13
December 2004
2. "Diyarbakir proclaims", days after a controversial ad by Kurds draws the ire of Ankara, DEHAP holds a huge rally in Diyarbakir in support of Turkey’s democracy and EU membership
3. "Kurds protests for better rights in a future Turkey", some 7,000 Kurds held a march outside European Union headquarters in Brussels on Saturday to demand better rights for their community if Turkey is admitted to the Union.
4. "'Those who criticize our timing should also determine a date for a genuine discussion in the Kurdish issue,' says IHD Chairman Alatas", Human Rights Association (IHD) Chairman Yusuf Alatas has claimed that the publishing of a call for extended Kurdish rights in an advertisement that appeared in the international media was a timely act on the eve of a key European Union summit at which European leaders will decide whether to open entry talks with Ankara.
5. "Onen: Human Rights Values are being Corroded", Yavuz Onen, head of the Turkish Human Rights Foundation (TIHV), said post-September 11 developments are shaping the agenda of today's human rights struggle.
6. "Thousands Protest Killing of Kurdish Boy In Northern Kurdistan", about 2,000 people gathered in downtown Istanbul on Saturday to protest the killing of a 12-year-old Kurdish boy by Turkish security forces in controversial circumstances three weeks ago.
7. "Kurdish Rebel Killed in Clash in Southeast Turkey", a Kurdish guerrilla was killed in a clash with Turkish security forces on Saturday in the country's southeast, a security official said.
8. "Turkey Has Much Work Before EU Membership: EU Parliament Chief", European Parliament President Josep Borrell said on Saturday that Turkey still has much work to do before it can join the European Union, and that the country would have to wait more than 10 years to join. (...) "I have just spent several days in Diyarbakir, in the depths of Anatolia. There are still customs in lots of areas of social life which are not in line with what we understand by full democracy in Europe," Borrell said.
1. - AFP - "Thousands of Kurds demonstrate in Turkey for
more rights, EU membership":
DIYARBAKIR / 12 December 2004
About 50,000 Kurdish demonstrators gathered Sunday in Diyarbakir, the heart of Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast, to lend support to Turkey's EU membership bid and demand more freedoms.
Waving flags with the traditional Kurdish colors of yellow, red and green, the demonstrators, who poured into the city from all over the region, chanted slogans in favor of peace, as music bands sang songs in Kurdish.
The meeting, organized by Turkey's main pro-Kurdish party DEHAP, was titled "Yes to diversity, no to separatism."
"We want to be part of Turkey with our Kurdish identity, we want EU membership," "Long live peace," read banners the demonstrators carried.
"Neither Sevres nor Lausanne, but a democratic republic," said one pancard referring to two key post-World War I documents, the first of which, the 1920 Sevres Treaty, envisaged an independent Kurdistan in what is today southeastern Turkey, while the second, the 1923 Lausanne Treaty, failed to guarantee cultural freedoms for the Kurds.
Some participants brandished portraits of Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of Kurdish militants who waged a bloody war against Ankara between 1984 and 1999, and chanted slogans in favor of the outlawed rebels.
"The Kurds should be recognized as a founding element (of the republic) and their identity should be guaranteed by the constitution," Kurdish politician Hatip Dicle, who was released in June after 10 years in jail, told the rally.
"The EU should give Turkey an unconditional date for the start of accession talks and the Kurds should not be ignored," he said.
The EU is set to give a green light for the start of membership talks with Ankara at a crunch summit on Thursday and Friday, but under tough conditions.
Turkey's sizeable Kurdish community, which has only recently been granted a measure of cultural rights, believes that closer ties between Turkey and the EU will help it win more freedoms.
Many Turks, however, worry that expanded rights for the Kurds may
encourage them to seek autonomy and even independence from Ankara.
2. - Turkish Daily News - "Diyarbakir proclaims":
Days after a controversial ad by Kurds draws the ire of Ankara, DEHAP holds a huge rally in Diyarbakir in support of Turkey’s democracy and EU membership
ANKARA / 13 December 2004
The Democratic People’s Party (DEHAP) held a “Yes to disparity,
no to separatism” rally in Diyarbakir on Sunday that was dominated
by the themes of “Democracy to Turkey and freedom for the Kurds”
and “Yes to the European Union.”
