· HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS FOR THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY.
On 11 March, the Turkish Human Rights Association (IHD) made public
in
Diyarbekir, its assessment of Human Rights violations for the month
of
February 2002. "Interdictions that have not been applied in practice
have
been put back on the agenda by secret circulars. There has been a 15
year
regression, particularly in language expression" declared Osman Baydemir,
a
lawyer in charge of the Diyarbekir branch. Here is an extract of the
published assessment:
- Number of people taken into detention:
111
- Number of people subjected to
torture, ill treatment and threats: 12
- Number of "disappearances": 1
- Number of arrests: 23
- Number of TV and radios banned:
2
- Number of publications banned
in the State of Emergency region (OHAL) : 29
- Number of victims of land mines
Killed: 3 / Injured: 15
· TALABANI "WE WANT DEMOCRATIC CHANGE IN IRAQ WE DO
NOT
WANT ONE DICTATOR TO BE REPLACED BY ANOTHER"
Jalal Talabani's visit to Turkey gave rise to polemics in the Turkish
press
and gave rise to criticisms in certain Arab countries, including Syria.
To
attempt to dissipate them, the Kurdish leader visited Damascus. Thus,
on 14
March, the Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, raised the question of
American threats against Iraq with Jalal Talabani. "Messrs. Assad and
Talabani examined matters regarding Iraq and particularly American
threats
against Baghdad" specified the SANA Press Agency.
Mr. Talabani, who leads the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) had earlier
met the Syrian Vice-President, Abdel Halim Khaddam and the Assistant
General Secretary of the country's ruling Baas Party, Abdallah al-Ahmar,
according to those close to him. A PUK official in Damascus stated
that his
organisation was not in favour of strikes against Baghdad, which he
identified with a "foreign plot to overthrow (Saddam Hussein's) regime".
On 12 March, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) had denied a news
item
appearing in the Arab Press regarding a reconnaissance mission recently
carried out by the American Army in Northern Iraq. "It's a lie" affirmed
a
PUK official, when questioned in Damascus about this information published
that day in the London-based Arabic paper Al-Hayat. "We want a democratic
change in Iraq we do not want one dictator (Saddam Hussein) replaced
by
another" he added.
Quoting Iraqi opposition sources, Al-Hayat had reported that over 40
American officers and experts had recently stayed in Iraqi Kurdistan
and
there inspected military positions, including two aerodromes in the
context
of "preparations for military operations in Iraq".
Since the investiture of President Bashar al-Assad, Syria has opted
for a
normalisation of its relations with Baghdad and the news of fresh American
intervention in Iraq worries Damascus. The opposition Iraqi parties
no
longer favoured in Syria.
· GENERAL CRITICAL OF EU: SEES ALTERNATIVES IN IRAN, RUSSIA
Polarisation between Eurosceptics and pro-Europeans is in full swing
following a
statement by the all-powerful General Secretary of the National Security
Council (MGK)
General Tuncer Kilinç. On 7 March the general declared that
"Turkey sees no support from
the European Union on questions of national interest. Russia is also
rather
isolated. I think that, without neglecting the United States, and with
our
eyes wide open, we owe it to ourselves to start a new search, including
Iran". Speaking in a symposium organised by the War Academy Command,
General Kilinç indicated that he was only expressing his "personal
opinion". But observers note that his remarks will be taken as indicative
of a certain school of thought within the Army, bringing to light the
anxieties of its conservative wing that thinks that the reforms of
harmonisation undertaken in order to join the European Union could
endanger
Turkey's territorial unity and integrity or, more prosaically,
reduce the
military hierarchy's domination over the countries political life.
The general's remarks appeared as a direct reply to Mesut Yilmaz, Deputy
Prime Minister responsible for European affairs in the coalition
government, who had, in an interview given to the magazine Tempo of
6
March, called for a referendum to decide whether or not Turkey should
join
the European Union, in the hope that massive YES vote would put pressure
on
the conservative Eurosceptics. Mesut Yilmaz had also accused his coalition
partner, Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the National Action Party
(MHP
neo-fascist) of "hiding behind the Army" in his opposition to the reforms
needed for EU membership. Devlet Bahçeli had then retorted that
Mesut
Yilmaz was playing "a dangerous game".
The Turkish Armed Forces Chief of Staff, General Huseyin Kivrikoglu,
for
his part, declared, in an interview given to the Defence and Aviation
Revue
that "the European Union is a geopolitical obligation" at the same
time
accusing the European counties of supporting "terrorist actions against
Turkey".
