27
May 2005
1. "Turkish democracy under fire over pressure on dissident academics", Turkey came under fire Thursday for halting a landmark conference questioning the official line on the mass killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire, as European Union diplomats warned that Ankara's democratic credentials had taken a serious blow.
2. "AI highlights lack of performance in Turkey’s reforms", the Turkish government is among those who failed to deal with human rights violations during 2004, according to a report by Amnesty International.
3. "Press sees shortcoming in Ankara's legal code", the Turkish Parliament on Thursday began debating a revised version of the country's delayed penal code reform, amid criticism by journalists who say the amendments do not go far enough toward eliminating threats to press freedom.
4. "Legislation restricting Ocalan's lawyers passed", a bill stipulating restrictions on relations between lawyers and their clients was passed by Parliament yesterday.
5. "The Turkish condition", the modern Turkish state was explicitly founded as a state for two peoples; Kurds and Turks. This did not last however and ethnocide quickly became the raison d’être of the Turkish Republic.
6. "Student detained for reading Nazim Hikmet poem", Police yesterday detained and subsequently released a 17-year-old student for publicly reading a poem by renowned Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet in southwestern Mugla's Milas town, reported the Anatolia news agency.
1. - AFP - "Turkish democracy under fire over pressure on dissident academics":
ANKARA / 26 May 2005 / by by Sibel Utku Bila
Turkey came under fire Thursday for halting a landmark conference questioning the official line on the mass killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire, as European Union diplomats warned that Ankara's democratic credentials had taken a serious blow.
Istanbul's prestigious Bogazici University, where the gathering was to open Wednesday, put off the event after Justice Minister Cemil Cicek accused the participants -- Turkish academics and intellectuals who dispute Ankara's version of the 1915-1917 massacres -- of "treason."
Cicek condemned the initiative as "a stab in the back of the Turkish nation" and said the organizers deserved to be prosecuted.
The killings, one of the most controversial episodes in Ottoman history, is rarely discussed in schools and the aborted conference would have been the first by Turkish personalities to question the official stand on the events.
Several countries have recognized the massacres as genocide -- a theory Turkey fiercely rejects -- and Brussels has urged Ankara to face its past and expand freedom of speech.
"The remarks of the justice minister are unacceptable. This is an authoritarian approach raising questions over Turkey's reform process," a diplomat from an EU country told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"Now it is a real watershed. We expect government action to correct Cicek's remarks," he said. "It's up to the government to decide what to do. Doing nothing would also be a choice, but certainly not in favor of Turkey's EU membership prospects."
The incident follows a brutal police clampdown on a women's demonstration in Istanbul in March, which also raised tensions between the European Union and Turkey.
It also coincides with increasing criticism at home that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government, a conservative movement with Islamist roots, has lost its reform drive since winning a date in December for accession talks scheduled to start on October 3.
Ankara is still under pressure to convince Brussels of its commitment to the democratic reforms it has undertaken.
Turkey's membership bid already faces strong public opposition in several EU countries and anti-Turkish sentiment is seen as a major factor in the widely predicted rejection of the European constitution in a referendum in France on Sunday.
Another EU diplomat regretted the postponement of the conference because it "would have reflected the evolution taking place in Turkish society."
The EU expects the conference to be rescheduled, he said, adding: "The Europeans will keep on insisting that civil society has a great role to play in Turkey."
The conference organizers said they were determined to go ahead with the event in the coming days.
"We believe that holding the gathering in the near future will be one of the most important steps to be taken in our country in the name of academic freedom... and democracy in general," the statement said.
The Turkish media too condemned the incident, saying that it cast a pall on freedom of expression in the country and played into the hands of a mounting Armenian campaign to have the massacres recognized internationally as genocide.
"Zero tolerance for freedom," the Radikal daily trumpeted on its front page, while Milliyet's headline read: "Democracy takes a blow."
"What, really, is treason? To hold a conference in order to start a debate in Turkey on a Turkish problem debated almost everywhere in the world, or to brand as 'traitors' people who may think differently at a time when Turkey is waging a battle for democracy in the face of many obstacles?" wrote columnist Murat Celikkan in Radikal.
