Ankara Pays Writer Compensation 
A 53 year old Turk, who was imprisoned for pub-lishing Kurdish songs and poems, has received compensation of around 11,000 Euros from the Turkish government. This was agreed recently between the man, who lives in Germany, and a Turkish government representative before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The man had received a 2 year prison sentence and high financial fines in 3 cases from 1995 and 1996 for publishing a collection of Kurdish folk songs and poems as well as a book on the Kurds’ “democ-ratic and national campaign”. The verdicts had been passed under “the prevention of terrorism laws”. (Source: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 6.9.2002)

A Poem by Pablo Neruda 
Grounds for Legal Proceedings 
The publication of a poem “For Mothers Whose Sons Have Died” by a world renowned poet, has led to a case being brought before the state security courts in Istanbul.
Neruda wrote the poem 66 years ago, during the Spanish civil war, for mothers who had lost their sons. 
The publisher was charged with spreading “terrorist propaganda”. (No.6 Istanbul State Security Court)
The public prosecutor had called for an investigation after the poem appeared in the September edition of the magazine “Cultural Life”. The court then confiscated all copies of the edition.
The publication’s owner, Muharrem Cengiz, and its editor, Ahu Zeynep, have appealed against the confiscation but this was rejected by the courts.
The case against the two has now been opened.
(Source: Kurdish Media News, 10.09.2002)

Nationalists Appeal to Constitutional Courts Against EU Reforms 
Turkish nationalists, under deputy government head Devlet Bahceli, have formed a front against the abolishment of the death penalty and the recogni-tion of cultural rights for Kurds and non-Muslim minorities, eight weeks before new elections in Turkey. By bringing a case before the constitutional courts, Bahceli told journalists he wanted to stop the reforms passed by the Turkish parliament at the beginning of August. With the reform package 
Turkey hopes for a quick commencement of acces-sion negotiations with the EU. Bahecli has therefore made it clear that he thinks his party (MHP) can become the party for EU opponents in the polls on November 3rd. (Source: dpa, 9.9.2002)

Yilmaz: Concern About Coalition 
Less than two months before new elections in Turkey internal tensions have come to a head in Ankara. Head of the conservative coalition party ANAP, deputy prime minister Mesut Yilmaz, said that he had “serious concerns” on whether the coali-tion could hold together until the elections. ANAP were soon to decide on whether to continue or end the coalition.
In this way Yilmaz has responded to the appeal from the MHP to the constitutional courts against reforms which should level Turkey’s way to the EU.
Following a meeting with Yilmaz, prime minister Ecevit said that the situation was complicated. Ac-cording to observers, the ANAP could leave the coalition and support a no-confidence vote from the opposition. There have already been talks of build-ing a new government. The ANAP and Ecevit’s party of the Democratic Left have been given little chance of clearing the ten percent hurdle. Other party’s are concerned that Yilmaz just wants to hold off new elections. (Source: Frankfurter Rundschau, 11.09.2002)

UN Reports Critically on Turkish
Repatriation of Displaced People 
HRW have expressed concern about the flawed repatriation programme by the Turkish government.
UN official Francis Deng, responsible for issues of forced resettlement, wrote in his report that repatri-ates were often taken to special villages controlled by so-called “village guards”. Harassment by the latter had at times been the reason why people had originally fled their homes.
HRW have recommended the Turkish government to put these programmes under the control of NGOs and international observers. This was also sup-ported by Francis Deng in a visit to Turkey. 
The HRW will make its official position public next month.
See also: Human rights in Turkey 
http://www.org/europe/turkey.php 
(Source: Human Rights Watch (HRW), 10.09. 02

KESK Condemns Arrests 
Ünal Yildiz, KESK spokesperson in Mersin and local head of Egitim-Sen in Mersin, has condemned the arrests of the public employees who are KESK members, at the end of unsuccessful wage negotia-tions.
In a press statement Yildiz made it clear that the arrests would not deter KESK members from strik-ing. Yildiz said that the arrests inconsistent with both democracy and justice and that the “…political powers continue to pursue unsuccessful policies. They negotiate with us and then do whatever they want. We will continue with our protest." (DIHA, 09.09.02)