The debate is getting increasingly acrimonious as the Turkey's mid-March
deadline for short-term compliance with E.U. requirements approaches.
" There are thus three possibilities. Either there has been a change
in the
Army's feelings and they now oppose the EU; or they have always been
against it because it conflicts with their influence over the country
General Kilinç expresses this openly. The third possibility
is that there
is a split in the Army between the Eurosceptics and the pro-Europeans
"
wrote Ilnur Çevik, Director of the English language daily
Turkish Daily News.
Cuneyt Ulsever simply wrote in his column of 12 March, in the same paper,
that "thanks to General Kilinç, the anti-E.U. lobby is now much
clearer!"
and ads "I am very glad that the General has clarified the question.
We all
feel that there are anti-E.U. elements in the government, the Army
and the
Civil Service, but hitherto they had been ashamed to express their
"anti
opinions" In fact, the Army and the bureaucrats would lose their
privileged position in the country if Turkey completely conformed to
the
Copenhagen criteria. In a country where at least 60% of the economy
is
controlled by the State apparatus, the Civil Service and the Army enjoy
considerable privileges The army enjoys an other
privilege that could be
described as "supervision of political affairs"."
"It's a farce I have just one question to ask our Ataturkists
who, finding
the conditions too onerous, are opposing EU membership: Do you think
that
Iran would accept us? Iran would never want you unless
you adopted the
Sharia laws on punishment, business, inheritance and property. In brief,
even the Iranian mullahs have their conditions Why don't you
have the
courage to say that you don't want to join the EU? " commented Bekir
Coskun
in the daily Hurriyet of 12 March.
The same paper, Hurriyet, drew up, on 11March, a strange balance sheet:
"the proposal of Russia and Iran against the EU made by MGK General
Secretary, General Tuncer Kilinç was the subject of 91 editorials
in the
press in 46 he was criticised and in 26 he was supported".
· PARLIAMENT RENEWS STATE OF EMERGENCY IN FOUR
KURDISH
PROVINCES. On 13 March, the Turkish Parliament renewed the State
of
Emergency, that has been in force for 15 years, in four Kurdish provinces.
The provinces concerned are Tunceli, Diyarbekir, Hakkari and Sirnak.
Parliament has to decide or not the renewal of the State of Emergency
every
four months.
The lifting of this emergency decree is one of the "medium term" measures
required of Turkey by the European Union prior to opening negotiations
for
membership. The Turkish government has committed itself to lifting
them
but without giving any date in its "national programme", adopted
last
year. This is a vast catalogue of measures that should bring Turkey
into
conformity with European political and economic standards.
During the discussion in the Assembly, the Minister of the Interior,
Rustu
Kazim Yucelen, indicated that the PKK "threat" remained in the region.
"The
organisation has some 500 armed terrorists on Turkish territory" he
said in
particular. In September 1999, the PKK put an official end to the armed
rebellion which it had started in 1984. Since then, fighting in the
area
has virtually ceased. But the Turkish Army has declared that it was
determined to hunt the rebels down to the last man, unless they surrended
completely, and is continuing operations in Iraqi Kurdistan, under
Kurdish
administration, to which the bulk of the PKK fighters have retreated.
· GENERALS LAUNCH CAMPAIGN IN SUPPORT OF COLLEAGUE
SENTENCED IN SUSURLUK CASE. The politico-media scene has
been shaken by the joint statement of support by four retired generals
for
Korkut Eken, LieutenantColonel of the Turkish Army, serving in
the Turkish
Internal Intelligent Department (MIT), and sentenced to six years
imprisonment for his involvement in the Susurluk affair. Dogan Gures,
former Chief of the Armed Forces General Staff, Necati Ozgen and Hasan
Kundakçi, former Generals commanding the gendarmerie in the
Kurdish regions
and Cumhur Evcil, a retired general, all declared that Korkut Eken,
who was
incarcerated on 1 March, "was a military leader, worthy of all kinds
of
praise. He is a hero" and that "his activities between 1993 and 1996
were
carried out under our strict control".
Korkut Eken, who is described as "disciplined", "sacrificing his life
for
his country", "a military hero" by these generals, was nevertheless
sentenced for "organising an armed gang for committing crimes" by the
State
Security Court that ruled that "a gang exists and must not remain
unpunished". The Turkish Court of Appeals, in upholding the verdict,
denounced, in its considerations, "the relations with the deep State"
and
the Public Prosecutor of the Court of Appeals declared, in his closing
speech "it is difficult to find the relations hidden behind the gang
and
this is important as it includes various and sensitive officials and
authorities".
