Not Guilty Verdicts in Torture Case
On 24.05.2002, Ankara’s 3rd Criminal Court found the police officers Ilhan Bozkurt, Ali Hasim Erkus, M. Kemal Yildirim, Musa Aktürk, Nedim Binay, Yusuf Büyükoglu, Serafettin Varol and Yilmaz Çetin not guilty of torturing the brothers Metin Candogan and Ismail Candogan. The brothers had been arrested on 26th June 2001 following a skirmish in the city district of Tuzluçayir (Ankara). A new hearing was called for because of a report substantiating the alleged torture and because the doctor who attested that the brothers had no health problems has admitted that this claim was made without having made an examination. However, the court agreed with the public prosecutor’s request for a not guilty verdict because of lack of evidence. (Source: Evrensel, 25.05.2002)

Kurdish Names 
Two fathers in Ardahan got into problems when they attempted to give their children Kurdish first names. Kocalak Koç from the village of Bayramoglu was not allowed to name his son Ro-jhat (Dawning Day) or his daughter Rojin (Face the Day). When he insisted he was arrested. Shortly after this Tufan Akcan from the village of Bagdesen went to the registry office in Ardahan and obtained an identity card for his daughter Berivan.
Akcan had given his daughter the name of “Berivan” because of his enthusiasm for the heroine of a TV series. The naming has led to him being brought before the State Security Court. If found guilty he could be sentenced to 4 years impri-sonment for “supporting a terrorist organization”.  According to the news agency Anadolu, the director of the series, which is very successful in Turkey, has reacted with bewilderment to the charge.
In Turkey’s east, predominantly inhabited by Kurds, parents who give their children Kurdish names are regularly being brought before the courts on the grounds that these names are then being used “pseudonyms” for PKK members. A recent case in the southern Anatolian town of Diyarbakir ended in a not guilty verdict for the parents. The press had given a lot of coverage to the case because the judge himself had a Kurdish name. 
The head of the registry office which had issued the identity card to Berivan, had also informed the state prosecutor who had also questioned the public employee Sengül Gök. The case was referred to the state security court in Erzurum because of a possible violation of Articles 7 and 8 of the Anti-terror law and §169 of the Turkish penal code. The state prosecutor at the court in Erzurum did not, however, see any grounds to pursue a case because no links could be established between the fathers and the PKK. In Nusaybin (Mardin), Hasan Bozkurt was charged for naming his daughter Rojin. In Malatya, Kadir Bilgiç was arrested for intending to register his daughter under the name of Jiyan. He was released but will have to answer to the courts for alleged support of an illegal organization. (Source: Radikal, 30.05.2002, Anadolu Ajansi, 29.05.02)

Numerous Organizations End Death Fasts 
Prisoners from 8 different organizations have said they are to end their hunger strikes and death fasts. The protests against the F-Type prisons and isolation detention had begun on 20th October 2000. As at May 28th 2002, prisoners of the organizations TIKB, TKP/ML, TKP (ML), MLKP, TDP, Resistance Movement, MLSPB and the TKP (Kivilcim) ended their action because nothing much more could be achieved by it and their aims could be pursued by other means. Only members of the DHKP/C and TKEP/L intend to continue with their action. 
There are apparently still 31 prisoners on death fasts. Along with 400 prisoners who have suffered long-term damage resulting from death fasts, the protests have cost 100 people their lives to date. In the operation “Return to Life” on 19th December 2000, ordered by the government to transfer political prisoners to high security prisons, 30 inmates (H Akbaba and M. Buldukoglu were allegedly killed by organization members) and 2 soldiers were killed. Thirty-two death fasters died in prison and 7 relatives died in solidarity protests. Eleven prisoners died after continuing their action following their release from prison. Five people died from setting fire to themselves (K. Gülbag in Germany). Six people died in suicide attacks (2 perpetrators, 3 police officers and 1 tourist). Four people died in a police raid in the city district of Küçükarmutlu. Mustafa Coskun died on 3.10.2001 because of erroneous treatment for cancer while he was on a death fast. H. Demir died on 27th April from tuberculosis. C. Dereli was beaten to death on 09.12.2000 in Holland by right wingers because he had joined in in a solidarity hunger strike. (Source: TIHV,  30.05.2002)