Police Accused of Torture Benefit from Amnesty Rules 
Three police officers who have been accused of torturing Cevahir Temel in Adana, have been found not guilty because of the “Law on Conditional Re-lease”.
The case was heard before the Third Criminal Court in the presence of the victim Cevahir Temel and the defending lawyer Mustafa Cinkilic. The three offi-cers, Sami Çelik, Osman Soyuer and Murat Esertürk, were not present. It was stated in court that the allegations of torture against the officers came under regulation no. 4616 of the “Law on Conditional Release” and that the case was to be closed. 
Temels lawyer, Cinkilic, later said that the case was pending at the European Court of Human Rights and that “…. The court’s decision showed that torture had taken place. We are now waiting for the European Court’s judgment".
Temel had brought charges after she had been tor-tured in her home in Karasu in Adana by Anti-terror units of the police. She had been shaved bald. (DIHA, 09.09.02)

Women Tortured 
The incident happened, which started a chain reaction, when Zahide Durgun, who had moved to Dohuk in southern Kurdistan, arrived in Kakkari on 20.08.2002 to visit her family.
Durgun, who went to the house of her brothers Hüseyin and Salih, was startled by what she saw waiting for her. The house was surrounded by masked and armed police officers. After the police had stormed the house they arrested Zahide Dur-gun, her brothers, her nephew Savas and Hasan Demirel who was visiting at the time. They were taken to the anti-terror-unit of the Hakkari security forces. Durgun only then learned of the charges being brought against her. The police suspected her of “..of coming to Turkey to be responsible for the PJA”. When she denied this she was tortured. She said, “I had electric shocks given to my ears and they beat my entire body. They threatened to abuse and rape me. After four day I was taken to a doctor who wrote me sick for three days”. 
She told the state prosecutor, to whom to she had been brought before, that she had only admitted to the police charges because of the persecution to which she had been subjected and therefore re-tracted the admission. She also said that would be able to identify the police officers who had tortured her. 

They were in the same bus 
The police raid had not just been restricted to Durgun. At the same time another raid was being carried out against an alleged “PJA representative”. Sükriye Beyter, who had been aboard the same bus as Zahide Durgun from southern Kurdistan to Hak-kari, was arrested while staying in the house of her relative Ahmet Beyter. Beyter said that she had also been subjected to torture and verbal abuse during her arrest and had feared for her life after being thrown into water. However, she did not get any medical certification despite being twice in hospi-tal. She was also brought before the state prosecu-tor, and denied the charges saying she had only admitted them because of the maltreatment. At the same time she laid charges of torture against the police with the state prosecutor.

No legal proceedings 
The state prosecutor who took statements of torture from Durgun and Beyter, has still not initiated any investigation. Durgun und Beyters’ families, who had approached the IHD in Van, went looking for them in prison with the organization’s lawyer, Be-dia Özgökçe Ertan. Ertan wrote a report which indicated her doubts that questioning had been carried out in accordance with the regulations and added that she would be bringing charges against the police. (DIHA, 09.09.02)

State of Emergency Lifted, 
Virtually No Change in Practice 
Embargo continues 
The food embargo in Tunceli continues to be im-posed in Hakkari where the state of emergency has been lifted. Permission is required to bring in food in 20 villages belonging to Yüksekova. In Yük-sekova, a food embargo has been imposed in the region of Daglica, of which the following belong: Kamisli, Daglica (Oramar), Yesiltas (Stazin), Tuglu (Hacyan), Köskönü (Pêspesrê), Gürkavak (Sahkulu), Bostancik (Gulort). It is becoming in-creasingly difficult for the villagers to obtain food. Military and civilian authorities claim that the food is being passed on to KADEK, but have not taken into account existing levels of stocks and continue to impose the embargo. The embargo, brought in during the armed conflict, continues despite the lifting of the state of emergency.
The inhabitants of Kamisli were, following difficult exchanges, eventually allowed to return to their homes after having bought food in Yüksekov. Before taking it back to their villages they had to firstly submit an application to the council in Yük-sekova. On the issuing of authorization they were then referred to the gendarmerie. But the authoriza-tion still caused them problems here. They needed authorization from the gendarmerie on the route back to their village. Authorization from the council and district gendarmerie was not adequate for bringing food back to their village. If they received no authorization from Kamisli they would have to return empty handed. 
Public officials explained this away as “protecting citizens”. Müjgan Özcan, a public employee in the administration, said that the region was a “terrorist area” and considered their actions to be normal.

