Turkey cois report November 2006

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20.35 As reported on 24 February 2006 by NTV television:
“Democratic Society Party [DTP] members and sympathizers reacted to the police, who searched the party building in Dogubeyazit in Agri this morning. There were skirmishes between the police and the demonstrators. This morning, the police raided the party building after receiving a search warrant from the prosecutor’s office. The police searched the premises for about one hour. Party members and sympathizers gathered in front of the building during that time and tried to enter it. The arguments between the police and the demonstrators turned into skirmishes. The demonstrators threw stones and injured some policemen. Another group of people joined in and the crowd grew. Police fired in the air but they were able to leave the building only after gendarmes who came to the area took security measures.” (Text of report by Turkish commercial NTV television of 24 February 2006, through BBC Monitoring made available to the Home Office by the British Embassy in Ankara) [61a]
20.36 On 7 March 2006 the same NTV television reported that:
“The Democratic Society Party [DTP] has proposed a two-stage solution for disarming the PKK. DTP Co-chairman Ahmet Turk has said: We must succeed in that for the sake of the unity and bright future of the people of Turkey. Turk held a news conference in Istanbul with the participation of DTP mayors. He stressed that as the first step towards a lasting solution, the PKK [Kurdistan Workers’ Party] must put an end to its armed actions in line with a decision it reached last August. The second stage, he added, would be to move the PKK’s armed forces outside the country. In this way, we can augur a new period where the PKK can be disarmed within the framework of a democratic solution plan, he said. [According to Amsterdam Firat News Agency, FNA, which is supportive of the Kurdish cause and the PKK, Ahmet Turk made a ‘three-stage’ proposal, the first stage of which was: ‘The ban on the Kurdish language must be lifted, and Kurdish must gain an official status just like Turkish in areas populated by Kurds. The Political Parties Law and the election threshold must be reorganized and everyone must have the right to political representation. The DTP considers a general amnesty for political prisoners to be essential for the development of social peace and democracy.’ The second and third stages of the solution as reported by FNA are identical to the proposed solution as reported by NTV.]” (Text of report by Turkish commercial NTV television of 7 March 2006, through BBC Monitoring made available to the Home Office by the British Embassy in Ankara) [61b]

PKK/Kadek/Kongra-Gel and the conflict in the south east
20.37 On 4 April 2002 PKK changed its name to the Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress (KADEK). (The Washington Institute for Near East Policy Focus #48, October 2005) [42a] In November 2003 the party assumed the name of Kongra-Gel (Kurdistan’s People’s Congress). (Europa) [1d] (p1194) On 4 April 2005, the pro-Kurdish online newspaper KurdishMedia (quoting AFP) reported that:
“Turkey’s armed rebel Kurdish movement has decided to revert back to its original name of PKK after two name changes in three years, a pro-Kurdish news agency reported on Monday. The MHA news agency said a ‘congress’ of 205 members of the organisation, considered terrorist by Turkey and many Western countries, met in ‘the mountains of Kurdistan’ and decided to once again go by its original name of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, whose Kurdish acronym is PKK.” [93b]
20.38 As noted in the European Commission 2006 report:
“The situation in the South-East has deteriorated since the resumption of violence by the PKK, which is on the EU list of terrorist organisations. During the period between November 2005 and June 2006, there were 774 terrorist attacks reported, which led to 44 military, 5 police and 13 civilian casualties. In the aftermath of the funerals of some PKK terrorists at the end of March, riots took place in Diyarbakir and spread to other cities in the region. Demonstrators attacked the police, civilian residents and shops. Ten civilians were killed during clashes with the police and security forces, including three children. Many civilians suffered bullet wounds. There are widespread reports of excessive and arbitrary use of force by the security forces, even against ambulances. Investigations are ongoing to determine the causes of these deaths” [71a] (p22)
20.39 The EC 2006 report continued:
“The November 2005 Şemdinli bombing, which killed one person and injured others, also had a negative impact on the situation in the region. A court in Van imposed heavy prison sanctions on two gendarmerie officers and a former PKK member reported to work as a gendarmerie informer who were found responsible for the bombing. A Parliamentary Committee was established in November 2005 to investigate the Şemdinli events. The Committee has not published its report.” [71a] (p22)
20.40 The USSD 2005 report stated that in February 2005 demonstrators in Mersin Province had claimed police had shot and killed Umit Gonultas during a protest in support of PKK’s imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan.
