· IHD REPORT ON HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS SINCE JANUARY 2002.
On 17 September, the Turkish Association for Human Rights (IHD) published its
report on Human Rights violations in the Kurdish Provinces during the first
seven months of 2002. The Association questions the very high rates of
suicide in the region and exposes the increasingly frequent land mine
explosions resulting from the return of people to villages from which the
mines have not been cleared. Here are the principle points of the report :

-       People placed in detention: 2 412
-       People tortured, or victims of  ill-treatment while in detention: 149
-       Victims of land mines: 14 killed, 38 wounded
-       Civil Servants exiled for "threatening the interests of the State in the State of Emergency region (OHAL)": 22
-       Suicides: 88
 

· TURKISH COURT BANS ERDOGAN FROM ELECTIONS.
On 16 September, the 8th Chamber of the Turkish Court of Appeals confirmed the
ruling of the Diyarbekir N°3 State Security Court forbidding Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
leader of the Justice and Development Party (AKP ­ moderate islamic) which is
leading the polls with a predicted 20% of voting intentions. R.T. Erdogan,
former Mayor of Istanbul, sentenced on the basis of Article 312 of the
Turkish Penal Code that ostensibly punishes "incitement to hate", had
nevertheless served his sentence, and the very controversial article in
question has since been amended by the Turkish Parliament. However, the
Public Prosecutor of the Court of Appeals, who is close to the top military
hierarchy, had appealed against the ruling of another State Security Court
(Diyarbekir N°4) which had ruled in Mr. Erdogan's favour ­ he was thus
able, thanks to a judicial system under orders from above, to legally put
an end to the AKP leader's ambitions.

Without sharing the views (which, in fact are, in fact, moderate) of the
country's largest political party, many commentators, quoting Voltaire on
the principle of freedom of expression, including for ones opponents, have
expressed indignation at this verdict. Even part of the official
politico-media caste, such as Hikmet Sami Turk, former Turkish Minister of
Justice, has openly criticised the Court of Appeals ruling and observers do
not hesitate to attack the Turkish legal code, in particular Article 76  of
the Constitution that bans anyone from being a candidate  if sentenced on
the basis of "inciting the people to commit offences or crime" ­ even if amnestied.

"The worst thing, in a country, is to submit the courts to political
orders. And the greatest thing for a country is to make politics subject to
the law" wrote Cüneyt Ulsever in the daily paper Hurriyet on 18 September.
Oktay Eksi, chief editorial writer of the same paper stressed "Do you know
how many people sitting in Parliament have, in the past, committed crimes
that ban them from sitting there, including murder, and who have, on coming
out of prison, asked for and secured frrom the courts the right to enjoy
the right which is forbidden to them? From those we know, at least twenty "
 

· KURDS HOPE TO ENTER PARLIAMENT ON DEHP TICKET
DEHAP, the only Kurdish party standing at the November general
elections, welcomes the new reforms adopted by Ankara ­ namely the right to
teach and broadcast in Kurdish ­ but want, above all to see them actually
carried out. The leaders of the Democratic People's Party (DEHAP) welcome
the reforms adopted in August aimed at aligning Turkey with European
standards, but note that "these laws without a change in mentality do not
have much meaning". "These laws are a revolution" considered Osman
Baydemir, a DEHAP candidate for the November General Elections. But he also
notes that, for example, he is still forbidden to register Kurdish names
for his children. "The carrying out of these laws is as important as their
adoption" adds Ali Urkut, Diyarbekir Provincial President of DEHAP, who is
also a candidate.

DEHAP is the only Kurdish party to put up candidates following the decision
of the People's Democratic Party to withdraw in its favour. HADEP ­ accused
of "organic links" with the Kurdish rebels ­ feared that it would be banned
by the Turkish courts just before polling day. Apart from HADEP, two other
small Left6 wing parties present candidates on a joint list with DEHAP,
which was created in 1997, just before the legal proceedings were started
against HADEP (a common practice in Turkey, where the State is suspicious
of the rise in influence of pro-Kurdish or Islamic parties. "No one must
fear us, we will enter Parliament to really ensure brotherhood between the
(Kurdish and Turkish) peoples" Mr. Baydemir insisted.