Approximately 50,000 people from the surrounding area gathered at
Station Square in Diyarbakir to take part in the rally.
While the rally was held in support of the European Union and democracy,
some groups were observed shouting slogans in favor of jailed Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK, Kongra-Gel) leader Abdullah Öcalan.
Placards reading “Long live the Diyarbakir-Ankara-Brussels brotherhood”
and “Long live peace” were displayed at the event.
Former Democracy Party (DEP) deputy Hatip Dicle, DEHAP leader Tuncer
Bakirhan, former DEHAP leader Ahmet Turan Demir and Enlightenment
for Peace Movement representative Akin Birdal spoke at the rally.
Birdal said the purpose of the rally was to cause both Ankara and
Brussels to take note of developments in the region on the eve of
the Dec. 17 talks in Brussels that will determine whether or not Turkey's
accession negotiations with the European Union will be opened. He
said they wanted to show that arms needed to be silenced and that
the Kurdish issue should be resolved by democratic means.
“I hope people will hear our voices, because the start of the
negotiation process will only have meaning if there is no longer any
fighting. If not, it will be of no use.”
Birdal said he was told 150,000 to 200,000 people had attended the
rally.
The rally was held at the same time an advertisement that appeared
in the International Herald Tribune and Le Monde calling for extended
rights for Turkey’s Kurds continues to spark a significant reaction
from Ankara.
“This advertisement is indicative of an approach that completely
changes past rhetoric and is a huge misfortune,” State Minister
Mehmet Ali Sahin told reporters on Friday.
Some 200 Turkish Kurds, including former lawmaker Leyla Zana and a number of other Kurdish politicians, had added their names to an advertisement titled “What the Kurds Want in Turkey,” which appeared in the two newspapers on Thursday. In a highly controversial demand, it said Turkey should grant Kurds the same rights that Ankara wants for the Turkish Cypriots, which implied they were calling for autonomy and a federalist system for Turkey.
In a written statement, Zana and three former lawmakers complained that a quotation concerning Cyprus in the advertisement was “used to spark a debate that should never have emerged and that could only harm Turkish-European Union relations.”
They instead accused anti-EU forces both in Turkey and abroad of attempting to prevent the start of accession talks between the EU and Turkey and of achieving its clear goal of full membership.
The advertisement came days before a Dec. 17 EU summit that will
decide whether to open accession talks with Turkey. The rally in Diyarbakir
in support of democracy, human rights and Turkey’s EU membership
is seen as a way to make amends.
3. - AFP - "Kurds protests for better rights in a future
Turkey":
BRUSSELS / 11 December 2004
Some 7,000 Kurds held a march outside European Union headquarters in Brussels on Saturday to demand better rights for their community if Turkey is admitted to the Union.
The protest, organized by a grouping of Kurdish groups called Kon-Kurd, came days before an EU meeting which is to set a date for the opening of membership talks for Turkey.
Kon-Kurd, which supports EU membership for Turkey, called on the bloc to act as "an impartial arbiter for a settlement of the Kurdish issue."
"Given that the Kurds are a key component of the Turkish state, an emergency plan of action needs to be set up," the group said.
Fighting between Turkish government forces and Kurdish guerrillas is believed to have left some 37,000 people dead between 1984 and 1999. The violence was concentrated in the main Kurdish-populated region, in the southeast of the country.
Also on Saturday, some 200 Kurdish personalities launched an appeal in Brussels for a settlement of the Kurdish conflict in Turkey.
EU ministers are due to meet on December 16 and 17 to set a date
for the opening of membership talks.
4. - Turkish Daily News - "'Those who criticize our timing should also determine a date for a genuine discussion in the Kurdish issue,' says IHD Chairman Alatas":
ANKARA / 11 December 2004 / by Emine Kart
Human Rights Association (IHD) Chairman Yusuf Alatas has claimed
that the publishing of a call for extended Kurdish rights in an advertisement
that appeared in the international media was a timely act on the eve
of a key European Union summit at which European leaders will decide
whether to open entry talks with Ankara.
