Yücelen's Memo Confuses EU Diplomats
Student Arrests Concern EU 
In the run up to a meeting of the Turkey-EU Association Committee in Brussels, EU diplomats have expressed their concern for the arrests of hundreds of students for demanding native language lessons in Kurdish as a subject of choice. At one of their regular meetings, EU ambassadors discussed the right to petition and criticized the student arrests.
EU diplomats were particularly bewildered by a memo from Turkey's Minister for the Interior Rüstü Kazim Yücelen, in which he instructed the 18 Turkish governors and gendarme forces to take the necessary steps to prevent any violation of the constitution. He described the student campaign as part of a new PKK strategy in which the priority concerned Kurdish identity and education in the Kurdish language. 
The Turkish Justice Minister, Hikmet Sami Türk, said that the students wanted to bring this issue before the European Court of Human Rights, to get Turkey punished and to provide the matter with an international dimension. Türk referred back to the constitution and said that according to Article 42 only Turkish is considered to be the language of education. There were no banned languages in Turkey and anybody was entitled to converse in any language. But he said that those submitting formal requests were demanding native language education in Kurdish which was against Article 42 of the constitution. 
At the EU-Turkey meeting in Madrid on 08.01.2002, the EU side had expressed its concern about obstacles to the opening of an Amnesty International office in Turkey. The MHP-ministers Osman Durmus (Health) and Hüsnü Yusuf Gökalp (Agriculture) were considered to be the main protagonists of such a restrictive policy. 
Meanwhile, time is moving on for Turkey's compliance to the EU's short-term criteria. The requirements here include the lifting of restrictions on the use of native languages on radio and TV. 
ANAP-leader and deputy Prime Minister, Mesut Yilmaz, said it was not constitutionally possible to take legal action against petitions for Kurdish language education. He said that it was better to discuss the matter with the students. (Source: Turkish Daily News, 22./23.01.02)

"Mini-Democratization" Revealed as the Minimizing of Democracy 
A fierce dispute is taking place concerning the "mini-democratization package" particularly in view of planned changes to paragraphs 312 (incitement) and 159 (slander and defamation of the state or security forces). Human rights organizations, opposition parties and the liberal press consider the changes to be a minimizing of democracy and a setback to the existing democracy. Accordingly, any statements which just have the "potential" to breach public order will be an offence. 
Critics are also disappointed that the circle of those who are protected from slander or defamation is being enlarged rather than restricted. The proposal includes: Turkism, the Turkish nation, the Turkish state, parliament, the Council of Ministers, the judiciary, strike forces, security forces, public order forces, or "any part thereof". 
As a "hardliner" in the Ecevit government, the leader of the National Movement Party (MHP), Devlet Bahceli, is also prominent on this issue, "For us the propagation of separatism and inciting disorder do not belong to the freedoms of a democratic and pluralist society". According to his party, any changes to the above paragraphs will not be permitted which have the effect of "removing their substance".
However, the coalition's third partner, the National Liberal Motherland Party (ANAP), led by the deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz, has heavily criticized the joint proposal. ANAP's deputy leader, Erkan Mumcu, said that the planned changes would not make Turkey "into a constitutional state but rather a despotic, totalitarian and authoritarian form of state". In their existing forms paragraphs 312 and 159  exceed by far any EU standards. 
To increase Turkey's chances of EU membership, which Yilmaz hopes for by 2008 at the latest, he, like Ecevit, is for the complete abolition of the death sentence, which has not been enforced in Turkey since 1984. But there is resistance to this view from the nationalist MHP party who do not want the PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, imprisoned on the island of Imrali, to escape execution. The constitutional reforms only restricted the death penalty. It is still valid for war time and terrorist crimes. (Sources: dpa 24.01.02; div. türk. Zeitungen)

