29
July 2005
1. "Turkish politician jailed over polite reference to Kurdish rebel leader", a Turkish court on Thursday sentenced a politician from a pro-Kurdish party to 10 months' imprisonment for using a term of civility while referring to jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, the Anatolia news agency reported. It was the second time Bedri Firat, head of the Democratic People's Party (DEHAP) branch in the eastern city of Erzurum, had been tried for referring to Ocalan as "Sayin" -- a word meaning esteemed or honorable, but which also doubles for "Mr" -- in a television interview last year.
2. "EU parliament leader insists Turkey must recognise Cyprus", the chairman of the largest party grouping in the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Poettering, has said that Turkey should not start accession negotiations if it does not recognise Cyprus, according to Cyprus News Agency reports.
3. "Turkey split over army refusenik", the case of a young man fighting a lengthy court battle to avoid conscription into the Turkish army is fuelling the debate over compulsory military service in the country. Protesters on both sides of the debate have been highly vocal since the case of Mehmet Tarhan first came to light following his month-long hunger strike in Sivas prison, where he currently remains.
4. "Roma Rights Organizations Work To Ease Prejudice In Turkey", although it still doesn’t even have a telephone or a computer, the newly established Roma Support, Culture, Education and Help Foundation in Muratli, a small city about 100 kilometers west of Istanbul, is open for business. Roma rights workers in Turkey say Muratli’s nascent foundation is only one example of an emerging consciousness among the country’s Roma population.
5. "Woman Protestor Killed by Iran’s Security Forces In Kurdish Town", Iran’s security forces gunned down a woman protestor in the Kurdish town of Oshnavieh, northwest Iran, on Wednesday during clashes between residents and government forces.
6. "Death toll up to 5 in Shino", Iranian troops have killed four more Kurds in clashes with demonstrators in the city of Shino in eastern Kurdistan (northwestern Iran). A total of five Kurds have been killed in the city in the last three days by Iranian government troops.
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1. - AFP - "Turkish politician jailed over polite reference to Kurdish rebel leader":
ANKARA / 28 July 2005
A Turkish court on Thursday sentenced a politician from
a pro-Kurdish party to 10 months' imprisonment for using a term of civility
while referring to jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, the
Anatolia news agency reported.
It was the second time Bedri Firat, head of the Democratic People's
Party (DEHAP) branch in the eastern city of Erzurum, had been tried
for referring to Ocalan as "Sayin" -- a word meaning esteemed
or honorable, but which also doubles for "Mr" -- in a television
interview last year.
Firat was acquitted in the first trial, but the prosecutor appealed the verdict and he was sentenced on retrial.
"I have never seen such punishment meted out for using the word 'Sayin'," Firat told Anatolia. "I hope the appeals court will overturn the verdict".
Ocalan is the head of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which recently intensified the armed campaign it has pursued against Ankara since 1984 with a loss of some 37,000 lives.
The rebel leader, who was captured in 1999, is serving a life sentence on a prison island in northwestern Turkey.
Turkish authorities are prompt to crack down on any acts
or remarks that could signify support or sympathy for Kurdish rebels.
2. - Financial Mirror - "EU parliament leader
insists Turkey must recognise Cyprus":
29 July 2005
The chairman of the largest party grouping in the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Poettering, has said that Turkey should not start accession negotiations if it does not recognise Cyprus, according to Cyprus News Agency reports.
The centre-right EPP-ED Group in the European Parliament is the largest grouping in parliament. In an earlier interview with the Financial Mirror, Poettering, who hails from Germany’s Christian Democrats, said that he preferred a privileged partnership for Turkey rather than EU membership.
CNA reports that according to an EPP–ED Group press release (which on Friday morning was not on the EPP-ED website), Poettering was reacting to reports that both Turkey and the British EU Council Presidency do not consider the signing of Customs Protocol to mean the recognition of Cyprus by Turkey.
These position reflect earlier statements by the European Council about the matter.