“Those who criticize the timing (of the advertisement) should
also determine a date for genuine discussion on the Kurdish problem,”
said Alatas, who himself was among a number of intellectuals and Kurdish
politicians that supported the call by affixing their signature to
the advertisement.
The advertisement, titled “What the Kurds Want in Turkey,”
was published by the International Herald Tribune and French daily
Le Monde late last week. It sparked an angry response from Turkish
and Turkish Cypriot leaders with its comparison of the rights of Turkey's
Kurds and those of the Turkish Cypriot community on the divided island
of Cyprus.
Alatas said he did not fully agree with its wording, mainly because
it implied that the signatories were in favor of solutions to the
Kurdish question such as federation or confederation.
“The idea was to attract the attention of both Turkey and the
EU. Both of them have been handling the Kurdish issue by means of
a very artificial approach that is limited to the framework of cultural
rights,” Alatas said. Cultural rights, however, referred to a
society and not to an individual, he argued. “Even in the initiatives
taken on behalf of the Kurds, the name of the Kurds does not appear,”
he complained.
Alatas emphasized that all Kurdish groups in Turkey and in Europe
have been lobbying in favor of Turkey’s EU membership on the
eve of the Dec. 17 Brussels summit.
Turkey has made swathe of reforms in the field of human rights in order to meet EU standards and to be able start accession negotiations. The government took steps to ease restrictions on the use of Kurdish languages such as allowing Kurdish-language broadcasts and education in Kurdish in private courses.
Some 200 intellectuals and Kurdish politicians, including Democratic
People's Party (DEHAP) Chairman Tuncer Bakirhan and former lawmaker
of the now-defunct Democracy Party (DEP) Leyla Zana, put their signature
on the advertisement.
5. - Bianet - "Onen: Human Rights Values are being Corroded":
"The fight against terrorism has created certain wars," Human Rights Foundation's chair Onen. "Certain countries have been occupied. Human rights violations have increased. All these point to a new struggle area. We need international solidarity."
ANKARA / 10 December 2004 / by Yildiz Samer
Yavuz Onen, head of the Turkish Human Rights Foundation (TIHV), said post-September 11 developments are shaping the agenda of today's human rights struggle.
According to Onen, the wars and occupations created in the name of "fight against terrorism" are increasing human rights violations in today's world.
Onen, who has been the head of TIHV since it was founded by the Human Rights Association (IHD) and 32 human rights activists in 1990 in Ankara, said human rights values are being threatened and corroded.
"This situation, which arose after September 11 point to a new area of struggle for all of us," said Onen.
"We need international solidarity."
TIHV has provided treatment and rehabilitation for about 10,000 torture victims. As a non-governmental organization, TIHV takes international agreements as basis for its operations. The foundation, headquartered in Ankara, has branches in the provinces of Izmir, Adana and Diyarbakir.
"Every development and change in the area of human rights in Turkey took place after the country was accepted as a candidate country to the European Union at the Helsinki Summit in 1999," said Onen.
"Governments became more hardworking after that date. Laws and the constitution began to change to broaden the limited freedoms, and to allow for a more liberalistic climate. Human rights, as a concept, began to be accepted. Human rights organizations became more legitimate and important."
Onen said TIHV contributed to the human rights struggle in Turkey and in the world in two important ways:
* TIHV has torture treatment and rehabilitation centers. We have provided treatment for about 10,000 people in five centers since TIHV was established.
* TIHV raises public awareness by documenting torture and human rights violations and making them public.
* TIHV created the Istanbul Protocol, an international document for the elimination of torture. The United Nations adopted the Istanbul Protocol.* Through scientific methods, TIHV can spot torture even after years. The foundation has created alternative reports in this field, which are being used by Turkish and European courts.
* The TIHV treatment centers treated more than 400 people suffering psychological and physical trauma during Turkish prison operations, hunger strikes and death fasts.
According to Onen, post-September 11 developments point to what human rights activists should do in today's world: "The developments point to a new area of struggle for all of us. We need international solidarity."
"We believe that there still are shortcomings in implementation in the area of human rights," said Onen.
"The government's approach is not in line with life itself. Implementation is inadequate. Torture, extra judicial killings, and violations of the freedom of expression and thought still exist."
