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

Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro de la Prensa-Baszn Özeti
set free.
Veli Aydogan said that the Turkish flag had b~en
hung in the hall although there was no legal requIrement
to do so.
He argued that the delegates we~e sitting on the
floor in the congress hall, that the illegal slogans were
chanted by spectators in the stands and that the flag
wa~ lowered agaln~t the hi~ will and thal of his colleagues.
Kemal akutan said he was HADEP's Ankara
provincial chairman and that he had been busy delivermg
food to guests outside of congress hall. He said he
had found the flag already lowered when he entered
the hall.
Describing the case as political, congress chairman
Hikmet Fidan denied accusations that he had not intervened
in the incident.
He said he and his colleagues had announced a
break in the proceeding to prevent illegal slogans from
being chanted.
Faysal Akcan said he had no connection with
HADEP but adriUtted that he had lowered the flag
under provocation.
The prosecutor is also demanding six-month prison
terms for 23 other defendants, including HADEP
leader Murat Bozlak, 15 years for each of 19 other
defendants and a three-year prison term for yet another
defendant.
All these defendants are being charged with taking
part in illegal activities. Heasked that two other defendants
be set free.
During HADEP leader Murat Bozlak's opening
speech at the con~ress, someone was seen climbing the
steel girders runmng along the roof of the hall. He then:
,unfurled a PKK banner to the cheers of the audience.
He then climbed along the girders and cut down the
enormous Turkish flag which had been the backdrop of
the main stage.
Once again the crowd cheered. The chairman
of the congress denounced the tearing down of the
Turkish flag and asked for it to be raised again. This
call elicited many boos and jeers from the excited
crowd.
Turkey still a world leader
in persecution ofjournalists
More journalists are imprisoned in Turkey
than in any other democratic country
.4nkara- Turkish Daily News
• Last month 45 journalists were taken into custody
and a further eight were attacked according to
the Journalists' Union of Turkey (TGS), the
Anatolia news agency reported on Monday.
The Ankara branch of the TGS Press
Rights Follow-up, Commission issued a
statement concerning the attacks on the press stating
that between March 1-31, "The number of
journalists taken into custody was 45, those
attacked and beaten numbered eight, 114
journalists, writers and publishers are in prison,
there have been three instances of tq.e Supreme
Board of Radio and Television (RTUK) shutting
down radio and television channels, 17 warning
penalties were handed out by RTUK to radio stations
and television channels, and four books were
banned."
According to the commission three foreign journalists
were among those taken into custody,
including New York Times reporter Stephen
Kinzer, as well as two journalists from Finland.
The 1996 report of the U.S. Journalists' Protection
Committee declared Turkey to be the "country that
imprisons the most journalists."
A statement published following the
International Press Institute' s (IPI) 56th General
Board Meeting said that Turkey was on a par with'
Zambia and Colombia regarding freedom of the
press. with more journalists imprisoned in Turkey
than in any other democratic country.
A recent scandal concerning promotions offered
as incentives to buy newspapers has now been
solved by separating coupon prices from the price
of the newspapers. Meanwhile, a customer who
failed to collect his promised jeep has filed a lawsuit
against the newspaper concerned.
NYT: Military decides on Turkish security, government follows
UGURAKINCI
Washington- Turkish Daily News
• A New York Tim.esOp-Ed ~alysi~ .
summarized a "reallty of Turkish pollucallife"
as follows: "In important security
questions, the military makes key deci.
sions, and the government follows." The
essay penned by J'l,T)'T'sIstanbul bureau
chief Stephen Kinzer praised the Israeli-
Turkish alliance within the context of
Israeli Foreign Minister David Levi' s
recent visit to Turkey, saying "both lands
have long been at odds with Arabs,
notably Syria."
Despite anti-Israeli rhetoric used by
Welfare Party leaders before coming to
power, the Turkish militaI)' "stepped in"
and changed Prime Minster Erbakan' s
Turkish Daily News Tuesday. Apr1l15. 1997
mind, N")'T said. "Pubhdy and privately,
commanders lectured Mr. Erbakan on the
security value of Turkish-Israeli ties,"
and to prove it Turkish Chief of Staff
General KaradaYIflew to Israel in
February.
The NIT article carried a picture of
Gen. KaradaYlconversing with David
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