“Interior ministry inspectors determined that police did not shoot Gonultas. Prosecutors opened a case against nine members of the DEHAP for their role in a statement protesting the shooting. The DEHAP officials were charged with being members of an illegal organization [PKK]; their trial continued at year’s end. In August the body of Hasan Is was discovered following clashes between security forces and demonstrators during funeral ceremonies for PKK militants in Batman Province. Relatives and other witnesses claimed police shot and killed Is during the altercation. However, law enforcement authorities denied that police were responsible. In October [2005] Istanbul police shot and killed Atilla Gecmis during demonstrations in support of Abdullah Ocalan. Demonstrators reportedly threw Molotov cocktails and rocks at police, causing police to open fire.” [5b] (Section 2b)
20.41 On 20 January 2005 the BBC reported that a Dutch appeals court had ruled that Nuriye Kesbir could not be extradited to Turkey. The three appeals court judges who supported the earlier ruling were reported as saying: “The court is of the opinion that Kesbir, as a woman and as a prominent member of the PKK, has a heightened risk of being tortured during her detention in Turkey,” they said in a statement. “The court recognises that the Turkish government has recently made important improvements in the area of human rights, but... there is a difference between what the government wants and what happens at a lower level, at prisons and police stations.” [66u]
20.42 On 6 April 2005 Zaman reported that the operation that Turkish Armed Forces had launched against the terrorist organization the Kurdish People’s Party (PKK/Kongra-Gel) continued at the border surrounding the southeastern Turkish cities of Sirnak and Hakkari:
“During the five-day operations, nine terrorists died and their weapons seized and an experienced sergeant was executed. According to information supplied by security units, the largest and most extensive operation in the last six-years is underway. The operation is being conducted from both land and sea. Two brigades and 2000 interim village guards have also participated in the operation. As the operation has shifted to the border, arms equipment and barracks belonging to the terrorist [sic] have reportedly been seized. It is assumed that 1,500 terrorist [sic] remain in hiding in the region. The operation began on March 31 on the steep rocky Cudi Mountain, a place used by PKK terrorists as a passage to Turkey from Iraq. The PKK, which is constantly changing its name in order not to be included among the terrorist organization lists of the European Union (EU) and the US, had held a restructuring congress between March 28 and April 4 and declared the founding of the new PKK and requested the new structure be celebrated with action until May 6.” [84a]
20.43 The BBC reported on 15 April 2005 that “Turkish security forces have killed 21 members of the Kurdish paramilitary group, the PKK, in south-eastern Turkey, officials in the area say. Three members of the Turkish armed forces also died in the three-day operation in Siirt province, they said. It is reported to be the biggest clash in the area since the PKK declared a unilateral truce in 1999.” [66k]
20.44 As reported by the BBC on 2 July 2005: “A bomb attack on a passenger train in eastern Turkey has killed six people and injured at least 12…The train was carrying 45 passengers between the towns of Elazig and Tatvan in Bingol province…Officials blamed Kurdish paramilitaries of the PKK. Military officials said those killed were security guards.” [66j]
20.45 As recorded by the Turkish Daily News on 9 July 2005:
“Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu said 65 terrorists were killed, 43 captured and 41 others surrendered to security forces in 2005 until May, the Anatolia news agency reported. The minister was responding to an official parliamentary questionnaire. ‘Security forces increased their intelligence gathering and operations to obstruct the attacks of the terrorist organization,’ said Aksu. ‘A total of 99 terrorists were killed and 139 captured in 2004.’ He also mentioned that two PKK members, one of whom was female, were recently captured in Mersin while attempting to conduct attacks following training in PKK camps abroad.” [23y]
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20.46 On 10 July 2005 the Turkish Daily News reported that:
“Beefing up its positions in the southeast, the army has redeployed specialized commando units from western Turkey and is reinstalling checkpoints on roads guarded by soldiers and armored [sic] vehicles… Fighting remains confined largely to remote areas and is of far lower intensity that the conflict that raged here between 1984 and 1999 and resulted in about 37,000 deaths. Although reforms by Ankara to expand Kurdish freedoms have eroded popular support for the PKK, the funerals of killed militants, increasingly marred by violence, have shown that unrest may easily spill over into urban areas…The militants, estimated at about 5,000, retreated to neighboring northern Iraq in 1999 after they declared a truce following the capture of their leader Abdullah Öcalan. At least 1,500 of them are believed to have crossed back into Turkey, bringing along arms and explosives.” [23v]
20.47 As reported by Aljazeera.net on 17 July 2005:
“After years of relative calm, Turkey’s southeastern region is once again witnessing armed clashes between soldiers and ethnic Kurdish rebels. In the past month, 20 Turkish soldiers have been killed in the region by mines or in ambushes, while the military has conducted operations against the rebels of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) involving up to 10,000 troops… ‘The terrorist threat is even more serious now,’ Buyukanit told the press back in May [2005]. ‘Terrorists are infiltrating into the country.’ This was a reference to the PKK’s bases next door in northern Iraq – territory nominally under the control of the US-backed Baghdad government…The fighting has returned after the PKK abandoned its unilateral ceasefire last year… ‘People are very anxious,’ says Selahattin Demirtas, chair of the Diyarbakir Human Rights Association (IHD). ‘They are afraid that the killing will go on like before.’ Many in the region are also disappointed and angry that while the PKK declared a ceasefire for more than five years, the authorities did not do likewise.” [68]
20.48 On 12 September 2005 the Turkish Daily News reported that five soldiers had been killed in separate clashes with PKK in the southeast and east. [23af] On 23 September 2005 the same newspaper reported that security forces had killed three PKK terrorists and captured two more in the eastern city of Van only hours after PKK extended its ‘cease-fire’ to 3 October. [23ae] On 27 September 2005 it was reported by the Turkish Daily News that “Two temporary village guards died in an armed attack carried out by the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) against a military unit in charge of security on the Şırnak-Hakkari highway in southeastern Turkey, a statement from the local Governor’s Office said yesterday.” [23ad]
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20.49 The USSD 2005 recorded that “According to the HRF [Human Rights Foundation], landmines and unattended explosives killed 19 civilians and injured 49 during the year [2005]. Both security forces and the PKK used landmines. According to the government, 34 civilians, 100 members of the security forces, and 160 terrorists were killed in armed clashes during the year through November. Most of the clashes occurred in the southeast.” [5b] (Section 1a)
20.50 The IHD (Human Rights Association) 2005 Balance Sheet on Human Rights Violations in Turkey recorded 316 deaths amongst the Security Forces; 179 armed militants and one civilian as well as 69 people killed by landmines. The figures for those injured were respectively 243 for the security personnel; one for armed militants; nine for civilians and 161 for injuries caused by landmines. [73a] (Violations of right to live - Mines and free explosive incidents)
Newroz/Nevruz celebrations
20.51 As outlined by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs report 2002 Newroz (or in Turkish Nevruz) is the New Year celebrated by Kurds, Persians and in Central Asia on the 21 March. [2a] (p87)
20.52 The USSD 2005 report recorded that in March 2005 police had intervened in Nevruz celebrations in a number of cities. Clashes between police and celebrants were reported by HRF in Siirt Province. In Edirne a number of local DEHAP officials and students were detained in connection with Nevruz celebrations. According to HRF in Siirt police beat juveniles who had stoned the police station after police had prevented Nevruz celebrations. [5b] (Section 2b)