Human Rights Court Accuse Turkey of Violating Basic Rights 
Turkey has violated the basic right to freedom of opinion by convicting a writer and philosopher for speaking up for the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party, the PKK. This was decided recently by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The court also instructed the Turkish government to pay the complainant €7,500 in compensation.. (Source: AFP, 04. Jun 02)

Millions of Turkish Women Disadvan-taged in Divorce Cases
Millions of married women in Turkey still have to wait for equal status in divorce cases despite a new law having been passed. According to Turkish press reports, this became evident following a decision by the constitutional court in Ankara. The court rejected a claim from a woman from Izmir, western Turkey, who wanted a divorce after 41 years of marriage as well as an equal share of the couple’s assets. She made the claim under the reformed family legislation which had come into force at the beginning of the year, and which had strengthened the position of women. The judge stated, however, that the new law was only valid for couples who married after January 1st. (Source: AFP, 29. Mai 02)

NSC Curb EU-Opponents 

Reform Plans to be Intensified 
At their meeting on 30.05.2002, the Turkish National Security Council (NSC) revealed a series of recommendations which should help Turkey’s convergence with the EU. For example, the states of emergency are to be lifted on 30.07.2002 in the provinces of Hakkari and Tunceli, and will be extended by 4 months for a final time in the provinces of Diyarbakir and Sirnak. If the death penalty is to be abolished, a clause will exist in the constitution whereby crimes against humanity will not be pardoned. Kurdish broadcasts (in Kurmanci and Zaza) are to be available over the public station TRT-GAP. Kurdish tuition is to be available as a special subject, but Kurdish will still not be used in normal lessons.
Devlet Bahçeli, deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), bluntly claimed recently that the EU should name a date for the commencement of entry negotiations – there would eventually be compliance to the Copenhagen Criteria.
He said that talks on abolishing the death penalty could begin after PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan had been executed. Up until the meeting of the NSC, Bahçeli believed he was in unison with the military in his opposition to the EU. Sitting on the council are heads of the weapons branch. They also occupy top government posts. Nobody had reckoned with any serious decisions being made at the meeting because Ecevit’s illness prevented him from taking part and Bahçeli was still on a state visit to China. The government was represented only by the second deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz.

End of States of Emergency?
Bahceli had expected a different outcome. The NSC decided to lift the states of emergency in the Kurdish provinces of Hakkari and Tunceli. They will be extended for the “final time” in the provinces of Diyarbakir and Sirnak. By the time of the EU Council Meeting in December Turkey will have made a step towards more democracy and the rule of the law. The states of emergency in provinces mainly inhabited by Kurds, were first imposed in 1987.
The NSC encouraged a speeding up of the reforms within the “National Programme” and gave the green light for abolishing the death penalty, for permitting Kurdish language radio and TV and for the introduction of native language tuition. 
In December the EU are to reward the reforms with a date for the commencement of entry talks. With the announcements, Turkey is jumping over its own shadow and keeping to its word. Native language tuition, in Kurdish in the Kurdish regions, is only to take place in state schools and according to the national syllabus. It will be ensured that local Kurdish dialects are taught and not a general Kurdish language as has been called for by various exiled Kurdish groups. Kurdish radio and TV broadcasts shall remain the preserve of public stations and are to be limited to news programmes. Despite this restriction, the NSC’s vote reaffirms the commitment of Turkey’s leadership to EU mem-bership.
The EU Commission welcomed the lifting of the states of emergency in the 2 provinces. The NSC’s decision was “a positive signal and a step in the right direction”, said commission spokesman Jean-Christophe Filori in Brussels. But the government in Ankara did need to put it into effect as soon as possible. (Sources: Cumhuriyet, 31.05.02  and Berliner Zeitung, 01.06.02)

State Prosecutor’s Charge Against the Lawyer Keskin 
(Translated Extract)

Turkish Republic (TR), State Security Court (SSR) Istanbul
Chief Public Prosecutor of the Republic 