90 HADEP Members Arrested 
Chief State Prosecutor Calls on
Constitutional Court to Ban HADEP
The severe oppression against HADEP continues. Turkish police have arrested nearly 90 HADEP members in several cities throughout the country. In the city of Siirt 4 police officers and 4 demonstrators were injured in skirmishes between police and HADEP members. A total of 70 people were arrested there alone. Further arrests took place in the cities of Diyarbakir and Van, also located in Kurdish regions, as well as in the northwestern Turkish city of Bursa. 
Meanwhile the chief state prosecutor, Sabih Kandaoglu, has called on the constitutional court to ban the pro-Kurdish HADEP party. It was said that HADEP had become a center point for action against the unity of the Turkish state and nation. 
The court case on the banning of HADEP, which has been running since January 1999, is slowly nearing its end. HADEP representatives are due to make their closing defense speeches before the constitutional court on January 30th.
HADEP are accused of being linked to the "terrorist organization the PKK" and completely under their control, as had been the case with HEP and DEP. HADEP's activities are said to be directly controlled from the PKK's central committee. HADEP congresses are claimed to have been turned into demonstrations for Abdullah Öcalan. Participants on HADEP seminars are allegedly made hostile towards the constitutional order and the unity of the state. These are the reasons for calling for HADEP's closure, with Article 68 of the constitution being cited as well as numerous articles from legislation governing political parties. (Source: Anadolu Ajansi, 17.01.02; afp, 25.01.02)

Security Forces Give PKK Ultimatum 
Just prior to the Turkish Prime Minister's trip to the USA, Turkish security forces have issued a 12 point ultimatum to the PKK. They claim that the PKK, with their aim of partitioning Turkey, are behind the student campaign for lessons in Kurdish. To demonstrate that they are serious about renouncing separatism, the PKK should comply with 12 demands within the ultimatum. Only after these are met will Turkey be ready to reassess the situation, "without the threat of terrorism or separatism and in an atmosphere of democracy". One of the demands is to omit the word "Kurdistan" from all titles, names and geographic references, whether at home or abroad. The PKK should also end participation in any official or semi-official meetings abroad as representatives of Kurdistan. The broadcaster Medya-TV should not refer to the east and southeast of Turkey as Kurdistan. Activities by the Kurdish National Congress should be ended, as should PKK projects and underground organizations. PKK members should lay down their weapons and give themselves up to the security forces. (sources: MSNBC/NTV, 16.01.02, Hürriyet)

Only Minor Changes to the Turkish National Security Council 
Changes to the make up and function of the National Security Council (MGK) were decided upon in a meeting of the Parliamentary Commission.
The agreements, which need to be ratified by parliament, see the president of state as remaining head of the council. Other members are to be the Prime Minister, the Chief of Staffs, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Defense Minister, the Minister of the Interior, the Foreign Minister and  the supreme commanders of the army, air force, navy and the gendarmerie. 
The change to the MGK's function is that rather than being a decision-making body, they will instead make recommendations to parliament. (Source: MSNBC/NTV, 24.01.02)

Turkey Pays 11 Million Dollars to the European Court of Human Rights
Turkey has to date paid a total of 11 million dollars to the European Court of Human Rights in financial compensation. There are still 1.5 million dollars outstanding. Up to 08.11.2001, a total of 255 cases involving Turkey had been heard. In 244 cases, the court judged that Turkey had breached human rights. 

Planned Limitation in Manisa Case 
The case of the Manisa 16, concerning alleged police torture of high school children, risks being closed without any judgment being made because of the rule of limitation, meaning prosecutions may not be brought after a certain time period has elapsed. At the most recent hearing no judgment could be made because of a missing statement from one of the 10 police officers charged. But it is known that the statement had been available since the 4.12.2001 but had not been submitted to the court. This would suggest that limitation is being planned. (Source: Milliyet, 24.01.02)

