stuttgart concludes that “the number of war crimes committed by the Turkish military has risen sharply again since 2009. These crimes include torture and the mutilation of dead guerrillas, extra-judicial executions of civilians and captured guerrillas, and the use of chemical weapons”. The report, in full, attached with this release, clarifies that:

We know from an analysis of international conflict resolution processes that progress towards peace and democracy can only be achieved through open dialogue by all the parties concerned – for resolution of the Kurdish question this means the BDP Government, Abdullah Öcalan and the PKK – and through the proper acknowledgement and condemnation of war crimes. A precondition of this is that mass graves should be properly and expertly opened in accordance with the UN protocols on the prevention and investigation of extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions. Setting up a truth and justice commission in Turkey would be a further step in the right direction towards exposing genocide and femicide in Turkey and Kurdistan and paving the way towards a political solution of the Kurdish question …

We have seen and experienced the reality that those who criticise or expose injustices in Turkey are again increasingly likely to be arrested or even killed. We condemn in the strongest terms the repeated and targeted killing of civilians and BDP officials by Turkish security forces.

Moreover:

Since the parliamentary elections of June 2011, the Erdoğan Government has been seeking a “Tamil solution” to the Kurdish question, and is implementing a modified form of this. In this context, escalation of the military conflict with the PKK – in contravention of international law – and the massacres in conjunction with systematic attacks on the civilian population, are manifestly politically motivated. The free expression of opinions and constructive work on behalf of local communities is punished by imprisonment. For the last month or so, in dribs and drabs, action has been taken against about 50 people a day. A policy of this kind is not acceptable.

The fact that the Turkish Government describes peace endeavours by the Kurdish side and commitment to human rights as terror represents a barrier to any political solution … The detention of two delegation members clearly shows that the raising of human rights violations is not tolerated under the AKP Government … The AKP is evidently keen to do all it can to prevent this kind of publicity and anything that might foster the possibility of peace talks. Anything other than submission to the neo-Ottoman grand plan of the Erdoğan Government is to be interpreted as terror or propaganda for a terrorist organisation. The governments of Europe are standing by and doing nothing – or they are giving political and/or material support to Erdoğan’s policy ... Against this background the practices of the dirty war are once again increasing, as they did in the 1990s. European leaders should be ashamed of their support for this policy. Despite the repression and increasing breaches of human rights and international law, going as far as the attempted annihilation of the Kurds as a people, the Kurds refuse to abandon their continuing fight against systematic injustice and tyranny.

The report also details the manner in which:

Following re-election of the AKP Government in June 2011, the mood in Turkey and the country’s Kurdish provinces has darkened. In Istanbul, people speak of a radical gentrification programme in the city areas around Taksim Square. For at least three years now the Kurdish population, along with Sinti and Roma, have been systematically driven out of these areas. Mafia-style methods are routinely used in this exercise … Since the election, moreover, the countless street cafés and music bars in Taksim and Beyoğlu are no longer allowed to put their tables and chairs outside on the street after ten o’clock in the evening. Police officers, either in civilian clothes and visibly armed or in uniform, roam the streets Wild-West-style keeping a close eye on what is going on. The free and relaxed nightlife of the area around Taksim Square, with its pronounced and emancipatory subculture of music, art and theatre, seems to be a thorn in the AKP’s side …

In addition, persons with a slightly darker complexion or who look Kurdish often have to endure racist abuse by the police during random identity checks. They are insulted by the “security forces” on account of their Kurdish or Armenian origin, and are told they should “Go home” … The reality now is [also] that it is not “just” thousands of activists – 4,400 Kurds were imprisoned in connection with the KCK trials – but the whole of the Kurdish population who are being oppressed [emphasis added].

Tove Skutnabb-Kangas' presentation, 'Kurdish as a mother tongue: No linguistic human rights, and linguistic genocide in education', also concludes that “it is the econo-military systems of UK, USA, and Turkey that benefit when contributing to conditions which reproduce the continuation of the economic, educational and human rights underdevelopment in Kurdistan today”. These systems need to be challenged even as:

Kurdish is not allowed to be used as the medium of education (the language of teaching, Unterrichtssprache) in any [public] school in Turkey ... Subtractive submersion education with Turkish as the teaching language for Kurds (and other minorities) is the main educational problem. It leads to “illiteracy” or low levels of literacy, lack of school achievement, identity deprivation, dispossession of children’s linguistic and cultural capital. It is organised against solid research evidence ...

Education offered to Kurdish children in Turkey is [also] specifically guilty of genocide according to the following two definitions: Article II(e): 'forcibly transferring children of the group to another group'; and Article II(b): 'causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group'. Our conclusion is also that subtractive education [of this kind] fulfills legally the criteria for a crime against humanity. This should be tried in courts ...

What the Kurds want in relation to language and culture is [also] just the same basic rights that any dominant groups have: cultural autonomy, including the right to learn their language(s), and use it/them freely in society, including schools. The right to mother-tongue based multilingual education cannot in any way be seen as a “special” right; it is a necessary linguistic and educational human right ... Denial of linguistic human rights (LHRs) and the continued linguistic genocide (linguicide), also in education, creates and feeds conflict; granting LHRs is necessary for solving conflicts … Even if many legal changes have been accepted (at least on paper), Turkey is not even approaching the international human rights standards yet, neither in education nor in other aspects of linguistic rights. The situation has again become MUCH worse since late June 2011. If a state is systematically creating and perpetuating poverty, and  cultural and political disempowerment along ethnic and linguistic lines (among other things through subtractive monolingual majority language medium education), THIS is what may lead to conflicts.

We ask concerned MP's and members of the public to do everything they can to raise these concerns.

For further information, contact Eilian Williams: 07588256783 or eilian@talktalk.net


Politique intérieure/Interior Politics

"Judicial system is under control of PM Erdoğan and AKP"

Reactions against the latest operation under the Union of Kurdistan Communities (KCK) is increasing among intellectuals, academicians, political parties and occupational associations of lawyers. Thirty-three lawyers of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) imprisoned leader Abdullah Öcalan and a journalist-writer were sent to jail in charge with “being members of the illegal organization” and “acting in and for the organization.”

Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Diyarbakır Deputy Nursel Aydoğan claimed that whole judicial system with judges and prosecutors are being controlled or ordered by the ruling party Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Prime Minister R. Tayyip Erdoğan.

Academicians held an opening ceremony and gave lectures in the BDP Political Academy in Istanbul criticizing Prof. Dr. Büşra Ersanlı’s being arrested in connection with the KCK case for having lectures in this academy.

The academicians said during the ceremony and their lecture that “lecturing for students at the academy is not an illegal action and we are proving it. Otherwise, security forces have to detain us for the same reason with our teacher Ersanlı.”

However, lawyers also held a protest demonstration in front of Istanbul Court House against the latest arrest wave. Democratic Society Congress (DTK) Co-Chair Aysel Tuğluk addressed the attendees as a lawyer, too and blamed on the government and state to victimize the lawyer because of their own benefit.

Referring the process during Öcalan’s imprisonment period in the İmralı Island Prison with High Security, Tuğluk claimed that the government stopped the meeting with Öcalan since they have failed to get what they want from Kurdish leader.

According to Tuğluk, what the government wanted from Öcalan is not for the benefit of Kurdish people and now the arrested lawyers were held responsible because of this failure.

According to the trial of the 11th High Criminal Court of Istanbul, 26 out of 33 imprisoned lawyers are “members of the illegal organization” and seven lawyers and a journalist, Cengiz Kapmaz, “conducted the illegal organization.”

Here is the list of imprisoned lawyers in Istanbul as follows; Asya Ülker, Aydın Oruç, Bedri Kuran, Cemal Demir, Cemo Tüysüz, Davut Uzunköprü, Doğan Erbaş, Fuat Çoşacak, Hüseyin Çalışçı, Mehmet Bayraktar, Mehmet Deniz Büyük, Mehmet Nuri Deniz, Mehmet Sani Kızılkaya, Mensur Işık, Mizgin Irgat, Muharrem Şahin, Mehdi Öztüzün, Mustafa Eraslan, Osman Çelik, Sebahattin Kaya, Serkan Akbaş, Servet Demir, Şakir Demir, Şaize Önder, Veysel Vesek, Yaşar Kaya, Cengiz Çiçek, Faik Özgür Erol, Hatice Korkut, İbrahim Bilmez, Ömer Güneş and Emran Emekçi, whose license was cancelled recently. 
(DIHA, 26 Nov 2011)

Özbudun: Work on new constitution seems to be stalled
 
Turkey has been working on passing a new and more democratic constitution to replace the current one, which is a remnant of the violence of the Sept. 12, 1980 coup d’état; however, according to constitutional law professor Ergun Özbudun, the work on drafting a new text is not progressing very well.
 
Özbudun, a professor at Bilkent University, has participated in constitution writing projects by the Turkish Businessmen and Industrialists’ Association (TÜSİAD) and the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV). Speaking to the Taraf daily on Monday, he commented that he has doubts that a parliamentary commission working on drafting a new text could even start to put together a text, let alone finish it by year’s end, as earlier promised by the commission.

“I have doubts as to whether we can start working on the new constitution, let alone finish it,” Özbudun said. “There has been a great sense of anticipation by the public following the establishment of the Reconciliation Commission in Parliament to draft the new constitution, but I think this will be ‘a stillborn child,’” he commented.

He noted that the commission had devised a roadmap of 15 rules laying out the procedure it will employ in conducting its work. “For instance, they are looking for a unanimous vote. Can you imagine the Peace and Democracy Party [BDP] and the Nationalist Movement Party [MHP] agreeing on any point? It is impossible for a party of radical Turkish nationalists and radical Kurdish nationalists to see eye to eye. There are many other issues over which the four parties [in Parliament] cannot find unanimous agreement on,” he argued.

Özbudun listed a number of other potentially problematic conditions, such as the condition that all parties should be present for the commission to conduct its work. “So if one of the parties on the commission, say the BDP or the MHP, walks out, the commission will be dissolved. If a party misses three sessions in a row, the commission ends its activities. Another strange rule was that if the commission eventually does come up with a final draft, this will not be open to amendments in the Constitutional Commission or the General Assembly. This is essentially the same thing as bypassing Parliament. Both legally and politically, the General Assembly should have the final say. It looks like these 15 rules they announced were made to make sure that this constitution thing doesn’t work out.”

He said both the MHP and the Republican People’s Party (CHP) had started out making known their “red lines” relating to certain unchangeable articles in the constitution. “The MHP has additional red lines as to the definition of citizenship and the concept of the ‘Turkish nation.’ If they are really to make a new constitution, they shouldn’t be starting out with red lines. The unchangeable articles that are currently in the Constitution are not the products of the national will. They are the products of the will of the chief coup general,” Özbudun explained.

Özbudun said it was unlikely that the four parties could ever reach a consensus regarding Kurdish demands. “Because Kurdish political demands are grandiose demands that look like they are seeking to create a state within the state. No party or government is going to accept such extreme demands.”

Many others believe that not drafting a new constitution would have disastrous results. The head of the 78’ers Foundation, a left leaning civil society group, Celalettin Can, who was in prison for 19 years following the Sept. 12 coup d’état, said: “I was arrested after the Sept. 12 coup. I have endured severe torture, seen hundreds die after being tortured, and I have seen men and women sexually assaulted. These were all done in the name of Atatürkism, in the name of saving the country. And what happened later? The continuations of that same mentality are now in Silivri,” referring to Silivri Prison, which is currently home to hundreds of suspects on trial on charges of plotting to overthrow the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government.

“The most important thing that needs to be done is to confront those who staged the coup. The risk of another coup d’état cannot be eliminated unless this is done. A new constitution is also crucial in this respect. It is very important to draft a new constitution by including all segments of society” he said, adding that the Kurdish question cannot be resolved without constitutional reform. (TODAY'S ZAMAN, 21 November 2011)

Parliament takes up bill against terror financing

Debates on a long-delayed bill on the prevention of the financing of terrorism will begin this week in Parliament amid pressure from the United States and international bodies on Ankara to enact the measures.

The draft will be taken up on Nov. 23 at Parliament’s Internal Affairs Commission, but it was not immediately clear when it would reach the General Assembly.

Government officials have said they aim to pass the bill through Parliament by the year-end. However, other priority issues like the 2012 budget, amendments in the urban transformation law after last month’s earthquake in Van and a planned bill on paid military service are also pending.

U.S. Ambassador Francis Ricciardone had asked Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek in July to give priority to the bill, which Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had signed in February but could not be passed in the last legislative year. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has described Turkey as a “high-risk jurisdiction” in terms of implementing global standards in fighting money laundering and terror financing.

Some opposition lawmakers however have raised concern over the scope of the bill, arguing that it will grant the authorities excessive powers that could result in the violation of basic human rights. A provision that would open the door for the freezing of assets without a court ruling has come under particular criticism on grounds that the government might attempt to use it as a means of bullying political opponents at home.

The draft envisages jail terms of five to 10 years for those funding terrorist organizations or terrorists, even if the money is not directly used for a terrorist crime. Individuals, companies or organizations listed by the United Nations would have their funds frozen immediately after a related decision is printed in the Official Gazette.

The Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) would be in charge of executing the freezing of funds. Individuals with frozen funds would be required to seek MASAK’s approval before accessing real estate, movable property, company shares and safe-deposit boxes. Those who violate the rules would be sentenced to jail terms of six months to two years, or heavy fines.

If a foreign country requests the freezing of the funds of an individual, Turkish or foreign, an Assessment Commission will make the final decision based on the principle of reciprocity between the two countries.
(DAILY NEWS, Selahattin SÖNMEZ, November 20, 2011)

Kaplan: Erdoğan trying to build an empire of fear

Holding a speech at the meeting with civil society organizations, Kaplan pointed out the painful bairam process and said the followings; “Clashes and deaths continue on one side, while the great pain and wounds of Van earthquake have still not been healed on the other side. However, we are not going through usual times since all the elected except from me in Şırnak region have been arrested and put in prison. Despite all these, we continue to do politics as usual. BDP and DTK Co-chairs are currently in Erbil and our party is also contributing to the formation of the new Constitution in the Parliament.”

Responding to PM Erdoğan who unfairly insulted the BDP and asked ‘where municipalities and mayors of the BDP were for help’ in the after quake process, Kaplan said that; “The mayors of the BDP were put in prison because of the KCK operation you yourself launched. You know but you still ask where they are. Our deputy mayors and city council members gave every effort and reached the aids to Van in a timely manner. We have most recently surveyed the earthquake area for two days and the single complaint victims made was “where the government and the state was”.

Kaplan also mentioned the meeting of Erdoğan and Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani and underlined that Barzani gave a definite reply to Erdoğan by refusing three options of war presented by Turkey to Iraq with the intention of hitting Qandil and finishing with the PKK. Kaplan continued as follows; “The options proposed by Erdoğan all intended a war, not negotiations. However, brothers will not kill each other anymore since Barzani replied that ‘he wouldn’t be involved in this war’.

Commenting Erdoğan’s most recent statement where he said that “The supporters of KCK support terror as well”, Kaplan said the followings; “In PM’s opinion, everyone thinking unlike him is a terrorist. He wants to build an empire of fear in Turkey by making an effort to suppress those who criticize him. Erdoğan’s warning to not to expect KCK investigations and operations to stop indicates that these arrests are leaded by him, not by the judiciary.”

Kaplan ended his speech saying that; “There will be no peace and everybody will be considered as guilty in a place where there is no justice. However, everyone should know well that this people will spoil this game.” (ANF, Nov 9, 2011)

Erdogan says: "I am Nationalist et Statist"

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan defended once again an investigation into a group that is said to be linked with the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and said those who criticize some recent arrests as part of the probe are supporting terrorism.

The investigation into the the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK), which prosecutors say operate as the urban wing of the PKK, has become controversial after a professor and a human right activist were arrested. Professor Büşra Ersanlı and publisher Ragıp Zarakolu were arrested last week by an İstanbul court along with 43 others. The suspects in the KCK case have been accused of various crimes, including membership in a terrorist organization, aiding and abetting a terrorist organization and attempting to destroy the country's unity and integrity.

“No one should expect us to stop anti-KCK operations,” Erdoğan said during an address in the Black Sea province of Rize on Monday. “I am warning those who criticize these operations: You must know the KCK well and if you don’t, then you must learn from people who are experts on it.”

“The statements you make in the media or somewhere else, without knowing what the KCK is linked to and who does what in this organization, amount to support for terrorism, serving terrorism,” he said.

The KCK investigation started in December 2009 and a large number of Kurdish politicians, including several officials from the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), have been detained as part of the case since then. The BDP has said the investigation is the government's method of suppressing its politicians, denying any links between the suspects and terrorist organizations.

Erdoğan said his government rejects any discrimination on ethnic grounds, saying “we respect Kurds as much as we respect Turks.”

He, however, reiterated that the government will not allow attempts to create a “parallel state” in Turkey and said he would accept to be called a “statist” or “nationalist” if it is what it takes to make it clear that no state within state is acceptable.

“There can be no second state. If there are those who call me ‘statist’ or ‘nationalist’ because I say this, then I am a statist, then I am a nationalist,” he said.

Erdoğan also dismissed suggestions that the police and the military are rivals to each other in the anti-terror efforts. “No one should attempt to create such competition,” he said. “Both institutions are continuing to fight terrorism shoulder to shoulder.”

This summer, the government announced plans to give the police a more effective role in the fight against terrorism, a move that came amid increasing criticism of the military's handling of the anti-PKK struggle. İlker Başbuğ, Turkey's former chief of General Staff, said in a media interview at the time that the police force does not have the training or organizational structure necessary to fight the PKK in the mountains. (todayszaman.com, 7 nov 2011)

Parliament’s printing house rejects use of Kurdish in Eid cards

Parliament’s printing house, which prints Eid cards free of charge for members of Parliament who want to send holiday greeting cards to their constituents, has turned down requests from a number of deputies who wanted to include greetings in Kurdish in their cards.
 
Several pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) and Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputies had requested their Eid al-Adha cards to be printed in Kurdish as well as Turkish, in a bid to reach out to their voters in their mother tongue; however, officials at the printing house turned them down. The response the deputies received was, “Parliament’s printing house does not publish anything in this language.”

However, Parliament’s printing house does print cards in other foreign languages.

This rejection by the printing house led some politicians to describe this as an act of discrimination.

