Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris

REVUE DE PRESSE-PRESS REVIEW-BERHEVOKA ÇAPÊ-RMSTA STAMPA-DENTRO DE LA PRENSA-BASLN ÖZETÎ
16
Turkish Probe February 10, 1994
HUDlan Rights Dairy
Turkey "fervently deplored" the 16-month sentence
passed on Sadlk Ahmet, former independent
deputy of Turkish origin for Gumulcine. a town 'populated
mainly by ethnic Turks, by a Greek court. On
Feb, 1, the three-judge court of appeals upheld
Sadlk's conviction on charges of spreading false information
and forgery but reduced his prison term
from 30 months. Under Greek law the court can let
him payoff thA sentence. "Turkey is extremely sensitive
towards the minority and human rights violations
in Western Thrace, particularly this act towards
Dr. Sadlk Ahmet," Foreign Ministry acting
spokesman Ferhat Ataman said in his weekly press
conference. "We fervently deplore this event which
is not reconcilable with international values adopted
by civilized nations, We also invite Greece to act in
a responsible way vis-a-vis the Turkish minority in
Western Thrace," Ataman added.
(Turkish Dally News. Feb.3)
A criminal court in Ankara sentenced on Feb. 2
sociologist and writer Ismail Be~ikçi to nine months
in prison on charges of insulting the Military High
Appeals Court and other military trial courts in one
of his books. Apparently, the military court found
Be~ikçi's critical assessments of the legal system
offensive.
(Turkish Daily News, Feb. 3)
Turkey on Feb. 2 reacted to U,S. criticism of human
rights violations by saying its record was "improving."
A day earlier, the U.S. State Department
said in its annual survey of human rights worldwide
that "The torture of persons in police custody during
periods of incommunicado detention and interrogation"
continued in 1993, "We have carried out important
re'forms with respect to human rights and
our government views the issue as a steadily improving
process," Foreign Ministry Spokesman
Ferhat Ataman said. "Turkey aims to carry further
all the improvements recorded so far," Ataman
said.
(Turkish Daily News, Feb. 3)
Two civilians were shot dead by unidentified gunmen
on Feb. 4 in Diyarbakir, the scene of a spate of
mystery killings that has sown fear in this Southeastern
city. Officials said assailants killed shopkeeper
Ömer Güne~ (29) and coffeehouse owner
Faik Baran (28) in two separate attacks, but gave
no motive for the murders, Some local journalists
linked the killings to an ongoing feud between various
factions of Hezbollah, an underground Islamic
group said to have links with Iran, Kurdish militants
have accused Hezbollah in the past of working directly
or indirectly with state security forces to assassinate
pro-Kurdish politicians and people sympathetic
to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK). The government has denied these accusations,
blaming PKK-Hezbollah rivalry for
many of the hundreds of mystery murders in the region.
(Turkish Daily News, Feb. 5)
Relatives of Istanbul Technical University student
Ali EfeoQluclaim he is missing after people identifying
themselves as policemen took him away from
his home on Jan. 5. The relatives and the members
of the Rights and Freedoms Platform held a joint
press conference at the Sociar Democrat People's
Party (SHP) Istanbul provincial headquarters (SHP
is a junior member of the coalition government) and
said there is a growing number of missing people in
Turkey and the coalition government is to be
blamed for this.
(Cumhurlyet, Feb. 6)
The Human Rights Association (IHD) presented a
letter calling for the scrapping of the anti-terrorism
law, signed by 10,000 people, to the Parliament
speakers office. The letter was part of a new campaign
launched by IHD for "Freedom of Expre~sion."
(Cumhurlyet, Feb. 6)
Dr. Abdulkadir Sakar, who was arrested by the
anti-terrorism squad in Adana upon the tip off of an
"unidentified person," is released by police.
(Cumhuriyet, Feb. 6)
New members have been elected to the executive
committee of the Turkish Human Rights Foundation,
following its annual gen~ral meeting. They
are Yavuz Önen, Mahmut Tali Öngören, Okan Akhan,
Veli Lok, $ükran Akin, Murat Yetkin, Haldun
Özen, Fevzi Argun and Mehmet Vural. It was reported
at the meeting that the foundation had assisted
in the treatment and rehabilitation of 323 victims
whose rights had been violated.
(Turkish Daily News, Feb. 8)
The State Security Court (DGM) banned pro-
Kurdish Özgür Gündem newspaper owner Ya~ar
Kaya from leaving the country, just prior to his
scheduled departure to Cape Town, South Africa to
attend the International Press Institute annual meeting
where press freedom and state pressure on the
media was to be debated. Özgür Gündem has been
accused of supporting the outlawed Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK).
(Newspapers, Feb. 8)
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