Claudia Roth, on a visit to Turkey with a group of German members of Parliament, had asked for the right to meet the four former M.P.s of the Party for Democracy (DEP — banned) before going to Turkey, but her request was rejected on the grounds that only the prisoners’ lawyers and family members could visit them, added Mrs Roth’s spokesperson.
“I only wanted to greet my friend. They did not even let me give her a bouquet of flowers. I find it very hard top understand … Leyla Zana has become a veritable symbol in the process of Turkey’s joining the European Union. All Europe thinks that Leyla and her colleagues must be freed” Mrs Roth later stated. She had met the Foreign Minister, Abdullah Gul and, on the next day, the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to whom she offered a piece of the Berlin Wall. She then visited Diyarbekir and was welcomed by the City’s Mayor, Osman Baydemir. “I go to Diyarbekir every time I visit Turkey because I believe, like Mesut Yilmaz (a former Turkish Prime Minister) that the road to Europe passes through Diyarbekir” she stressed.

Leyla Zana, winner of the 1995 Sakharov Prize, granted by the European Parliament, as well as Hatip Dicle, Orhan Dogan and Selim Sadak were sentenced to 15 years imprisonment in 1994.  Following Turkey’s condemnation by the European Human Rights Court and their subsequent “retrial” on appeal, the sentence was confirmed last month by the Turkish Court, provoking indignation in the International Community.

• “GOOD-BYE” AND “THANK YOU”, SAID IN KURDISH, ARE CRIMINAL OFFENSES;  KURDISH FIRST NAMES STILL OUTLAWED.   On 13 May, the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the town of Nusaybin began legal enquiries against Tuncer Bakirhan, President of the Democratic People’s Party (DEHAP — pro-Kurdish). The Turkish authorities accuse him of having said “Good-bye” (Xatira we) and “Thank you” (spas) in Kurdish at the end of a political meeting in Nusaybin on 26 March, and are suing him under Article 81/C of law N° 2820 on political parties, which forbids the use of any other language than Turkish in political debate. Mr. Bakirhan finds himself obliged to argue that he had not broken the law because he had made his speech in Turkish, and only thanked and said good-bye to his audience in Kurdish, which was not part of the political debate …

Tuncer Bakirhan is already being subjected to 29 summonses because of his political commitments.

Elsewhere, on 10 May, the Beyoglu N° 2 High Court rejected requests by two officials of the Turkish Association for Human Rights (IHD) Mrs. Eren Keskin and Kiraz Biçici who were petitioning the court for the right to bear the first names of Xezal (gazelle) and Xecê (diminutive of Khadija, Mohamed’s first wife). The court accepted the argument of the Public Prosecutor that the petitioners use the letter H as the letter X is not in the Turkish alphabet.

•  ASSESSMENT OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN KURDISH REGIONS FOR MONTH OF APRIL.  On 13 May, the Diyarbekir branch of the Turkish Association for Human Rights (IHD) made public its assessment of Human Rights violations in the Kurdish regions during the month of April 2004. Here is the assessment published by IHD:
- Number of people killed in clashes: 5
- Number of “unsolved” murders and extrajudicial executions: 3 dead, 7 wounded
- Number of victims of antipersonnel mines: 2 dead, 7 wounded
- Number of people taken into detention: 57
- Number of complaints of torture or ill-treatment: 32
- Number of arrests: 15
- Number of cultural events banned: 3

•  PARLIAMENT  PASSES  CONTROVERSIAL  BILL  SUPPORTING RELIGIOUS  SCHOOLS.   On 13 May, after a long and stormy session, the Turkish parliament passed a Bill proposed by the government, itself born of the islamist movement. This bill encourages religious schools and is opposed by the secularists and by the Army, who see it as a danger to the prevailing secular system. Of the 258 M.P.s present, 254 voted for and 4 against, announced the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Nevzat Pakdil. The sole opposition party in Parliament, the People's Republican Party (CHP) boycotted the vote, which took place on 13 May after 18 hours of a stormy all-night debate.

The Turkish government has taken the risk of an arm-wrestling match with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer by passing this Act. The Justice and Development Party (AKP) government aims at allowing those graduating from technical secondary schools to go on to any university course. It would thus allow students from religious secondary schools (Imam Hatip) to have access to the University course of their choice, by playing on the grades obtained in their school leaving examinations (equivalent to UK “A levels” or US High School Graduation).