CHP Tunceli deputy Hüseyin Aygün complained that no one had been able to give him a clear explanation as to why these cards cannot be printed. Calling the situation discriminatory, he said since he could not have his cards printed in Kurdish he would instead send Eid al-Adha greetings to his voters in Tunceli in the form of text messages in Turkish, Kurdish and Zaza. The use of Kurdish had been banned in Turkey until the 1990s due to strict counterterrorism measures; however, in recent years, the government has expanded the use of Kurdish by opening a state-sponsored Kurdish channel and by printing books in Kurdish, yet some restrictions still remain on the once-banned language.

Turkey will not allow KCK to create a parallel state, Erdoğan says

Turkey will not allow the establishment of a parallel state such as the one allegedly planned by the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK), Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in Istanbul this morning.

Erdoğan talked to members of the press after prayers at Istanbul's Blue Mosque, answering questions about the KCK detentions and military operations in northern Iraq.

"Let me make one thing clear," the prime minister said. "It is not possible for the Republic of Turkey to allow the existence of a parallel state, such as the KCK. No one should expect our security forces to lay down their arms."

The KCK is the alleged urban wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey and much of the international community.

Terrorist groups are the ones which are supposed to lay down their arms, Erdoğan said, adding that things would develop in a positive way if that occurred.

"If this matter is about politics, then the appropriate place to discuss it is the Parliament," Erdoğan said. "If there are rights to be obtained, they will decided upon in the Parliament."

When asked about yesterday's meeting with Kurdish Regional Government's (KRG) leader Masoud Barzani, Erdoğan said Turkey had a problem in northern Iraq and asked the KRG to support Turkey with its peshmerga fighters.

"We expect their assistance if they are able to deliver it. If not, we have to do what is necessary. That is what we said,” he said.
(Hürriyet Daily News, November 4-6, 2011)

Prime Minister and Interior Minister defend KCK arrests

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has defended recent waves of arrests as part of the investigation into Kurdish Communities’ Union (KCK), including the detention of a publisher and an academic, dismissing criticisms that the arrests are a way to crush dissent.
 
Erdoğan reassured that once indictment is complete regarding the KCK suspects, everything will be clear while speaking to a group of journalists en route to Cannes from Germany to attend G-20 gathering.

Erdoğan recommended that those who defend the KCK must first examine themselves, adding that those who are against the KCK arrest probably did not made deeper research who these suspects are. He said it is sad that some are defending the arrests, and urged them to see if the organization is linked to “İmralı,” referring to jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan.

Erdoğan said everything will be more clear during the judicial process, dismissing criticisms that the arrested professor was jailed because she was delivering a lecture at Politics Academy. “Delivering a lecture is not a crime but what you preach is a crime,” Erdoğan said, stressing that a terrorist’s name was written on door of the seminar room and that they are talking about a revolution, which he said is realized by arms.

He also criticized columnists for saying that “they personally know these suspects and that they are concerned over the investigation.” He added that it is clear where this structure is originating from. It was not clear from the prime minister’s remarks if he referred to the PKK. “Are they claiming that this structure is not related to the PKK terrorist organization? Everything will be unveiled once the indictment is ready,” Erdoğan said.

Speaking about the PKK activities in Germany which Turkish side complained for years, Erdoğan said all documents and intelligence reports were delivered to German intelligence and he talked to German president on this matter but he said Turkey did not see action from the German side.

At a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday, Erdoğan complained that the PKK was able to collect 6 million euros in Germany. "This money goes to the terrorist organization as financial support. This is really sad and thought-provoking," Erdoğan said, calling on the German authorities to step up measures to prevent PKK fund-raising activities in the country.

Turkey accuses Germany, among other EU member states, for not doing enough to prevent the PKK's fundraising activities and recruiting efforts. The PKK has increased its attacks in recent months, claiming the lives of many civilians, including a pregnant woman and children.

Erdoğan told the journalists that this amount of money was collected in 2009-2010 but said there is much money that cannot be tracked the PKK collects from drugs and human trafficking. He told the journalists that it is up to you to estimate how much money they collect in Germany if you also add money they make through illicit activities.

Asked what is his position over Merkel’s remarks where she named the PKK and vowed that Germany will fight against it, Erdoğan said this is the first time she is speaking that bluntly. He credited his government’s efforts in bringing documents about the PKK to the attention of German authorities and the visit of President Abdullah Gül to Germany in German authorities’ decivise position to confront the PKK. He said the fact that the PKK sympathizers stormed the RTL network building and headquarters of a party building made them see [what kind of organization the PKK is].

He said he believes that German authorities will approach to the issue with extra sensitivity.

The prime minister said all European countries including France, Germany and the UK define the PKK as a terrorist organization but he said Turkey is not satisfied over the actions of countries in Europe in general.

Interior Minister's support to arrests

In the face of wide public criticism of the arrest of an academic as part of as part of an investigation into the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK), Interior Minister İdris Naim Şahin has said the professor was arrested for links to the illegal group and that she is also suspected of teaching separatism.
 
“I understand that the esteemed professor had links to that group [KCK]. We hear that she gave lessons on how people can be deceived, how a revolt against the Republic of Turkey can be instigated and how the Republic of Turkey can be divided,” he said on CNN Türk on Wednesday night.

He argued that there cannot be a privileged group when it comes to the law, noting that it was difficult for him to understand objections to the arrest of the professor. “Mrs. Ersanlı is one of thousands of professors in Turkey. I am having a hard time understanding those saying a professor should not be arrested while thousands of other people are being arrested in Turkey. We can be suspicious if all professors were arrested, but one of thousands of professors can be arrested,” he argued.

A large group of Turkish intellectuals, mainly academics, have recently launched a petition campaign to protest the detention of Professor Ersanlı and to call for her release. A joint statement by the group said the detention of Ersanlı, who has for years been working for sustainable peace and a new constitution in Turkey, led to outrage among all circles in the country that believe in the democratic state of law.

Şahin's remarks drew strong criticism from the BDP, with the party's deputy chairman announcing that they would file a criminal complaint against the interior minister. Meral Danış Beştaş argued that the minister obviously violated the principle of presumption of innocence with his remarks as well as the principle of judicial independence and separation of powers. On Thursday she said: “There is no freedom to commit a crime anywhere in the world. This is also valid for ministers or prime ministers. So, we will file a criminal complaint against the interior minister.” (Today's Zaman, November 3, 2011)

KCK arrests spark intra-party disagreement within CHP

The arrest of a Turkish academic and a publisher along with 42 others on Tuesday as part of an operation against the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK) sparked an intra-party rift within the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) after a deputy requested the party protest the arrests.
 
Professor Büşra Ersanlı and publisher Ragıp Zarakolu were detained over suspected links to the KCK, an alleged political umbrella organization that includes the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorist organization. According to the Anka news agency, CHP İstanbul deputy Binnaz Toprak prepared a statement in solidarity with Professor Ersanlı and Zarakolu and requested the party administration adopt the statement as a joint statement by party members during a party meeting on Tuesday.

CHP Sinop deputy Engin Altay reportedly objected, saying he can sign no such statement. “Is there anyone who does not know that the KCK is the urban arm of the PKK? This is the CHP, not some other party,” he reportedly said. Other CHP deputies also objected to Toprak’s suggestion and the statement was not approved by the party.

Ersanlı, a member of the Peace and Democracy Party’s (BDP) Party Council and Constitutional Commission, and Belge Publishing House representative Zarakolu were arrested on Tuesday along with 42 suspects. The KCK investigation started in December 2009 and a large number of Kurdish politicians, including several officials from the BDP, have been detained as part of the case since then.

The suspects have been accused of various crimes, including membership in a terrorist organization, aiding and abetting a terrorist organization and attempting to destroy the country’s unity and integrity. The suspects include mayors and municipal officials from the BDP, which has said the investigation is the government’s method of suppressing its politicians, denying any links between its deputies and terrorist organizations.
(TODAY’S ZAMAN, 2 November 2011)

Forces armées/Armed Forces

Military stonewalls attempts to make its budget transparent

A draft directive that aimed to open security and intelligence spending to the review of the relevant state agencies, which was submitted to the Court of Accounts recently, was changed after the military allegedly applied pressure on the government.

The claim was the main story of the Taraf daily yesterday, but a source at the Court of Accounts confirmed the allegations in speaking to Today's Zaman. According to the claim, the draft, which would be a sub-directive under the Law on the Court of Accounts, was in essence a 14-article directive that sought to make military spending more transparent. It was drafted by an experienced group of auditors and inspectors. The text of the directive was submitted to the Court of Accounts in its initially intended form, but it was later changed by the Presidency of the Court of Accounts in the face of pressure from the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), which is not keen on sharing details of its spending with the public.

According to the original and amended versions of the text Today's Zaman has obtained, two crucial articles were removed, significantly curtailing any attempts to make military spending more transparent. One is Article 5 of the initial draft, which said that “audit privileges cannot be restricted by claiming the confidentiality of information that is shared with international agencies.” This refers to various forms of information concerning weapons purchases or the numbers of army personnel, which is routinely shared with international organizations such as NATO, but not with the public. Had this article been left in the directive, the military would not be able to use having shared information with an international organization as an excuse to keep that information from the public. Article 4 was also removed from the initial text. The article states the following: “Results of audit procedures shall be shared with the public to a minimal degree.”

Defense expert Lale Kemal says this last incident indicates the TSK's refusal to give up its privileged status. “In all NATO countries armed forces accepted their real role in a democracy with the end of the Cold War, but the TSK wants to hold on to its privileged status. This is not the only thing it resists as it has tried to oppose many other changes, such as the introduction of Border Protection Units and the forming of more mobile forces.” She said real scrutiny over military spending could have shocking results for the public.

“The government has shown its willingness in terms of making [military spending] more transparent, but the resistance on the other end is so much stronger. Unfortunately, the other parties in Parliament aren’t very helpful either,” Kemal said.

Hasip Kaplan, deputy chairman of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) parliamentary group, denied that his party was silent. “We will continue our fight to correct this mistake,” he said, referring to the last minute changes to the directive. “Military spending takes a huge portion of the budget, and all spending, including defense expenses, are also in twhis category.” He said Court of Accounts auditing over military spending is a must for a real democracy.

What do the changes mean?

If the draft is passed in its current form, this will mean that the spending of the TSK will not be open to public review.

Turkey’s recently changed Law No. 6085 on the Court of Accounts abolished exceptions and restrictions to inspecting military spending, with the exception of an article that regulated the procedures concerning the audits of military accounts. A new directive to be issued by the Cabinet was supposed to decide the points about making audit reports on defense and intelligence spending public.

This was why the directive was prepared under orders from the Presidency of the Court of Accounts by a commission of five expert auditors. The commission, which worked on the draft for three months, presented it to the Court of Accounts in late October.

Sources claim that head of the Ministry of Defense’s Financial Department, Gen. Fevzi Cömert, and Col. Albay Sinan Balyemez, who serves in the same department, started pressuring the members of the commission during their work. When this did not work, Cömert, Balyemez and a civilian TSK officer started paying frequent visits to the office of İbrahim Süren, head of one of the eight departments of the Court of Accounts. These visits finally paid off and the final changes were made to the draft at a meeting of the General Assembly of the Court of Accounts. Court of Accounts Vice President Erol Akbulut made a statement to keep the draft as it came out of the commission, but his warnings were ignored by the other members. New articles were also inserted into the changed version of the directive. In fact, only one of the articles was left intact in the way it came out of the commission. Article 6 of the final draft, after it was changed, now might cause Court of Accounts members to spend some time in jail for “violation of confidentiality” if any information on a case of military spending they might be working on is leaked to the press, without looking at the source of the leak. (Today's Zaman, ALİ ASLAN KILIÇ, 28 November 2011)

Landmark Ruling on "Conscientious Objection"

On Tuesday (22 November), Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced the conditions of shortened military service through payment. Males 30 years of age or older will soon be entitled to apply for paid military service. They will have to pay TL 30,000 (€13,000) and will not receive basic military training.

People who have lived abroad for at least three years will be able to benefit from paid military service by paying € 10,000. They will be exempt from basic military training and are not dependent on any age limit. The regulation will go into force once it will have been published in the Official Gazette.

Erdoğan also mentioned conscientious objection and said that this issue was not on the government's agenda.

However, on the very same day, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) declared a landmark ruling on conscientious objection in Turkey. For the first time, the Turkish government was sentenced on the grounds of the right to conscientious objection.

"Turkey violated Article 9"

The ECHR found the Turkish government guilty of a breach of Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights regarding the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. The decision came upon the application of Yunus Erçep filed in 2004.

"The European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been: A violation of Article 9 (right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion) of the European Convention on Human Rights and, a violation of Article 6 (right to a fair trial) of the Convention. The case concerned the refusal by the applicant, a Jehovah's Witness and conscientious objector, to perform military service for reasons of conscience".

"Under Article 41 (just satisfaction) of the Convention, the Court held that Turkey was to pay the applicant 10,000 euros (EUR) in respect of non-pecuniary damage and EUR 5,000 in respect of costs and expenses.

ECHR reminded that "conscientious objection" is a right

Ercep's lawyer Tülin Alsanacak told bianet, "The European court gave a very clear decision. With this decision the court told Turkey that conscientious objection is a right".

* The ECHR reasoned: "The absence of an alternative to military service in Turkey is in breach of the right to conscientious objection."

* The Court considered that that situation of conscientious objectors in Turkey, e.g. prosecution, criminal proceedings and "civil death", was not compatible with law enforcement in a democratic society.

The Turkish government again said in their defence that the right right to freedom of religion and conscience was not going to be applied to conscientious objection, lawyer Alsanacak said. However, the court referred to the new case law related to the recent conviction of the Armenian government under Article 9 of the convention. The court emphasized that today's social needs had different requirements, the lawyer explained.

First Armenia, now Turkey

Armenia was the first country to be found guilty by the ECHR of a violation of Article 9 of the convention. In this context, the Armenian government was sentenced to pay a compensation fine to applicant Vahan Bayatyan in July 2011.

This ruling was assessed as a "historic" verdict. Lawyers commented the decision as the "new case law". Legal experts said that the ruling was going to set a precedent for Turkey and that it clearly expressed the ECHR's view on conscientious objection.

Yunus Erçep

Erçep was born in 1969. He is a Jehovah's Witness and was baptised in 1982. According to the belief that is being shared by seven million people in the world, the Jehovah's Witnesses refuse military service and blood transfusion; they do not participate in any war or politics.

Erçep faced 25 trials since 1998 because he refused to serve in the military. He had to undergo a psychiatric examination to determine whether his mental condition was balanced. The result was that Erçep was "healthy".

Erçep received several prison sentences on the grounds of his conscientious objection. He was tried a military court. (BIA, Işıl CİNMEN, 23 November 2011)

Third indictment in Sledgehammer coup plot case

A third indictment prepared as part of an ongoing probe into a suspected military coup plan dubbed “Sledgehammer” was accepted by the İstanbul 10th High Criminal Court on Wednesday.
 
The indictment, which mentions 143 suspects, 64 of whom are currently under arrest, was forwarded to the İstanbul 10th High Criminal Court on Nov. 11 and the court announced on Wednesday that the indictment was accepted.

Sledgehammer is a suspected coup plan devised at a military gathering in 2003 that allegedly sought to undermine the government in order to lay the groundwork for a military takeover. According to the plan, the military intended to systematically cause chaos in society through violent events that would lead to a military takeover. Among the planned incidents were bombings of the Fatih and Beyazıt mosques in İstanbul and crashing a Turkish jet after a dogfight with Greek jets.

Prosecutor Hüseyin Ayar accuses suspects in the indictment of a failed attempt to destroy Parliament and overthrow the government. Such a charge calls for a jail sentence of up to 20 years in prison. Among the suspects are HAVELSAN General Director Ömer Faruk Yarman and Lt. Gen. Korcan Pulatsü, head of the Eskişehir 1st Air Forces Command.

The first hearing in the case will be held on Dec. 26. The 10th İstanbul High Criminal Court has recently decided to merge the second Sledgehammer investigation with the first probe to ease the process and avoid contradictory rulings. The court is expected to merge the most recent case with the main trial as well.
(TODAY'S ZAMAN, 23 November 2011)

Turkish warplanes carried out air strike in northern Iraq

Turkish warplanes carried out an air strike in Iraq's northern Kurdish region on Monday as part of a continued operation against the PKK, a local administration official said.   
 
Turkey has been conducting air strikes against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) since August following the breakdown of a ceasefire and an increase in attacks by the PKK.    

"Turkish fighter jets bombed some remote border villages in Sedaka today," Ahmed Qadir, a local government representative in the hamlet of Sedaka, near the Turkish-Iranian border in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region, told Reuters.    

"Information available does not say where exactly the areas targeted are or whether there were any casualties or damage."    

The PKK, regarded as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the European Union and the United States, launches attacks from hideouts inside the remote Iraqi mountains as part of their fight for more Kurdish autonomy and rights.    

Turkey and Iran have often skirmished with PKK members in the region and Turkish leaders vowed revenge last month with air and ground strikes after the PKK killed 24 Turkish soldiers in raids on military outposts in the south of the country.    

It was one of the deadliest attacks since the PKK took up arms in 1984 in a conflict in which more than 40,000 people have been killed.    

Turkish authorities did not immediately confirm the operation.     

Fırat news agency reported that five Turkish war planes had been flying over Iraq's Qandil mountains but said it had not received any information about bombing in the area. (TODAY'S ZAMAN, 21 November 2011)


Bombardement turc dans le nord de l'Irak

L'aviation turque a bombardé dimanche matin la région montagneuse de Qandil au Kurdistan irakien, a affirmé un porte-parole des séparatistes du Parti des Travailleurs du Kurdistan (PKK).

Dozdar Hammo a indiqué que les chasseurs-bombardiers turcs avaient visé durant une heure cette région du nord de l'Irak où se trouvent des bases du PKK, sans donner plus de détails.

L'armée turque a mené une large opération dans la région autonome du Kurdistan irakien après la mort, à la mi-octobre, de 24 de ses soldats à Cukurca, près de la frontière avec l'Irak, les plus grandes pertes enregistrées depuis 1993.

Classé par bon nombre de pays parmi les organisations terroristes, le PKK a pris les armes en 1984. Les affrontements entre les forces turques et le PKK se sont intensifiés ces derniers mois, et aucune solution politique n'est en vue.

En visite en Turquie, le dirigeant kurde irakien Massoud Barzani s'est déclaré, il y a une semaine, opposé à des opérations militaires turques dans le nord de l'Irak contre les rebelles kurdes, affirmant que seul un règlement pacifique pouvait mettre un terme au conflit kurde en Turquie. 
(AFP, 13 nov 2011)

Did Turkish army use chemical weapons?