PUK and KDP Joint Statement Confirms the Unity and Integrity of Iraq 
In a joint statement from 16.01.2002, the PUK and KDP confirmed that they did not intend to create an independent Kurdistan. They referred to their efforts in upholding the unity and integrity of Iraq and the option of a federal system within Iraq, which was unanimously passed by the Iraqi-Kurdish regional parliament in 1992. 
This joint statement was signed by both parties in Ankara as a public statement against a Turkish media campaign, surrounding the visit to the US by the Turkish Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit, which claims that the Kurdish parties wish to establish an independent Kurdish state. 
Over the past weeks the Turkish media have intensified their campaign against Iraqi-Kurdistan because of Turkish fears that an independent Kurdish state might be established in the event of a US military strike against Iraq. 
Both parties expressed their understanding for Turkish concerns but said there was no reason for such. They consider that a solution to the Kurdish question lies in the establishment of a federal structure within Iraq. They gave assurances that they were working for a democratic, federal and unified Iraq where the rights of all ethnic and religious groups would be recognized. (Source: Kurdistan Newsline Nr.: 10, 20.01.02)

First Woman in the History of Kurdistan and Iraq to be Nominated as a Judge
The leadership of Kurdistan's regional government (KRG-PUK) and the Justice Ministry, have named Ms. Gelawej Sa'eed Ahmad  to be a judge in the courts at Suleymania. 
The nomination is expected to contribute to the strengthening of women's rights and of the region's civil society. It also means that women are participating at the highest of levels within the regional government's administration. Judge Gelawej Sa'eed Ahmad is the first woman to take up such a post. (Source: KurdishMedia.com, 24.01.02) 

Kurdish Names Forbidden in Kirkuk 
According to information from the Kurdistan Newsline, Iraqi authorities in Baghdad have instructed registry offices in the city of Kirkuk not to permit the registration of Kurdish names to new born babies. Registrars are pressuring Kurdish inhabitants to give their babies Arabic names by threatening not to have the children registered. If the parents still refuse they are then forced to take first names such as Saddam or Uday (Saddam's son) as their official names. (Source: Kurdistan Newsline Nr.: 10, 20.01.02, IMK e.V.)

Human Rights Court Flooded with Complaints 
The number of complaints continues to swell at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. This was revealed to journalists by the Swiss president of the courts, Luzius Wildhaber. He said, "The year 2001 has broken all previous records". A total of 13,858 complaints had been registered by the court, nearly one third more than in 2000. The 43 court judges also passed 889 judgments in 2001 (30% increase) and dismissed nearly 9,000 cases. 
Top of the list for convictions was Italy (413), followed by Turkey (229) and France (45). According to Wildhaber, Rome was guilty usually for excessive duration of court proceedings, Turkey for its judiciary's inactiveness in alleged cases of mistreatment, torture and compensation for the dispossessed. 
The case on the PKK's leader Abdullah Öcalan, who has been sentenced to death in Turkey, will, according to Wildhaber, "probably begin before the summer". (Source: dpa, 21.01.02)

52 Kurds Discovered in a Truck Trailer in the Port of Bari 
In the port of Bari in southern Italy, 52 Kurdish refugees were discovered in the trailer of a Dutch lorry. The lorry was onboard a ship coming from Greece. 
During a check, a door was discovered in the floor which led to a hiding place for the illegal immigrants. The Greek driver was found to be in possession of a large sum of money. Police suspect that it was payment from the refugees. The Kurds, who were from Turkey, were returned to Greece on the same ship. (Source: afp, 20.01.02)
 

Dear Readers, 
You are now in receipt of the second issue of WIS for this year. 
We will try in future to provide you with a weekly 4-page issue of the Information Service. 
In the last issue we made an appeal for solidarity subscribers/sponsorships to ensure the service's mid-term financial stability. 
Despite a positive response, we are still far from the 500 solidarity subscribers/sponsorships required. 
Should this figure not be reached by the end of March 2002, we will be forced to radically shorten the list of recipients to save on the high mailing costs, particularly for those recipients overseas. This would of course not be consistent with our aims and activities. 
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We thank you for a further positive response

The WIS-Team

The organization "France Libertés" from Madame Danielle Mitterand, has made an appeal on behalf of Kurdish women at risk of torture. You can support this appeal with your signature under http://www.thePetitionSite.com/takeaction/941996369. 

 ISSN 1438-2016   Publisher: IMK e.V.,  Postfach 20 07 38,  53137 Bonn,  Germany  
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