13 April 2001

1. - BBC - "Turkish banker faces inquiry":

Protesters say the crisis is killing Turkish business

A former governor of Turkey's central bank has been accused of making a personal profit from insider knowledge just days before the Turkish lira plunged in value in February.

Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit has authorised a preliminary investigation into the actions of Gazi Ercel, who resigned as central bank chief when an economic crisis came to a head at the end of February.
Shortly before his resignation, he converted 52bn Turkish lira into dollars - getting $76,000, as opposed to the $41,300 he would get today, after devaluation.

Turkey's trades unions say they will stage nationwide protest rallies on Saturday over the current economic crisis, despite a ban on demonstrations in the capital.
The ban followed clashes across the country on Wednesday in which about 200 people - mostly police - were injured and over 100 were arrested.

Accusation

Prosecutor Sabih Kandoglu requested Prime Minister Ecevit's permission to investigate the former central bank head.

He said the alleged abuses would amount to "making secret state data known and using them for personal gain".

Mr Ercel denied wrongdoing, and said he would donate 31bn lira to charity. He said it was "not possible" that he changed money when he did because he knew depreciation was coming. The decision on devaluation was only taken "three days later," he insisted.

Mr Ercel, one of the key architects of Turkey's failed economic reforms, resigned in late February.

Ongoing crisis

Turkey's continuing crisis triggered street demonstrations this week. After talks with government officials on Thursday, union leaders said they were planning peaceful protests for Saturday.

The lira has now fallen by 40% and some businesses face bankruptcy. More than 70,000 people demonstrated in the capital Ankara on Wednesday, demanding the resignation of the government following layoffs, massive increases in the price of goods such as sugar and fuel, and rising interest rates.

The unions will lead Saturday's demonstrations. But ominously for the government there is support from the middle classes, including the bankers and entrepreneurs who help keep the economy going.

The government has rejected their calls for change at the top, and has proposed a six-month pay freeze.

Support for minister

The protesters seem to support one member of the government - the economy minister, Kemal Dervis. He has been drawing up an emergency programme including controversial privatisations.
He has now said he will announce his conclusions on Saturday.

His timing means that, in effect, he has told his bickering political colleagues to agree to the legislation he wants, or face the anger of the crowds.

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2. - Ozgur Politika / IRNA - "Kurdistan governor free on bond":

Governor of the East Kurdistani [Iranian] state of Kurdistan, Abdullah Ramazanzade, against whom charges had been filed because of comments he made, was released on bond on Wednesday.

TEHRAN

Abdullah Ramazanzade, governor of the Iranian state of Kurdistan who was charged because of some comments he made concerning parliamentary elections, was released on bond. According to the Iranian news agency IRNA, Ramazanzade was released by the judge at the end of the hearing held at the Administrative Court the other day in the state capital of Sennedec, upon payment of a bond of 100 million rials (about USD 12,500).

The General Secretary of the Iranian Constitution Protection Council had filed charges against Ramazanzade because of comments he had made last February when the Council annulled the election results of the state's districts of Sakiz and Bane. Ramazanzade said that the charges were the result of a "misunderstanding" and denied that he had imputed the Council or made statements aimed at weakening national unity. Deputy Interior Minister Mustafa Taczade and Tehran State Governor Ayatollah Azarmi have already been tried and given prison sentences because of comments they made concerning the elections. Their sentences are still under appeal.

Reason for arrests not being revealed

The Iran Intelligence Ministry said they did not have any information regarding allegations that the liberal Islamic-nationalist politicians arrested by the Tehran Revolutionary Court had engaged in plans to overturn the regime. The Tehran Revolutionary Court has arrested about 60 members of the Iran Freedom Movement and the National-Religious Forces Coalition in the past month on charges of "trying to overthrow the regime and cooperating with opposition groups outside the country." The aforementioned Movement, which has been allowed to operate, even though not officially recognized as a party, for the past 22 years since the Islamic regime was established, was also declared illegal.

Protests have been held in Iran against the arrest of over 150 deputies by the Revolutionary Court and against the treatment of the opposition. An open letter to Chief Judge Ayatollah Mahmud Hashimi Shahrudi which was read in parliament protested that members of the opposition were being kept in an undisclosed location and not allowed to see their attorneys.

Tehran supports Khatemi

While it is still being debated who will be candidates in the elections for president, which will be held in less than two months, 84 percent of the people of Tehran said in a recent poll that they wanted President Mohammed Khatemi to run again.

The results were published in the "Iran" newspaper the other day. 65 percent of those polled said that they would definitely vote for Khatemi if he were to run again.

Applications begin May 2

Applications for candidacy will be filed beginning on May 2 for the presidential elections to be held on June 8. According to IRNA, the Public Relations Bureau of the Interior Ministry announced that applications would be received from May 2 through May 6.