Check points between settlements 
According to members of the Lawyers’ Association in Diyarbakir, military check points still exist be-tween Kurdish settlements. At each checkpoint passengers are taken from their vehicles and checked..

Big desire to return by expellees
Millions of expelled Kurdish families want to re-turn to their homes. Obstacles to this are:
· The village guard system of Kurdish mili-tias, made up of around 70,000 heavily armed personnel serving the Turkish army in Kurdistan, continue to hinder those wanting to return or resettle.
· The majority of homes of the expelled Kurdish families have been destroyed. Ag-ricultural land and gardens have now been fallow for years. Farmers no longer have any animals.
No compensation has been paid to those expelled. The will to return is therefore absent. The state must cover the costs of return as well as resources to build houses and barns and for cattle, seeds and agricul-tural equipment.
 (IMK, 10.09.02)

Case Against Kurdish Names 
The state prosecutor in the district of Perek (Tun-celi) has begun a case against Ilyas Sayit and the head of the registry office, Ahmet Yilmaz, after Ilyas Sayit registered his son there with the name “Berzan” (knowledge). The local administration also allegedly permitted the name. The state prose-cutor has demanded that the name be revoked under Article 16/4 of law 1587 because it contradicts Turkish culture and traditions. (Source: Özgür Gündem, 08.09.2002)

Death fast Victim 
Hamide Öztürk died on September 10th in the state hospital of Sagmalcilar (Istanbul). She had been imprisoned in 1995 and was sentenced in 1997 to 12 and a half years for belonging to DHKP/C. She had been on a death fast since June 3rd 2001.
President of Sate Ahmet Necdet Sezer pardoned Hakan Baran and Hatun under Article 104 of the constitution because they were suffering from the Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome. (Source: Evrensel vom 10.09.2002)
 
Torture Case 
Adana’s 3rd Criminal Court reached a decision on 09.09.2002 on a case of torture towards Cevahir Temel, who had been arrested on 17.01.1997. The case was stopped under the law for conditional release and suspension of court cases. The state prosecutor had even initially refused to allow the case to be brought before the courts but was instructed to do so by the justice ministry after Turkey had been found guilty before the European Court of Human Rights. (Source: Evrensel vom 10.09.2002)

Convergence Legislation 
On 09.09.2002 the MHP turned to the constitutional courts and made an application to have certain regulations revoked in Law No. 4771 (the so-called EU compliance law ). This included the abolition of the death penalty, native language education, privi-leges for minority organizations and the right to new court hearings following decisions by the European Court of Human Rights. (Source: Hürriyet, 10.09.02)

Tuition in Kurdish 
On 10.09.2002, the 3rd Chamber of the state security courts in Diyarbakir found not guilty the students Zeynep Demir, Umur Aydin and A. Riza Çiftçi on allegations of supporting the PKK. They had wanted to hand over a petition to the chancellor of Dicle University for Kurdish to become a subject choice. The court referred to Article 11 of Law No. 4771 in making their judgment. 
In a different case against 27 youths (with only 3 being aged over 18) the court referred to the same legislation. The youths had organized a demonstration on 11.12.01 in the district of Çarikli (Diyarbakir) on the rights to native languages. (Evrensel, 11.09.2002)
According to information from lawyer and human rights organizations, students and school pupils who had been expelled from universities and schools for petitioning for the introduction of tui-tion in Kurdish, have not been able to return. On-going legal proceedings against hundreds of people have also not been stopped.
Not only are numerous court cases still on going against those Egit-Sen members in the Kurdish provinces who demanded the introduction of native language tuition prior to the passing of the EU compliance package, but also most of them are at risk of being compulsorily transferred to western provinces. (Source, IMK e.V.)