Brussels, by Roger Alan, ANP- 11.11.11- European experts and reports are backing the initial suspicion that it is highly probable that Kurdish fighters have been killed by NATO member Turkey due to the use of a kind of chemical weapons. Now, Europeans working in the political and security file in Brussels are concerned "what will happen if Kurdish guerrillas will also use same methods against Turkey". They are worried "how the development of the Kurdish and Turkish conflict will effect also the EU where more than one and half million Kurds live".

However, until Friday midnight NATO remains without official position to the questions of Ararat News. But NATO officers who want to be anonymous said that “Like every member of the Alliance, Turkey should act under acceptable framework and rules of NATO in the war to not put the Atlantic Alliance in difficult position. At the same time, we need proof of the facts and information about these accusations”.

Last month, on 22-24 October more than 30 Kurdish fighters have been killed in Kazan Valley in Cukurca, near the Kurdish city Hakkari, in the border region to Federal Kurdistan-Iraq. The bodies of the fighters were burned and destroyed. Kurdish worldwide organisations are accusing NATO member Turkey for using chemical poison against Kurdish-HPG fighters.

Not bullet, but chemical gas

In an official statement, the pro-Kurdish Peace and democracy Party (BDP) which won more than 30 seats in the Turkish Parliament in last June election, underlined that "all these Kurdish guerrilla soldiers have not been killed by bullets, but with chemical weapons". The Kurdish human rights organisations and the families of killed Kurds found out NATO used bombs Mk-82 Wing assembly/ with flowed cods : 98214 assy872128-1 e315 / Nsn 1325-01-041-5890 / Serial number :10-101 181/ Deta of mfr 12/10.

The biggest Human Rights Organisation in Turkey, IHD, brought the case to the Diyarbakir Public Prosecutor to open a file for "crime against humanity".

So long Turkey has been silent to give contra-prove that its army is not using a kind of chemical gas or poisons, they just deny. But now German experts are confirming that Turkey had used a kind of chemical weapons or thermical bombs with phosphor derivates against Kurds.

Well-known German military and secret service expert Erich Schmidt-Eenboom said that the "Turkish army could have used new chemical weapons in the last military operation in October". After examining the photos of the killed Kurdish fighters, Schmidt-Eenboom found out that the white stains seen on the photographs of the bodies are the most remarkable proof of use of chemical weapons.

Hans Baumann, a German physician expert on photo forgeries, speaking to the German well-known magazine Spiegel, has also recently confirmed the authenticity of the photos of the killed earlier fighters, showing the burned and maimed bodies and the unrecognizable faces of the Kurdish boys and girls.

The report released by the Hamburg University Hospital has backed the initial suspicion that it is highly probable that the eight Kurds died “due to the use of chemical substances.”

German politicians asking questions

German politicians and human rights experts are now asking for immediate investigation of the case. “The latest findings are so spectacular that the Turkish side urgently needs to explain things,” said Claudia Roth, the co-chair of Germany’s Green Party to the Spiegel. “It is impossible to understand why an autopsy of the PKK fighters was ordered but the results kept under seal.”

Ruprecht Polenz, a member of the German parliament with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democratic Union and the chairman of the Bundestag’s Foreign Relations Committee, shares the same opinion. Mr. Polenz demands an international investigation of the case, was reported by Spiegel.

European security experts are concerned

NATO is silent, so long...

The Europeans working in the security files are concerned “what will happen if PKK also uses the same methods against Turkey”. At the same time, NATO officially remains silent. More than ten NATO spokespersons received questions from ANP for the official position of NATO regarding the use of chemical weapons by Turkey. So long, until Friday midnight, there was not any official answer from them.

However, NATO officers in Brussels who want to be anonymous confirmed to ANP that “all these accusations against the Turkish army make also difficult for NATO” and they ask Turkish officials “to act under acceptable framework and rules of NATO on war against Kurdish separatists”. They added that “NATO understands the Turkish fight to protect its self, but the use of such forbidden weapons or poisons should not be tolerated for any member countries”.

NATO ask for evidences

Same officers told also, “If the information is correct, we have to make investigation. But first of all we need that Kurds and experts send us proof of the facts and information about these accusations”. (www.araratnews.eu/nuce.php?aid=528)

Arrêter la guerre est une mission de l’humanité

Ahmet Dere, Journaliste/Ecrivain kurde

Le 19 Octobre dernier une attaque de la guérilla kurde a été effectuée contre les bases de l’armée turque dans la région de Cukurca.  Dans cette attaque plus de 30 soldats ont perdu leur vie et une dizaine d’autres blessés.

Suite à cette attaque l'armée turque a annoncé avoir lancé une opération d'envergure au Kurdistan irakien. De mêmes opérations ont été effectuées dans les régions frontalières avec l’Irak. Depuis lors, les forces aériennes turques ont bombardé lourdement plusieurs zones du Kurdistan Irakien, puis ont suivi des opérations terrestres mais limitées à la frontière. La bataille a continué dans certaines zones où des avions et des  hélicoptères ont été utilisés. De source sécuritaire turque dans la région, on avait précisé auparavant que les chasseurs turcs continuaient de pilonner les camps du PKK situés dans les montagnes du Kurdistan  irakien.

Le 27 Octobre les autorités turques ont annoncé que l’opération militaire a pris fin et dans cette opération, qui a été menée surtout dans la vallée de Kazan, plusieurs militants kurdes ont été tués. Selon ces mêmes autorités, cette opération a été faite en réaction à l'attaque de la guérilla contre Cukurca (19.10.2011)

Selon les informations publiées par des associations de défense des droits de l’homme au Kurdistan et le BDP, dans ces opérations l’armée turque a utilisé la gaze chimique contre la guérilla. De mêmes informations sont ainsi constatées par les familles des militants tués.

Il faut noter que, après l’attaque de la guérilla du 19 Octobre, dans plusieurs villes de la Turquie des manifestations ont été organisées et soutenues par les institutions étatiques. De mêmes genres de manifestations continuent à être organisées. Le seul but de ces manifestations est de terroriser la population kurde vivant dans les régions à l’ouest du pays (en Turquie).

Ainsi, en parallèle avec les opérations armées et les manifestations pro-étatiques, l’arrestation des dirigeants du BDP et des intellectuels Turcs et Kurdes est accélérée. C’est dans ce concept que l’écrivain Ragip Zarakolu (un militant des droits de l’homme et défenseur des droits des minorités) et Professeur Busra Ersanli (professeur de sciences politiques à l’université Marmara) ont été arrêtés.

Contre les opérations de l’armée turque, les responsables du PKK déclarent que, si les opérations  continuent,  la Turquie s'expose à être frappée plus fort.

Selon les chiffres officiels de l’état turc, cette guerre entre la guérilla kurde et les force de sécurité a fait plus de 40.000 morts depuis le début 1984, c'est-à-dire depuis le commencement de la lutte armée du PKK.

Je veux bien préciser que depuis le 16 Août 2011 l'aviation turque bombarde régulièrement les montagnes du Kurdistan irakien. Des milliers de soldats sont mobilisés dans ces montagnes pour combattre la guérilla. Cela veut dire que, la guerre va entrer dans une phase plus forte et que des dizaines d’hommes risquent de perdre leur vie.

Par cet article, je veux appeler les organismes internationales et à la communauté internationale de se charger la mission afin d’imposer la paix de manière à arrêter la guerre avant que de nouvelles vies soient perdues. Ceci exige bien sûr une approche plus sérieuse, concrète et pratique.

A ce stade, il est très urgent que les instances de l’Union européennes se chargent aussi et plus vite cette mission.

Il faut faire tout pour arrêter la guerre et maintenir la paix en Turquie et au Kurdistan. La mission de faire arrêter cette guerre est devenue un devoir de l’humanité. Donc, il faut réagir, reconstruire, désarmer et assurer le respect des droits de l’homme, comme partout, mais aussi en Turquie et au Kurdistan.


BDP's Appeal For Resolving War Crimes in the city of Cukurca

A delegation consisting of MEP’s and lawyers from Europe will depart to Diyarbakir, Malatya and Cukurca from the 24th-28th November 2011 to investigate possible usages of chemical weapons in the warfare of the Turkish Army.

Together with Representatives of the BDP and Members of the Association MEYA DER, the Human Rights Association IHD, filed a Report on the probable use of chemical weapons by the Turkish Army in Hakkari/Cukurca at the end of October 2011. Since October 24th it is well known that 24 corpses of PKK Soldiers are being kept in the morgue of the public hospital in Malatya. During the handover of these corpses which had been mutilated by non-bullet weapons, it is most probable that chemical weapons had been used. An independent commission of Human Rights activists retrieved dead bodies that showed signs of similar mutilations in the same region that had not been recovered by the Military. Talking with eye-witnesses gave other indices of the misuse of chemical weaponry. Public authorities and institutions are still denying to give an official statement on this incident.

The delegation will conduct an own research together with BDP representatives and persons in charge of the investigation as well as meet with the ones affected by this in Malatya, Diyarbakir and Cukurca.

Furthermore, on November 5th the chairperson of the IHD branch in Hakkari, Ismail Akbulut, was arrested by turkish security forces after presenting this case in front of the Press. This arrest was carried out at the renowned checkpoint in Depin that is an infamous spot for human rights breaches. Together with him 3 other Persons were arrested. Since then Mr. Akbulut is under arrest and was not allowed to consult an advocate in the first 24 hours of being taken into custody.

These happenings under suspicious circumstances are not tolerable. This can be solved with your help by putting an international weight on this issue. With your assistance we hope to uncover the truth and bring some light to the unlawful killings and imprisonments that are obscuring this case.


You are welcome to join this Delegation from the 24th - 28th of November.

I am looking forward to hear from you.

Eyyup Doru, European Representative of BDP
bdp.brussels@skynet.be


German expert indicates possible use of chemical weapons by Turkish army

Following the examination of photographs of the body of HPG guerrilla Ebru Muhikancı, who was among 36 guerrillas who lost her life following the Turkish army operation in Çukurca district of Hakkari on 22-24 October, well-known German military and secret service expert Erich Schmidt-Eenboom remarked that the Turkish army could have used new chemical weapons in Kazan Valley. The white stains seen on the photographs of Muhikancı’s body are the most remarkable proof of chemical weapons, said Eenboom who spoke to ANF.

Defining the photographs as “utterly terrifying”, Eenboom expressed doubts concerning chemical weapon use saying that “The plenty of white stains and marks on the photographs are absolute evidence to the use of chemical weapons since these can’t be made by standard bombs.”

Mentioning the statements of HPG guerrillas who survived the bombardment in Kazan Valley, Eenboom commented the expressions of “a smell resembling the smell of fruit and milk” and “great nausea, sore throat and suffocation feeling after the bombs”. Eenboom said that “These descriptions are beyond the effects of napalm or other bombs which do not spread that kind of smell. If survivors really felt this smell, a new kind of chemical weapon was used there with a high degree of probability.”

Pointing out that the Turkish army violated international conventions by using this kind of weapons, German expert commented that; “It seems that Turkey wants to display a show of force and give message to the states in the region by means of the fight against PKK.”
(ANF, 8 November 2011)

Military chief visits coup suspects in Hasdal Prison

Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Özel paid a surprise visit to Hasdal Military Prison on Monday and met with military officers who are currently on trial on coup charges.
 
Özel, who reportedly went to the prison on Monday evening, met with military officers suspected of planning a coup, including War Academies Commander Gen. Bilgin Balanlı. Dozens of active duty military officers were recently jailed as part of ongoing investigations into the alleged Ergenekon terrorist organization and the Sledgehammer coup plot.

Ergenekon is a clandestine criminal network accused of working to overthrow the government. Dozens of its suspected members are currently in jail, accused of various terrorism-related crimes. Sledgehammer is a suspected military plan to topple the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government and there are currently 195 suspects in the case, all of whom are accused of a failed attempt to destroy Parliament and overthrow the government. Such a charge calls for a jail sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

Former Chief of General Staff Gen. Işık Koşaner also paid a similar visit to Hasdal Military Prison in January of this year. He allegedly decided to visit the suspects in prison in the wake of mounting criticism from the relatives of the arrestees, who complained that the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) were not showing solidarity with those on trial.
(TODAY’S ZAMAN, 1 November 2011)

Affaires religieuses/Religious Affairs

Africa seeks Turkish Islamic education

Muslim religious authorities from Africa have called on Turkey to take on a greater role in Islamic education in African communities in a joint declaration issued yesterday.

The declaration came after talks in Istanbul and Ankara hosted by the Religious Affairs Directorate and said Turkey should open religious representation offices on all levels in African countries, increase university contingents and scholarships for theology students and support the establishment of schools in Africa similar to Turkey’s religious vocational high-schools.

“Turkey is expected to take a more active role and offer opportunities to meet the urgent need for well raised and educated human resources, particularly in the area of religion, in Africa countries,” the text said.

It underlined an “urgent need” to initiate efforts to share Turkey’s experience in religious education while adapting it to the continent’s conditions.

“In this sense, educational institutions similar to the Imam-Hatip schools in Turkey should be used as an example for schools in Africa and backed with faculties providing higher religious education like [Turkey’s] theology faculties,” it said.

The declaration also encouraged businesspeople, primarily those from Turkey, “who care for the problems of Africa and Muslims” to continue their support for the continent’s Muslim communities under closer coordination.Muslim communities in Africa need radio and television channels to promote Islam and offer religious knowledge through educational and cultural programs, it said.

The declaration also stated the establishment of a permanent secretariat at Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate, made up of both Turkish and African officials, is required to ensure the cooperation decisions are properly implemented.

The declaration stressed the quality of Islamic religious education in Africa carried significant importance for “securing peace and stability on the continent and providing a basis for the proper understanding and implementation of Islam.”

Some 125 representatives from 46 African countries took part in the four-day gathering, titled the Second Summit of African Muslim Religious Leaders, which was held with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s support.
(Hürriyet Daily News, November 24, 2011)

Arrestation de 15 personnes suspectées de liens avec Al-Qaïda

Quinze personnes soupçonnées d'être liées à Al-Qaïda ont été arrêtées dans le centre de la Turquie, a annoncé mardi l'agence de presse turque Anatolie.

Les suspects ont été arrêtés lors d'opérations policières menées simultanément dans différents points de la province de Konya, a précisé l'agence.

Depuis deux séries d'attentats suicide à Istanbul en novembre 2003 attribués au réseau extrémiste islamiste, les forces de sécurité turques ont à plusieurs reprises arrêté des personnes soupçonnées d'être des partisans d'Al-Saïda.

Les attentats à Istanbul avaient visé deux synagogues, puis le consulat et une banque britanniques, faisant 63 morts, dont le consul de Grande Bretagne.

Sept hommes ont été condamnés en 2007 à la prison à vie pour avoir participé à l'organisation de ces attentats, dont un Syrien accusé de les avoir financés et d'en être l'instigateur.
(AFP, 22 nov 2011)

Socio-économique / Socio-economic

Turkey ratifies landmark accord to protect women

Parliament has ratified a landmark Council of Europe convention on the prevention of violence against women, making Turkey the first country to formally adopt the accord amid an alarming increase in the number of women falling victim to abuse and murders.

A society’s treatment of women demonstrates the level of its democracy, Parliamentary Speaker Cemil Çiçek said Nov. 24 as he was signing a declaration at the launch of the awareness-raising campaign “Count Me In,” which is being organized by the Family and Social Policies Ministry. Many lawmakers followed suit in signing the declaration, which was first signed first by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan earlier this week.

“If indicators are not going well despite improvements in the law, then we have to reconsider our policies from scratch,” Çiçek said. “The laws are certainly important in reversing negative trends, but it is obvious that inadequate education is at the core of the problem.”

Opposition parties have accused the government of failing to promote gender equality and not doing enough to prevent violence.

The Republican People’s Party (CHP) submitted a motion for a parliamentary inquiry into the reasons for a multi-fold increase in the number of women falling victim to violence. Citing Justice Ministry figures, the motion said 806 women were killed in 2008 compared to 83 in 2003 and 103 in the first half of 2011.

Speaking to reporters in Parliament, Zuhal Topçu of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) called for the introduction of “social gender awareness” classes in schools.

The convention ratified by Parliament, which seeks to prevent and combat violence against women, was opened to signing in May in Istanbul. Turkey was the first to ratify the treaty, which needs the ratification of at least nine other states to take effect.

Measures

The convention obliges signatories to take legislative or other measures to ensure that acts such as domestic violence, violence in public places, sexual harassment, forced marriage, “honor” crimes, rape and genital mutilation are criminalized. It also calls on member states to include the topics of gender equality, combating violence against women and mutual respect in their educational curriculums. The convention defines “domestic violence” as all acts of physical, sexual, psychological or economic violence that occur within a family or domestic unit or between partners.
(Turkish Daily News, , November 25, 2011)

Fitch révise ses perspectives pour la Turquie de "positives" à "stables"

L'agence de notation financière Fitch a annoncé mercredi avoir révisé ses perspectives pour la note de la Turquie de "positives" à "stables" en raison de "risques à court terme" pour la stabilité du pays.

Fitch, qui a maintenu sa principale note pour la Turquie à "BB+", a expliqué dans un communiqué que l'abaissement des perspectives reflétait "une augmentation des risques à court terme pour la stabilité macroéconomique, à un moment où la Turquie est confrontée au défi de réduire son important déficit des comptes courants et un taux d'inflation supérieur aux prévisions".

L'agence, qui mentionne aussi un contexte économique mondial difficile, souligne toutefois que "les notations sont soutenues par une dynamique favorable du gouvernement sur la dette, un taux de croissance potentiel vigoureux et un secteur bancaire fort".

"Si la Turquie parvient à effectuer un atterrissage en douceur et si les risques macrofinanciers à court terme faiblissent, la dynamique de la notation pourrait repartir vers le haut", ajoute-t-elle.

L'agence qualifie de "surchauffe" de l'économie les taux de croissance records affichés par la Turquie - 8,9% en 2010, 11,6% au premier trimestre 2011 et 8,8% au deuxième.

Elle prévoit une croissance de 7,5% pour 2011, puis une chute à 2,2% en 2012 dans le sillage des économies mondiales et une reprise à 4,5% en 2013 - les prévisions du gouvernement turc sont respectivement de 7,5%, 4% et 5% -, avec un ralentissement de l'inflation et une baisse du déficit des comptes courants.

Cette forte croissance a cependant creusé le déficit des comptes courants car les importations ont augmenté et la progression des exportations vers l'Europe s'est tassée, le déficit étant comblé notamment par des capitaux spéculatifs à court terme.