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3. - AFP - "Hunger strike in Turkish jails claims 10th victim":

ANKARA

A 10th hunger-striking prisoner, one of hundreds involved in a months-long protest against Turkish prison reform, has died, a human rights group announced Friday.

Erol Evcil died in an Ankara hospital hours after the government Thursday refused to reverse plans to introduce controversial F-type prisons, where cells for three inmates replaced dormitories housing up to 60.

The latest death adds to pressure on the government already reeling from violent street protests over its economic policies. Between 300 and 400 inmates are on a hunger strike with some 120 of them hospitalized and a dozen in critical condition, according to a spokeswoman for the Human Rights Association (IHD).

Evcil, like many of the hunger-strikers, had been jailed for membership of an extreme left-wing organisation. The inmates, backed by a number of civic groups, say the new arrangements will leave them more exposed to ill-treatment and lead to further social alienation.

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4. - Kurdish Observer - "Enough!":

Approaches of officials who disregarded reactions of families of prisoners and NGO's as well as statements of doctors as a warning caused two more deaths. Public is curious about the response to the question, how many deaths are waited to find a solution.

Insistence of the government and Justice Ministry on not finding a solution although hundreds of prisoners are on the threshold of death caused two more prisoners to die. Now tens of prisoners are waiting dead with their closed consciousness.

Nergiz Gulmez in Kartal Special Type Prison and Fatma Ersoy in Kutahya E-Type Prison lost their lives. The number of people who died of death fast increased to 6 with Gulsuman Donmez, a closed one of a prisoner.

TAYAD: Give up this blind obstinacy

Families from Association of Closed Ones of Detainees and Convicts for Solidarity (TAYAD) made a press statement in Human Rights Association (IHD) general premises, asking for negotiations to put an end to death fast which has been lasting in prisons for 175 days. Reading the statement in behalf of the families, Derya Bakir pointed out that they have been in Ankara for 3 days, but nobody seemed to hear the shrieks of mothers and fathers. Bakir said the following: "A blind obstinacy goes on. The price of antagonism between officials and prisoners are paid by families. How many more people must die for officials to put an end to the death fast?"

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5. - Turkish Daily News - "Of what avail is spring when the cold breathe of death is there":

The hunger strike in Turkey

What difference does spring make? Are we having a feast just when the soil is warming up? Is our silence the festival of burying new bodies? The weight of death hangs over the bodies on the 176th day

If there is democracy and a state of law in Turkey, someone should protect these people. No one should watch their deaths

'Let the justice minister ask his conscience and think. He is a father too. Our children did not ask for much. Even their humane demands were rebuffed. These demands could have been negative or positive. They were not even discussed'

ISTANBUL

What difference does the spring make? I shudder ... I am cold ... I feel cold inside ... I am saddened when I listen to the relatives of the prisoners. We started asking this question so often ... What is happening to us? What is it that we cannot share? Why is there not an attempt to listen and to understand people? Why are we watching the losses with a silence that seems to say "death, more death?"
What difference does the spring make? When I think of the mothers who experience that pain, I decide that I don't want to be a mother this spring. The experience of mothers on the death fast makes one reflect on whether they deserve this fate. The prisoners' mothers pay the cost of being a mother, something that we praise so highly. Even they are not aware of how they survive. First they had some hope. It was as if civil society organizations, the initiatives of artists and intellectuals, the public opinion and the press could forestall these deaths. There would not be widespread deaths.

Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk called the transport of prisoners to F-type prisons a "lifesaving operation" and explained it in this way. The relatives of prisoners had lost hope. Their anxiety was doubled. The statements and will of the authorities took precedence. Following the operation to bring prisoners to F-type prisons, the death fasters were now in the compassionate hands of the authorities. As of today, the number of prisoners who died on death fasts has gone up to nine. The relatives of the prisoners have been trying to contact the authorities in Ankara for four days. But their stubbornness does not yield, and the families cannot find anyone to contact.
'I cannot bear it anymore'

Ecevit Sanli is on the 174th day of the death fast. His big brother Hasan Sanli tells the story: "Last Friday my mother went to meet him. But he cannot see anyone, he is ill and confined to bed. Yesterday I went to see him, but he could not come. Halil Aksoy and my brother are confined to bed in their cells. There are three of them, and the third is also in a bad condition. Believe me, I cannot remember his name anymore. He cannot take his water, and there is no one to give it to him. When I went to see him with my mother, he was in a wheelchair. And when his friends also got sick, no one could help him. Today I went to the Human Rights Association (IHD). I will have them write a petition to the public prosecutor. I want someone to take care of my brother. We don't even know how he is doing. If there is democracy and law in Turkey, these people should be protected. No one should watch their deaths. Are they not suffering for their offenses by being jailed? I wait for the news that my brother is dead -- today or tomorrow.

Most of them will die ...