Awards TIHV has received
Human Rights Award by the French Government (1991), International
Freedom Award by the International Centre For Human Rights (1991),
Sevinc Ozguner Human Rights Award by the Istanbul Chamber of Physicians
(1992), The Governing Board of the Sakharov Freedom Fund Annual Award
by Sakharov Freedom Fund (1994), Roger Baldwin Medal of Liberty Award
by the Lawyers Committee For Human Rights (1995), Law Group Partners
Award by the International Human Rights Law Group (1995), Honor Award
by the Contemporary Journalists' Association (1995), European Human
Rights Award by the European Commission (1998).
6. - Kurdistan Observer - "Thousands Protest Killing of Kurdish Boy In Northern Kurdistan":
ISTANBUL / 11 December 2004
About 2,000 people gathered in downtown Istanbul on Saturday to protest the killing of a 12-year-old Kurdish boy by Turkish security forces in controversial circumstances three weeks ago.
Beating drums and tambourines, the demonstrators formed a human chain stretching for about one kilometer on Istanbul’s main pedestrian street, Istiklal Boulevard.
"At the age of twelve, we have the right to live," read banners the protestors hanged on their necks.
Ugur Kaymaz and his father were shot dead by police outside their house in the southeastern town of Kiziltepe on November 21, in what local authorities described as an operation against armed insurgents from a rebel Kurdish group.
The killings unleashed a public outcry and prompted authorities to launch an official inquiry as human rights campaigners and parliament members who probed the incident suggested that the boy and his father were most likely unarmed civilians, gunned down either by mistake or in a summary execution.
Respect for human rights has become a key concern for Turkey as the country’s bid to join the European Union has entered a crucial stage.
Four police officers who took part in the raid have been suspended from office.
The Anatolia news agency reported Saturday that the administrative
head of the town was also shifted to a post in another province.
7. - Reuters - "Kurdish Rebel Killed in Clash in Southeast Turkey":
DIYARBAKIR / 11 December 2004
A Kurdish guerrilla was killed in a clash with Turkish security forces on Saturday in the country's southeast, a security official said.
Fighting broke out in a rural area of Hatay province, which borders Syria, the official said. The militant, a member of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) group, was believed to have crossed the border from Syria in recent days.
Hatay governor Abdulkadir Sari said in a statement that an operation against a small group of PKK members was continuing.
Unrest has increased in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast since the PKK called off its unilateral cease-fire in June. The region had enjoyed relative calm since the capture of PKK commander Abdullah Ocalan in 1988.
More than 30,000 people, mainly Kurds, have been killed since 1984, when the PKK launched its armed campaign for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey.
Most of the rebels are in mountain camps in northern Iraq (news -
web sites), but security sources say around 2,000 PKK fighters have
crossed back into Turkey since the end of the truce, often traveling
via Iran and Syria.
8. - EUbusiness - "Turkey Has Much Work Before EU Membership: EU Parliament Chief":
11 December 2004
European Parliament President Josep Borrell said on Saturday that Turkey still has much work to do before it can join the European Union, and that the country would have to wait more than 10 years to join.
"There is still a lot of progress to be made in all areas," Borrell, the Spanish president of the EU's directly-elected assembly, said on Radio France Internationale (RFI), speaking after returning from an official visit to the country.
EU leaders are set to give the green light for the start of accession talks with Turkey at a Brussels summit on Thursday and Friday.
But they are also expected to attach tough conditions for the majority Muslim nation, an official candidate since 1999. Membership is expected to take a long time coming, and might never happen.
"But now, we are not deciding on the accession," Borrell said.
"We are deciding to start negotiations on accession. The negotiations will no doubt be long. You have to see that in a medium, long-term perspective, 15-10 years."
"And without knowing at the end of the day whether it will be possible or not," he said.
During his December 2-6 visit to Turkey, Borrell became the first European Parliament president to visit Diyarbakir, the regional capital of Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast which is desperately hoping the country will join the bloc.
"I have just spent several days in Diyarbakir, in the depths
of Anatolia. There are still customs in lots of areas of social life
which are not in line with what we understand by full democracy in
Europe," Borrell said.