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

Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro de la Prensa-Bastn ()zeti
Turkisb Daily News
FRlDAY,APRIL25.1997
European Court of Human Rights
to discuss controversial DEP case
SAADETORUÇ
AnluJra- Turkish Daily News
• The European Court of Human Rights
will hear arguments on Friday concerning
the long prison terms given to the former
pro-Kurdbh Democrac)' ~ar:tr (DEP)
dcpu'tié-S: i\1thöügh tTîêC()Ûff.IS ß(lt
l'XIll'l'll'd III !"l'mil'.. a dCl'ision suon,
''Turkcy will most probably be condemned
~Itthe trial," claimed a source
close to the trial. The European
Commission of Human Rights last year
released a report about the detention period
in Turkey, emphasizing that Turkey
had violated the European Convention of
Human Rights, Afterwards, the commission
sent the case to the court,
KHRPin contact
with gov.mm.nt
Kerim YlldlZ, the head of the Kurdish
Human Rights Project (KHRP), said in a
telephone interview with the Turkish
Daily News on Thursday that Turkey had
implemented all the necessary steps that
the human rights court had called for such
as paying compensation and reducing the
periods of detention and interrogation.
Noting that the court has further cases
concerning the HEP, DEP and HADEP
on its agenda, Y ddlz argued that Turkey
would have. t~iI1ce JJlolY amendments to
its di>mdmc laws=!'oltùwlIIg the court"!;
decisions. "It was an ,~"'use of the constitution
when the DEP deputies were taken
into custody, though Turkey has accepted
the European Convention of Human
Rights," Yddlz said. "We welcome all the
positive steps that the Turkish government
has taken on the human rights
issue," he said, but added, "Although we
are in contact with the Turkish government,
they continue making statements
against us." Yddlz pointed out that he had
expressed his complaints in a letter which
he sent to Justice Minister Sevket Kazan.
Asked to give details about their contacts
with the Turkish government, ylldlZ
declined, saying that, "For now, I think it
is enough to say that we are in regular
contact with the government."
"In a few months' time, the casc:s in
the court will be open to the public,"
y ddlz said. The first case, concerning
"disappearances," will be discussed by
the court in the very near future. 1be
court will also hear complaints about
freedom of exprcssion and of the press'
J\'t(t -:ttsoUt lhé "tJestroctiori M-Villages'ln
the Southeast. Roland Dumas, the former
French Foreign Minister, applied to the
court in 1994 with a group of European
attorneys on behalf of the former DEP
deputies Orhan Doitan, Mahmut Ahnak,
Leyla Zana, Ahmet TUrk, Sim Salulc and
Hatip Diele. Another case before the
court concerns the decision of the Turkish
Constitutional Court to close the DEP.
The six DEP deputies were detained after
a decision by the Turkish Parliament on
March 2, 1994 to lift their parliamentary
immunity. Leyla Zana, Hatip Diele,
Orhan Dogan and Selim Sadaie were sentenced
to 15 years in prison on charges of
"e~tablishing the political wing of the
outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK)."
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE, SATURDAY-SUNDAY, APRIL 26-27, 1997
r WarofNerves Heats Up in Turkey 1"
By Kelly Couturier
Special to 1M In~matiollD1 Herald TrlbuM
ANKARA - The Turkish government
appeared on the briJik of collapse
Friday as tension between the staunchly
secular military and ~ pro-Islamic
Welfare Party deepened.
As Prime Minister Necmettin
Erbakan, leader of the Welfare Party,
com~leted a round of meetings with
civilian and military leaders a day before
a key meeting of the military-dominated
National Security Council, 0pposition
leaders and political analysts
said the to-month Islamist-Ied coalition
government was living its final days.
Saying the coalition's "naturallife"
had ~expired, the leftist 0pposition
, lJulent Ecevit, added,
"It'slegallife is also about to expire."
Doubts about the future of the coalition
were even surfacin, within the
Welfare Party, which has dismissed until
now any notion of leaving the government.
"It seems that we have our
back to the wall," Minister of State
Abdullah Gul was quoted in the local
press as saying.
Worries about the fate of the government
caused the Istanbul stock exchange
to close 4.9 percent lower.
The content of Mt. Erbakan's talks
with civilian and military leaders was
not disclosed. but anal)'sts said they most
likely focused on a senes of measures the
military wants the government to implement
to counter Islamic radicalism.
Mt. Erbakan has dragged his feet on
carrying out thé measures, which include
a ban on pro-Sharia propaganda
on television and radio, tighter restrictions
on religious dress and purges o~
Islamist activists from state offices.,
Sharia is the Islamic legal code.
The military is also seeking stricter
surveillance of donations to political
parties from religious organizabons and
an overhaul of the education system to
cUscourage the growth of religious
middle and high schools.
The Security Council, which includes
the nation's top five military leaders as
well as senior government officials,
presented the measures to the govern-.
ment in February and is expected to
review its performance in implementing
them at its meeting Saturday. The council,
nominally a consultative body, has
in practice dictated policy to civilian
governments.
Mr. Erbakan returned from a pilgrimage
to Mecca earlier this week to face an
open challenge from the ranks of the
military, whose generals. while ruling
out a coup, have made no secret of their
27':)