Torture Case 
On 11.09.2002, the 7th criminal court dealt with the case concerning the police officers Bayram Kartal, Sedat Selim Ay, Mustafa Ünal, Yalçin Büyükhan, Yusuf Öz, Nafiz Aktas and Sönmez Alp, who are accused of torturing the chief editor of “Atilim”, Ibrahim Çiçek, A. Hidir Polat, Delil Ildan, Haci Orman, Füsun Erdogan, Birol Pasa, Hakki Mihçi, Ali Ocak and Dogan Sahin in March 1996. Co-complainant and lawyer Keles Öztürk said that the case had been running since 1997. There had been more than 20 hearings. Because the defendants did not give a closing speech the case was again adjourned until 23.09.2002. The adjournment period is to end on 26.09.2002. (Source: BIA-Independent Communication Network,  13.09.02)

Environmentalist Found Guilty 
The criminal court in Soma has sentenced Oktay Konyar, head of the executive committee for the environment in Bergama, to 5 months imprison-ment. In view of 2 months already spent in custody and good behavior, the prison term was converted to a fine of 1.27 billion TL (around 1000 Euros). Konyar, who became famous for the protests by the inhabitants of Bergama against the extraction of gold through the use of potassium cyanide, had a dispute with police at a teachers’ union event on 12th April, where he had wanted to make a speech. The sentence concerned insulting police officers. (Source: Cumhuriyet, 13.09.02)

Syrian President Visits Kurdistan to
Meet Arabs But Not Kurds
During a meeting arranged by the Karbala Centre of Studies, Arabs confirmed that for the first time in their history a part of Kurdistan was occupied by Arabs. The meeting was the first step towards fur-ther negotiations between Kurds and Arabs.
Dr. Munther Alfadhal described the Kurds as a nation partitioned between Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey and added, “for Arabs the time has arrived to apologize for crimes committed by Arabs against Kurds”. 
Syria had for years denied the existence of Kurds and had even refused them citizenship.
Syrians believe that the new president, Bashar Al-Assad, is pursuing the same policies as his father, Hafez Al-Assad. The latter had always denied the existence of the Kurds but at the same time, when the opportunity arose and its was in his own inter-ests, he used the Kurds to try and gain advantage in the other regions of Kurdistan.
Whenever he felt that the Kurds had written or spoken too severely on the Kurdish situation in Syria he firstly threatened them, and when that didn’t help, he arrested them. They were then usu-ally handed over to the state security courts.
Bashar Al-Assad recently visited Qamishly for 9 hours and met with local figures and Arab clan leaders from the region. However, he did not meet up with one single Kurd or representative of a Kurdish political party. 
Qamishly is located 650km northeast of Damascus and belongs to the region of Kurdistan occupied by Syria. It was the first official visit to this far northeastern corner, where the occupied Kurdish territories of Syria, Iraq and Turkey meet, by a Syrian state leader since the 1946 independence. 
Although the state has made extra resources avail-able there is still little hope for the population for any improvement in relations. During the visit, a church representative raised the issue of the with-holding of citizenship for the Kurdish people and  asked about a solution to this problem. 
After the recent assembly of around 70 Kurds, who had no identity papers, before the ministry of inte-rior, two of them were permitted to personally handover a petition to the interior minister concern-ing their lack of citizenship. (Source: Kurdish Media, 05.09.02)

Meeting of KDP and PUK Leaders in Iraqi Kurdistan 
The president of the KDP, Massoud Barzani, and general secretary of the PUK, Jalal Talabani, have participated in a series of meetings held from 7-8 September in Salahaddin, Arbil. The meetings were of historical significance because they opened up prospects for a better future for the population in Iraqi Kurdistan and in Iraq generally. 
The meetings took place in a brotherly and democ-ratic atmosphere where both parties were aware of the responsibility regarding a future democratic, federal and united Iraq, the Kurdish question and peace and stability in the Middle East. 
Both parties had identical views on international democratic and political change, the fight against terrorism, fundamentalism and dictators.
During the talks it was agreed to set up four work-ing groups to draw up a joint project on federalism, normalization of Iraqi Kurdistan, security arrange-ments and a joint political position on national and international affairs. On 4th October 2002 members of both parliamentary blocks, as well as parliamen-tary members of the Christian Party, are to meet in the parliament building in Arbil.
During the meetings several decisions were reached concerning the participation of other Kurdish politi-cal parties and groups to strengthen both the Kurdish freedom movement in Iraq and the Iraqi opposition, with a view to Iraq’s future, freedom, stability and the legitimate rights of Kurds, Turkmen, Assyrians and Christians. 
A further decision concerned relations to neighbor-ing states based on friendship, brotherhood and non-interference in internal affairs. (Source: Press Statement Salahaddin-Arbil, 08.09.02)