"I ask the retired generals: Did the relations (of K. EKEN) with Tarik
Umit, a drug trafficker and MIT spy take place under your control?
Why
did you feel the need for such a relationship? Are you also responsible
for
Korkut Eken's relations with drug traffickers, casino barons, the
protectors and dirty money launders of the latter? Why this need?
How
much did you pay for the weapons they possessed? Where are these weapons
today? Is it possible to hide weapons from the State? Where are the
weapons
that were confided to Korkut Eken? What kind of heroism
do you see in
the escape from police detention of Haluk Kirci, responsible for the
death
of seven young people? Did he meet the gang of Abdullah
Çatli (mafia
leader, member of the Turkish Grey Wolves, killed in the Susurluk accident
in 1996) on your instructions? Do you know any other authority
than that
of the law to make you wait till now to show yourselves, instead of
at his
trial?" wrote Tuncay Ozkan in the daily Milliyet on 14 March.
Bekir Gündogan, Member of Parliament for Tunceli, declared in reaction
to
the generals' plea "If he (Eken) always remained under their control
this
means that they were equally aware of the responsibility for numerous
murders, filed as "unsolved". They (the generals) and Tansu Çiller
should
also be tried". The President of the Izmir bar, Noyan Ozkan, has filed
an
indictment against the generals on the basis of Article 312/1 of the
Turkish Penal Code against "praising any activity considered a breach
of
the law".
Thus, knowing that any presidential pardon is virtually unobtainable
today,
the generals are trying to arouse the sympathy of the Turkish Parliament,
much readier to place a motion to free Korkut Eken on the agenda. Korkut
Eken's first visitor at Ulucanlar Prison was Orhan Biçakcioglu,
MHP member
of Parliament for Trabzon, who declared on 10 March "Ulucanlar Prison
is in
such a run down state that even the Ministry of Agriculture's stables
are
better equipped. But his is well, he is in the section reserved for
government officials". Members of the Turkish Parliament never visit
their
former colleagues Leyla Zana and her colleagues who have been incarcerated
in extremely harsh conditions in the same prison for the last eight
years
· 600 KURDISH NAMES ILLEGAL: DIYARBAKIR GENDARME COMMANDER.
A fresh campaign has just started in the Kurdish regions of Turkey.
The
Diyarbekir gendarmerie command, on 11 March, applied to the Public
Prosecutor to ban 600 Kurdish names. "As a State we opposed such a
proceedings 15 years ago. At the time of Todor Jivkov, Turks living
in
Bulgaria were obliged to "Bulgarise" their names. We then conducted
a great
Human Rights campaign. Aziz Nesin had also taken part in this campaign
with
a book entitled "The Turks of Bulgaria, the Kurds of Turkey". The author
was tried by the State Security Court but acquitted. 15 years have
passed
today the Turks of Bulgaria are represented in Parliament where as
we
continue to mark time" wrote Melih Asik in the daily paper Milliyet
on 12 March.
· TURKISH GENERAL STAFF OPTS FOR 20 MINUTES OF KURDISH
ON
LOCAL STATION AND A "SOLDIER TV" CHANNEL FOR TURKISH ARMY.
According to the Turkish press, the members of the National Security
Council (MGK)
agreed, in the course of their meeting on 28 February, on measures
for
Kurdish broadcasts on the public TV network (TRT). The Turkish General
Staff, in fact, asked that the President of the TRT network be present
at
the next meeting of the council, due on 29 March. The Turkish government
decided that, following the example of France with the Corsican language,
the Turkish authorities would be ready to broadcast between 20 minutes
and
one hour in Kurdish on the local public channel GAP-TV, belonging to
TRT.
The General Staff, at the same time demanded a channel for itself,
entitled
"Asker TV" (Soldier TV). Some people wonder at the reason for the latter
since even the written press is obliged by law to publish all Army
statements
· 48TH HUNGER STRIKER DIES IN TURKISH PRISON. The hunger
strike in the Turkish prisons continues to claim victims without moving
the
Turkish Ministry of Justice in the slightest. 48 people, prisoners
and
members of their families, have died to date in this protest against
the
type-F prisons. Yusuf Kutlu on 9 March and Yeter Guzel on 10 March
are the
latest victims of this hunger strike launched over a year ago in Turkey.
According to the Turkish Human Rights Foundation, 86 prisoners are
continuing their hunger strike in 13 different prisons while 235 others
have been released to receive appropriate medical treatment.