L'agence de notation financière Moody's a prévenu en août la Turquie que la maîtrise de ses déficits était nécessaire pour être mieux notée et appelé Ankara à "améliorer davantage ses fondamentaux fiscaux".

Pour décourager les investissements spéculatifs à court terme, la Banque centrale turque a abaissé de manière significative les taux d'intérêt, et a imposé aux banques un relèvement de leurs montants minimaux de réserves, pour limiter leurs capacités de crédit à la consommation.
(AFP, 23 nov 2011)

About the Difficulty of being a Child in Turkey

The Universal Children's Day was first proclaimed by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in 1954. Five years later, on 20 November 1959, the UN adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child which was the revised version of the Geneva Declaration of the Protection of Children as prepared at the World Conference for Children's Welfare in Geneva in 1925. That first declaration had been signed by 54 countries.

The declaration did not let discussion on the rights of the child ebb away. Debates on the narrow framework of the declaration, on an insufficient extension between the countries and on incompliance with its principles prevailed till 20 November 1989. The declaration was revised once again and adopted as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Turkey signed the convention on 14 September 1990 and enforced it with its publication in the Official Gazette on 11 December 1994. 20 November was declared "Universal Children's Day" by the UN when the convention was adopted in 1989. It has since been celebrated as the "International Day of Children's Rights".

The Medical Association of Turkey (TTB) marked the 20th anniversary of the day by issuing a preliminary report on "Child Abuse and Neglect". The report was prepared by Samsun delegate Cem Şahan.

In this preliminary report, Şahan evaluated the data from the European Union (EU) 2010 Progress Report concerning the rights of the child. This is the first report on the situation of children that compares all 30 member states of the OECD. It revealed that Turkey ranks in the bottom row regarding the financial situation of children in Turkey, health, environment and education.

Turkey is in 29th position and only succeeded by Mexico due to the field of risky behaviour. In the past ten years, the tendency towards the establishment of a democratic social structure where the priority and the best interest of the rights of all children are protected and where they have a say and can actively participate in decisions for all the matters that concern them in in continous decline.

Also the EU progress report for 2011 drew a gloomy picture of violations of children's rights in Turkey. The report listed a number of alarming findings:

* In secondary education (grades 9-12), the enrolment rates increased for boys from 67.5% to 72.3% and for girls from 62.2 % to 66.1 %, widening thus slightly the gender gap.

* Gender-related prejudices have not been fully removed from school textbooks.

* The poverty rate among children is disproportionately high. For those under the age of six, the rate stood at around 24% of all cases of poverty and at around 49% of all cases of rural poverty.

* There is no effective mechanism in place to tackle domestic violence against children.

* Conditions in full-time child-care institutions need to improve, staff trained and alternative care models promoted.

* No measurable progress has been made yet in the fight against child labour.

* As regards juvenile justice, since the June 2010 amendments to the Anti-Terror Law, the Criminal Procedure Code and other legal provisions, Turkish legislation provides that (...) the 'aggravating circumstances' provided for by the Anti-Terror Law will not apply to children and that they will be tried only in children's courts or juvenile serious crime courts. Implementation of this law is not complete.

* The number of juvenile detention centres is insufficient.

* The Child Protection Law requires that juvenile heavy criminal courts should be established in all 81 provinces. In provinces where no such courts exist, children are tried in courts for adults.

* Trials in juvenile courts are often long.

* Some 2,500 children aged between 12 and 18 were in prison. However, imprisonment for children should be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time. According to 2010 statistics, the 0-18 age group makes up 35 percent of the Turkish population.

Findings for Samsun

Şahan, TTB delegate for the city of Samsun on the Black Sea coast, also revealed rights violations experienced in Samsun.

According to the Samsun Provincial Crime Map and Analysis 2010 Report published by the Governor's Office, 53 cases of sexual assault were registered throughout the year, 81 incidents of sexual abuse of children, 91 cases of under-age sexual intercourse, 120 incidents of sexual harassment and ill-treatment in 400 families.

Recommendations made for Samsun included for instance the development of an emergency action plan for child neglect and abuse, increasing the number of child psychiatrists and extending training for parents as well as personal in the health sector. (BIA, 21 November 2011)

La presse et l'opposition accusent les autorités

Les sauveteurs tentaient vendredi à Van (est de la Turquie) de retrouver des survivants après le deuxième tremblement de terre dans lequel 40 personnes ont péri, des morts, accusent la presse et l'opposition, qui auraient pu être évitées si des mesures adéquates avaient été prises.

Les sauveteurs ont notamment extrait dans la nuit les corps de deux journalistes de l'agence de presse Dogan de ruines d'un hôtel effondré. Les journalistes Sebahattin Yilmaz et Cem Emir étaient venus à Van en reportage après le précédent séisme meurtrier dans la région, d'une magnitude de 7,2, qui a fait plus de 600 morts le 23 octobre, selon l'agence.
 
"Qui sera tenu pour responsable de ces morts ?", s'est interrogé le vice-président du parti pro-kurde BDP, Gülten Kisanak, après le tremblement de terre de mercredi soir, le deuxième en moins de trois semaines dans cette partie du territoire turc où vivent de nombreux Kurdes.

"Les enquêtes nécessaires n'ont pas été faites, 17 jours après", a-t-il déploré, évoquant le précédent séisme dans la même région, beaucoup plus grave celui-là, puisqu'il avait fait plus de 600 morts, le 23 octobre.

"Pourquoi a-t-on laissé ces personnes dans ces immeubles ?", ajoute le responsable politique, dont les propos sont reproduits vendredi par la presse.

Sur place, plusieurs centaines de sauveteurs poursuivaient leurs recherches, principalement dans deux hôtels, après le séisme de magnitude 5,6 qui a provoqué mercredi l'effondrement d'environ 25 immeubles, vides pour la plupart.

Une intensité modérée, mais qui s'est révélée meurtrière, du fait de la fragilisation des constructions par le précédent tremblement de terre, qui était de magnitude 7,2.

Le bilan du séisme de cette semaine est passé dimanche à 40 morts, soit 10 de plus que la veille, selon les services d'urgence du Premier ministre.

"Nous allons terminer d'ici à demain (samedi) les opérations de recherche et de sauvetage", a déclaré un membre des équipes de secours aux télévisions.

Aslan Bayram, le propriétaire de l'hôtel Bayram, l'un des deux qui se sont effondrés, a affirmé que le bâtiment avait été examiné par des experts, après le séisme du 23 octobre, et qu'ils n'avaient rien trouvé à redire sur la sûreté des lieux.

Mais la presse turque publie des photos de l'hôtel après le premier séisme faisant apparaître de profondes fissures sur les murs.

"Aucune inspection officielle n'a été réalisée dans l'hôtel, déclaré conforme par un groupe de cinq techniciens après le premier séisme", affirme le journal Hürriyet.

"Qui a donné ce feu vert ?", s'interroge en une un autre quotidien, Radikal.

Le journal cite le propriétaire des lieux qui affirme : "Moi aussi, je suis resté à hôtel" après l'avis favorable des techniciens.

Le Premier ministre Recep Tayyip Erdogan a annoncé pour sa part qu'une "procédure en justice" serait engagée contre ceux qui ont inspecté le bâtiment. Il a invité les habitants de la région à ne pas entrer dans les édifices endommagés, parce qu'"il y a encore des répliques".

"Nous pensons qu'au moins 80 immeubles menacent encore de s'effondrer" à Van, a déclaré dans la presse Haluk Eyidogan, un géophysicien d'Istanbul.

La Turquie, qui est traversée par plusieurs failles dans la croûte terrestre, connaît de fréquents tremblements de terre.

Les spécialistes pensent qu'Istanbul et ses 13 à 15 millions d'habitants sont menacés par un séisme majeur dans les prochaines années, une perspective inquiétante puisque de très nombreuses constructions ne sont pas conformes aux normes antisismiques. (AFP, 13 nov 2011)

Turkish police clash with protesters, fire tear gas in quake city
 
Riot police fired tear gas and used batons to disperse protesters angry at the state's relief efforts after an earthquake, the second in eastern Turkey within three weeks, killed at least 40 people in the city of Van. 
 
The clash broke out as rescue teams searched for survivors after a 5.6 magnitude tremor on Wednesday night heaped misery on the predominantly Kurdish region, where more than 600 people perished following a major quake on Oct 23.     

Many of the survivors of the earlier quake are still living in make-shift camps in the open air and temperatures are plummeting. The latest tremor cut power to the area.    

Some 200 demonstrators chanted for the resignation of the provincial governor in a rally close to two city centre hotels that collapsed during the latest quake.   

Working through the night, searchers rescued 27 people from the ruins of the hotels, said a statement from Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Administration (AFAD).     

Two of those brought out from the rubble, including a 16-month-old, were flown by air ambulance to a hospital in the capital Ankara.    

Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay, who visited the devastated Bayram Hotel with Turkey's foreign minister, said 25 buildings had collapsed in Van, of which 23 were empty. There were only people in the two hotels.    

The owner of the flattened five-storey Bayram Hotel, Aslan Bayram, told broadcasters that building experts had given his 47-year-old property the all-clear after last month's quake.    

At the time of the latest quake, some 15 guests were believed to be in the hotel and some were pulled out on Thursday morning.    

"I am cold. Rescue me quickly," said a man aged around 55-60 years old.     

When rescued from the Bayram Hotel 11 hours after the quake, he was strapped into a stretcher and carried away to a waiting ambulance.    

Since last month's quake, thousands of families have been living in tents, with temperatures dropping to freezing with the onset of winter. But many survivors have complained bitterly over the distribution of tents.    

Overwhelmed by the demand in the early days of the disaster, the authorities decided families would be given tents only after their homes were checked by officials to see if they were habitable.
(REUTERS, 10-12 November 2011)

Nouveau séisme mortel à Van

40 personnes ont été tuées mercredi soir dans l'est de la Turquie par un tremblement de terre dont le bilan pourrait s'alourdir, moins de trois semaines après un précédent séisme qui avait tué plus de 600 personnes dans la même région.

Des dizaines de secouristes étaient à pied d'oeuvre jeudi à Van, dans l'est de la Turquie, pour venir en aide à d'éventuels survivants d'un tremblement de terre survenu la veille au soir, qui a fait au moins sept morts.

Vers 08H00 (06H00 GMT), les sauveteurs ont extrait deux blessés, un homme d'une soixantaine d'années et un autre âgé de 25 à 30 ans, des décombres de l'hôtel Bayram, portant à 25 le nombre de personnes sorties vivantes des ruines, a rapporté l'agence de presse Anatolie.

Le nombres de personnes bloquées sous les débris étaient encore incertain.

"Il y avait 32 clients enregistrés à l'hôtel hier, mais je ne sais pas combien étaient présents dans le bâtiments. Il y avait aussi des invités", a déclaré Recep Özhan, le réceptionniste de l'établissement, cité par Anatolie.

"Quand je suis sorti il n'y avait qu'un nuage de poussière partout. Je ne sais pas si quelqu'un a pu sortir en dehors de moi", a-t-il ajouté.

Le séisme, d'une magnitude de 5,6 sur l'échelle ouverte de Richter, s'est produit à 19H23 GMT mercredi soir, et son épicentre était localisé dans le district d'Edremit, a 17 kilomètres au sud de Van.

Ce district est situé à environ 15 kilomètres de la province de Van, frappée le 23 octobre par un séisme de magnitude 7,2, qui a fait plus de 600 morts et au moins 4.150 blessés.

Mercredi soir, 25 bâtiments se sont effondrés, dont 22 étaient vides, provoquant des mouvements de panique, a précisé le ministre des Affaires étrangères Ahmet Davutoglu, qui se trouvait dans la région, et s'est porté lui aussi sur le lieu du séisme.

"Les opérations de secours et de recherche continuent dans trois immeubles", a-t-il ajouté.

Selon la télévision nationale TRT, parmi les immeubles effondrés figurent deux hôtels, dans lesquels se trouvaient un nombre non précisé d'occupants, ce qui explique que le bilan pourrait s'alourdir.

Un hôtel de six étages situé dans la ville de Van (est) et habité principalement par des journalistes et des équipes du Croissant Rouge turc s'est notamment effondré, selon NTV.

Neuf avions transportant près de 300 sauveteurs ont été envoyés sur place, a précisé la télévision nationale, alors que les opérations de sauvetage se poursuivaient dans la nuit avec des pelles mécaniques, sous les feux de puissants projecteurs.

Selon le Service géologique des Etats-Unis (USGS), la secousse a atteint une magnitude de 5,7, chiffre revu plus tard dans la soirée à 5,6 par le même institut.

La TRT a précisé que plusieurs des bâtiments qui se sont effondrés avaient été endommagés lors du séisme du 23 octobre.

"Il est trop tôt pour savoir s'il s'agit d'une réplique (du tremblement de terre du 23 octobre) ou d'un (nouveau) séisme", a déclaré à NTV le professeur Mustafa Erdik, directeur de l'Observatoire Kandili de géophysique à Istanbul.

Des spécialistes, interrogés sur les télévisions, ont expliqué qu'un séisme de cette magnitude, relativement modérée, ne devrait pas normalement provoquer de victimes, mais de nombreux bâtiments de la région étaient déjà fragilisés par le précédent séisme.

Le tremblement de terre du 23 octobre avait détruit de nombreuses habitations dans les villes et villages de la province de Van, proche de l'Iran.

Dans la seule ville de Van, la capitale régionale, plus de 5.000 immeubles s'étaient effondrés, relançant la polémique sur le non-respect des normes sismiques et l'honnêteté des constructeurs.

Face à la catastrophe, une des pires en Turquie depuis 1999, année où deux puissants séismes dans le nord-ouest du pays à forte densité de population avaient fait environ 20.000 morts, la Turquie avait accepté les offres d'aide humanitaire d'une douzaine de pays.

Parmi eux, Israël et l'Arménie, deux pays avec lesquels Ankara entretient des relations difficiles. (AFP, 10-12 nov 2011)

Justice's favour for 26 men having raped a 13-year-old girl

The public was shocked by a recent court decision to lower sentences for 26 rape convicts, but experts say amending the law will not improve the situation, as the solutions lie in changing male-dominated mentalities

Many Turks were left dumbfounded last week by a court decision to reduce the sentence for 26 men convicted of raping a 13-year-old girl. While politicians from all parties criticized the law in the case, what Turkey really needs are not legal amendments, but a change in the male-dominated judicial system that interprets that law, according to prominent lawyers.

“Amending the law will not change the result now,” lawyer and women’s rights activist Hülya Gülbahar told the Hürriyet Daly News. “There are gaps in the laws that are open to interpretation.

The judges in this case all agreed that a 13-year-old consented to having sex with 26 men and ignored that it was done via threats. How could they interpret her fear as consent?” she said.

The rape occurred in the southeastern province of Mardin in 2002. The 13-year-old victim, identified by her initials as N.Ç., was allegedly forced to have sex with 26 men, some of whom are school teachers, soldiers and civil servants.

Consent

Ruling that the girl consented to the intercourse, the First Mardin Criminal Court chose to sentence each of the men to a minimum of five years in prison for statutory rape while also deciding to lower the sentences of some suspects by between two and 10 months for good behavior during the trial. The Supreme Court later upheld the lower court’s ruling on appeal.

Although many people, including President Abdullah Gül, have said the court decision violated public sensitivities, some lawyers said the ruling actually reflected the male-dominated perspective of the Turkish judicial system.

“This case is not the only one. Many similar rape cases in which the victims are younger than 15 result in low sentences because the judges rule that the [girls] consented. A child at that age cannot even comprehend the meaning and consequences of such an act,” lawyer Fırat Söyle told the Hürriyet Daily News earlier this week.

According to Gülbahar, all mechanisms in Turkey should have a gender-equal perspective.

“In the Üzmez case [in which 78-year-old daily Vakit columnist Hüseyin Üzmez was tried for allegedly raping a 14-year-old girl], there was only one woman involved in the judicial process and she had to resign due to the pressure,” she said.

Gülbahar also said concepts such as protecting one’s purity should be eliminated from the law as well.

“Turkey immediately needs to open sexual abuse crisis centers and bring more women into every state mechanism, she said.

Process at the European court

Because the N.Ç. case has drawn reaction from many people from different segments of society, some say the final decision could still change if the Supreme Court of Appeals’ chief prosecutor takes the issue to the uppermost General Board of Crime or if the Justice Ministry intervenes in the matter.

Still, N.Ç.’s lawyer, Reyhan Yalçındağ Baydemir, said they had already taken the issue to the European Court of Human Rights.

“Certain parts of the case are already at the [European court], after the Supreme Court’s approval, we will take all of it there. I am sure that Turkey will do what is necessary once the case is finalized there,” she told the Daily News.
(Hürriyet Daily News, November 6, 2011)

"Child Brides" in Parliament

The Flying Broom Women's Communication and Research Association has finished its project "Child Brides: Victims of Destructive Traditions and Patriarchal Social Heritage" after one year of study and research. The project was subsidised by the Sabancı Foundation. Its results were presented at the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) on 27 October.

Over the period of 18 months research was carried out in ten out of a total of 81 Turkish provinces pursuing the aim of counteracting marriages with underage brides.

The final sitting in parliament was organized with the support of the Parliamentary Commission for Equal Opportunities of Women and Men (KEFEK). Speeches were delivered by the Minister of Family and Social Politics, Fatma Şahin; the Chair of the Sabancı Foundation, Zerrin Koyunsağan; Öznur Çalık as the head of the 23rd term KEFEK Sub-commission on Research into early Marriage; Head of the 24rd term KEFEK Azize Sibel Gönül and Deputy Prime Minister Binnaz Toprak. Additionally, artist Burhan Şeşen performed the piece "Would you please hear my voice" together with a children's choir - a song composed especially for the project.

Information regarding the counteracting of early marriage and raising awareness was conveyed to 54 provinces in the scope of the project. Seminars were organized and interviews were held with the adult women and younger girls who attended the seminars. These meetings were also attended by teachers, social service experts, sociologists, psychologists, lawyers, physicians, journalists, local executives and representatives of non-governmental organizations.

The stories of the "child brides" were put together in a book entitled "Marriage is too big at young Age: Children Brides". The book contains the stories of women and executives of various institutions as elicited during the interviews in the provinces in the course of the project.

The Flying Broom Association also prepared the "Child Brides" documentary with footage from different provinces and special interviews as part of the project. The documentary approaches the topic under different aspects and reveals the dimensions of the problems behind the depicted life stories.