Case No.: 2002/134
Main Issue: 2002/425
Indictment 2002/425
Prosecutor:Public
Accused: Emine Eren Keskin, registered lawyer at the Istanbul Lawyers’ Association 
Offence: Support of a banned terrorist organization 
Dates of Offences: 08.01.02, 14.02.02, 19.03.02, 21.03.02
Criminal Law: Art. 169 of the Turkish Penal Code, Art. 5 of Law No. 3713, Art. 31 of the Turkish Penal Code 
Results of Investigation:
The following documents were evaluated: Document no. 008746 from 10.01.02 and enclosure No. 045803 from 15.02.02 and enclosure No. M-03.02/2417 from 20.03.02 and enclosure No. M-0302/2417/3591 from 26.03.02 and enclosures which the public prosecutor obtained from the head of security of Istanbul’s police headquarters.
It was confirmed that the accused Keskin is head of the Istanbul branch of the Human Rights Associa-tion (IHD-Istanbul); 
that she, on 08.01.02, in the IHD-Istanbul building in Beyoğlu, distributed the press statement "Appeal to the Universities” from 08.01.2002, which has been put on file;
that she, on 14.02.02 in the IHD-Istanbul building, distributed the brochure “The Right to a Native Language – Withholding a Native Language”;
That she, on 19.03.02 in the IHD-Istanbul building, distributed the “Human Rights Bulletin” which has been put on file;
That the accused, on 21.03.2002 in the IHD-Istanbul building, distributed flyers with the head-line “Today is Newroz, the celebration of 21st March".
It was also confirmed that there was a connection with the content of the flyers to the campaign for tuition in the Kurdish language which had been decided upon at the 7th Congress of the banned terrorist organization, the PKK.
In her statements to the chief public prosecutor from 24.01.02 and 01.04.02, the accused stated that she had produced and distributed these flyers as head of the IHD-Istanbul and that she took respon-sibility for them..
[a part is missing – what is meant is “the PKK”...] is an illegal organization which aims to establish a Kurdish state on Marxist-Leninist principles in east and southeast Anatolia where the offence of distributing written propaganda against the indissoluble integrity of state territory and the Turkish nation is being perpetrated. They also aim to integrate territory from Syria, Iran and Iraq and for these purposes have carried out numerous murders, assaults, attacks against villages and police stations, mass murders, robberies, lootings and bombings. 
The Turkish Republic have been prosecuting a campaign against the organization known as the PKK which receives material as well as ideological support from enemies at home and abroad. As a consequence of the state campaign the leader of this organization, Abdullah Öcalan, was arrested abroad, tried and sentenced to death.
Following the arrest of the organization’s leader, active supporters abroad made efforts to follow a new political path. For this purpose the leadership of the armed terrorist organization held its 7th Congress and on this date [incomprehensible text - translator] carried out a 6th National Conference. Resolutions passed at this conference concerned achieving their aims by new methods known as a “democratization and peace project”.
According to the new strategy, which still intends to achieve the same aims of this brutal organization, a new “civil disobedience/revolt” action will be followed, not based on violence, but by violating the laws of the TR, they intend to bring our security forces and our country into difficulties at an international level. To implement such activities the following points were agreed upon:
1. Students who sympathize or who are members of the organization, are to submit printed requests  to university rectors for Kurdish to be taught as a subject choice at universities;
2. Parents of school pupils at primary and secondary schools are to submit requests to the Min-istry for Training and Education, demanding that “I want my child to be taught in Kurdish”;
3. Women from supporting organizations are to wear regional costumes;
4. Applications to be made at registry offices and courts demanding that “I want my identity card to state  ‘of Kurdish Origin’”;
5. Written declarations to be made stating “I am a PKK activist and I support the PKK’s new strat-egy”;
6. The PKK leadership apparently approved of the campaign for Kurdish language tuition carried out by students who supported their organization, as well as the points concerning its extension to schools and colleges, and implemented these.
The decision by the terrorist organization, the PKK, for civil disobedience was published in the June-September and December 2001 issue of the organizations publication Serxwebun, also available on the Internet. This publication has been put on file as evidence. The following quotes from an article entitled “Comment on the Future – I want to give free education a chance” in the publication Özgür Halk, No. 123 from 15.12.2001, make it clear that PKK supporters were given instructions in this way: 
"...a wider call for Kurdish language tuition is necessary; not just from Kurds but also Turkish students; it has to be done in lawful ways; limitation to one or two slogans is to be avoided; Be creative; dozens of civil organizations are to be established. Everybody should be linked to one or two civil organizations. Whoever is not prepared to establish or build up civil organizations can not be an active revolutionary...."
From the contents of the file, the accused Keskin, in her activities, which are consistent with the above, has been dealing with the illegal terrorist organization, the PKK, has therefore aided the activities of the organization and has therefore committed the offence of supporting an illegal organization.
Under the corresponding law, the trial and conviction of the accused is applied for in the name of the public according to Art. 20 of Law No. 2845.
14.04.2002, Hadi Salihoğlu, Public Prosecutor of the Republic– 23866, State Security Court Istanbul
(Source: Office of Women’s Rights Against Sexual Torture e.V., Berlin)