20.53 The European Commission 2005 report recorded that “While this year’s [2005] Newroz celebrations in March were authorised and peaceful in most provinces, an incident in Mersin related to the tearing of the Turkish flag by two children ignited certain nationalist reactions.” [71d] (p38)
20.54 As noted in a Country of Origin Research of the Canada Immigration and Refugee Board, Ottawa dated 20 April 2005, entitled ‘Turkey: The situation of Kurds, including the extent to which legislative reform packages have been implemented (August 2004 - April 2005)’, one Turkish-language newspaper (Ozgur Politika 21 March 2005) reported that large celebrations were held on 21 March 2005 in cities throughout Turkey by Kurds on the occasion of the Newroz festival and that these celebrations were carried out without incident, except in Tunceli, Mersin and the Ulus district of Siirt. [7g]
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Arabs
20.55 According to World Directory of Minorities (1997) “There are probably about one million Arabs in the provinces of Urfa, Mardin, Siirt and Hatay (Alexandretta). Unlike the Turkish Sunni Majority Sunni Arabs belong to the Shaf’I tradition (which they share in common with most Sunni Kurds). They are denied the opportunity to use their language except in private, and the use of Arabic is forbidden in schools.” [57a] (p382)
20.56 The World Directory of Minorities continued “About 200,000 Alawi, or Nusayri Arabs live in the northern most settlements of the larger Alawite community in Syria. They are a distinct religious community from Alevis but have in common reverence for Ali, the prophet’s son-in-law, as an emanation of the divinity. Alawites have an uneasy relationship with Sunnis, but are more comfortable with Christians.” [57a] (p382)
20.57 The World Directory also stated that “There are still about 10,000 Orthodox and Melkite (uniate with Rome) Christians (or, as they call themselves, Nasrani) in the Hatay…. They feel under pressure, like other Arabs, to ‘Turkicize’.” [57a] (p382)
Caucasians
20.58 The World Directory of Minorities (1997) estimated that there are probably about one million people of Circassians or Abkha descent in Sakariya, Bolu, Bursa, Eskişehir, Sinop, Samsun, Tokat and Kayeri. There are also about 80,000 Sunni Georgians and 10,000 Orthodox Christian Georgians located mainly in the Artvin province in the north east and around 150,000 Laz (a south Caucasian language related to Georgian) speakers in Turkey. [57a] (p382-383)
Armenians
20.59 The World Directory of Minorities (1997) reports that “Although the State respects their minority status, they are regarded as foreigners by most Turks even though they have inhabited the land of modern Turkey for well over 2,000 years, substantially longer than the Turks. Armenians still find it hard to register their children as Armenian. However, the community successfully operates its own schools, old peoples’ homes and its own press.” [57a] (p380)
20.60 The EC 2006 report stated that “Turkey’s approach to minority rights remains unchanged. According to the Turkish authorities, under the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, minorities in Turkey consist exclusively of non-Muslim religious communities. The minorities associated in practice by the authorities with the Treaty of Lausanne are Jews, Armenians and Greeks. However, there are other communities in Turkey which, in the light of the relevant international and European standards, could qualify as minorities.” [71a] (p20)
20.61 The European Commission 2005 report recorded that “The training of Armenian language teachers is still not possible pending acceptance by the Turkish authorities of an Armenian department within an Istanbul university for the study of the Armenian language.” [71d] (p37)
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Greeks
20.62 The USSD Report on International Religious Freedom 2006 estimates that there are fewer than 2,500 Greek Orthodox Christians in Turkey. [5e] (Section 1) The World Directory of Minorities (1997) states that “There are probably 3,000 ageing Greek Christians, mainly in Istanbul, the residue of 80,000 still there in 1963. Formal expulsions police harassment and a climate of fear and popular animosity have since then reduced the community to its present number.” [57a] (p381)
20.63 As noted in the EC 2006 report:
“The Greek minority continues to encounter problems. These are particularly related to education and property rights. The Greek minority properties on the island of Gökçeada (Imvros) and Bozcaada (Tenedos) are under threat of confiscation and tender by the Turkish authorities.” [71a] (p21) Furthermore the same report noted that “The June 2005 ruling by the Council of State narrowing the scope for the Directorate General for Foundations to take over the management of foundations was not applied during the reporting period. In this respect, no progress can be reported on the Büyükada Greek Girls’ and Boys’ Orphanage, whose management remains under the control of the DG foundations.” [71a] (p16)
Roma
20.64 As recorded in the EC 2005 report the Roma population is estimated between 500,000 and 2,000,000. [71d] (p37)
20.65 The EC 2006 report noted that:
“As concerns the Roma, amendments to the Law on Settlement adopted in September 2006 repealed discriminatory provisions against the Roma. However, discriminatory provisions remain in the Law on Movements and residence of aliens. Recent research by the Bilgi University suggests the Roma population in Turkey is around two million. Roma experience discriminatory treatment in access to adequate housing, education, health and employment. There are frequent forced evictions. Urban regeneration projects of historical districts have led to displacing Roma population residing in those districts (i.e. Ankara-Çinçin, Zonguldak-Ere, Istanbul-Sulukule). During the reporting period more Roma-led advocacy organisations and two Roma Federations were established. Several NGO projects were carried out aimed at capacity building of Roma organisations and establishing a clearer picture of the problems they encounter. Overall, Turkey made little progress on ensuring cultural diversity and promoting respect for and protection of minorities in accordance with international standards.” [71a] (p23)
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Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons
21.01 As noted in the Amnesty International document ‘Turkey Memorandum on AI’s recommendations to the government to address human rights violations’, dated 1 August 2005:
“Article 122 of the draft of the new TPC which forbids discrimination on the basis of ‘language, race, colour, gender, political thought, philosophical belief, religion, denomination and other reasons’ was amended at the last moment so that ‘sexual orientation’ was removed from the draft. Amnesty International is therefore concerned that discrimination on the basis of sexuality was not criminalized in the new TPC. This is coherent with Article 10 of the Constitution which states that ‘Everybody is equal before the law without making any distinction on the basis of language, race, colour, gender, political thought, philosophical belief, religion, denomination and other reasons.’ Amnesty International considers that both these articles should be amended to ensure full equality in law and practice of individuals of different sexual orientation.” [12i] (Section on Minority rights and discrimination)
21.02 As outlined by the international Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) (website accessed 11 October 2006) homosexuality for both Gays and Lesbians is legal in Turkey and the age of consent is 18. “The ‘Lambda Istanbul’ which is a liberation group for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in Turkey states that there are no articles on homosexuality in the law but vague references to public morals and public order. The police has the legal right to take anyone who looks suspicious to the police station for interrogation.” [27a] (p1-2)
21.03 The website of Lambda Istanbul (accessed in October 2006) stated that:
“Lambda, Istanbul is the largest queer [Homosexual] liberation group in Turkey. It was formed by a small number of gays and lesbians as a result of a police ban on Christopher Street Day celebrations in 1993. Since then, Lambda, Istanbul has grown in membership and aims to raise its voice on behalf of the gay communities in Istanbul. Homosexuality is not a criminal offence in Turkey, but some articles of the highly flexible, police regulations can be used very easily to ban meetings and demonstrations on so-called public morality grounds” [22] (p1)
21.04 The website of KAOS GL (‘Brochure for KAOS GL’ accessed on 1 October 2005) states that “KAOS GL is a group founded in September 1994 with the purpose of bringing Turkey’s homosexuals together to struggle against discrimination. The group’s underlying philosophy is that liberation of homosexuals will also free heterosexuals. KAOS GL has been publishing the journal KAOS GL (now a quarterly) since it was founded.” [96]