The stories of the Child Brides

A woman in her forties from Van (eastern Turkey) for example recalled her fear and worries during the beginning of her forced marriage:

"When I was 13 years old and everybody else went to school, I was made to marry a 30-year-old man. I had never seen him before and I did not know him at all. They made me marry him just because he was the son of a friend of my father's. When I saw this person it was as if he was my father. I did not get close to him and I was very afraid during the nights. I did not even enter his room. I always saw him like my father. I can still not get rid of this perception".

A young woman from Diyarbakır (south-eastern Anatolia) was not able to hold back her anger when she described what it meant to enter marriage when still being a child:

"I married when I was 15 years old. There is no description. You come into a big family and you don't know how to behave. When they come to ask [the parents] to give their daughter into marriage they say she should be young so they can teach her. I did not know for instance that I had to rise to my feet in front of the men so I was beaten the first time. I gave birth to my son when I was 16 years old. When I was 23 my husband passed away".

A young woman from Tekirdağ (north-western Turkey) drew attention to the fact that education was able to prevent girls from early marriage:

"I am the only girl in our whole family who studies. My maternal grandmother was married when she was 13 years old. She constantly talked about my [female] cousin at each and every family meeting. Saying 'Fatoş is left over at home, what are we going to do'. She was trying to find a husband for her. One day I pulled her leg and asked her why she did not talk about me. She replied, 'You are studying, you have saved your life'". (BIA, 31 October 2011)

Relations turco-européennes / Turkey-Europe Relations

Incident between Turkish minister Bagis and a MEP

A gathering of Turkish and European parliamentarians in Brussels turned eventful on Tuesday when a far-right Dutch deputy lambasted Islam and Turkey and then attempted to present a caricature deemed criminal by Turkish prosecutors as a “gift” to a Turkish minister.
 
Barry Madlener, a Dutch politician from the Party for Freedom (PVV), first caused tensions when he said at a meeting of the European Union-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee that Turkey did not belong to Europe because it has a “backward Islamic ideology” that does not fit with European values. “Islam and freedoms cannot coexist,” Madlener said before accusing Turkey of restricting freedom of the press and Internet and criticizing increasing violence against women and homosexuals. He said even caricaturists were being put on trial and walked towards Turkish State Minister Egemen Bağış, one of the panelists at the meeting, saying he wanted to present him an illustration by a Turkish cartoonist as a “gift.”

The cartoon, published in Turkish humor magazine “Penguen,” reportedly landed cartoonist Bahadır Baruter in court, with a state prosecutor charging him in September with “insulting religious values” and demanding a one-year jail sentence.

The cartoon depicts an imam and a group of believers praying in a mosque, distracted by a man talking to God on his cellphone and asking if he can be excused from the last part of the prayer because he has things to do. The words "there is no Allah" and "religion is a lie" are seen written on the walls of the mosque.

When Madlener attempted to present a framed copy of the cartoon to Bağış, Turkish lawmaker Akif Demirkıran, who was chairing the meeting, received the cartoon as Bağış was heard shouting, "Don't take it!"

Bağış, who is also Turkey's chief negotiator for EU talks, then told Madlener: “I have enough cartoons at home. Put it in your appropriate place.”

EU Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Füle attempted to calm down Bağış, who was visibly angry. Members of the European Union-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee protested Madlener by clapping, and Demirkıran accused Madlener of using the parliamentary platform for the purpose of “provocation.” He also said Madlener had told some members of the committee a day ago that he would come back on Tuesday to fight with Bağış. “Let him come, he can't dare it,” Bağış said.

“Discriminating against Islam as it was done today only aims for propaganda for national political purpose. I would like to remind Mr. Madlener of the current situation of the Arab Spring and the brave and pacific demonstrations of the people [in Arab countries] for dignity and human rights,” Helene Flautre, co-chair of the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee, said after the eventful session.

Commenting on the “gift,” Flautre said: “Giving a gift is normally [done with] a pleasant and respectful attitude. In that sense, Mr. Madlener did not offer anything to Minister Bağış, neither to the debate regarding EU-Turkey relations.”

Şaban Dişli, a Turkish lawmaker who said he was also a Dutch national, said Dutch society did not approve of people like Madlener. Bağış later said during the session that Turkey was ready to offer “[psychological] treatment” for Madlener, asserting that some in that session were “suffering from an illness called racism.”

This is not the first time Madlener has caused tensions during a parliamentary gathering. In a previous session of the European Union-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee, held in May 2010, Madlener stormed out after saying Turkey's real friend was Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, not Europe.
(Today's Zaman, SELÇUK GÜLTAŞLI, 29 November 2011)

European lawyers: "Lawyers should be released"

The Germany-based European Association of Lawyers for Democracy & World Human Rights (ELDH) and the European Democratic Lawyers (AED) called on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President Abdullah Gül and the Turkish government to release the lawyers who were recently detained in the scope of the KCK investigation.

46 people, 41 of whom are lawyers, were taken into custody in Istanbul last week by reason of their alleged membership of the Union of Kurdish Communities (KCK), an organization founded by Abdullah Öcalan, imprisoned leader of the armed outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). 34 of them, including 33 lawyers, were arrested and detained in prison on 26 November after they had been interrogated at the Beşiktaş (Istanbul) Courthouse. At the same time, 36 persons out of a total of 43 people in custody in Diyarbakır (Kurdish-majority city in south-eastern Turkey) were arrested.

The call on the Turkish government was signed by ELDH President Prof Bill Bowring, AED President Gilberto Pagani, ELDH Secretary General Thomas Schmidt and AED Vice President Hans Gaasbeek. Read here a summary of their written plea.

"Contrary to human rights agreements"

* We are deeply concerned about the arrests of lawyers and raids on their homes in Turkey. The arrests include defence lawyers who are engaged in the main KCK trial handled by the Diyarbakır 6th High Criminal Court. This is the latest step in a series of ongoing threats coming from courts and prosecutors in Turkey.

* The lawyers took a stance against the ban of a defence in Kurdish before the Diyarbakır courts as a matter of principle and stated that they would not be able to defend their clients. Both the lawyers and the Diyarbakır Bar Association were warned by court and the prosecutors several times about "committing a crime".

* We also want to point out to the Turkish authorities that these arrests are contrary to all human rights agreements. Furthermore, these arrests seem to ignore the "Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers" (Havana Rules) as adopted at the United Nations (UN) Congress in Havana/Cuba in 1990.

* According to these rules, the government is responsible to ensure that lawyers can carry out their profession without experiencing threats, interference, harassment and inappropriate intervention. We call on the government in Turkey to release the lawyers. (BIA, 29 November 2011)

Leyla Zana sent message to European Parliament

Diyarbakır deputy Leyla Zana could not attend a meeting at the European Parliament and sent a message instead. The meeting was about human rights and the Arab Spring.

"We need to be able to speak of political transformation to argue that a period of changeover in this country has begun. Kurds, one of the peoples that the world has left without identity, don’t want be forgotten while history is being faced up to. Forgetting doesn’t offer a solution. A way of solution should be followed on the basis of not allowing the pains of the past to throw tomorrow away", said Zana in her message.

She added that the "history of this country bears numerous violations and genocides that have been covered up, kept in dark and abandoned to be forgotten for many years now".

Zana underlined that "the period of changeover is a basic mechanism that promotes processes of change to enable the judiciary to reveal truths. However, to reactivate the process of dialogue and negotiation is the prior condition of this process which can be ensured through political courage, foresight, will, stability and persistence. As is known, the PKK-state and Öcalan meetings were welcomed by the public, rather than leading to public indignation. In spite of this, the AKP government didn’t use the massive public support it received in elections in seeking a solution".

Zana also underlined that "Fair and basic rights of Kurds are unfortunately tried to be terrorized with thousands of detentions, arrests and violations of human rights. To our regret, the world opinion prefers to remain silent and to believe in unfair political propaganda in this respect. However, the public support and expectation demands a strong political reform law and a constitution which will play a role in the solution of the Kurdish problem and assure political, social and cultural rights of all peoples".
(ANF, 25 November 2011)

Le chef du PE Buzek a évoqué la question kurde à Ankara

Le président du Parlement européen, Jerzy Buzek, a exprimé jeudi à Ankara son souhait de voir l'"impasse" dans les négociations d'adhésion de la Turquie à l'Union européenne surmontée, se disant aussi "inquiet" au sujet d'un conflit gazier opposant Ankara à Chypre.

"Je suis arrivé en Turquie à un moment difficile", a-t-il dit lors d'un discours au Parlement, dans des propos traduits en turc par la télévision publique.

Evoquant une "impasse" turco-européenne, il a appelé les deux parties à faire preuve de détermination pour pouvoir la surmonter "afin d'avoir des conséquences favorables pour les rapports" bilatéraux.

M. Buzek a également évoqué la question kurde: "La question kurde n'est pas seulement une question de terrorisme, il est aussi un défi plus profond de la diversité culturelle et linguistique. Et une question de développement économique. Et une question de droits humains."

M. Buzek est arrivé jeudi à Ankara pour une visite de deux jours afin de discuter avec les dirigeants turcs de la candidature turque à l'Union européenne et de la situation des droits de l'Homme.

Le processus des négociations entre Ankara et l'UE sera en tête des thèmes qu'il devrait aborder vendredi avec le président Abdullah Gül et le Premier ministre Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Depuis le lancement des pourparlers d'adhésion en 2005, seuls 13 des 35 chapitres thématiques qui les jalonnent ont été ouverts, et un seul est déjà bouclé.

De nombreux chapitres sont bloqués du fait du refus d'Ankara d'appliquer l'union douanière à la partie grecque de l'île divisée de Chypre, membre de l'UE depuis 2004, que la Turquie ne reconnaît pas.

De plus, certains pays comme la France et l'Allemagne sont réticents à faire entrer ce pays musulman de 78 millions d'habitants dans l'UE.

"Je suis très inquiet au sujet des tensions survenues ces derniers mois autour de Chypre", a encore dit M. Buzek, en référence apparemment à un conflit turco-chypriote sur des explorations de gaz lancées en septembre par les Chypriotes-grecs en Méditerranée et qui ont provoqué l'ire de la Turquie qui estime que les droits de l'entité chypriote-turque (nord de Chypre) sont bafoués.

La Turquie a d'ailleurs menacé de geler ses relations avec le bloc européen quand Chypre prendra la tête de sa présidence tournante pour six mois, le 1er juillet 2012, si les Chypriotes grecs et turcs ne parviennent pas d'ici là à un accord en vue d'une réunification de l'île.

Avant sa visite, M. Buzek a dit dans un communiqué que "la Turquie et l'UE partagent une même histoire et un même destin. L'Europe a besoin de la Turquie et la Turquie a besoin de l'Europe".
(AFP, 24 nov 2011)

La France soutient la candidature de la Serbie à l'UE, pas celle de la Turquie

La France va soutenir lors du Conseil européen du 9 décembre la candidature de la Serbie à l'entrée de l'UE, sous condition "d'avancées concrètes" de son dialogue avec le Kosovo, et continuer à s'opposer à celle de la Turquie, a rapporté mercredi la porte-parole du gouvernement.

La France pourrait "soutenir l'octroi du statut de candidat à l'UE" à la Serbie, mais à la condition d'une "reprise du dialogue engagé avec le Kosovo et d'avancées concrètes en ce sens", a déclaré Valérie Pécresse en rendant compte d'une communication du ministre des Affaires étrangères Alain Juppé devant le conseil des ministres.

Paris juge en revanche "prématurée" l'ouverture de négociations sur l'octroi "dès décembre" du statut de candidat au Monténégro et propose d'y revenir "à la mi-2012" à la faveur d'un "bilan de la mise en oeuvre effective des réformes engagées par ce pays, notamment pour le renforcement de l'Etat de droit", a ajouté Mme Pécresse.

Concernant le Kosovo, la France est favorable à un "accord de principe sur l'ouverture d'un dialogue sur les visas menant à un processus de libéralisation à terme", selon la ministre du Budget.

Enfin, le gouvernement français est toujours catégoriquement opposée à toute perspective d'entrée de la Turquie dans l'Union européenne, a poursuivi Valérie Pécresse. "La position de la France n'a pas changé sur la méthode et l'issue des négociations avec ce pays", a-t-elle indiqué.

Sur ce sujet très polémique, Paris promet "d'examiner avec attention" les propositions de la Commission pour relancer les relations avec la Turquie "grâce à des avancées concrètes", notamment en matière de "rapprochement des normes, dialogue politique renforcé, visas, réadmission et contrôle aux frontières", selon le compte-rendu du conseil des ministres.

Les chefs d'Etat et de gouvernement des 27 doivent examiner lors de leur prochain sommet à Bruxelles le 9 décembre les perspectives de leur élargissement à la Serbie, au Monténégro, à la Turquie et au Kosovo. 
(AFP, 23 nov 2011)

Dutch MP Says Holland Should Not Invite Turkish President

During the debate in the Dutch parliament today, a member of the Party of Freedom (PVV), Mr. Wim Kortenoeven, MEP, asked the minister of foreign affairs questions about the situation of the Assyrians in Turkey and Iraq.

Holland is considering inviting Turkish president Abdullah Gul for the 400th anniversary of relations between Holland and Turkey.

PVV expressed opposition to the invitation, citing the following regarding Turkey:

Turkey refuses to recognize the Assyrian, Greek and Armenian genocides of World War One

History text books in Turkey portray Assyrians as "traitors" (AINA 10-2-2011).

Discrimination against Christians in Turkey continues

60 journalist are currently imprisoned in Turkey

For these reason, Mr. Kortenoeven said Holland should not invite Mr. Gul to Holland for the 400th anniversary celebration.

"There is no reason for a celebration," said Mr. Kortenoeven, "the Assyrians in Holland will be very sad about this because of the genocide Turkey refuses to recognize."

Mr. Kortenoeven also called on the parliament to consider the situation of Assyrians Iraq. He asked the minister of foreign affairs what he has done regarding the resolution of Mr. Joel Voordewind, which calls for an Assyrian police force in the Nineveh Plain area (AINA 7-1-2011), which is inhabited predominantly by Assyrians. He asked that Holland put pressure on the Iraqi government to achieve this.  (AINA, Nov 24, 2011)

Gül au Royaume-Uni pour défendre l'adhésion de la Turquie à l'UE

Le président turc Abdullah Gül a quitté dimanche la Turquie pour se rendre au Royaume-Uni à l'invitation de la reine d'Angleterre Elizabeth II et y plaider en faveur de l'adhésion de la Turquie à l'Union européenne (UE) auprès d'un allié fidèle d'Ankara.

"Je soulignerai l'importance que nous donnons à la poursuite par l'Angleterre de son puissant soutien pour que les négociations d'adhésion ne soient pas bloquées par des obstacles politiques artificiels", a déclaré à la presse M. Gül, cité par l'agence de presse Anatolie, avant de prendre l'avion pour Londres.

Les négociations de la Turquie avec le bloc européen en vue d'une adhésion ont démarré en 2005, mais patinent depuis, l'Allemagne et la France marquant leur opposition, tandis que la Grande-Bretagne soutient l'adhésion d'Ankara.

L'un des points de blocage concerne les relations entre la Turquie et la République de Chypre, sous administration chypriote-grecque, qu'Ankara ne reconnaît pas.

La Turquie a par ailleurs menacé de geler ses relations avec le bloc européen quand Chypre prendra la tête de sa présidence tournante pour six mois, le 1er juillet 2012, si les Chypriotes grecs et turcs ne parviennent pas d'ici là à un accord en vue d'une réunification de l'île.

"Je vais demander que l'Angleterre, qui est partie dans la question chypriote en tant que pays garant, pousse de tout son poids en faveur d'une solution", a déclaré M. Gül, cité par Anatolie.

Le président turc, qui est accompagné par le vice-Premier ministre en charge de l'Economie Ali Babacan et le chef de la diplomatie Ahmet Davutoglu, doit rencontrer la reine et plusieurs membres de la famille royale ainsi que le Premier ministre David Cameron, le vice-Premier ministre Nick Clegg et le chef du Parti travailliste Ed Miliband.

Il s'agit de la première visite officielle d'un chef d'Etat turc au Royaume-Uni depuis 23 ans.
(AFP 20 nov 2011)

UE et Turquie tentent de surmonter l'impasse des négociations d'adhésion

La Commission européenne et la Turquie se sont mises d'accord mercredi pour intensifier leurs efforts de rapprochement sur certains sujets comme les visas et le commerce, malgré l'impasse des négociations d'adhésion de la Turquie au bloc des 27.

Lors d'une rencontre à Bruxelles, le commissaire en charge de la politique d'élargissement de l'UE, Stefan Füle et le négociateur turc Egemen Bagis "se sont mis d'accord pour définir un agenda positif", qui "ne remplace pas mais qui soit complémentaire du processus d'adhésion à l'UE", a annoncé la Commission européenne dans un communiqué.

Lors de cet entretien, M. Füle a notamment proposé à la Turquie un "dialogue intensifié et une coopération sur des réformes politiques, l'alignement avec l'acquis (législatif et réglementaire) de l'UE" sur des sujets comme les visas, la mobilité et les migrations, de même que des questions commerciales importantes.

Pays émergent en pleine croissance (8,9% en 2010), la Turquie critique régulièrement le régime des visas avec l'UE, qu'elle qualifie d'"injuste". Le commissaire Füle et son homologue en charge du commerce Karel De Gucht doivent se rendre les 17 et 18 novembre en visite à Istanbul.

MM. Bagis et Füle ont tous deux estimé qu'avec le soutien politique des 27 gouvernements européens et du Parlement européen, "les travaux devraient commencer pour mettre en oeuvre cet agenda positif".

L'idée est de créer "un nouvel élan dans les relations UE-Turquie", alors que les pourparlers d'adhésion sont au point mort du fait notamment de l'impasse chypriote et des réserves posées par certains Etats comme la France, a précisé l'exécutif européen.

Depuis le lancement des pourparlers d'adhésion en 2005, seuls 13 des 35 chapitres thématiques qui les jalonnent ont été ouverts, et un seul est déjà bouclé.

De nombreux chapitres sont bloqués du fait du refus d'Ankara d'appliquer l'union douanière à la partie grecque de l'île divisée de Chypre, membre de l'UE depuis 2004.

De plus, certains pays comme la France et l'Allemagne sont réticents à faire entrer ce pays musulman de 78 millions d'habitants dans l'UE. (AFP, 9 nov 2011)

"French present" for Turkish Prime Minister

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is due to arrive in Paris tomorrow. After lashing out against Germany, Erdoğan will be pleased to know that today the court in Paris closed a case against 18 Kurdish people living in France who had been arrested and charged with being members of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) and extortion. The court has handed down prison sentences for 17 of the 18 suspects. On top of that it has also ruled in favor of the closure of a well known and established cultural center in Paris.