Poettering said “negotiating means accepting each other as negotiating partners. The negotiating partners of Turkey would be all 25 EU-member states. How can Turkey negotiate its accession to the EU without recognising one of its members?”
Apart from the fundamental question - about whether Turkey should be member of the European Union or not - negotiations should not be strained by uncertainties about international law, he added noting that confusion concerning international law and politics were the result, which was not a good basis for the relationship between the EU and Turkey.
Poettering said that if Cyprus refused to agree to a negotiating
mandate for the European Commission concerning the start of the negotiations
in the Autumn, the Cypriot government would only be acting as a consequence
of this situation. As the negotiating mandate required a unanimous decision,
the Council Presidency is well advised to coordinate its position with
all member states first, he added.
3. - BBC - "Turkey split over army refusenik":
28 July 2005
The case of a young man fighting a lengthy court battle
to avoid conscription into the Turkish army is fuelling the debate over
compulsory military service in the country.
Protesters on both sides of the debate have been highly vocal since
the case of Mehmet Tarhan first came to light following his month-long
hunger strike in Sivas prison, where he currently remains.
Although others have been imprisoned before for refusing to serve, Tarhan has attracted particular attention after claiming he had received several beatings in jail.
"He doesn't want to be in the army, he doesn't want to take the gun in his hand, and it is important that we support him," one campaigner in Istanbul told BBC World Service's Outlook programme.
"The conditions are very bad. They attacked and kicked him. Then he was on hunger strike.
"We think nothing has changed."
Indefinitely in prison
Under Turkish law, all young men have to do a year and a half of military service after they turn 18.
Unlike in many European countries, there is no alternative, such as opting to do community service.
But some, such as Tarhan, are prepared to go to jail as conscientious objectors rather than serve.
Tarhan is continuing to refuse to do the service, despite the prospect of indefinitely staying in prison - a prospect which has appalled many people.
As a result, he has become the focal point of a growing
campaign over compulsory national service - with protests being held
in London, New York and Venice earlier this month.
Supporters argue he is now caught in a vicious legal circle as he is
officially considered a soldier and, therefore, not obeying orders.
Even after his release he could be arrested again if he still refuses conscription.
"This means a life sentence effectively," said Devne, a campaigner for Tarhan.
"He can never come back home. It could go on for years like this."
But Tarhan's case has also provoked strong feelings against him in a country where the sending of conscripts to the army is the cause of great celebration in many communities. Cars are decked in flowers and people chant "Turkey has the greatest army in the world" as part of the conscripts' send-off.
"We are against these protesters - they are talking rubbish," one pro-conscription campaigner said.
"The army is a good thing. They save the country; they are always there for the country. The country needs soldiers and every man has to serve.
"Tarhan should rot in jail. In Turkey, we say you can't be a man without doing your military service."
Abuse
Others said they felt military service was "good in terms of education" and an "honour".
"Circumcision is an important moment in the life of a boy - and the military service performs a similar function," social science professor and writer Murat Belge told Outlook.
Mr Belge argues that the army has an important role in the minds of Turks, dating back to its role in the creation of the modern republic, more than 80 years ago.
Modern Turkey was founded by a general, after he defeated several invading armies. The importance of the military, Mr Belge believes, is enshrined in the country's education system.
"We all have to be soldiers - but already, as Turks,
we are born soldiers," he said.
"This is the ideology. In textbooks everywhere, this is what is
told. Officers come and teach, and of course that class is conducted
differently. You have to give the military command, the salutes, all
that sort of thing."
Tarhan's case has currently been adjourned, and he is next due in court in September.
Mehmet Bal, a former prisoner who refused to serve and who could arrested at any time, said he believed it was likely Tarhan would suffer abuse while in jail.
"What they are doing is trying to break Mehmet's will, forcing him to give in - because the legal system here means he can be kept in jail indefinitely," he said.
"Life in a military jail as a conscientious objector is very hard - you are forced to conform."
