By David Markovich February 6, 1997 August 18, 1992, marked the commencement of a Turkish government military offensive in Sirnak. All media access to the region was restricted for several days and Turkish military sources said that its forces had acted to repel a Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) attack against the town. Independent investigators subsequently… Continue reading
Commentary
Disappearances – An Alarming Trend
By Kathryn Cameron Porter January 2, 1997 On December 8, 1996, the representatives of the International League for Human Rights, a Paris-based NGO, gave its annual award to the representatives of what are in Turkey called “Saturday Mothers” a group of women who have been protesting the disappearances of their loved ones since May 27,… Continue reading
The European Parliament Resolution on Turkey
Adopted December 12, 1996 The European Parliament, – having regard to its previous resolutions on Turkey, A. gravely concerned about the continuing deterioration of the human rights situation in Turkey, B. seriously alarmed by the initiatives of the parties which make up Turkey’s coalition government to restrict freedom of the press and control the… Continue reading
An Israeli-Kurdish Conflict
By Robert Olson Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies University of Kentucky The main thrust of the Israel-Turkey Defense Pact seems to be directed against the Kurdish nationalist movement in the Middle East and particularly against the PKK in Turkey. The question must be asked why Israel and its support would want to take… Continue reading
The Turkish National Security Council Okayed the Death Squads
By Ismet Berkan Monday, December 9, 1996 Radikal (There are a number of inaccuracies in this piece. One thing is quite clear: he cites documents to discredit his Turkish subjects but he relies relies on complete hear-say to do the same with the Kurdish side of his argument. But because it was allowed to be… Continue reading
Remembering Leyla Zana
By Kani Xulam December 5, 1996 December 8, 1996 will mark the second anniversary of Leyla Zana’s formal imprisonment in Turkey’s Ankara Closed Prison. She was arrested by police in the Turkish parliament on March 5, 1994, after her mostly Turkish colleagues voted to lift her parliamentary immunity and that of several other Kurdish deputies. Leyla… Continue reading
An Accident Reveals the Complicity of Turkish State with the Mafia
By Kani Xulam Tuesday, November 12, 1996 It was a luxurious Mercedes Benz. There were four passengers in it. One was a Kurd. The other three were Turks. One of the three was a woman. One of the other two a fugitive. The last person was the president of a Police Academy in Istanbul. On Sunday,… Continue reading
How To Kill A Political Party
Kani Xulam Tuesday, October 22, 1996 Today, October 23, 1996, the Turkish State Security Court will open its trial in Ankara of 41 members of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish People’s Democracy Party, HADEP. Nuh Mete Yuksel, the prosecutor for the Turkish government, wants to see the top officials of this party, including its president, Murat Bozlak, behind… Continue reading
Muhammed Was Born 6 Days Too Late
Kani Xulam Saturday, October 19, 1996 The Turkish newspaper headlines read, “twelve,” a reference to the number of inmates who were dying due to hunger strikes over prison conditions in the days leading to the agreement of July 28, 1996. The night before, on July 27, 1996, the Turkish Justice Minister Sevket Kazan would agree… Continue reading
The Story – Tragedy – of a Turkish Soldier in the Mountains of Kurdistan
By Oktay Yildiz [First appeared in Ozgur Politika, September 1996] “On a rainy Saturday afternoon, we went shopping in the suburb of Ulus in Ankara. I unconsciously threw myself on the ground when I heard gun shots. When I got up off the ground, faces in the crowd around me were looking strangely at me.… Continue reading