The 18 Kurds were originally tried on charges of extortion to finance terrorist activities in 2007, but were released as the judge ruled there was insufficient cause for their arrest. On June 9, 2011, a French court reversed the ruling and ordered the arrest of the suspects.

A prosecutor demanded last June prison terms ranging from 18 months up to six years for the suspects and the closure of Ahmet Kaya cultural center in Paris.

The court pronounced its verdict today, basically confirming the prosecutor's request and handing down sentences ranging from one year to five years for the 17 suspects.

The court only acquitted one of the 18 Kurds standing trial, Şükrü Tozludere.

Instead it sentenced Ali Rıza Altun, who was being tried in absentia, to five years, Nedim Seven to four years. The suspects' sentences were all suspended.
(ANF, 2 November 2011)

Erdogan blasts Germany on PKK

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan slammed Germany on Tuesday for becoming “an accessory” to the campaign launched by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Turkey.
 
“Those who tolerate terrorism become an accessory to the bloody face of terrorism,” Erdoğan said without naming Germany in a speech delivered in Berlin during a gala dinner to mark the 50th anniversary of the migration of Turkish workers to Germany. “I am calling on those who turn a blind eye to the activities of the terror organization in their publications, foundations, fundraising efforts as well as on those who let criminals roam freely [on their soil]. Are you aware of an 8-month-old baby slain in her mother's womb [by the PKK],” he said.

At a joint press conference with Merkel on Wednesday, Erdoğan complained that the PKK was able to collect 6 million euros in Germany. "This money goes to the terrorist organization as financial support. This is really sad and thought-provoking," Erdoğan said, calling on the German authorities to step up measures to prevent PKK fund-raising activities in the country.

Turkey accuses Germany, among other EU member states, for not doing enough to prevent the PKK's fundraising activities and recruiting efforts. The PKK has increased its attacks in recent months, claiming the lives of many civilians, including a pregnant woman and children.

The Turkish prime minister also lamented what he saw as a lack of cooperation by European countries, saying Europe does not take action when Turkey wants to discuss terror-affiliated organizations and their fundraising activities during meetings. “If you can justify these excuses, let them justify your conscience first and foremost,” Erdoğan underlined. (todayszaman.com, 2 novembre 2011)


Criminal complaint in Germany against Erdogan and Army Chiefs

Lawyers in Germany have filed a criminal complaint at the responsible Federal Prosecutor's Office (BAW) in Karlsruhe, Germany against Prime Minister Erdogan, for the time being in Berlin for a state visit, and several Chiefs of Staff of the Turkish army because of severe criminal acts during war against the Kurdish population. The complaint is about war crimes and crimes against humanity between 2003 and today which are outlawed by laws of war.

The criminal complaint is based on the German International Criminal Code which has been existing since 2002. It enables an international prosecution of outlawed war crimes for which military commanders and political superiors are responsible – even if the “crime scene” is not in Germany.

The complaint contains 10 exemplary “cases” from recent years, which have been compiled on the basis of comprehensive own research, the analysis of materials of the Turkish justice system and reports of respected human rights organisations.

Among others there are cases of extralegal executions, killing of combatants after taking them prisoner, torture, post-mortal mutilation and even the use of prohibited chemical weapons. Presented are the respective facts and circumstances with names, dates and means of evidence. The complaint is filed in the name of relatives of the victims of the war crimes. The human rights organisation MAF-DAD – Association for Democracy and International Law in Cologne, the writer Doris Gercke (Bella Block), professor for international law Norman Paech, MP Harald Weinberg (DIE LINKE), Dr. med. Gisela Penteker (IPPNW), city council member of Nuremberg Marion Padua and sociologist Martin Dolzer are also among the plaintiffs.

The complaint was filed by lawyer Britta Eder and lawyer Dr. Heinz-Jürgen Schneider.

On 1 November 2011 in the House of Democracy in Berlin (Greifswalder Straße 4) a press conference will be held with lawyers and plaintiffs.

Advance information: Lawyer Schneider +49(0)40-8513116 – RAin Eder +49(0)040-32033756 In case of absence: 0176-20705646


Turquie-USA/ Turkey-USA

US cooperating on PKK fight, says top commander

Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Özel has expressed satisfaction with U.S. cooperation in the fight against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), stressing that Turkey’s requests on intelligence sharing were being met.

“I can confirm that the U.S. is engaging positively with our demands,” Özel said in response to written questions by the private CNN Türk news channel.

Four U.S. Predator drones delivered recently to the İncirlik base in southern Turkey have been operational since Nov. 23, he said. He added that Israel had completed the maintenance of five Heron drone engines and they were now back on Turkish soil.

Turkey’s homemade unmanned surveillance aircraft Anka will become operational “soon.” “We aim to end dependence on foreign [technology] this way,” he said.

Özel denied suggestions that İncirlik was being converted into “an intelligence base,” while confirming that a U.S. radar system would be stationed in the eastern province of Malatya by the end of 2011 as part of NATO’s missile shield project.

The general rebuffed appeals for house arrest for jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan on grounds that such a move would “harm the people’s sense of justice and confidence in the state.”

He rejected criticism that Turkey’s struggle against the PKK was a failure, stressing that “getting a definitive result is difficult as long as the internal and external resources feeding terror remain.”

Loyalty to ‘founding philosophy’

Özel said he was proud to head the Turkish military following speculation over his decision not to leave alongside former Chief of Staff Işık Koşaner and three force commanders when they resigned in July.

He described himself as “loyal” to the founding philosophy of the Turkish Republic and the principles of the constitutional and the military oath. He vowed to carry out his duty in a transparent manner, maintaining dialogue with authorities.

Özel defended his recent visit to coup suspects held in the Hasdal Military Prison, stressing military traditions of comradeship and rejecting any other motive than humanitarian concern “for people of rank who have not yet been convicted.”

He withheld from commenting on the government’s bill regarding paid military service, saying the decision was for executive and legislative bodies to finalize.

Late Nov. 24, the General Staff headquarters issued a statement to confirm an investigation had been launched into how a prominent suspect in a court case on the military’s alleged involvement in anti-government Internet sites, Gen. Mustafa Bakıcı, managed to flee abroad.

The statement also denied plans were under way to remove Kenan Evren’s name from a garrison in Istanbul.
(Turkish Daily News, November 25, 2011)

US Congress gives green light to SuperCobra helicopters sale to Turkey

Fears became reality when the United States Congress approved the sale of three AH-1 SuperCobra attack helicopters to Turkey on Monday.

A petition was launched to ask Congress not to sale yet another war machine to Turkey. But Congress did not listen to the concern of thousands around the world and went ahead giving the green light to the sale.

The Obama administration had sent to US Congress on Oct. 28 the proposal to sell three AH-1 Super Cobra twin-engine attack helicopters to Turkey from the US Marine Corps inventory. According to US law, the administration needs to notify Congress of the sale of arms to other countries and seek authorization. If the proposed sale is to a NATO-member country, Congress has 15 days to reject the sale or it will be automatically authorized.

The process of securing Congressional approval for the sale of the $111-million helicopters to Turkey was swiftly done as no motion to block the sale was moved to Congress. The attack helicopters are to be delivered in a couple months after a technical screening.
(ANF,  15 November 2011)

Des drones américains basés en Irak repositionnés en Turquie

L'armée américaine a repositionné quatre drones de reconnaissance Predator, auparavant basés en Irak, sur la base aérienne de l'Otan d'Incirlik en Turquie, afin d'appuyer Ankara dans sa lutte contre les séparatistes kurdes du PKK, a affirmé lundi le Pentagone.

Les Etats-Unis ont conclu un accord avec Ankara "à la demande du gouvernement turc pour baser ces engins de reconnaissance et de surveillance à Incirlik" (sud), a déclaré à des journalistes le porte-parole du Pentagone, le capitaine de vaisseau John Kirby.

Ces Predator étaient auparavant stationnés en Irak mais les Etats-Unis doivent avoir évacué l'ensemble de leurs moyens militaires du pays d'ici la fin de l'année, a-t-il expliqué.

Les Predator ont commencé leurs vols depuis Incirlik "il y a plusieurs semaines", a ajouté le capitaine de vaisseau Kirby.

"La mission n'a pas changé" selon lui, seul l'endroit où sont basés ces drones non armés: il s'agit d'apporter un soutien en matière de surveillance et de renseignement à la Turquie dans sa lutte contre les séparatistes du Parti des Travailleurs du Kurdistan (PKK).

L'armée turque a conduit fin octobre une vaste opération militaire contre le PKK dans le sud-est de la Turquie, lancée en réaction à la mort de 24 soldats dans des attaques des rebelles du PKK.

Le PKK, qui a pris les armes en 1984, est placé par les Etats-Unis et l'Union européenne sur la liste des organisations terroristes.

Le Pentagone a par ailleurs annoncé fin octobre la vente --soumise à l'approbation du Congrès-- de trois hélicoptères d'attaque AH-1 Super Cobra à son allié turc pour 111 millions de dollars. 
(AFP, 14 nov 2011)

Petition: Stop US Cobra sales to Turkey

A petition has been launched to ask the Chairman US Senate Foreign Relations Committee to stop the US Cobra sales to Turkey. The Senate can oppose the sale by November 12.

The transfer of three Bell AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopters to Turkey under a US Foreign Military Sale were formally notified to Congress by the US Defense Security Co-operation Agency (DSCA) on October 28.

The DSCA states that the deal will be worth an estimated $111 million, including associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support. Also included would be one spare T700-GE-401 engine, inspections and modifications, spare and repair parts, personnel training and training equipment.

The helicopters will be second-hand examples drawn from the existing US Marine Corps inventory and will involve two of those currently deployed with US forces in Afghanistan. Once all approvals have been received, it is planned to transfer the helicopters in early 2012. They will join the Turkish Land Forces, which already has seven AH-1Ws in its inventory.

The DSCA notes that the effect on USMC readiness of the transfer of these helicopters will be mitigated by returning the sales proceeds from the US Treasury’s general receipts account to the USMC’s H-1 upgrades programme to fund additional UH-1Y/AH-1Zs. (ANF,
7 November 2011)

The petition can be signed at http://www.change.org/petitions/chairman-us-senate-foreign-relations-committee-stop-us-cobra-sales-to-turkey

Les USA affirment leur relation forte avec la Turquie en matière de sécurité

Le secrétaire à la Défense américain Leon Panetta a souligné mardi la volonté de Washington de maintenir des relations privilégiées avec la Turquie en matière de sécurité au cours de discussions avec son homologue turc Ismet Yildiz, a indiqué un porte-parole américain.

M. Panetta a aussi précisé que l'armée américaine se tenait prête à fournir plus d'aide humanitaire au pays qui vient d'être touché par un puissant séisme, a indiqué John Kirby, porte-parole au Pentagone.

"Le secrétaire Panetta a de nouveau assuré le ministre Yildiz de l'engagement de l'Amérique dans une relation forte avec la Turquie en matière de sécurité, a rendu hommage à la contribution de la Turquie à la mission d'entraînement en Afghanistan et s'est engagé à continuer à fournir de l'aide en matière de secours, après le séisme, si nécessaire", est-il écrit.

Cette déclaration intervient alors que le Pentagone a révélé vendredi qu'il comptait vendre à la Turquie trois hélicoptères d'attaque AH-1 Super Cobra pour une transaction se montant à 111 millions de dollars, au moment où Ankara vient de boucler une vaste opération contre les rebelles kurdes du PKK.

Le séisme qui a secoué la province orientale turque de Van a fait plus de 600 morts et de 4.000 blessés. Le Pentagone avait annoncé quelques jours après qu'un avion militaire américain allait se rendre sur place pour fournir de l'aide. (AFP, 1 nov 2011)


Relations régionales / Regional Relations

L'Iran, si menacé, prendra pour cible le "bouclier de l'Otan" en Turquie

L'Iran, si jamais il était menacé par une intervention militaire étrangère, prendrait pour cible le bouclier antimissile de l'Otan en Turquie, a averti samedi le général Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commandant des forces aériennes des Gardiens de la Révolution.

"Si nous sommes menacés, nous comptons d'abord prendre pour cible le bouclier de défense antimissile de l'Otan en Turquie. Et ensuite nous nous en prendrons à d'autres cibles", a déclaré le général Hajizadeh, cité par l'agence de presse iranienne Mehr.

Jusqu'ici, des responsables iraniens avaient affirmé à plusieurs reprises qu'en cas d'attaque contre l'Iran, leurs forces armées mèneraient en représailles des frappes de missiles contre Israël.

Les propos sur la Turquie comme cible sont la première déclaration en ce sens de la part du commandement des Gardiens de la Révolution.

En Israël, les conjectures sur une frappe aérienne israélienne contre les installations nucléaires en Iran se sont multipliées depuis la publication le 8 novembre par l'Agence internationale de l'énergie atomique (AIEA) d'un rapport faisant état de "graves inquiétudes" concernant le programme nucléaire iranien.

S'adressant à des unités de la milice des Bassidji à Khorramabad (ouest), le général Hajizadeh a affirmé que la position de l'Iran était dorénavant "de répondre aux menaces par la menace", conformément à une directive émise ce mois-ci par le Guide suprême de la Révolution, l'ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Les forces dirigées par le général Hajizadeh sont chargées des systèmes de missiles des Gardiens de la Révolution.

La Turquie a accepté l'an dernier l'installation dans le sud-est de son territoire d'un système radar d'alerte précoce, qui fait partie du bouclier antimissile de l'Otan destiné, selon les Etats-Unis, à faire face aux menaces d'attaques de missiles venant du Moyen-Orient, en particulier d'Iran.

Lundi, le général Hajizadeh avait affirmé que "le plus grand souhait" des Gardiens de la Révolution était qu'Israël attaque l'Iran, afin que Téhéran puisse rétorquer et jeter l'Etat juif "dans les poubelles de l'histoire". 
(AFP, 26 nov 2011)

Erdogan appelle Assad à quitter le pouvoir

Le Premier ministre turc, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a exhorté mardi le président syrien Bechar al-Assad à quitter le pouvoir afin de "prévenir davantage d'effusion de sang" dans le pays.

"Pour le salut de ton peuple, de ton pays et de la région, quitte désormais le pouvoir", a-t-il déclaré au Parlement devant le groupe parlementaire de son Parti de la justice et du développement (AKP, issu de la mouvance islamiste).

M. Erdogan, qui était un ami personnel du chef de l'Etat syrien avant le mouvement de contestation en Syrie réprimée par la force, avait déjà annoncé avoir rompu avec le régime, mais c'est la première fois qu'il demande ouvertement le départ de M. Assad.

M. Erdogan a aussi de nouveau fois critiqué M. Assad qui s'est dit "tout à fait" prêt à combattre et à mourir s'il devait affronter des forces étrangères, dans un entretien publié dimanche par l'hebdomadaire britannique The Sunday Times, comparant son attitude à celle des dictateurs comme Hitler ou Mussolini.

"Combattre jusqu'à la mort contre son propre peuple ne relève pas de l'héroïsme. Si tu veux voir quelqu'un qui a lutté à mort contre sa propre population regarde l'Allemagne Nazie, Hitler, Mussolini ou la Roumanie de (Nicolaï) Ceausescu", a ajouté M. Erdogan.
(AFP, 22 nov 2011)

Erdogan à Assad: "Le jour viendra où tu partiras aussi"

Le Premier ministre turc, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a affirmé lundi que les jours du président syrien Bachar al-Assad étaient comptés, estimant que l'on ne pouvait rester au pouvoir "avec des chars et des canons".

"Le jour viendra où tu partiras aussi", a lancé M. Erdogan devant la presse lors d'un forum international à Istanbul à l'adresse du chef de l'Etat syrien.

M. Erdogan a critiqué les dernières déclarations faites par le chef de l'Etat syrien qui s'est dit "tout à fait" prêt à combattre et à mourir s'il devait affronter des forces étrangères, dans un entretien publié dimanche par l'hebdomadaire britannique The Sunday Times.

"Quelqu'un se manifeste et dit qu'il est prêt à mourir", a souligné M. Erdogan et d'ajouter: "Tu vas lutter contre qui?, tu vas combattre ton frère musulman que tu gouvernes?".

Il a une nouvelle fois dénoncé la répression par le régime syrien du mouvement de contestation en Syrie, qui a fait, selon l'Onu, plus de 3.500 morts. "Nous ne pouvons absolument pas considérer comme humain l'usage de chars, de canons et d'armes contre ceux qui réclament des droits et une vie plus humaine", a ajouté M. Erdogan. 
(

De son côté, le président turc Abdullah Gül a jugé que le régime de Damas était désormais dans une "impasse", dans un entretien au quotidien britannique The Guardian.

"La Syrie est à présent dans une impasse, des changements sont inévitables", selon M. Gül, mais, a-t-il souligné, "nous ne croyons pas qu'une intervention extérieure soit le bon moyen d'introduire un changement. C'est le peuple qui doit être l'auteur de ce changement".

L'Arabie saoudite a elle pressé Damas de se conformer "pleinement" au plan de sortie de crise, élaboré par la Ligue arabe et officiellement accepté début novembre par Damas.

Le conseil des ministres saoudiens a appelé Damas à "tenir pleinement les engagements pris" vis-à-vis du plan, qui prévoit en premier lieu l'arrêt des violences, en soulignant "l'importance d'assurer la protection des civils syriens et d'arrêter les tueries et les actes de violence".

La Ligue arabe, qui a suspendu la participation de la Syrie, avait donné à Damas jusqu'à samedi soir pour cesser la répression, sous peine de sanctions économiques.

Malgré la pression internationale qui s'accentue, le régime syrien apparaît déterminé à se maintenir en place coûte que coûte. Le ministre syrien des Affaires étrangères, Walid Mouallem, a prévenu dimanche soir que son pays était prêt à se battre.

Le régime de Damas est confronté depuis la mi-mars à une contestation sans précédent qui tend désormais à dégénérer en conflit armé, avec la multiplication des affrontements entre déserteurs et soldats de l'armée régulière.

Pour autant, Walid Mouallem a rejeté les craintes de "guerre civile" exprimées par les Etats-Unis et la Turquie.

Vendredi, la secrétaire d'Etat américaine Hillary Clinton avait dit "penser qu'il pourrait y avoir une guerre civile, avec une opposition très déterminée, bien armée et finalement bien financée", tandis que M. Davutoglu avait déclaré à l'AFP qu'il y avait "un risque d'évolution vers la guerre civile".