HADEP had not won any seats in the last elections in 1999, because it had
not crossed the threshold of 10% of the national vote. It had, however, won
the greatest number  of votes in most Kurdish towns ­ in particular 46% in
Diyarbekir, with its population of 1.3 million. "This time we have no doubt
­ we will cross the 10% threshold" on a national scale explained Mr.
Baydemir who runs the Turkish Human Rights Association in this region and
he assures everyone that once elected the Kurdish M.P.s will abstain from
provoking "tension" at the Assembly and will work to "unite" Parliament and
the Kurdish people. "The region has changed for the better since the last
elections but there is still a great deal to do" remarks for his part Mr.
Urkut. He, nevertheless fears a deterioration of the atmosphere as the
election draw closer, especially in the rural areas where "the Army
threatens the peasants that they will burn down their houses if they vote
for the (pro-Kurdish) party ". However "if irregularities do not sully the
poll, we will cross the 10% threshold" assured a confident Mr. Urkut.

Moreover, some well known Kurdish public figures are standing as
independents in these elections, such as the former M.P. Abdul Melik Firat;
Mehmet Ali Aslan, former President of the Workers' Party of Turkey and
Feridun Yazar, former mayor of Urfa.
 

·  WHILE ERADICATING KURDISH CULTURE, TURKEY HOSTS
UNESCO  SYMPOSIUM ON  "NON-MATERIAL CULTURAL  HERITAGE,  A
MIRROR  OF CULTURAL  DIVERSITY".  On 16 ­17 September, Turkey, that
continues to ban Kurdish first names, that is dragging its feet in applying
reforms even when adopted, and which persists in its policy of forced
assimilation of the Kurds, hosted representatives of 110 countries in
Istanbul, including 72 Ministers of Culture for a Symposium on the subject
of the "Immaterial Cultural Heritage, Mirror of Cultural Diversity".

At the end of the Round Table, Ministers of Culture and representatives of
110 countries decided, on 18 September "to develop policies aiming at the
identification, safeguarding, promotion and transmission of the immaterial
cultural heritage, in particular through activities of information and
education". They committed themselves to "take care that the expressions of
this heritage enjoy recognition within the States in so far as they respect
universally recognised human rights".

The Director General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, the Ministers and
participants  adopted, the Istanbul Declaration in which they commit
themselves to "actively promoting the principles laid out in UNESCO's
Universal Declaration on cultural diversity" adopted in Paris in 2001.
In this Istanbul Declaration, UNESCO is called upon to "examine the
possibility of setting up a special fund" to defend the immaterial
heritage, consisting of languages, social and religious rituals, songs,
dances, forms of theatrical representation and handicraft  techniques that
are unique in their kind, which are the means by which cultures may be
distinguished from one another. "The multiple expressions of immaterial
cultural heritage are among the number of fundamentals of cultural identity
of peoples and communities, at the same time as they constitute a natural
environment, embodied, amongst other things, in a great variety of
languages which are so many different views of the world, they are an
essential factor for the maintenance of cultural diversity, in accordance
with the 2001 UNESCO  Universal Declaration on cultural diversity" added
the declaration.

The Istanbul Declaration adds: "a suitable international convention ( )
could mark a positive stage " in the pursuit of this objective. An
intergovernmental meeting of experts is planned to undertake the drawing up
an advance project of such a convention.

For the full text of this Istanbul Declaration see http://portal.unesco.org/culture.roundtable
 

· CONSTRUCTION BEGINS ON BAKU-TBILISSI-CEYHAN OIL PIPELINE.
On 18 September, the first shovel-fulls in the building of the
Baku-Tbilissi-Ceyhan oil pipeline were dug near Baku. This pipeline will
carry Azerbaijani oil from the Caspian Sea to a Turkish terminal on the
Mediterranean. The three Presidents, Heydar Aliev of Azerbaijan, Edward
Chevardnadze of Georgia and Ahmet Necdet Sezer of Turkey took part in the
laying of the first steel pipe in a trench near the oil terminal of
Sangachal, the starting point of the pipeline, which is due to be completed
in 2005. "As from this moment, the Baku-Tbilissi-Ceyhan pipeline is taking
shape" declared President Aliev.

