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

Äslan were each sentenced at Izmir State.
Security Court to 20 months in jail and fines of .
TL 208 million because of their speeches at the
Manisa Provincial Congress. Another case
involving Aysun KIvanç, the presenter of the
"Peace Festival" program organized by the
Democracy Party (DEP), ended with him being
sentenced to two years prison and a fine of TL
250 million by the Ankara State Security court.
Aliye Pekediz, who gave a speech at the festival,
received the same sentence.
In KIvanç's defense his lawyer said: "In
order for an action to be called separatist propa-
US State Dept declines
wholesale condemnation of
terror groups in Turkey
Turkish Daily News
WASHINGTON- The U.S. State Department today
declined the opportunity to condemn whoTesale the terror
groups in TurKey and instead implied that such situations
will be evaluated by the administration on a case-by-case
. basis.
Answering a question on Algeria during the daily State
Department press briefing, spOKesmanMike McCurry said,
that "our problems are with extremism and terrorism, not
with Islamic fundamentalism." In relation to Algeria,
.' McCurry made it clear that "those who are committed to a
course of violence and terrorism have no part in the (lOlitical
dialogue and in broadening that political dialogue.
Then a Turkish journalist asked if McCurry could say the
same thing for those who are involved in terrorism in
Turkey. He wanted to know if the U.S. State Department
. would also justify the exclusion of such terrorist groups -
like the PKK- from political dialogue in Turkey. ,
McCurry replied by basically sayino that the attitude of
the U.S. would depend on who the inâividuals in question
are. McCurry's exact reply to the question concerning the
exclusion of terrorist groups from political dialogue in
Turkey was as follows: "Well, I thinK in the case of whatever
government we're dealino with when we have contacts
with those who are in politicaflife, the dialogue occurs on a
case-by~case basis in many cases. It's individual people
who we can talk to and reach out to and establish contact
with, and individual people who can then participate in a
broader political dialogue. And the important thing is wh,at
is the disposition of tnose individuals and are they part of
activity. iliat is terroris!ic or vio.lentin its nature." .•
TUrkish observers In WashIngton were puzzled by thIS
circuitous answer where they expected a straight forward
reply condemning all terrorist groups .in Turkey. An observer
who wished to remain anonymous found this reluctance
on the part of the U.S. State Department to exclude any ter-
. ror group in Turkey in principle from political dialogue
rather curious at a time when Turkey is under a constant
barrage of human rights violalion accusations and when the
. PKK has stepped up its activities in Europe for political
respectability and even diplomatic recognition. .
The interesting reference to "activity that is terroristic"
recalled the administration's recent denial of genocide iQ
Rwanda. Although the administration admitted thatthere
had been "genocidal acts" in Rwanda it surprisingly
refrained from characterizing the sum total of such acts as a
genocide. The observer mentioned above questioned if the
~tate Department"was similarly bringing a new interpreta~
lion to tne terror would be recognIzed as such and con~
de~ed without however condemning the organization that
carnes out such acts.
110
ganda, it nas to.be proved thatthëre was inténtion
to commit a crime. Reading messages at
the festival has. nothing to do with separatism."
The heaviest sentence handed down by the
Ankara DGM was passed on the administrators
of the "Pir Sultan Abdal" association.
. Both Ibrahim Halit Elçi and Kemal Altm~
were sentenced to two-year prison terms and
fines of TL 250 million for having written a letter
to the August 1993 issue of the association's
magazine regarding the Sivas massacre. The
court sentenced Murtaza Demir, chairman of
the association to six months in jail and a TL 5
billion fine, the editor Metin Kuzugüdenoglu to
six months and a TL 2 billion fme, the owner
.of the "Kaya Matbaa" printing works Burhan
Günel to 6 months and a TL 5 billion fine.
.AydIn Dogan, publisher of the book entitled
"A Discussion of the Works of Musa Anter":
was sentenced to six months and a fine of TL
. 100 million at the Ankara DGM. Mustafa Pala,
.who prepared the book for printing, was sentenced
to two years in jail and a fine of TL 250
million.
The State Security Courts are in recess from
July 20 until Sep. 5. Thus the sudden rash of
verdicts.
HADEP convention held in
Ankara amid pro-PKK slogans
Turkish Dailv News
ANKARA- The fustconvention of
the Peoples' Democracy Party
(HADEP) was held in Ankara on
Sunday in a çrowded sports hall.
Slogans in support of the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
were heard for hours on end.
During the convention, speakers
stressed that unless Turkey opened
the way for a free debate on the
Kurdish problem, there was no way
to find a solution to it. In his speech
on the Kurdish issue, HADEP chairman
Murat Bozlak demanded radical
amendment of the 1982 constitution,
the lifting of the anti-terrorism
decree, and the dissolution of
Emergency Rule and the village
guard system. .
He also said that all "militarist
organizations" had to be broken up
and that a general amnesty shouldbe
Exiled DEP deputy confesses
involvement in bomb attacks
Aydar says in Frankfurt that the bombs were 'necessary'
Turkish Daily News
, ANKARA- A member of the
Turkish Parliament of Kurdish origin
from the defunct Democracy Party
(DEP) confessed this weekend his
involvement in a spate of bomb
attacks in western Turkey which
wounded at least 21 people.
, According to the semiofficial
Anato\ia news agency, Zübeyir
Aydar told reporters in Frankfurt,
Germany, on Saturday that three
recent bomb attacks in the toùrist
towns of Fethiye and Marmaris
dedared.As the convention oPened,
and despite earlier warnings, groups
of HADEP supporters shouted slogans
in support of the PKK which,
observers said, would certainly lead
to a legal investigation. Amono the
slo!!ans heard widelv were: RThe'
gue'rrillas will strike imd Kurdistan:
will be created" and "freedom to
Kurdistan - Long live Chairman
Apo." Bozlak pointed out that the
Kurdish problem was not being
, solved under the present circumstances
and that every problem
Turkey faced, including the country's
economic problems, depended
. on a solution being found to the
Kurdish issue. HADEP is a continua-
, tion of the Democracy Party (DEP)
which was closed down recently by
order of the Constitutional Court. .
"were necessary." At least 10
Turks, eight Britons, an Austrian and
two Germans were wounded in the
attacks. "Single or collective attacks
are being carried out. We do not
want to inflict harm on civilians. But
th~ conditions called for this," Aydar
said when questioned about the
bomb attacks.Aydar had gone' to
Europe along with five other DEP
deputies after the Constitutional
Court ordered the closure of his party
and demanded the eviction of its 13
deputies from Parliament.