Poison Gas Experiment in East
Kurdistan (Iran)?
Following a medical experiment by the Iranian authorities in the village of “Benjoy” in Kurdi-stan/Iran many people, mainly schoolchildren, have been poisoned. A reporter from the weekly news-paper “Media“, Mohamad Chezri from Suleimania (Iraqi-Kurdistan), spoke with some of those af-fected who had come to Suleimania for treatment.
On 23.04.02 3 employees from the Iranian health department, Mohamad Amin Saidi, Omar Ismaili and Schadi Abdulahi, arrived in the village and spoke of an outbreak of typhoid. To avoid the disease they said that everyone should have an injection.
Around 10 days later symptoms of poisoning were evident. The heads of the two schools immediately informed the authorities. Initially the heads’ claims were ignored. Only after 15 days, as the health of those affected became critical, was a doctor sent out. But the doctor did not examine anybody, he just swore and was abusive towards those affected and their families. He claimed that the inhabitants were mentally ill.
The health of those affected, especially the school pupils, worsened from day to day until 75 of them had to be taken to hospital.
The villagers then informed the Iranian health de-partment outside of Kurdistan, i.e. in Teheran, and demanded that they acted quickly because the health those affected was now life threatening. As a result of this demand the authorities sent a delega-tion of doctors to Kurdistan to investigate the cases. The results of the investigation have not yet been revealed. Those affected were just given headache tablets. 
After the delegation of Iranian doctors had left, the Iranian military then occupied the village and com-pletely cut it off from the outside world so that the catastrophic effects of the chemical experiment would not become public. When the villagers felt left alone by the authorities and realized that this was not about a disease, they tried to secretly get their ill relatives to Iraqi-Kurdistan for treatment.
However, only 27 people managed to make it to Suleimania.
The reporter from “Media” was then able to visit 10 of the sick people in hospital. They said that they momentarily went deaf and dumb following the injections, had infections to their legs and hands as well as severe kidney pain. (Source: Media, No. 128  Arbil-South Kurdistan).

Iranian Military Attack Kurdish Traders 
On 09.09.02 several Kurdish truck drivers were attacked near the Kurdish village of “Kawlan” on the road between the towns of Mahabad and Sardascht, on the orders of the military at the “Kawlan” base. Three drivers were killed and several were injured.
This led to such massive protests by the Kurdish population in Mahabad and Sardascht that the commanding officer “Ghahwetschi” was allegedly arrested..
A day later, as the family of one of the dead from “Sardascht” wanted to collect the body from Maha-bad, they unexpectedly saw the commanding offi-cer in the town. Thousands of Kurds then protested in the town of Mahabad against his release and against the actions of the military. They demanded the officer’s arrest and punishment as well as that of his accomplices. Their demands were ignored and their protest was bloodily ended. Units of the “Pasdaran“, the so-called Islamic Revolutionary Guards, arrived from the towns of Ormijey, Mian-dua and Naghadeh to provide support. A further 7 people were shot dead in protest actions, many were injured and hundreds arrested. The bodies of the dead were not handed over to relatives. The military imposed a state of emergency in the town which was still in effect at the time of writing.  (Source: From a press statement from Komala, 10.09.02)
 

Iranian Death Squads at Work?
On 20.08.02 the body of a young man named Jassin Anwari was found on the outskirts of the village of “Tarchanawa” near the town of Baneh. Around 3 weeks previously, the bodies of Mohssin Mosta-fazadeh and Ata Tschaurasch had also been found. There is no further information on the identity of the perpetrators. Iranian death squads are suspected of being behind the murders
Sardascht:/Kurdistan: On 01.09.02 around 12 o’clock a group of Kurdish traders were attacked by Iranian security forces near the village of “Ger-mawi”. Three packhorses were killed. The trader Ali Hadji Mohamad was arrested, ill treated and nearly tortured to death. (Source: Halbmonatszeitung Kurdistan No. 348)