"They prohibited the press from writing about F-type prisons and there was no news. They recently started to write about the death fasts. The relatives of the prisoners are damaged physically and spiritually. We don't know anything definite about our relatives. We don't even know in which prison they are. Someone says this hospital, the other says that. Even to go to prison and come back is a problem during this economic crisis. It is not as though we are rich people. I don't feel like I can bear it anymore. What did these people do to deserve death? The justice minister was insensitive. If he had met some of the prisoners' needs, there would be no death. The state authorities are also insensitive. The citizens are just watching."

'What if he is dying right now'

Erkan Aygoren is on the 164th day of the death fast. It was reported that he was brought to Izmit Hospital. His mother went to Izmit with her other son. "Let the justice minister ask his conscience and think. He is a father too. Our children did not ask for much. Even their humane demands were rejected. These demands could have been positive or negative. They were not even discussed," says the voice on the telephone. The voice is tired, shaky and nervous ... "I went yesterday to see him. He could say two or three words. His blood pulse went down to eight, they brought him to the hospital. His pulse was regulated. His liver is not functioning at all ..."
I hear her weep: "A lot of people will die soon ... They will die ... We are bleeding inside. As a mother, how can I explain the meaning of losing a child? I don't know, right now I am thinking that he may be dying right now. What can I say?" The voice is interrupted with sobs. The voice of a young man. He says that he is Erkan Aygoren's brother. "Why did you not write until now? They cannot be saved after this point. The press showed interest only when people started dying. No one says a word. You are all watching the deaths," and hangs up. It is as though my hands are frozen. I cannot write any more ...

Death toll up to nine

The first news of a death came from the Sincan F-Type Prison. Sinem Soydas and Nergis Gulmez from Kartal Special Type Closed Prison, Fatma Ersoy from Kutahya F-Type Closed Prison, Bulent Cobanoglu from Kandira Prison, Adil Kaplan and Tuncay Guner in Edirne Prison and Celal Alpay and Abdullah Bozdag in Izmir Prison have lost their lives. The death toll went up to nine with Gulsuman Donmez, who was a prisoner's relative.

Associate Professor Hulki Forta, a member of the Istanbul Chamber of Physicians (ITO) delegation appointed to examine the prisoners, said that the 23 prisoners who were brought to Haydarpasa State Hospital suffered from neurological problems and extreme loss of weight.
Noting that the prisoners in Bayrampasa Prison were not examined, and they could not "reach" the prisoners since their application to the Health Ministry was unheeded, Dr. Goren expressed his concern by saying, "There may soon be more deaths."

To the Justice and Health Ministries from the doctors

Umit Erkol, chairman of the Ankara Chamber of Physicians (ATO) sent letters to Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk and Health Minister Osman Durmus. The letters describe the situation of the arrested and convicted individuals. It is recorded that the majority of arrested and convicted individuals have wounds stemming from long confinement to bed. The letters say the following:

"The risk of these wounds forming is higher in people who are heavier and lost almost all of their protective skin tissue, and the treatment of new infections and complications will be extremely difficult in these cases. This is why it is very important to provide these prisoners with air-beds. In addition, they need someone to help them shift in bed. Some of the arrested and convicted individuals, most of whom are not even in a position to shift in bed, are chained to their beds. This medically critical situation should change."

What difference does the spring make ... Spring is the season of love ... What should I do with a spring where the love of the other is missing ... Who cares if it is spring, as deaths tear apart the loved ones ... The wish to live the spring in the right way is deferred to another year ...

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6. - Anadolu Agency - "TUSIAD Higher Consultation board meeting: YIK chairman Kayhan says government has to revise its cabinet":

ISTANBUL

Muharrem Kayhan, the Higher Consultation Board's (YIK) Chairman of the Association of Turkish Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSIAD) said on Thursday that the government has to revise its cabinet and show that it has renewed its administration.

Speaking in the TUSIAD'S YIK extraordinary meeting, Kayhan called on the government not only to make public one version of the letter of intent that would be submitted to the IMF. ''The things you will tell the Turkish society about change is more important than the things you will write in the letter of intent,'' he said.

He stressed that the political system should not impede the country's development, adding that there is no government which does not have any alternatives. Kayhan also warned everybody not to try to find supporters for undemocratic formulas to end the problems in the country.
Kayhan indicated that the conditions of the country are not suitable for the resignation of the government or for early-elections, adding that a large part of the society which has the common sense also think in the same way.

Kayhan also said that ''if there are ten less ministers in the cabinet today, will things go worse than that?''

''We don't want to demand for a government change today, as this will cause another crisis,'' he said, adding that the government has to declare to the world that it won't repeat its mistakes by making a revision in the government and it considers the country's interest more important than anything else by the laws it will pass from the parliament and by the political reforms it will undertake. The government has to drink the bitter syrup itself first before making the nation drink it. While the whole country pays the price, the government should not be exempt of that. Even if TUSIAD decided to support the economic programme, it will make its criticisms in front of the public opinion, not behind the close doors from now on.''