"Si on lit bien les propos de Mme Clinton et M. Davutoglu, on voit qu'ils sont en train de pousser dans ce sens", a dénoncé M. Mouallem. (
AFP, 21 nov 2011)

Les Frères musulmans pour une "intervention" turque en Syrie

Le leader en exil des Frères musulmans syriens, Mohammad Riad Shakfa, a affirmé jeudi à Istanbul que les Syriens seraient prêts à accepter une "intervention" turque en Syrie pour protéger la population des violences commises par le régime de Damas.

"Le peuple syrien acceptera une intervention (en Syrie) venant de Turquie, plutôt que de l'Occident, s'il s'agit de protéger les civils", a déclaré M. Shakfa lors d'une conférence de presse, en réponse à une question sur les moyens pour la communauté internationale de soutenir l'opposition syrienne.

"Nous pouvons avoir besoin de demander davantage de la Turquie car c'est un voisin", a-t-il également dit, sans s'étendre sur la nature de l'intervention que la confrérie pourrait considérer comme acceptable.

Le quotidien pro-gouvernemental Sabah a rapporté jeudi que le Conseil national syrien (CNS), regroupant l'opposition syrienne dont les Frères musulmans, avait demandé à la Turquie qu'elle établisse une zone d'interdiction de vol le long de sa frontière, côté syrien, pour protéger la population syrienne.

Interrogé sur ces allégations, Mohammed Farouk Tayfour, responsable politique des Frères musulmans et membre du CNS, a refusé de s'exprimer, indiquant seulement avoir discuté avec plusieurs gouvernements de "tous les moyens possibles" pour arrêter les violences.

Les Frères musulmans sont en principe hostiles à une intervention étrangère armée en Syrie, a rappelé M. Tayfour. Mais "si une intervention étrangère a lieu, ce sera la faute de ce régime. (...) A partir de ce point, toute la responsabilité retombera sur le régime dictatorial de la Syrie", a-t-il poursuivi.

M. Shafka a appelé la communauté internationale à accentuer l'isolement du régime de Damas en rappelant ses diplomates.

Interrogé par l'AFP sur l'attaque mercredi par des militaires dissidents, "l'Armée syrienne libre", d'un centre des services secrets syriens, M. Shakfa a refusé de désavouer cette action.

"Nous avons toujours dit que la révolution doit être civile et pas militaire et nous nous y tenons, mais cette attaque avait pour but de protéger la population", a déclaré le leader, qualifiant les militaires dissidents d'"hommes d'honneur".

La Syrie est secouée depuis la mi-mars par un mouvement de contestation sans précédent, qui tend à dégénérer en conflit armé.

Les défections et les affrontements entre soldats de larmée régulière et déserteurs se sont multipliés ces dernières semaines dans le pays, où la répression de la contestation a fait plus de 3.500 morts, selon l'ONU.

Issus de l'unification, en 1945, d'associations islamistes locales, les Frères musulmans syriens ont été interdits en 1963. Ils tentèrent de soulever la population contre le régime de Damas mais échouèrent et l'armée réprima durement en 1982 la révolte. La répression fit près de 20.000 morts, selon des estimations. (AFP, 17 nov 2011)

Ankara adopte une ligne de plus en plus dure à l'égard de Syrie

"Ceux qui ne sont pas en paix au Moyen-Orient avec leurs peuples et ne peuvent les satisfaire partiront", a déclaré lundi le chef de la diplomatie turque, faisant allusion à la Syrie, pays voisin à l'égard duquel la Turquie adopte une ligne de plus en plus dure.

Ahmet Davutoglu "adoptera la position la plus ferme" contre les attaques visant ses représentations diplomatiques sur le sol syrien, a ajouté le ministre devant une commission parlementaire.

La Turquie a demandé dimanche à la communauté internationale d'agir d'une "même voix" face à la situation en Syrie et a convoqué le représentant syrien à Ankara après de violentes manifestations samedi contre ses missions diplomatiques dans ce pays, son ancien allié dans la région.

Le vice-Premier ministre Bülent Arinç a pour sa part annoncé lundi que la Turquie attendait des excuses officielles de la Syrie.

"Le ministre syrien des Affaires étrangères Walid Mouallem a exprimé par voie de presse sa tristesse au sujet du rapatriement des familles des employés de l'ambassade (...) avec des mots s'apparentant à des excuses", a déclaré M. Arinç à la presse à l'issue d'un Conseil des ministres.

"La Turquie affirme qu'elle attend des excuses officielles (transmises) par la voie diplomatique", a-t-il poursuivi.

M. Davutoglu a par ailleurs déploré que les efforts de médiation turque entrepris depuis le début de l'année auprès du régime syrien se soient soldés par un échec.

"Nous avons tout fait pour que le sang ne soit pas versé (...) Pour que notre amitié en sorte renforcée avec ce pays, avec lequel nous partageons une frontière de 910 km", a-t-il poursuivi.

M. Davutoglu a souligné que le gouvernement islamo-conservateur turc soutenait au Moyen-Orient les revendications populaires en faveur de davantage de droits. "Nous soutenons les revendications des peuples qui se soulèvent pour de tels droits", a-t-il dit.

"La Turquie ne peut rester un simple spectateur lorsque les valeurs universelles sont piétinées", a ajouté le ministre, faisant allusion à la répression en Syrie qui a fait plus de 3.500 morts, selon un bilan de l'ONU.

Alliée économique et politique de la Syrie avant les troubles dans ce pays, la Turquie a vivement condamné la répression contre les opposants au président Bachar al-Assad, et le Premier ministre Recep Tayyip Erdogan a annoncé qu'il avait coupé les ponts avec le régime de Damas.

Ankara a aussi évacué de Syrie les familles de ses diplomates et ses personnels non essentiels. 
(AFP, 14 nov 2011)

Une ligne de plus en plus dure d'Ankara à l'égard de la Syrie

La Turquie adopte une ligne de plus en plus dure à l'égard de son ancienne alliée la Syrie, jusqu'à soutenir ouvertement ses opposants et faire la promotion de ses déserteurs, avant l'annonce d'éventuelles nouvelles mesures contre le régime de Bachar al-Assad.

"Nous ne pouvons pas rester les témoins passifs" de ce qui se passe en Syrie, a déclaré mercredi le Premier ministre turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan, évoquant
"certaines sanctions" contre ce pays où la répression a fait plus de 3.000 morts depuis la mi-mars, selon l'Onu.

M. Erdogan n'a pas précisé ce qu'il envisage contre le régime de celui qu'il qualifiait l'an dernier encore d'"ami", et avec lequel il organisait des conseils ministériels conjoints, abolissait les visas et ouvrait les portes du commerce.

Annoncées début octobre comme imminentes, ces sanctions n'ont pas encore été dévoilées et le ministre des Affaires étrangères Ahmet Davutoglu parle maintenant de "mesures".

"La Turquie n'est pas favorable aux sanctions en général. Elle redoute sans doute que les Occidentaux l'invitent à les rejoindre sur le terrain des sanctions contre l'Iran, qu'elle a rejetées", note l'analyste Sinan Ülgen, basé à Istanbul.

"Mesures" donc plutôt que sanctions. Certaines sont engagées.

Lassée de réclamer des réformes à Damas, le gouvernement islamo-conservateur turc a ainsi accueilli plusieurs réunions d'opposants syriens, et le 18 octobre, M. Davutoglu a rencontré le Conseil national syrien, qui rassemble une bonne partie de l'opposition.

La Turquie accueille aussi des déserteurs, parmi les 7.500 Syriens réfugiés
sur le sol turc.

Le plus connu est le colonel Riad al-Asaad, qui affirme diriger une "Armée libre de Syrie", et demande une "aide militaire" face au régime de Damas.

A l'inverse de toutes les pratiques concernant les réfugiés, le colonel Asaad est autorisé à parler aux médias. Mieux, ces entretiens sont organisés et sélectionnés par le ministère turc des affaires étrangères.

Le colonel Asaad assure que l'"Armée libre de Syrie" mène des opérations, avec les armes qu'elle récupère.

Les entrées et sorties des Syriens sont libres à la frontière turque, mais "personne n'est autorisé à traverser avec des armes", a répondu un responsable du ministère des affaires étrangères, auquel l'AFP demandait si le colonel Asaad recevait des armes, côté turc.

Quel que soit le rôle exact de ce colonel, l'importance qu'on lui donne en Turquie atteste de la détermination de ce pays à lutter contre le pouvoir de Damas.

"La Turquie juge que la durée de vie du régime syrien est limitée, donc elle aide l'opposition, y compris armée. Elle a perdu espoir de se faire entendre auprès de Damas", explique Sinan Ülgen.

Parmi les mesures envisagées par Ankara figure la création d'une zone tampon militarisée en territoire syrien, pour sécuriser la frontière et absorber un afflux massif de réfugiés en cas de guerre civile en Syrie.

L'option a été envisagée dès l'été, a affirmé à l'AFP le journaliste Mehmet Ali Birand.

Interrogé début novembre par le Financial Times sur une zone tampon ou une zone d'interdiction aérienne, M. Davutoglu est resté vague.

"Nous espérons que de telles mesures ne seront pas nécessaires, mais bien sûr les questions humanitaires sont importantes", a-t-il déclaré.

Le gouvernement turc a de nombreuses raisons d'intervenir sur le dossier syrien.

Comme l'a rappelé M. Erdogan mercredi, la frontière commune s'étire sur plus de 800 km. Les risques de déstabilisation sont importants. Des deux côtés vivent d'importantes communautés kurdes.

"Côté turc, on pense que la Syrie tente d'utiliser la carte PKK", les rebelles du Parti des travailleurs du Kurdistan, qui multiplient leurs attaques contre les forces turques, estime Sinan Ülgen.

"On assiste à une montée en parallèle du terrorisme du PKK et de la colère turque vis-à-vis de la Syrie", renchérit Akif Beki, ancien conseiller de presse de M. Erdogan, dans le journal Radikal.

Autre raison de taille pour M. Erdogan d'agir en Syrie: les Etats-Unis.

Washington, qui aide l'armée turque à lutter contre le PKK, a demandé en septembre à son allié turc de l'Otan d'exercer "davantage de pression" sur le régime syrien.
(AFP, 4 nov 2011)

Ankara ne fera pas escorter la mini-flottille vers Gaza

Les Etats-Unis ont indiqué jeudi avoir reçu l'assurance de la Turquie qu'elle n'allait pas faire escorter par sa marine les deux bateaux se dirigeant vers la bande de Gaza malgré le blocus israélien.

En septembre, le Premier ministre turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan avait dit envisager de faire escorter les futures flottilles humanitaires vers Gaza par la marine turque jugeant qu'on ne pouvait pas faire confiance à Israël.

La porte-parole du département d'Etat Victoria Nuland a indiqué jeudi à des journalistes que des responsables américains avaient mis en garde à l'époque Ankara contre une telle initiative, et que jeudi ils avaient reçu l'assurance qu'aucun navire turc n'escorterait les deux bateaux.

"Nous avions été clairs sur le fait que nous pensons que cela serait une mauvaise idée. Et ils viennent de nous rassurer sur le fait qu'ils ne vont pas le faire dans cette affaire", a-t-elle dit.

La mini-flottille composée d'un bateau irlandais, le Saoirse ("liberté" en gaélique) et d'un autre canadien, le Tahrir ("libération" en arabe) est partie mercredi après-midi de Fethiye, dans le sud-ouest de la Turquie, et prévoit d'arriver vendredi à Gaza.

En comptant les membres d'équipages et les journalistes invités, 27 personnes se trouvaient à bord des deux navires, qui transportaient 30.000 dollars de médicaments, selon un communiqué transmis par l'organisation "Freedom Waves To Gaza" (Vagues de la liberté vers Gaza).

La première flottille de ce type avait appareillé en mai 2010, mais elle avait été arrêtée par la marine israélienne lors d'un raid qui avait fait neuf morts parmi les militants turcs et provoqué une crise diplomatique entre la Turquie et Israël.

Une deuxième flottille avait essayé de partir de Grèce en juillet, mais ses projets avaient été retardés par des problèmes techniques -attribués à des actes de sabotage israéliens- puis par la décision des autorités grecques de leur interdire d'appareiller.

Israël défend régulièrement son droit à maintenir le blocus de la bande de Gaza, contrôlée par le Hamas, afin d'empêcher la contrebande d'armes. 
(AFP, 3 nov 2011)

Chypre et la Grèce / Cyprus and Greece

A Chypre, des "indignés" occupent la Ligne verte pour l'unification de l'île

Dans le sillage du mouvement des "indignés", des jeunes Chypriotes, originaires des deux côtés de l'île divisée depuis 1974, occupent symboliquement une portion de la zone tampon placée sous l'autorité de l'ONU, avec pour revendication la réunification de leur pays.

Depuis une semaine, une demi-douzaine de tentes se serrent sur les quelques mètres carrés de la "zone publique" de la Ligne verte, au point de passage de la rue Ledra, en plein centre de Nicosie, dernière capitale divisée d'Europe.

Ouvert 24h/24, ce point de passage au coeur de la vieille ville permet de relier à pied la République de Chypre dans le Sud, internationalement reconnue, et la République turque de Chypre nord (KKTC) dans le Nord, autoproclamée et reconnue uniquement par Ankara.

En journée, une poignée de militants gardent le camp, lisant ou jouant de la musique. Le soir, ils sont jusqu'à une cinquantaine, venus après le travail ou l'université, pour participer aux discussions ou projections de films et débattre de l'avenir de l'île coupée en deux depuis l'occupation par les troupes turques du tiers nord de Chypre, en réaction à un coup d'Etat inspiré par Athènes et visant au ralliement de l'île à la Grèce.

"Nous avons répondu à l'appel de la journée mondiale des "indignés" du 15 octobre et organisions chaque samedi des rassemblements. Nous nous sommes dits: pourquoi ne pas occuper la zone tampon?" explique Michalis Eleftheriou, un Chypriote-grec de 26 ans.

Exit donc depuis une semaine l'exposition de photographies des Nations unies sur l'ouverture du point de passage en 2008. Les militants ont réutilisé les panneaux pour en faire une tribune libre où ont fleuri les appels à la réunification: "La zone morte vit désormais", "Nos intérêts ne sont pas conflictuels, il y en a qu'un: la paix".

"Nous pensons que la solution doit venir des gens eux-mêmes. Nous sommes là pour éveiller les consciences", explique Rahme Veziroglu, sociologue chypriote-turque de 26 ans, une habituée des "projets bi-communautaires" lancés depuis des années par l'ONU pour amorcer un dialogue entre communautés, mais souvent considérés comme dérisoires face aux impasses politiques répétées.

En 2004, un plan de l'ONU a été massivement rejeté par les Chypriotes-grecs, malgré une large approbation dans le Nord. Début novembre, le secrétaire général de l'ONU, Ban Ki-moon, a évoqué des "progrès encourageants" lors des dernières discussions sous la houlette de son organisation, mais averti qu'il y avait "encore du travail à faire".

A la différence de leurs cousins américains ou espagnols, les "indignés" de Chypre, eux, n'ont pas à redouter l'intervention des forces de l'ordre. Les policiers des deux parties de l'île n'ont pas le droit de pénétrer dans la zone tampon.

C'est la première fois depuis la partition de 1974 qu'a lieu une telle "occupation", reconnaît Michel Bonnardeaux, porte-parole de l'UNFICYP, la force de paix de l'ONU. "Pour le moment, nous tolérons leur présence, même si ça nous a forcé à aménager nos patrouilles".

"On a une certaine sympathie: ils réclament la réunification. On ne demande pas mieux, cela fait 37 ans qu'on y travaille", assure-t-il, malgré des graffitis hostiles à l'ONU inscrits sur les murs, les militants réclamant "le départ de toutes les armées, turque, grecque et de l'ONU".

Qu'ils soient du nord ou du sud du pays, les militants insistent sur "l'ignorance" et "l'endoctrinement" à l'école et au service militaire qui, selon eux, creusent le fossé entre communautés grecque et turque.

Ils regrettent aussi l'indifférence sur cette question. "C'est difficile de mobiliser quand les jeunes n'aspirent qu'à avoir une mercedes", déplore Michalis Eleftheriou. 
(AFP, Jordane BERTRAND, 27 nov 2011)

Négociations entre les deux dirigeants de Chypre

Les dirigeants chypriote-grec et chypriote-turc ont mené lundi en banlieue de New York une deuxième journée de discussions sous la houlette du chef de l'ONU Ban Ki-moon pour tenter de régler leurs différends sur le processus de réunification de Chypre.

Le secrétaire général des Nations unies devait rejoindre en début d'après-midi les deux protagonistes, Demetris Christofias, président de la République de Chypre et Dervis Eroglu, dirigeant de la République turque de Chypre du Nord (KKTC).

Il devait présider ensuite un dîner de travail qui viendra clôturer cette séance de négociations, dont la première journée, dimanche, a été "positive, productive et vigoureuse", selon le conseiller spécial de l'ONU sur Chypre, Alexander Downer.

Un porte-parole de l'ONU a indiqué qu'il n'y aurait pas de déclaration lundi soir au terme des discussions qui se sont déroulées à Greentree, Ban Ki-moon devant s'exprimer devant la presse sur le sujet mardi matin.

Depuis qu'elles ont démarré en septembre 2008, les rencontres entre les deux dirigeants de l'île sous l'égide de l'ONU n'ont pas permis d'avancées notables. L'ONU espère toujours la rédaction d'une feuille de route sur la manière dont les deux responsables entendent régler les différends pour parvenir à un accord de réunification.

L'objectif est de trouver un accord avant que Chypre n'assure la présidence tournante de l'Union européenne en juillet 2012. Le président de la Commission européenne José Manuel Barroso a appelé vendredi les deux dirigeants à "saisir la chance".

Chypre est divisée en une partie grecque et une partie turque depuis que les troupes turques ont occupé en 1974 un tiers de l'île, en réaction à un coup d'Etat inspiré par Athènes et visant au ralliement de Chypre à la Grèce.

La République de Chypre est internationalement reconnue tandis que la République turque de Chypre du Nord (
KKTC) est autoproclamée et uniquement reconnue par Ankara. (AFP, 31 oct 2011)


Immigration / Migration

Police attack in Berlin, 300 people taken into custody

German police attacked the demonstration which has been organized for today in capital city Berlin under the leadership of German Kurdish Unions Federation (YEK-KOM) and support of German left-democratic organizations. Many demonstrators were taken into custody as a result of the police attack with pepper spray.