Divorced Women in Iran May Keep Sons for Seven Years 
In future divorced women in Iran may keep their sons up to the age of 7. Up till now custody was automatically given to fathers for sons older than 2 years. According to Iranian public radio, parliament agreed on changing the appropriate legislation. Accordingly, the father receives custody as soon as the son is 7. However, a judge can still grant custody for the mother after talking to the child. The law still has to be agreed by the conservative Guardians Council. (Source: AFP, o1.06.02)

Iran and Turkey Tough on Iraqi Refu-gees
A truck with 34 refugees aboard, rolled over in an accident on a motorway in the Kurdish region of Turkey. One refugee died and others were injured. This was claimed by the refugees following their forced deportation to Iraq from Turkey. The refugees were handed over to Kurdish authorities at the border. They said that 4 of their comrades were seriously injured and were in hospital in Turkey. 
The group had crossed into Turkey from Iranian territory after they had paid 1000 dollars to smugglers. It was reported that Iranian authorities had apprehended 51 Iraqis who had attempted to cross into Turkey. The refugees were handed over to the authorities in northern Iraq (regional government of Kurdistan). Kurdish sources, speaking under conditions of non-disclosure, said that Iran had sent back 500 illegal Iraqi refugees to northern Iraq recently. The majority of them came from the towns of Sulaimaniya and Kirkuk. Thousands of Iraqi Kurds use Turkey as a starting point for the risky journey to the West. Refugees forced to return when apprehended, have reported ill treatment and abuse by Turkish troops and police. (Source: Iraq Press, 29.5.02)  

Refugee Drama in Turkey:

Ship Sinks with Refugees Onboard
A refugee boat with 40 illegal immigrants aboard is believed to have sunk before the Turkish Aegean coast. Turkish coast guards searched for the boat after the bodies of 5 Pakistanis were washed up on the beach near the tourist spot of Kusadasi. According to statements from other refugees who were apprehended around the same time on land, an initial group had already set sail for Greece. The search for the ship was unsuccessful.

19 Refugees Frozen to Death in Mountains
Nineteen bodies have been found in mountains near the Iranian border to Turkey. The 10 adults and 9 children, possibly Afghans, are thought to have illegally crossed the border weeks ago and froze in the snow, said the governor of the eastern Turkish province of Van. The bodies were discovered as the snow began to melt.
Amongst the refugees who were apprehended on the Aegean coast were 31 Iraqis, 6 Indians and 5 Pakistanis. They had numbered 80 at the outset and had been driven in 2 lorries from Istanbul to the coast. According to their own statements they had paid 2300 US Dollars for the planned crossing to Greece.
Turkey is one of the “major transit countries” for 10 thousand refugees per year from Asia who are ferried to Europe in inhumane conditions by people smugglers. (Source: dpa, 30.05 02)

Four Refugees Drowned
Four from 39 refugees who were found on the Iranian border to Turkey, drowned as they tried to hide in reeds near the village of Örtülü in the district of Dogubeyazit (Agri). They are to be buried in Dogubeyazit with the other 39 being deported. (Source: NTV from 29.05.02)

Three Refugees Killed
The governor of Erzincan, Halil Ibrahim Altinok, has said that 3 refugees, 2 from Afghanistan and 1 from Bangladesh, were killed near the village of Aksu. They apparently became involved in a shoot out with security forces. Thirty refugees were arrested during the incident and were then deported. Other arrests of refugees were reported in Van (110), Edirne (50) and Gebze (8). (Source: Cumhuriyet, 28.05.02)

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