"Cemil Cicek should resign as justice minister and
if he does not, he should be forced to do so," he said. 
2. - Turkish Daily News - "AI highlights lack of performance in Turkey’s reforms":
The Turkish government is among those who failed to deal with human rights violations during 2004, according to a report by Amnesty International
ANKARA / 26 May 2005
An international human rights organization, while appreciating the Turkish government's steps for further legal reforms aimed at bringing Turkish law into line with international standards, at the same time warned of the lack of implementation of these reforms.
“Implementation of these reforms was patchy and broad restrictions on the exercise of fundamental rights remained in law,” said the Amnesty International (AI) Report 2005, which covered the human rights violations in 149 countries during 2004.
The report launched yesterday in London in general highlights the failure of national governments and international organizations to deal with human rights violations.
There have been positive changes to detention regulations in Turkey, yet torture and ill-treatment by security forces continued, said the AI.
“The use of excessive force against demonstrators remained a serious concern. Those responsible for such violations were rarely brought to justice. Those who attempted to exercise their right to demonstrate peacefully or express dissent on certain issues continued to face criminal prosecution or other sanctions. State officials failed to take adequate steps to prevent or punish violence against women,” as the AI listed as examples of violations and lack of implementation in reforms.
PM Erdogan, a former prisoner of conscience:
AI delegates visited Turkey in February, June and December last year prior to writing the report. AI Secretary-General Irene Khan in February met Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who was once accepted by the AI as a prisoner of conscience following his sentence in 1998 under Article 312/2 of the Turkish Penal Code for reciting a poem.
“Turkey is burdened by a history of human rights
violations -- many thousands have suffered severe abuse. Erdogan was
himself a victim of the repression of the time. This government must
rise to the challenge of ending the burden of impunity for past abuse
and continuing violations, and make human rights a reality for people
in Turkey and not simply a political promise. Some progress has been
made, but much more remains to be done if the Turkish government is
to meet its international obligations as well as its people's expectations,”
said Kahn.
3. - AP - "Press sees shortcoming in Ankara's
legal code":
ANKARA / 27 May 2005
The Turkish Parliament on Thursday began debating a revised
version of the country's delayed penal code reform, amid criticism by
journalists who say the amendments do not go far enough toward eliminating
threats to press freedom.
The reforms are part of efforts by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's
government to raise the country's chances of joining the European Union.
But there are concerns that the government's failure to address certain
shortfalls may jeopardize the its chances.
Parliament had been expected in March to approve the legislation, which
would revamp Turkey's 79-year old code by improving women's rights and
eliminating all reference to the death penalty, which was abolished
in 2002. But the government delayed the vote until now to address fears
that the new code could threaten freedoms and result in prison terms
for journalists.
Critics, however, say the revised draft makes no significant improvement,
and that one change - making it a crime to humiliate state institutions
- would even bring harsher punishment. Journalists say the new code
needs further improvements. The code was to have taken effect on June
1.
Erdogan's government had made EU membership a top priority, but it has
been accused of flagging in the pace of reforms needed to join the bloc.
EU leaders have agreed to start membership negotiations with Turkey
on Oct. 3.
Critics say the draft penal code legislation contains vague language
that could make it easier to crack down on journalists and make it more
difficult to cover legal proceedings.
"We know that the days when Turkey will again be remembered as
'the world's largest journalists' prison' are ahead of us," wrote
Oktay Eksi, a columnist for Hurriyet newspaper.
Justice Minister Cemil Cicek defended the code, saying: "It may
have shortfalls and mistakes, but no one should say these were deliberate.
Important improvements were made through good will and hard work."
One article calls for prison sentences for those who disregard the state's
"fundamental national interests." A reasoning attached to
the draft of that article specifies that calling for the withdrawal
of Turkish soldiers from Cyprus or saying that Armenians were subjected
to genocide during World War I should be considered an offense punishable
by 3 to 10 years in prison.
The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said it shared the concerns
of Turkish journalists. "Far from bringing Turkish law into line
with European law on freedom of expression, some articles of the code
on the contrary, would facilitate arbitrary legal action against journalists
and entail a climate of self-censorship damaging to press freedom,"
the group said.