Most Requests for Asylum from Kurds:
According to information from the UNHCR, despite worldwide declining numbers of refu-gees, the numbers of asylum seeking Kurdish refugees is the highest.
The United Nations (UN) have revealed that the number of refugees worldwide has decreased, but the largest number still remains the Kurds. According to new information from the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), emigration to the 28 industrialized states has gone down by 12%, but in some countries it has increased strongly. According to UNHCR studies, in the first 6 months of this year 268,500 refugees applied for asylum in the 28 industrialized nations.
In comparison to the 2nd half of 2001, there was a 12% reduction of applications in Europe in the first half of 2002. In EU member states this number went down by 9%. In central European states it decreased by 39%. The decrease has been linked with the war in Afghanistan which is, in the main, now over. Asylum applications from Afghanistan have sunk by a half this year compared with last year.
The countries which had a strong increase in applications were Finland (59%), Bulgaria (54%), Austria (13%) and USA (9%). The majority of these refugees were mainly Kurds or Iraqi citizens. Kurds also were the most frequent asylum applicants worldwide. It was revealed that in the first half of this year 22,836 people from Iraq applied for asylum. The Kurds  take first place even though their numbers reduced by 15% in comparison with the 2nd half of last year. According to the UNHCR table, Afghanistan takes second place and third place goes to Kurdish refugees from Turkey. Others on the list are the Yugoslav Republic, China, Russia, Columbia, Mexico, Congo and India. (Source: Özgür Politika, 12.09.2002)

17 Refugees Apprehended 
Polish border guards recently apprehended 17 refu-gees on the German/Poland border at Gubin. They intended to illegally enter Germany. Fourteen of them were Iraqis and the other 3 originated from Afghanistan. (Source: taz, 6.9.2002)

12 Illegal Immigrants Arrested Shortly Before Departure to Italy 
Greek coastguards in the western Greek port of Igoumenitsa have arrested 12 illegal immigrants and 4 traffickers. According to Greek state radio the traffickers were a German citizen of Turkish ori-gin., a Lithuanian women and 2 Italian citizens. They had hid the Iraqi and Turkish Kurds in a camper van and car and intended to sail with the ferry "Hellenic Spirit" to the Italian port of Ancona.
The Greek port is a stopover for illegal immigrants who have managed to get to Greece from Turkey via the Aegean. International smuggling gangs then try and get them over the Adriatic to southern Italy and then onto central Europe. (Source: dpa, 14.09.02)

At Least 2 Dead Illegal Immigrants in Western Greece 
Greek coastguards have found the bodies of 2 illegal immigrants on the western coast of the Pelo-ponnesian peninsular. According to the semi-official Greek news agency ANA, they belonged to a group of 45 immigrants who had set sail from Turkey 5 days earlier. Of these, 36 mainly Pakistani immigrants made it ashore near the port of Kyparissia. They told police that 7 or 8 people were missing. Their boat had capsized. (Source: dpa, 03.09.02)

Dutch Border Guards Arrest 17 Illegal Kurds 
Border guards in the north Netherlands port of Delfzijl have arrested 17 illegal Kurds from Turkey aboard a cargo ship. The “stowaways”, aged be-tween 20 and 40 years old, had apparently hid themselves aboard the “Emerald P” on 25.08.2002, said a police spokesperson. They were allegedly only discovered on 07.09.2002 when the cargo ship, carrying a load of cement, took on fuel and stores in a port in Morocco.
The Dutch authorities are investigating whether the crew of the ship, sailing under the flag of St. Vin-cent (Caribbean), are involved in people smuggling. Twelve of the immigrants were taken to asylum centers and the other 5 were taken to the airport in Schiphol. (Source: dpa, 17.09.02)