The demonstration was organized with the slogan “against fascism, green fascism, racism, pressures and bans” following the prohibition of the meeting which was going to be staged today to voice the demand for the ‘removal of the ban on PKK’.

Similar to the police practices in Turkey, German police also stopped demonstrators at early morning hours and blocked their way into Berlin city.

The march, shortly after it started in Kreuzberg district, was harshly attacked by police. Dozens of people were taken into custody and one demonstrator is reported to have broken his arm during the intervention.

YEK-KOM made a statement to condemn the police attack and remarked that the German state executed same antidemocratic practices with those applied by Turkish and Syrian police.

Demonstrators started a sit-in act in the area which –they underlined- will not leave until the release of Kurd and nonfascist demonstrators. Tension continues at the scene.

While 300 people were released following the conversations between YEK-KOM executives and police, 40 demonstrators are still remanded in custody.
(ANF, 26 Nov 2011)

Crimes racistes en Allemagne: un nouveau suspect arrêté

Un Allemand de 32 ans, soupçonné d'avoir soutenu un groupe de néo-nazis à l'origine d'une série de meurtres racistes dans toute l'Allemagne, a été arrêté jeudi près de Potsdam (est), a annoncé le Parquet fédéral général.

Andre E. est "fortement soupçonné" d'avoir été "en contacts étroits" depuis 2003 avec un trio néo-nazi, composé de deux hommes et d'une femme, tous trois trentenaires, précise le communiqué du parquet de Karlsruhe (sud-ouest), compétent en matière de terrorisme.

D'après le parquet, il est l'auteur d'une vidéo réalisée en 2007 dans laquelle ce groupe revendique le meurtre de neuf étrangers, dont huit Turcs, entre 2000 et 2006, tous abattus d'une balle dans la tête, et d'une policière.

Dans ce film, les auteurs utilisent notamment le personnage de la panthère rose et des images d'un attentat commis en 2004 dans un quartier à forte population immigrée de Cologne (ouest) dont ils sont suspectés d'être également les auteurs.

Le président fédéral Christian Wulff a par ailleurs annoncé aux familles des victimes de ces crimes xénophobes la tenue d'une cérémonie en leur mémoire en février.

"C'est important pour moi que les victimes et leurs proches soient placés au centre. Les enfants, les parents, les frères et soeurs, les veuves doivent sentir une grande solidarité et participation de toute la nation", a souligné Wulff dans un communiqué publié après avoir reçu mercredi soir les familles.

Dans le volet judiciaire de l'affaire, le parquet de Karlsruhe soupçonne également Andre E. d'avoir prêté sa carte de réduction de la Deutsche Bahn, les chemins de fer allemands, ainsi que celle de sa femme à deux membres du groupe néo-nazi.

La police a également perquisitionné quatre appartements dans trois villes de l'est de l'Allemagne, dont celui du suspect interpellé à Zwickau.

Après le suicide de deux des trois membres du trio, l'Allemagne avait découvert à la mi-novembre qu'ils étaient notamment à l'origine de neuf meurtres d'étrangers, tous de petits commerçants, restés inexpliqués.

Le troisième personnage de ce trio, une femme de 36 ans, s'était ensuite rendue à la police. Emprisonnée depuis, elle a jusqu'ici refusé de s'exprimer, selon les médias.

Un autre homme, de 37 ans, se trouve également en détention provisoire, soupçonné lui aussi d'avoir aidé le trio qui est aussi suspecté d'avoir commis une quinzaine de braquages de banques ces dernières années.
(AFP, 24 nov 2011)

A MEP to raise suspicious death of Turks in police custody in Europe
 
Emine Bozkurt, a Dutch parliamentarian of Turkish origin from Labor Party, said in a statement her office released on Wednesday that she will raise the issue of prison conditions, violation of the rights of jailed suspects and deaths while in detention in European Union member states during a European Parliament General Assembly session. 

A 22-year-old Turk, İhsan Gürz, was found dead in a detention cell at a Dutch police station this July. His family and friends claim his death was caused by police brutality, while Dutch officials assert that the young man died of a heart attack.

Bozkurt's statement came after her visit to Turkey with a delegation from the European Parliament External Relations Committee and she met with Turkish Parliament's Human Rights Commission members. She said the Turkish parliamentary commission asked Bozkurt to press the European Parliament to further investigate the suspicious death of Gürz.

Commission Chairman Ayhan Sefer Üstün delivered a letter regarding the issue to Bozkurt, which she said was forwarded to Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal, adding that she will raise the issue during a European Parliament session in December.

She underlined that the EU is frequently pointing to human rights violations in non-member states and that it is Turkey's right to demand the 27-member club investigate its own human rights violations. She noted that similar human rights violations are not limited to the Netherlands and that Gürz's incident should be assessed together with other incidents across Europe.

Gürz is not the first ethnic Turk to die while in custody. Ekrem Şahin, a 23-year-old Turkish inmate who was serving a two-year sentence in Denmark's Kolding Prison died earlier this year after he was severely beaten by prison guards and went into a coma. And in February 2008, a Turkish man, who was reportedly subjected to physical abuse at the hands of German police in Hagen, near Dortmund, died from injuries he received whilst he was in police custody. His name was Adem Özdamar.
(TODAY'S ZAMAN, 23 November 2011)

Brève occupation de l'Agora du Conseil de l'Europe par des Kurdes

Une cinquantaine de militants kurdes ont brièvement occupé mercredi après-midi un bâtiment du Conseil de l'Europe à Strasbourg, pour demander des garanties sur l'état de santé du chef du PKK emprisonné, a-t-on appris auprès de la police.

Les militants et sympathisants du chef historique du Parti des travailleurs du Kurdistan (PKK), Abdullah Öcalan, emprisonné à vie depuis 1999, ont brisé une porte vitrée à l'entrée de l'Agora, une annexe de l'instance paneuropéenne. Ils se sont ensuite assis dans le hall aux cris de "Libérez Öcalan" et "Solidarité avec le peuple kurde".

Les négociations avec les forces de l'ordre n'ont rien donné et la police est intervenue pour faire sortir les manifestants, qui avaient formé une chaîne humaine dans le hall. Une demi-douzaine d'entre eux ont été interpellés pour outrage et rébellion.

Le GIPN a également dû intervenir pour empêcher l'un des manifestants, qui avait franchi une rambarde, de se jeter dans le vide d'une hauteur d'environ sept mètres, a précisé la police.

Les manifestants kurdes avaient déjà envahi l'Agora dans des conditions analogues le 13 septembre. 
(AFP, 23 nov 2011)

Hommage des députés allemands aux victimes de crimes racistes

Les députés allemands, tous partis confondus, ont rendu hommage mardi aux victimes d'une série de crimes racistes attribués à un groupe néo-nazi, commis ces dernières années dans ce pays.

"Au nom de tout le Bundestag, j'exprime notre douleur, compassion et désarroi", a déclaré solennellement le président de la chambre basse du parlement allemand, Norbert Lammert, devant les députés, restés debout pendant tout son discours d'ouverture de séance.

"Nous avons honte que les services de sécurité de l'Etat fédéral et des régions n'aient pas réussi à élucider (l'affaire) à temps et à empêcher ces crimes préparés et commis pendant des années", a-t-il dit.

Fait rarissime, tous les partis représentés au Bundestag --conservateurs, sociaux-démocrates, libéraux, verts et gauche radicale-- se sont entendus sur une déclaration commune condamnant l'extrémisme de droite.

Ces crimes sont "une attaque contre notre société, notre liberté et notre démocratie", a déclaré le ministre allemand de l'Intérieur, Hans-Peter Friedrich.

L'Allemagne a été choquée par la découverte il y a une dizaine de jours d'une cellule néo-nazie fortement soupçonnée d'avoir tué par xénophobie huit Turcs et un Grec, entre 2000 et 2006, ainsi qu'une policière en 2007.

Cette cellule serait également à l'origine d'un attentat dans un quartier de Cologne où vivent de nombreux immigrés turcs, qui avait fait plus de 20 blessés en 2004.
(AFP, 22 nov 2011)

Près de 400.000 migrants empêchés de rejoindre l'UE en 2010

Près de 400.000 migrants ont été empêchés en 2010 de rejoindre l'Union européenne qui continue de renforcer l'externalisation, voire la privatisation des contrôles aux frontières, selon le dernier rapport du réseau Migreurop consulté lundi par l'AFP.

Cette troisième enquête de Migreurop, intitulée "Aux bords de l'Europe, l'externalisation des contrôles migratoires", s'intéresse au sort des migrants à la frontière orientale de la Turquie avec l'Iran et aux "passagers clandestins" à bord des bateaux de la marine marchande.

"En 2010, plus de 393.000 ressortissants extracommunautaires ont essuyé un refus d'entrée aux frontières extérieures de l'Union européenne: 336.789 aux frontières terrestres, 50.087 dans les aéroports et 6.704 aux frontières maritimes", détaille le rapport.

Migreurop regroupe une quarantaine d'associations européennes et africaines militant pour le droit d'émigrer.

Le réseau a fait le choix de s'intéresser aux "passagers clandestins" des navires de la marine marchande "parce que ces situations révèlent un transfert de responsabilité de l'autorité publique vers les acteurs privés sur les plans des contrôles frontaliers et de la prise en charge des migrants interceptés", explique-t-il.

Il a mené son enquête dans 23 ports de six pays de l'UE (Allemagne, Bulgarie, Chypre, Espagne, France, Italie, Pays-Bas) et au Maroc.

Depuis la mise en place en 2004 du Code international pour la sûreté des navires et des installations portuaires, conséquences des attentats du 11-Septembre, le nombre de ces "passagers clandestins" a diminué du fait des contrôles plus sévères dans les ports où les conteneurs doivent être plombés.

Résultat: les passagers voyagent dans des conditions qui mettent leur vie en péril. Mais comme la plupart des pays refusent de les laisser débarquer, ils poursuivent parfois leur périple, "trimballés de port en port, enfermés dans une cabine, sans possibilité d'en sortir.

Quand les "clandestins" peuvent être expulsés, "des agents privés (sociétés de sécurité et de gardiennage) sont fréquemment mobilisés" au mépris des législations nationales qui confient à la police et à la gendarmerie les missions de "recherche, arrestation et consignation de migrants en situation irrégulière", dénonce Migreurop.

En Turquie, à la frontière avec l'Iran, une zone militarisée à 2.500/3.000 m d'altitude, les migrants "sont exposés à des traitements inhumains aussi bien de la part des passeurs que des autorités turques qui les arrêtent et les placent dans les geôles".

Van, la principale ville frontalière avec ses 600.00 habitants est décrite comme "une véritable nasse, un camp à ciel ouvert dans lequel des milliers de demandeurs d'asile, réfugiés et déboutés de l'asile sont bloqués pendant des durées indéterminées". 
(AFP, 21 nov 2011)

L'Allemagne va rendre hommage aux victimes de crimes racistes

L'Allemagne va organiser une cérémonie commémorative en hommage aux victimes d'une série de crimes racistes attribués à un groupe néo-nazi, a déclaré dimanche le président du parlement.

Le Bundestag a évoqué la question avec la chancelière Angela Merkel et le président Christian Wulff, a précisé son président, Norbert Lammert.

"Nous sommes d'accord sur la nécessité d'organiser un tel événement," mais concernant "la forme que doit revêtir cette cérémonie, cela relève des attentes des familles", a-t-il déclaré au journal Tagesspiegel. Aucune date n'a été précisée.

L'Allemagne est secouée depuis une semaine par la découverte d'une cellule néo-nazie fortement soupçonnée d'avoir tué huit Turcs et un Grec, entre 2000 et 2006, et une policière en 2007. Elle serait également à l'origine en 2004 d'un attentat dans un quartier où vivent de nombreux immigrés turcs à Cologne et qui avait fait plus de 20 blessés.

Mme Merkel a exigé samedi que toute la lumière soit faite sur ces meurtres. "Nous n'aurons de cesse que nous ne fassions la lumière sur ces actes", a-t-elle assuré, s'interrogeant sur les raisons pour lesquelles ce groupe, apparemment connu des autorités, avait pu commettre ces crimes sans être inquiété.

Ces crimes ont également provoqué des réactions en Turquie.

"Il s'agit d'une affaire dans laquelle il sera demandé des comptes pour chaque goutte de sang versé par chacun de nos compatriotes en Allemagne", a déclaré samedi lors d'une conférence le ministre turc des Affaires étrangères, Ahmet Davutoglu, cité par la presse turque.

"Comme ils ont été tués par racisme, parce qu'ils étaient Turcs, nous les considérons comme des martyrs", a ajouté le ministre, soulignant que la Turquie suivrait l'affaire et défendrait les droits des victimes "jusqu'au bout".

Interrogé dimanche par des journalistes, le président turc Abdullah Gül s'est pour sa part dit confiant dans la justice allemande.

"L'Allemagne est un Etat de droit, je suis convaincu qu'ils mèneront l'enquête sur les événements passés avec la plus grande honnêteté et la transparence qui sied à un Etat de droit et qu'ils exposeront ce qui s'est vraiment passé", a déclaré M. Gül, cité par l'agence de presse Anatolie.

La ministre allemande de la Justice, Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, a promis des compensations aux familles pour la perte de leurs proches.

"Je crains qu'au terme de nos investigations, nous ne découvrions bien plus de victimes de la xénophobie que ce que nous en savons aujourd'hui," a déclaré la ministre à l'hebdomadaire Welt am Sonntag.

"Même si les aides financières ne peuvent réparer leur douleur, j'essaierai de donner aux familles des victimes un signe de notre solidarité
en leur accordant des compensations sur mon budget", a déclaré Mme Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger.

Ces crimes ont relancé le débat en Allemagne sur la question de savoir s'il fallait interdire le parti d'extrême droite NPD.

Norbert Lammert a déclaré que les autorités examineraient tous les liens possibles entre le groupe néo-nazi et le NPD, tout en se montrant sceptique sur l'efficacité d'une interdiction du parti.
(AFP 20 nov 2011)

Un journaliste belgo-turc empêché de se rendre en Syrie

Communiqué d'Investig'action, 16 novembre 2011

Notre collaborateur Bahar Kimyongür auteur du livre « Syriana, la conquête continue » paru dans la série « Informez-vous » des éditions investig'action et Couleur Livres s'apprêtait à se rendre ce samedi en Syrie pour nous ramener une information de première main concernant les troubles qui ensanglantent ce pays.

A cette occasion, il devait notamment visiter les villes sinistrées par les violences telles que Homs, Hama et Deraa, rencontrer le président de la république arabe syrienne M. Bachar El-Assad et le Cheikh Badreddine Hassoune, grand mufti de la République dont le fils Saria a été tué par des terroristes en octobre dernier ainsi que des dissidents luttant pour la démocratisation de la Syrie mais opposés à toute ingérence étrangère.

Ce matin, Bahar Kimyongür s'est rendu à la commune de Bruxelles pour rechercher son nouveau passeport. Mais au guichet, on lui a signifié que son passeport a été bloqué au Ministère des affaires étrangères.

Il passera toute la journée au bout du téléphone pour connaître le motif de cette entrave à sa liberté de circulation. Au final, il apprend que l'émission de son passeport a été court-circuitée par le Parquet fédéral.

Cette nouvelle tracasserie administrative vient s'ajouter aux nombreux déboires judiciaires qu'il a connus en raison de ses engagements politiques.

Depuis 11 ans, Bahar Kimyongür est recherché par les autorités turques via Interpol pour avoir chahuté le ministre des affaires étrangères de l'époque, M. Ismail Cem dans l'enceinte du Parlement européen.

En 2006, il avait été arrêté sur le sol néerlandais sur base de ce signalement Interpol. Après 68 jours de détention préventive, les juges de ce pays l'ont libéré étant donné la vacuité du dossier pénal turc.

Parallèlement au mandat d'arrêt émis par Ankara, la justice belge l'a inlassablement poursuivi en vertu de la loi antiterroriste de 2004.

En décembre 2009, Kimyongür a cependant été acquitté par la Cour d'appel de Bruxelles de tous les faits qui lui étaient reprochés, arguant que ses activités politiques relevaient de la liberté d'expression garantie par la Constitution.

Deux ans après son acquittement, notre ami Bahar n'est manifestement toujours pas au bout de ses peines.

Entre-temps, c'est notre liberté d'information qui en est entravée. On se plaignait de la censure imposée par le régime syrien à la presse internationale. A présent, ce sont les autorités judiciaires belges qui, indirectement, pratiquent la censure.

Une aubaine pour Rami Abdel Rahmane, le directeur de l'Observatoire syrien des droits de l'homme (OSDH) dont chaque parole est prise pour argent comptant par l'ensemble des groupes de presse et des chancelleries atlantistes.

Une aubaine aussi pour le régime d'Ankara qui, grâce aux pressions qu'elle exerce sur ses opposants, peut poursuivre sa guerre contre la Syrie en toute quiétude. (www.michelcollon.info, 18 novembre 2011)

Ankara exhorte Berlin à faire toute la lumière sur des meurtres de Turcs

La Turquie a demandé lundi à l'Allemagne de faire toute la lumière sur les meurtres de neuf personnes d'origine étrangère --huit Turcs et un Grec-- entre 2000 et 2006, et de prendre toutes les mesures contre les courants extrémistes sur son sol.

"Nous attendons des autorités allemandes qu'elles fassent toute la lumière sur ces crimes et qu'elles mènent à fond l'enquête", souligne un communiqué du ministère des Affaires étrangères.

Le texte appelle Berlin à "prendre toutes les mesures nécessaires désormais contre les courants extrémistes", ajoutant que les "inquiétudes" de la Turquie et de ses ressortissants ayant élu domicile en Allemagne contre une montée de l'extrémisme en Allemagne s'étaient avérées fondées.

Trois millions de Turcs ou personnes d'origine turque vivent sur le territoire allemand.

Huit commerçants d'origine turque et un d'origine grecque, vendeurs de sandwiches döner, avaient été tués par balle en plein jour et sans témoin. L'affaire du "tueur aux döner", comme la presse l'avait rebaptisée, avait provoqué l'indignation en Turquie et en Allemagne.

Trois trentenaires - deux hommes aujourd'hui décédés et une femme arrêtée la semaine passée en Thüringe (est),
sont soupçonnés d'avoir tué ces neuf personnes.

Ils sont également mis en cause dans le meurtre d'une policière, abattue d'une balle dans la tête en 2007, et leur participation à un attentat à la bombe dans un quartier turc de Cologne en 2004 est également évoquée.

Les autorités judiciaires ont évoqué un mobile lié à l'extrême-droite pour ces meurtres. 
(AFP, 14 nov 2011)


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