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
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Revue <strong>de</strong> Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro<br />
N<strong>et</strong>herlands Denies Asylum for Kurd Lea<strong>de</strong>r<br />
AMSTERDAM, March 30 (Reuters) - The N<strong>et</strong>herlands have <strong>de</strong>nied political asylum to<br />
senior Kurdish rebellea<strong>de</strong>r Murat Karayilan, his lawyer said on Thursday.<br />
"We have received a negative <strong>de</strong>cision," LL M Gerda Later told Reuters, adding her client<br />
would appeal the ruling.<br />
"It is a pity because the Kurds are striving for peace and <strong>de</strong>mocracy and this kind of <strong>de</strong>cision<br />
does not contribute much."<br />
Karayilan, who fled to the N<strong>et</strong>herlands last November, was a member of the central<br />
committee of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has fought a 15-year war in<br />
southeast Turkey for Kurdish self rule that has resulted in 30,000 <strong>de</strong>aths.<br />
A spokeswoman for the Dutch Justice Ministry said Turkey's extradition request could take<br />
several months to process.<br />
Turkey -- where courts began hearings in December against PKK guerrillas for crimes<br />
allegedly committed in the 1970s -- applied for Karayilan's extradition in February.<br />
A Turkish court sentenced PKK lea<strong>de</strong>r Abdullah Ocalan to <strong>de</strong>ath for treason last June, but<br />
the Turkish government is awaiting a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights before<br />
a final <strong>de</strong>cision is ma<strong>de</strong> by Turkey's parliament.<br />
Ocalan has called on the PKK to stop fighting and prepare for a transformation into a<br />
political force.<br />
Kurdish sources had said Karayilan, co<strong>de</strong>-named Cemal, was said to be previously holed up<br />
with the group's other lea<strong>de</strong>rs in northern Iraq or Iran.<br />
He was one of the fiercest advocates of the PKK's armed campaign against Turkish forces.<br />
Reports have surfaced of splits in the lea<strong>de</strong>rship of the PKK, with a former Ocalan ally this<br />
week <strong>de</strong>scribing the rebellea<strong>de</strong>r in an Italian newspaper interview as a wr<strong>et</strong>ch who had<br />
b<strong>et</strong>rayed his people to save his own life.<br />
The Turkish community is one of the largest migrant groups in the N<strong>et</strong>herlands, numbering<br />
around 300,000.<br />
Karayilan has been accused by Turkish lea<strong>de</strong>rs, including Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, of<br />
me<strong>et</strong>ing in the N<strong>et</strong>herlands with three Kurdish mayors of Turkish cities.<br />
The three, who were arrested last month, had swept to power with large majorities alongsi<strong>de</strong><br />
dozens of fellow People's Democracy Party (HADEP) mayors in the troubled and mainly<br />
Kurdish southeast Turkey.<br />
****************<br />
Ecevit Leaves<br />
On State Visit<br />
Despite Crisis<br />
By Stephen Kinzer<br />
N~ flirt Tinlf!s S~n'ic~<br />
ISTANBUL - When Prime Minister<br />
Bulent Ecevit boar<strong>de</strong>d a plane Thursday<br />
to begin a state visit to India, he left<br />
behind a country that sud<strong>de</strong>nly seemed<br />
to be at the brink of political upheaval.<br />
, 'While I am in India I shall reflect on<br />
many things, including the continuation<br />
of the government," Mr. Ecevit said<br />
before <strong>de</strong>parting. "L<strong>et</strong> everyone think:<br />
about that for the next four days."<br />
A turbùlent session of Parliament that<br />
lasted into Thursday produced Mr.<br />
Ecevit's warning. The session had been<br />
called' to consi<strong>de</strong>r a constitutioftal<br />
amendment to allow Presi<strong>de</strong>nt Suleyman<br />
Demirel to serve another five years<br />
in office, but it dissolved into a partisan<br />
battle that seemed to bo<strong>de</strong> ill for the<br />
country's stability.<br />
It also opened up possibilities for<br />
change in a country where the political<br />
elite is wi<strong>de</strong>ly viewed as highly conservative.<br />
Mr. Ecevit had argued that<br />
Presi<strong>de</strong>nt Demirel should be re-elected<br />
because he is "a factor for stability," but<br />
Turks seem more anxious for change<br />
than stability. There was no public pressure<br />
on members of Parliament to support<br />
Mr. Demirel, and Thursday, with his<br />
prospects in doubt, there were no signs<br />
of regr<strong>et</strong>.<br />
"I think Demirel with withdraw," one<br />
of his ol<strong>de</strong>st political allies. the former<br />
<strong>de</strong> la Prensa-Basm Öz<strong>et</strong>i<br />
speaker of Parliament, Husam<strong>et</strong>tin Cindoruk,<br />
said in an interview. "He is an<br />
experienced statesman. Parliament has<br />
shown its will, and he will not resist it. "<br />
"There isn't a crisis of stability in<br />
Turkey, but there is a crisis of <strong>de</strong>mocracy,"<br />
Mr. Cindoruk said.<br />
Mr. Ecevit warned that the end of<br />
Presi<strong>de</strong>nt Demirel's term could ups<strong>et</strong> all<br />
that his government has achieved. He<br />
said that if a way is not found to keep Mr.<br />
Demirel in office, the scramble to succeed<br />
him may release passions that he has<br />
so far managed to keep un<strong>de</strong>r control.<br />
Because the constitution requires Mr.<br />
Demirel to step down when his single<br />
seven-year term expires in May, an<br />
amendment must be passed if he is to stay<br />
in office. Mr. Ecevit proposed such an<br />
amendment in Parliamenton Wednesday.<br />
But it failed by a wi<strong>de</strong> margin. If it fails<br />
again next week, it will be <strong>de</strong>ad and Mr.<br />
Demirel will have to give up his post.<br />
9S