Suicide Attempt by the Kurdish Poet Hamze Sen
Kurd pours petrol over himself in protest against threat of deportation 
Refugee Board calls for reopening of asylum ap-plication 
The Kurdish refugee and poet Hamze Sen recently attempted to commit suicide. He covered himself in petrol and fled from a hostel in the Senkingstraße. The hostel management informed the police and the poet’s friends were notified by a series of phone calls. They immediately went looking for him. Three Kurds eventually found Hamze Sen under a railway bridge in the Hannoverschen Straße, where he had again poured petrol over himself and was playing around with a lighter. Hamze Sen threat-ened to set himself on fire if his friends came too near. Only after 10 minutes did they manage to overpower him. They tied the poet up and took him to a doctor who immediately referred him to a psychiatric hospital.
Hamze Sen and his family were to be deported. He is at risk of political persecution from the Turkish state for “separatist propaganda” because of his many poems and texts, in the Kurdish language, on Kurdish rights and which indirectly support the PKK’s “national freedom campaign”. According to our information, the poet can expect long term imprisonment in Turkey and is also at risk of being tortured. However, the administrative courts in Hannover cast aside all the available reports and witness statements and declared, despite urgent warnings from the Lower Saxony Refugee Board, that the deportation was permissible. Even the Bundesamt, brought in by the refugee board, has to date resisted in reopening the case. 
In a farewell letter to his family Hamze Sen wrote amongst other things: "I don’t want you to be sad but I can see no other way out. Every door has been shut in  my face. I can’t cope with the injustice done to us ... I want to die here not in Turkey. Since I was taken to the Turkish consulate I can’t sleep anymore. I can’t think clearly anymore. Everything I say can’t help us  anymore. I don’t have any hope. This means my life ends here ...".
The Lower Saxony Refugee Board has again ap-pealed to those responsible to reconsider Hamze Sen’s case and to suspend the deportation order. We are convinced that Hamze Sen is at risk of per-secution in Turkey. To date we have, with PRO ASYL, already documented 40 cases of refugees who were refused asylum in Germany but were then persecuted in Turkey, imprisoned or ill treated. We therefore demand that the Bundesamt review the criteria on asylum decisions and to make new assessments of the risk of persecution for deported Kurds. (Press statement from the Förderverein Niedersächsi-scher Flüchtlingsrat e. V., Hildesheim, 16.09.2002)
 

Dear Readers,

IMK e.V. in cooperation with the Medizinischen Flüchtlingshilfe Bochum is to carry out a series of events on the theme of “Trauma and Treatment”. The first event is to take place on 21st September 2002 in Cologne. The com-plete programme is available on our Website..

The programme is also available on the weekend conference on “Kurds in Iraq and Turkey – their future between Agas, Sheiks and oil multinationals” from 6.12. until 08.12.2002, in the Ev. Akademie Bad Boll, Ger-many. It can also be downloaded from our WEB-Site www.kurden.de.
 

Call for Demonstration on 5th October 2002, at 1200 Before
The Syrian Embassy in Bonn-Bad Godesberg

Kurdish Political Parties and Organizations call for the participation in a demonstration before the Syrian Embassy in Bonn.
The aim is to protest against the Syrian state/Baath regime’s policies of withholding citizenship from the Kurdish people in Syria.
IMK is currently working on a study into stateless Kurds in Syria. It will be published at the end of the year.
 

Call to demonstrate on 12th October in Cologne

The “Platform for Organisations from Kurdistan in Germany- HEVKARI” made up of 18 Kurd-ish political parties and organisations, call for participation in a demonstration on 12th October 2002 in Cologne. Begin: 12 o’clock at Köln-Ebertplatz
Ends: 1400 at the Roncalliplatz
The call for this event is available on the following web sites:
www.komkar.org or www.kurden.de 
 

New Publication

Dear Friends,

The IMK e.V. would like to inform all those involved in refugee work about the dissertation by Mehmet Bayval on “Psychosocial Development of Child Refugees”. 

The dissertation studies the conditions under which child refugees live in Germany. It looks at aspects of psychology, sociology, ethnology, politics and law.  
· The first part of the dissertation deals with definitions, refugee causes, statistics and interna-tional and national law. The issues referred to are the right to stay, residency and procedures concerning entry.. 
· The second half focuses on actual living situations, psychosocial development of child refu-gees,– e.g. in the areas of accommodation, education and identity, and outlining measures which would influence the living conditions of young refugees. 

The dissertation is available (in German) for the sum of 6,-- Euro ( incl. post). 
 

As before, please let us know your e-mail address. E-mail is faster and cost effective.
 

We would also like to refer you to our Web page where the following interesting articles are available:

· IPPNW-Report on the actual situation in Turkey and Kurdistan (German)

· An article byAshiti Amiron on Syria and Syrian Kurdistan (German))

· PSK statement on Turkish Parliament’s “EU Compliance Package” (German and English)

· The Article “Kurds and Kurdistan” by Shahin Sorekli from Australia (English)
 

These do not necessarily reflect our opinions but do concern the current debates on the issues we deal with. Visit us at www.kurden.de

Best regards,

The Editorial team

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