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

REVUE DE PRESSE~PRESS REVIEW~BERHEVOKAÇAPÊ~RNISTA STAMPA~DENTRO DE LA PRENSA~BASINÖZETÎ
US senator urges Turks tohold
Turkish- Kurdish conference
Offers an eight-step 'political program'
Turkish Daily News
WASHINGTON- U.S. Senator from
Arizona Dennis DeConcini railed at
Turkey's decision to c1osedownthe pr~-
Kurdish Democracy Party (D~P), He saId
that his "concern and frustratIOn reached
new heights" after the Turkish
Constitutional Court banned the DEP on
Junë 16 "and kicked 13 DEP members out
of Parliament because of the statements
they made." .' .
DeConcini m~ntioned the possibilityof
holding a by-ele~tion witl?n three m?nths
"if the four KurdIsh deputies who resIgned
from the DEP before legal action was taken
should leave Parliament." If such by-elections
do take place, DeConcini, who isalso
the co-chairman of the Conference for
Security and Cooperation in Europe
(CSCE), suggested that "(the U.S.)
Government and the many nongovernmental
election monitors, should be prepared to
. send observers to ensure that international
standards are met." DeConcini has previ-
.ously raised the possibility of sending
CSCE observers to monitor human rights
violations in the Southeast in an editorial he
. p~blished back in April in The Washington
TImes. .
. He said that in the upcomingmeetings of
the CS CE he will "press for official. CSCE
missions to be sent to Turkey to morutor the
deteriorating.rights situation." " .
. "What kind of a democracy finds ItS own
legislators either in prison or fleeing arrest
to seek political asylum?" he asked. The
Arizona senator underhned the dangers
involved in the arrest of DEP deputies. "By
criminalizing even moderate expressio~s of
Kurdish discontent, the government stIfles
legitimate discour~e ~ith!~ a democratic.
framework and derues Its CItIzenry an outlet
through which tolegally articulate their
frustration ... In the interests of peace and .
stability, I appeal to Turk~y's ~ivilia~ and
military leaders to reco~slder ~nçreasmgly .
intolerant and unproductIve polICIes toward
Turkey's Kurdish citizenry."
122
DeConcini warned that "despite a confluence
of foreign policy interests with our
government on numerous issues, Turkey's
deteriorating human rights situation m~es
it increasingly difficult to support a leadmg
role for Turkey in regional political undertakings,"
DeConcini said that "a key element of
any political a~proach must be official willingness
to distmguish betw~n PKK ten:orism
and nonviolent ex~reSS!~h pr~!TI0tmg
rights for Turkey's Kurdish cItIzens.
Official conference on
Turkish.Kurdish relations'
Not content with a general critique of
human rights violations, DeConcim said,
"A bilateral cease-frre could be a frrst step
toward establishing a political dialogue, ~ot
with the PKK, but wIth moderate KurdIsh
elements," Within such a climate of ceasefire,
he urged .the !urkish government to •
take the followmg eIght steps:.' .
Former DEP chairman
.sentenced to 4 years
Turkish Daily News
ANKARA- Yalar Kaya, former chairman of the
Democracy Party (UEP), has been sentenced to four years
in prison and fined TL 500 million by the Ankara State
SecuritY Court (DGM) for his comments that resulted in the .
closure of his party, Moreov~r,Jhe Ankara DGM p~ssed a
death sentence on Selmalll Ozcan, who was tned on
charges of outlawed 'Revolutionary Left (DEV -SOL) organizatIOn
membership and manslaughter. .
~aya was tried in !ùsabs~nce and was sentenced under
Article 8/1 of the AntI- Terronsm Law. .'
There was criticism of the fact that the Constitutional
Court had notwaited for a judgement in the Kaya case
before closing the DEP. .
Legal experts underlined that the Constitutional C.ourt
had acc~pted Kaya's r~marks as crim,i~al and as a reas~n
for c10smg the DEP wIthout fIrSt waItmg for the DGM s
judgement on the criminality of Kaya's words. In bo.th
cases, the' condemnation of thought. and the c1osu're of the
party because of its thoughts are totally unlawful, some
said. .
Özcan was sentenced under Article 146/1 of the Turkish
Criminal Code, having been charged with wounding a
police officer, killing a taxi driver and being a member of
DEV-SOL. . .
turkish daily news
Thursday, June 30,1994
1) Convene an official, high profile ~onference
examining all aspects of Tprklsh-
Kurdish relations
2) Allow all nonviolent political parties
to participate in political life
3) Abolish al[ restriction~ on free ~xpression
including those stated m the antIterrorismlaw
4) Repeal the state of emergency
5) Dismantle the village guard syst~m ,
6) Remove all restrictIon~ on KurdIsh linguistic
and culnu:al expressIQ~' . .
7) Lift constramts on the, d!ssemmatIon ?f
Kurdish language televlSlon and radIo
broadcasts, pnnt, music, and other mediums
8) Develop a government-sponsored
Institute of Kurdish Studies and allow
schools to offer instniction in Kurdish.
"I sincerely hope Turkey's government
will seek to protect free speech and pur~ue
nonmilitary approaches to the KurdIsh
dilemma to avoid plunging the nation into
further turmoil," he concluded.