The existing system excludes pupils from these schools from higher education in courses other than theology. Above all it prevents pupils from such schools, suspected of islamism, from having access to posts in the Civil Service, which require a university degree.

The reform also aims at reducing the influence of the Higher Education Council (YOK), an institution that strictly controls the Universities. The religious secondary schools are considered a breeding ground for islamist activists in Turkey.

The all-powerful Army, that considers itself the guarantor of secularism, reacted against the project, considering that it undermined the secular principles of the regime. In a communiqué made public on 6 May, the Armed Forces General Staff had opposed the Bill, considering that it could provoke “serious problems”.

For Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, himself a former pupil of an “imam hatip”, this Bill that he is supporting forms part of the election promises made by his party before the 2002 General Election that raised him so victoriously to office with an absolute majority in Parliament.

The whole of the University staff condemned the Bill and the Deans threatened collective resignation.

The People’s Republican Party (CHP), whom used all the Parliamentary delaying methods available during the debate accused the government of wanting “to bring the Turkish education system closer to that of Iran or of the Arab countries” by this reform. “It is an attempt to exploit religion. This Bill will undermine the country’s social peace and stability” insisted the CHP leader, Deniz Baykal, in Parliament.

It is generally thought that President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, a fervent secularist, will refuse to sign this bill. In that event, the AKP could represent the Bill to Parliament and have it passed unamended. In that case, according to the Constitution, the President will have no right to oppose it. Mr. Sezer could still apply to the Constitutional Court to demand that it be annulled. AKP could also decide to bury its Bill, in view of the criticism, and not present it to the Head of State, some Parliamentary sources state.
Mr. Erdogan states that he has renounced his past islamist commitments and today puts himself forward as a “Moslem Democrat”. But his opponents suspect that he is secretly following a policy of Islamising Turkey.
The Turkish liberal press criticises the government’s insistence on pushing ahead with its Bill. “Turkey’s image (abroad) is worsening” was the headline of the 13 May issue of the mass circulation daily Hurriyet.

• MAY DAY STRICTLY CONTROLED IN KURDISH PROVINCES, WHERE CLASHES INTENSIFY.   On the 1st of May, some 110 people were pulled in for questioning in Diyarbekir by the anti-riot police as they were trying to bye-pass a ban on demonstrations in the city. In the course of a short confrontation at least one of the demonstrators was injured. About a hundred members of Trade Unions, political parties and voluntary bodies tried to organise a demonstration in Dagkapi  Square, defying a ban by the local authorities, who had only authorised a rally about a dozen kilometres outside the city. They were detained by the police for refusing to leave the square. Furthermore, a second group, of about a dozen people, were detained while trying to reach the square. Furthermore, on 2 May, the Diyarbekir police announced the arrest of 41 persons suspected of links with the PKK and of preparing attacks on government buildings. The police also claimed to have seized 25 Molotov cocktails and “forbidden” flags, according to a communiqué from the municipal police.

The police had strengthened security measures in the country’s principal towns for May Day, so as to prevent any incidents. May Day demonstrations in Turkey have, in the past, frequently led to bloody clashes between demonstrators and security forces.

Furthermore clashes are intensifying in the Kurdish provinces between Army units and Kurdish fighters. Two Turkish soldiers were killed and three others wounded when the vehicle, which they were driving, struck a mine in the Kurdish village of Cukurca. The explosion occurred while they were patrolling the area. The authorities also announced, on the same day, that they had seized four powerful bombs placed on the road at Tuncelli. According to the authorities these devices that could be activated from a distance were the most powerful yet discovered in this area.  Elsewhere, eight Kurdish fighters, suspected members of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK, — renamed Kongra-Gel) were killed in Kurdish regions in two days, according to regional security sources. Six fighters were killed on 6 May near Mount Caci, not far from Eruh, in Siirt Province, where another fighter had been killed the day before, according to local officials. Another fighter was killed on 6 May during clashes in the rural district of Gercus, in the neighbouring province of Batman.

On 5 May, a Turkish Army auxiliary was killed and four others injured during clashes between Kurdish fighters and “village guardians” (Kurdish militia armed and paid by the State) near the village of Guzeldere, not far from GEC, in Bingo Province. Moreover two Turkish soldiers were killed when the vehicle they were driving hit a mine in Diyarbekir region. The explosion occurred near le hamlet of Lice, while they were patrolling the area.