Mr Bal recalled that while in prison he was dressed every day as a soldier, and chained in such a way he could be forced to salute.
And he said other prisoners were incited to attack him by being told he was a traitor to the country.
"The only way I could escape the beatings was by going on hunger strike, as I became so weak they feared I might die," he added.
"It really is hell. You are on your own, and you
never know when it might end."
4. - The Christian Sience Monitor - "Roma Rights Organizations Work To Ease Prejudice In Turkey":
22 July 2005 / by Yigal Schleifer*
Although it still doesn’t even have a telephone or a computer, the newly established Roma Support, Culture, Education and Help Foundation in Muratli, a small city about 100 kilometers west of Istanbul, is open for business. Open, that is, when Yasar Atessacan, the foundation’s president, can afford to take time off from laboring in the fields around the city.
Atessacan and a small group of other Roma from Muratli launched their new organization two months ago, scraping together the money to rent and renovate a small, one-room storefront office by pooling contributions from their meager incomes. The 49-year-old Atessacan, a wiry man with a salt-and-pepper mustache, says he and others even cut back on smoking, putting the money they saved on cigarettes right into their new venture. Many of the Roma men in the city, including Atessacan, earn meager wages as agricultural laborers, stacking bales of hay onto waiting trucks.
Though still in its infancy, Atessacan says he hopes the foundation can become an advocate for the rights of the Roma living in Muratli. "We have families that can barely afford to send their kids to school," he says. "We have lots of young people without jobs. We need housing – we have two or three families sharing the same small house."
Roma rights workers in Turkey say Muratli’s nascent foundation is only one example of an emerging consciousness among the country’s Roma population. Over the last two years, Roma-led advocacy organizations have opened in five Turkish cities, while another five are in the process of being established. After decades of living on the margins of Turkish society, it appears that something may be shifting.
"I think there is something happening here like in the 70’s in Europe," when the Roma rights movement first started to develop, says researcher Elin Strand Marsh, who teaches Romani Studies at Istanbul Bilgi University. "It feels like something may be starting in Turkey now."
There are officially about 500,000 Roma in Turkey. However, community activists say that figure is based on an outdated census. They contend the real number of Roma in Turkey is closer to 2 million. Strand Marsh and others point out that while the Roma in Turkey do not face the same kind of deep-rooted prejudice that Roma face in other parts of Europe, discrimination is still persistent. Laws dating back to the 1930’s allow the Turkish government to refuse some Roma citizenship, and give police the authority to monitor "gypsies who do not have a proper job."
Nurcan Kaya, a lawyer at Bilgi University’s Human Rights Law Research Centre, says Turkish Roma face continuing problems with access to education, healthcare and housing. For example, in Edirne -- a city in Turkey’s western Thrace region that is home to a large Roma population -- schools in majority Roma neighborhoods suffer from neglect while local authorities allow the parents of non-Roma students to place their children in schools in other neighborhoods. In Istanbul, meanwhile, a municipal housing project built a few years ago in a Roma neighborhood was surrounded by a two-meter (six foot) high wall, cutting the residents off from their non-Roma neighbors. Still, even this was an improvement over many of the Roma neighborhoods in Istanbul and other cities, which are often filled with rundown shacks and dilapidated homes built out of scavenged materials.
Muratli’s Atessacan says employment discrimination against Roma is common in his town, whose hay and sunflower fields are slowly giving way to textile factories. "We have young men who go to factories for jobs and will be denied work because of their ethnicity," he says. "What’s left is seasonal labor, working for one-and-a-half months a year in agriculture. There’s no social security with a job like that."
While the appearance of these new Roma organizations represents an important change, workers in the Roma rights field warn that the groups face significant hurdles. "The needs are great. Even if they get organized, they don’t know how to run an NGO, how to raise funds," says Ana Oprisan, a project coordinator at the Turkish aid organization International Blue Crescent, which is working with the Roma community. "There’s a real need for capacity building."
