Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
REVUE DE PRESSE-PRESS REVIEw-BERHEVOKA ÇAPÊ-RwISTA<br />
STAMPA-DENTRO DE LA PRENSA-BASIN ÖZETi<br />
Turkish Daily News llIURSDAY, JUNE 15. 1995<br />
Prof. B~kayareleased after IS months in jail<br />
Imprisoned for his thoughts, Baf?kaya.expresses<br />
no remorse and vows to continue speaking out<br />
Turkish Da.ily News .. Gre<strong>et</strong>ed outsi<strong>de</strong> Haymana priso~ near Ankara b a<br />
Al':lK~RA- Professor Flu<strong>et</strong>. ~a~kaya, a leadmg large group of family, friends and admirers B~krya<br />
Turkish mtellectual who w~alled for a ~ook he expressed no remorse for what he has writt~n or said<br />
Prof. Fikr<strong>et</strong><br />
Balikaya<br />
~~, was.released o~ Wedn . y as the vanous par- in the past and <strong>de</strong>clared his intention to continue<br />
ti~ ID Parbament.continue to qUibbleover Wh<strong>et</strong>her.the expressmg the same i<strong>de</strong>as in the future.<br />
!lf11cleun<strong>de</strong>r which he was charged should be abol- Ba~kaya said that the TL 41 million fine that the<br />
Ished or no~.<br />
court imposed on hirri also put him in dire financial<br />
. B~kaya s .release, however, was not due to an offi- straits. Asked by journalists about Article 8. B~kaya<br />
Cial exone~on of any so~ but came because.he had said this was the product of the parties that emer ed<br />
70mpl<strong>et</strong>ed his 20-month P!1so~,sentence for his book from the Sept. 12, 1980 coup. "Article 8 is the inv~n-<br />
The C.ollapseof the Paradigm. .. tion of parties that are void of content," B~kaya said.<br />
B~kaya only serv~d 15 months of hiS pnson sen- Ba~kaya argued .that today's Parliament is also<br />
tence but u.nd~r.Turkis~l.awshould have served even "void of content" and expressed serious doubt that a<br />
less due to JudiCialrenusslOn. .. ~emocrati~ti~n packa~e could be accepted by the leg-<br />
. l:Ie~as forced t? serve 15 month.sund~r S~pu~~tions Islature as It IStoday. The parties are not working to<br />
w~ch InCreasedhis sentence for dissenunating sepa-. lift obstructions but to lay down new ones ". B:l\:kaya<br />
ratist propaganda." said. ' -,<br />
B~kaya was tried by t~e Ist~nbul State Security Asked what he thinks about the fact that he was dis-<br />
Court un~er the con~verslal. Articl~ 8 of ~e Law on O\ynedby the universities ~ven though he is an aca<strong>de</strong>-<br />
Combat~mg Terronsn\. Article 8 IS con~l<strong>de</strong>red .by nilc, B~kaya said, 'There are no longer any universihuman<br />
nghts groups as one of the key articles which ties."<br />
effectively p~ts a lid on the freedom of expression in "If the universities had acted as universities then no<br />
Turkey an~ IScurren~y the ~ubject of a heated politi- schol:rr would be in prison today. The unive~ities are<br />
cal <strong>de</strong>bate ID and outsi<strong>de</strong> ParlIament.<br />
working to make young minds blunt."<br />
Finnish human rights expert visitsInterior Minister Men~e<br />
Mente~e: Our struggle<br />
is based on a just cause<br />
By Çaglar Ünal<br />
Turkish Daily News<br />
ANKARA- Interior Minister Nahit Mente~e<br />
received Christopher Panico, a research expert<br />
from Human Rights Watch-Helsinki, at his office<br />
. on Wednesday.<br />
Speaking at a press conference after this me<strong>et</strong>ing,<br />
Mente~ said Panico had come to Turkey to<br />
research the activities of the Kurdistan Workers'<br />
Party (PKK) and the suffering inflicted on innocent<br />
people by this outlawed organization.<br />
. Mente~e noted that the PKK had been formed<br />
illegally in 1978, with the aim of damaging<br />
Turkey. The Turkish government launched an<br />
operatIon against militants of the PKK after the<br />
latter carried out attacks on Eruh district in Siirt<br />
province and Semdinli district in Hakkari.<br />
Mente~e aa<strong>de</strong>d that the PKK always targ<strong>et</strong>ed<br />
innocent people. The interior minister continued<br />
that 1,086 innocent people had been killed by<br />
PKK militants in 1994. Last week, four babies<br />
died at the hands of militants in Hakkari, he said.<br />
"Our struggle is right and our aim is to protect<br />
the innocent. Turkey is one country and no one<br />
can divi<strong>de</strong> this country," Mente~ stated.<br />
The minister continued that the PKK was on<br />
the <strong>de</strong>cline and wasfinished. He said the Turkish<br />
people had solved the terrorism problem, especiany<br />
in ~Irnak. ~Irnak and its districts had<br />
become a secure area and Sinak even had a football<br />
team now, Mente~ead<strong>de</strong>d.<br />
He said the police and military forces were<br />
successful in their operations, adding, "The<br />
killers of 19 soldiers in Tunceli will certainly be<br />
punished." \<br />
The minister said the PKK was cooperating<br />
with the outlawed leftist organizations and PKK<br />
militants were involved in drug trafficking to<br />
finance their outlawed activities. 'The PKK cannot<br />
fight with the Turkish government, because it<br />
is not stron~ enough to fight with the Turkish<br />
government, , he ad<strong>de</strong>d. Mente~e continued that<br />
38 teachers had been killed last year, commenting<br />
that this amounted to savagery and the whole<br />
world should say "stop" to this savagery. He said<br />
that teachers played a valuable and important role<br />
in the country.<br />
''There is no <strong>et</strong>hnic problem in Turkey now.<br />
.All citizens are equal, no matter wh<strong>et</strong>her Kurdish<br />
or Turkish. There are lots of our Kurdish citizens<br />
in the western cities," Mente~e said. The interior<br />
minister ad<strong>de</strong>d that the PKK has started to disturb<br />
the big cities and tourism resorts, but the Turkish<br />
government has enough power to fight it.<br />
He continued that the PKK was against the<br />
<strong>de</strong>velopment of eastern and southeastern districts,<br />
but no one could prevent this <strong>de</strong>velopment.<br />
"It is impossible' for the PKK to resist against<br />
the Turkish government," Mente~ said.<br />
For his part, Panico said ~e ~ad come to<br />
Turkey to observe the general situation of human<br />
rights in the country and would research human<br />
rights in general. He ad<strong>de</strong>d that he would examine<br />
all the violations committed by the outlawed<br />
organization in the area of human rights.<br />
Panico continued that he would not be releasing<br />
any information to the press on his findings,<br />
but a statement would be issued after the research<br />
was compl<strong>et</strong>ed.<br />
155