Late Wednesday, Parliament also introduced a measure that allows authorities
to be present during meetings between some convicts and their lawyers.
Human rights groups say the measure infringes on prisoners' rights.
Observers say the measure appeared to target the lawyers of imprisoned
Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan's by making it more difficult for
him to pass on messages to his rebel group.
Among other measures, police can, with court approval, take prisoners
away from jails for re-questioning. Human rights groups object to the
measure saying it may leave them vulnerable to abuse.
4. - The New Anatolian - "Legislation restricting Ocalan's lawyers passed":
ANKARA / 27 May 2005
A bill stipulating restrictions on relations between lawyers
and their clients was passed by Parliament yesterday. Under the legislation,
which changes several articles in the Turkish Criminal Procedural Code
(CMK), if the relations between a lawyer and a convict who is known
to be a member of a outlaw group seem to be jeopardizing prison security,
or if the lawyer intends to act as an agent between the convict and
the group, prosecutors and judges will have the right to order a guard
to be present during their meetings. In addition to this, prosecutors
and judges will have the right to examine documents exchanged by the
lawyer and his client, and also to decide which documents are allowed
to be exchanged.
By decree of prosecutors or judges, security forces will have the ability
to remove convicts involved in terrorism, at the convicts' permission,
out of prison for temporary investigations. The judges will determine
the duration of the investigation period, at a maximum of four days
per charge, and the total period cannot exceed 15 days. Convicts' health
conditions will be examined before they leave and when they return to
prison.
The legislation also gives judges the right to allow female
convicts and convicts older than 65 to serve their time in house arrest
on sentences less than six months in length.
5. - Prodemocracylobby.org - "The Turkish condition":
26 May 2005 / by Daniel Bart
The modern Turkish state was explicitly founded as a state for two peoples; Kurds and Turks. This did not last however and ethnocide quickly became the raison d’être of the Turkish Republic.
Not only have successive Turkish governments denied the genocide they perpetrated against Armenians, Aramaeans and Assyrians but they have attempted to destroy the Kurdish nation in every conceivable way bar total extermination.
At this point the Turkish government wishes to join the European Union without fulfilling its criteria for membership. The cause of extending the realm of freedom is a crucial one and Turkey has proven to be an obstacle in this process.
There is no time to waste for Turkey which is embarrassing itself as it draws up plans to invade Iran in the case of a revolution in that country.
Turkey aspires to pan-Turkic unity by annexing Turkic-language areas in Iran. This would also require annexation of most of Kurdistan. Turkey would thus achieve regional hegemony and control over regional energy resources while crushing any Kurdish aspiration.
This scheme is not only dangerous but clearly pathological. Many Turkish nationalists believe that Turkey is the most important country in the world and that the international Jewish conspiracy is their ubiquitous nemesis.
It is time to firmly tell Turkey to come home from Wonderland. Turkey must end its oppression of the Kurds or face international ostracism. The European Union will no longer condone Turkey’s behavior, nor will the United States of America which has experienced the depth of Kurdish friendship with the American people. There is no question that Europe and America have all the tools at their disposal to ensure compliance.
It is time to tell the truth about Turkey. This is a fascist
regime that does not deserve to exist. Turkey lives in a permanent Weimar
republic always bordering on insanity and genocide. Turkey must grant
autonomous status to all of Northern Kurdistan and make Kurdish an official
language in Turkey equal to the status of Turkish or otherwise become
an international pariah that is not welcome anywhere in the free world.
The Kurdish people have the right to determine its own future.
6. - Turkish Daily News - "Student detained for reading Nazim Hikmet poem":
ANKARA / 27 May 2005
Police yesterday detained and subsequently released a 17-year-old student for publicly reading a poem by renowned Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet in southwestern Mugla's Milas town, reported the Anatolia news agency.
It was reported that Ç.C. recited a poem of Hikmet titled “The Traitor” during poetry readings held at Milas Anatolian High School.
Local administrator Hulusi Dogan said the student had
read a poem that contained political content and was not part of the
program pre-approved by the school administration. “The police
detained the student while determining whether if the poem was banned,”
said Dogan.
Following a deposition taken from the student a prosecutor decided on
his release without charging him.