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

REVUE DE PRESSE-PRESS REVIEW-BERHEVOKA ÇAPÊ-RIVISTA STAMPA-DENTRO DE LA PRENSA-BASIN ÖZETÎ
and only a small group of them took
part. The most annoying point for Sivas
natives is that they have been
made into culprits in a game whose
main actors were a militant cadre
which arrived in Sivas from other cities.
As mentioned in the SHP report,
well-informed sources and officials
in Sivas claim that the incident in Sivas
was instigated and backed by the
Welfare Party (RP) mayor of Sivas.
Sivas natives strongly argue that the
captured 96 suspects were not the
leaders of the gang, but the figureheads.
The trial of the 96 suspects
charged in the. indi.ctme~t, ~wo of
them in absentIa, WIth agItating for
the "Muslims" organization in Sivas,
and thus committing a crime covered
by Turkey's an.ti-terror law, i~ scheduled
to start In "the Kaysen DGM
court on Sept. 9.
Meanwhile, in the words of a highranking
official in Sivas, Aziz Nesin
did not insult the people or provoke
the incident. "The arrivai of Aliz Nesin
in Sivas was a rare opportunity
for some "dark circles," says the official
who asked not be identified.
"The main target was the governor
and together WIth him secularism,
Kemalism, democracy were the other
targets. "The governor was the
staunch supporter of secularism and
Kemalism. Nesin's arrival was the
Lack of secu rity
delays release of
tau rist hostages
• Intermediaries look for suitable security
conditions for the hand over
Turkish Daily News
ANKARA- The release of six
Western tourists abducted in July
by the militants of the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in
eastern Turkey has been delayed
by the intermediaries, the intermeçbaries
said on Wednesday.
The intermediaries said that the
poor security and local police intimidation
gave them the idea that
they themselves and the tourists
could be in danger after the release.
"As promised, we were told of
the time and the place where the
touri:;ts..wen: Ii) be released. Howe-
last straw 'for fundamentalists who
were excessively angered by what the
governor had been doing."
A number of people in Sivas give a
similar account.
The Sivas riots were the worst fundamentalist
violence in secular but
dominantly Muslim populated Turkey
since 1978, when 117 people
died in a Sunni riot in
Kahramamri~.
What do Alawis think now?
Widespread opinion among Alawis
is that what they lived through should
not be seen as an activity of Sunnis
against Alawis. What was witnessed
in Sivas, for them, was the activity of
reactionaries, of those who support
Shariah (Islamic order) against science
and against secularism.
Almost all of them argue that the
state forces were incapable of preventing
the events.
"AZIZ Nesin was not responsible
for the incidents as he made his
speech on Thursday lqld that there
had been no oppositIon to it that day.
The next day, those who were behind
the riots slanted Nesin's remarks and
sllread false information to the people
of the city, provoking the riots," tliey
say. As for what the Alawis will do
after the this, they will certainly not
get.radical and will not resort to violenèe.
"What makes us is the tolerance
we share. But we will, of
ver, wé have. established that the
circumstances for their safe exit
from the area after their release have
not emerged yet," the statement
said.
"We are postponing our attempt
until thé suitable conditions have
been created as it would be dangerous
both for the delegation and
the tourists to receive them under
these discouraging conditions." the
intermediaries added. The intermediation
group consisting of Ismet
G. Imset, editor ofJhe Turkish Daily
News; Yavuz Onen, the president
of the Turkish Human Rights
Foundation; and Dr. Bernard
Granjon, the chairman of the Parisbased
Doctors of the World (Medieins
Du Monde) relief organization
flew to the southeast of Turkey on
Wednesday in order to take the
hostages who were ts) be released
by the PKK.
Imset had met with PKK officials
in Lebanon on behalf of the
hostages' families andannounced
on July 30 their agreement to release
them.
It is believed that the PKK raids
and continuous security operations
in the region with frequent clashes
was another reason for lack of security
for the release of the hostages.
PKK militants seized Briton
Michael Rowbottom and his Austràlian
cousin Tania Miller (both
28), Frenchmen Pierre Fix (43),
Michel Coudray (52), Robert Audouin
(51), and Fernand,Haron
course, raisé our voice higher and we
will continue not to be silent," say
Alawis.
They are considering establishing a
new political party in order to promote
democracy and secularism. Turkey
had witnessed such a political
party before the 1980 military coup.
There was the Unity Party (BP) led
by Mustafa Timisi.
"The important thing today is to
protect democracy and secularism in
Turkey. If social democrats fail to do
that, Alawis could organize themselves
to set up a party," Ali Balk1z,
secretary-generaI of Pir Sultan Abdal
Association, says.
He also stresses that nearly 20 million
Alawis, approximately one-third
of the populatIon in Turkey will seriously
thi11kabout how they will vote
in the future, indicating that the SHP
willlose its Alawi votes.
The Alawis in Turkey now accuse
the coalition partner SHP of being
"inefficient and insensitive" about the
Sivas incident.
The Alawis protest the government
for "its obvious negligence of duty.
The Alawis want the "real murderers"
caught and severely punished.
The Alawis calion the intenor minister
to immediately resign. And the
Alawis call to the people: "Come oh
lives, let us be one, let's claim the
rights of everyone."
(66) in t~o kidnappings last
month. The PKK said It would free
them if an international agency could
guarantee their safe passage
out of the battle zone.
The tourist kidnappings are a
part of a PKK campaIgn to hit Turkey's
tourism industry, which had
been expected to earn $4 billion
this year. The Marxist group says
tourism indirectly funds Turkish
military operations in the Southeast.
The PKK declared "all-out war"
on Turkeyafter breaking its own
cease-fire -- which secunty forces.
never reciprocated -- on May 24.
Since then, more than 1,100 people
have been killed. Seeking an independent
Kurdish state carved out
ofTurkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria, the
PKK has been waging an armed
campaign since 1984 which has
claimed some 6,500 lives in the
dominantly Kurdish populated Southeast
ofTurkey so far.
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