Once completed, the pipeline will carry a million barrels of crude per day.
It will stretch over 1,750 Km from the Azerbaijan coast on the Caspian to
the new Turkish terminal of Ceyhan via Georgia. When finished, the new
pipeline, which avoids Russia and is strongly backed by the United States,
will have cost $2.95 billion, financed by an international consortium. The
American Secretary for Fuel and Power, Spencer Abraham, took part in the
ceremony, reaffirming the American President, George W. Bush's support for
this undertaking. "Without this pipeline, the resources of the Caspian
would not be developed nor reach world markets" he stated. "The BTC
pipeline is the central component of an East-West fuel and power corridor
which will bring important long-term benefits to the countries of the
region and to the rest of the world" added Mr. Abraham. The Caspian Sea,
surrounded by five riparian states, is said to contain a third of the
worlds oil and gas reserves, but the transport of these riches has, so far,
been essentialy controlled by Russia, the two existing pipelines passing
through its territory. The construction of this new pipeline is a major
technical challenge, as it passes over no less than 1,500 rivers and rises,
in places, to an altitude of 2,700 metres (9,000 ft). To this must be added
the insecurity reigning in Georgia, where Western businessmen are sometimes
kidnapped by bandits and held to ransom.
 

· TURKEY SIGNS $400 MILLION CONTRACT FOR MARITIME PATROL.
On 12 September, the French company, Thales, announced the signing of the Meltem
contract with the Turkish Government. This involves the supply of marine
surveillance and patrol systems to the Turkish Navy and Coast Guards. The
overall value of the contract is of the order of  $400 million. Thales was
chosen as preferred supplier in 2001 and the final contract was signed on 6
September in Ankara by Messrs. Ali Dursun Ercan, Under-Secretary of State
for Defence Industries (SSM) and José Massol, Assistant Managing Director.

TheMeltem contract covers the supply of nine systems which will be built
into the existing CN 235 aeroplanes, after their modification, and ten
other systems to be built into other platforms. Thales has undertaken to
involve the participation of Turkish industry in the execution of this
contract, especially in the hi-tech areas. This participation will
strengthen the already existing partnership between Thales and the Turkish
Defence industry.

Thales Systèmes Aeroportés is the principal  European supplier of airborne
systems, of airborne radar, of electronics and missiles and naval, land and
air military electronic systems.
 

·   57th VICTIM OF  HUNGER STRIKE.  On 10 September an extreme Left
detainee died from the consequences of her hunger strike, bringing the
number of deaths in this protest movement against detention in high
security sections to 57, announced the Indepentent Association for the
Defence of Human Rights.

Hamide Ozturk, 32, died in hospital in Istanbul. She was serving a 12 year
prison sentence for her membership of the Revolutionary People's Liberation
Front-Party (DHKP-C), a banned marxist movement, but had recently been
transferred to hospital after the deterioration of her state of health.

The Extreme left prisoners and their families launched their hunger strike
movement in October 2000 to protest against their transfer to isolation
cells where they feared to be at the notoriously tender mercies of their
warders. The prison authorities consider that detention in large
dormitories in which prisoners live together are uncontrolable and act, in
fact, as ideological training camps.
 

· PRO-KURDISH PAPER BANNED IN DIYARBEKIR AND SIRNAK.
On 11 September, the pro-Kurdish daily paper Yeniden Ozgur Gundem
announced that the Turkish authorities had banned its distribution is two
Kurdish provinces. The paper, launched last week, has been banned since 10
September in Diyarbekir and Sirnak by the Super-Prefect of the State of
Emergency Region ­ a state of Emergency that has been in force since the
end of the 80s in these provinces. These authorities can, under the special
regime, seize or ban the distribution in their region of any papers to
"establish public order and security".

A member of the paper's management, Delal Eren, indicated that the decision
had been taken after the publication of articles written by Abdullah
Ocalan, sentenced to death in 1999. The paper's communiqué regretted the
decision "at a time when Turkey is waiting for the European Union to set a
date for the begining of negotiations for its membership".

B. Yahnici, the number two of the ultra-nationalist National Action Party
(MHP ­ neo-fascist), a coalition partner in the present Turkish government
and rigidly opposed to any cultural rights for the Kurdsm had called on the
judicial authorities to take measures against Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit
over the privileges the A. Ocalan enjoys. The party claims that A. Ocalan
is able to send orders and instructions to his sympathisers and to give
interviews to the foreign press from the island prison of Imrali
(North-West Turkey) where he is the sole detainee. Ecevit is thus accused
of being "an objective accomplice" of Ocalan and, on these grounds to
deserve a prison sentence for "supporting a terrorist organisation".