One new project, a human rights training program in Edirne, aims to fill the existing knowledge gap. The program -- developed jointly by the Turkish NGO Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly, Bilgi University and the Budapest-based European Roma Rights Center – will offer neighborhood-based training in basic human rights concepts. Edcinkay, a year-old local Roma rights organization, will also participate in the project.
"In recent years, we have seen a progress in minority rights in Turkey, in general. We have been able to see immense progress in terms of rights and in terms of the discussion, but Roma have not been part of that progress," says Helsinki’s Sinan Gokcen.
"[The Roma] don’t have any advocates for them within this country," he adds. Erdinc Cekic, Edcinkay’s president, says that’s precisely the reason why his organization was founded. "We know the gypsy problem is being discussed in the [European Union, which Turkey hopes to become a member of], so we know it’s an important issue," said Cekic, a small businessman who was also involved in municipal politics before getting involved with Edcinkay.
Cekic grew up in one of Edirne’s Roma neighborhoods, but the family’s identity was never discussed at home. His parents even forbade the speaking of Romani in the house. "The reason I felt the need to reassert my identity was political," Cekic, who has a bearish body and a baby face, said during an interview in Edcinkay’s Edirne office. "Politicians would always come to gypsy neighborhoods and make promises they wouldn’t keep and speak to us in humiliating ways, in language they wouldn’t use elsewhere. That pushed me to work for my community."
Cekic’s group has already been busy. It hosted a symposium on Turkey’s Roma in early May and has started reaching out to local politicians and other Turkish NGOs. Cekic says the organization is also starting to give scholarships to promising young students.
"One of the main aims of our foundation is to educate, to make 10 gypsy lawyers, 10 gypsy doctors, 10 gypsy judges," he says. "Then we will be able to change people’s minds. Then we will succeed. ... First what needs to be done is erase all the prejudices that people have when they hear the word ‘gypsy.’"
* Editor’s Note: Yigal Schleifer is a freelance
journalist based in Istanbul.
5. - Iran Focus - "Woman Protestor Killed by Iran’s Security Forces In Kurdish Town":
THERAN / 28 July 2005
Iran’s security forces gunned down a woman protestor in the Kurdish town of Oshnavieh, northwest Iran, on Wednesday during clashes between residents and government forces.
The woman was identified as Jamileh Khezri and was among three protestors killed by state security forces in Oshnavieh during the unrest.
On Monday, two anti-government demonstrators were shot dead by police, according to local residents.
Monday’s demonstration in Oshnavieh, during which participants chanted anti-government slogans, was in solidarity with the more than 200 people arrested in the nearby towns of Mahabad, Piranshahr, and Marivan, according to local Kurdish websites.
The two killed were identified as Heydar Abdollahzadeh
and Amr Amini.
6. - DozaMe.org - "Death toll up to 5 in Shino":
KURDISTAN / 28 July 2005
Iranian troops have killed four more Kurds in clashes with demonstrators in the city of Shino in eastern Kurdistan (northwestern Iran). A total of five Kurds have been killed in the city in the last three days by Iranian government troops.
Demonstrations that started on July 25 are still going on in the city of Shino, the Kurdish news agency MHA reports. Iranian troops who tries to suppress the demonstrations, initially killed Umer Emini on July 25. On July 26, Ibrahim Xezali and Westa Heyder and on July 27, Cemîle Xizri and Bayezid Merufi were killed. The Kurdish woman Cemîle Xizri was hit by a bullet when she leaned out from her window to look at the demonstrations. The Iranian government issued a statement saying that Xizri was killed by a stray bullet.
People who have been released from Iranian military custody
reports that detainees are brutally tortured by soldiers and para-military
Village Guards. Soldiers have reportedly raided several homes in the
city. An unnamed Kurd was detained for having the flag of Kurdistan
on the wall in his house. He was taken to a military base and his ears
were cut off in front of the other detainees.