Fwd: Update on the struggle in Turkey

[molotov1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx (TONY FROSINOS)]

---- Begin Forwarded Message

  This is a long post but I hope will be of interest to the list.

                                    Tony


June 15, 1996
Urfa/Corum:
The relatives of the prisoners in Urfa and Corum went on hungerstrike
as well.

The relatives in Corum wanted to give a press statement; the police
attacked
them and 5 people were arrested.

June 19, 1996
Ankara:
Ten family members of the prisoners went to the headoffices of the DYP,
ANAP and
Refah Party to put forward their demands. This morning they had a
meeting with
Necmettin Erbakan from the RP. Afterwards they went to the ANAP to
arrange a
meeting with their leader, Mesut Yilmaz. From there they went to the
DYP offices
to talk to Tansu Ciller, but they were not allowed inside. 73 mothers
started a
sit-down action in front of the building. They were attacked by the
police and
arrested. At this moment reporters from the Kurtulus from Izmir and
Deniz and
reporters from Demokrasie and Evrensel are in detention, as well as 73
mothers
>from Ankara. Some 20 mothers went on hungerstrike.

Platform for Rights and Freedom

June 18, 1996
Malatya:
One PKK-prisoner tried to put himself on fire in the prison of Malatya.
The
prisoner, Erol Coskun, was brought to hospital. He was severely
wounded, but the
hospital refused to treat him and so he was brought back to prison.
Further
information can be obtained from the lawyer Zeki Ruzar.

FOSEM Exhibition in the Evrensel Cultural Association.
The exhibition will be opened on June 18. The theme of the exhibition
will be
"Iron doors can burn as well". The exhibition will be shown until the
end of the
month and depicts the resistance of the prisoners and the families from
1980
till now.

FOSEM - Photographs and Movie Workers.

Istanbul:
40 unionists were arrested, among them the chairmen of Hava-Is, Kesk-Is
(Civil
Workers Union), Den-Is (Leather Industry Workers), Nakliyat-Is
(Transport
Workers), Genel-Is and several branch leaders. They wanted to give a
press
statement in front of Bayrampasa-prison and were arrested.

3 chairmen of human rights organizations were attacked and arrested
when they
wanted to send a protest telegram to the state president.

A group of 25 people wanted to stage a press conference and protest
action in
Taksim/Istanbul and were arrested.

The HADEP-hungerstrike is in its 22nd day and a lot of people are
participating
(relatives, members of democratic associations).

Hatay:
A lot of people from several democratic associations, the socialist
press,
political parties, unions and cultural centers formed a Platform for
Solidarity
with the Prisoners.

Batman:
The solidarity hungerstrike of the relatives is in it 16th. day.

Izmir:
The solidarity hungerstrike of the relatives is getting bigger, there
are now 80
people involved. In Karsiyaka, 38 relatives and people from human
rights
organizations are on hungerstrike.

Busa:
The relatives are now on hungerstrike for 30 days.

Cannakale:
People from several political parties and human rights organizations
went on a
unlimited hungerstrike.

Izmit:
Several students went on a unlimited hungerstrike.

Adana:
The solidarity hungerstrike of the relatives entered it 22nd. day.

These solidarity hungerstrikes are supported by many human rights
organizations,
political parties, the socialist press and democratic associations.

Istanbul:
The police investigated the murder of Metin Goktepe and they found out
that
Orhan Tasanlar gave the following order: "The people who participated
in this
action in January must be arrested". This was stated by the police
inspectors
Sukru Erdem, Cengiz Akin and Yasar Gokisik and they summoned Tasanlar
to testify
in the case of Metin Goktepe.

Mescit:
The arrests and the massacres continue in the village of Mescit. One of
the
villagers, Hasan Polat, was murdered. On June 18, 1996, the army raided
the
village of Mescit in Tokat/Almus because they suspected the village of
support
for the guerrilla. All male inhabitants were arrested. According to the
news
today, all roads to and from the village have been blocked and Hasan
Polat, one
of the people who were arrested, had been murdered.

June 19, 1996
Istanbul:
Sabah: The prisons are secured.
The prison administration removed the floors from the cells to prevent
future
escapes. The cells are now below ground level. They started with the
cells of
the political prisoners. The cells are now 4 meters below the earth.

Adana:
Demokrasie: The torturers have to account for their actions in front of
a court.
14 youngsters were tortured by 10 policemen in the city of Manisa. The
prosecution will demand 70 years imprisonment for each of the officers.
The
trial will start on June 24.

Ankara:
Necmetin Erbakan, chairman of the RP, promised the relatives to solve
the
problems and he stated: "If I do not keep my word, I will burn myself
in front
of the rulers".

Telegram action:
Adana:
Family members of the prisoners and some members of the Socialist Press
Platform
were attacked by the police on their way to a post office. They wanted
to start
a telegram action.

Izmir:
Some 150 people went to court to file a complaint. The people on
hungerstrike
are approaching death and the responsible persons should take a stand.

Istanbul:
The relatives of the prisoners are on hungerstrike for two days in
solidarity
with the prisoners. The Student Federation of Turkey (TODEF) declared
its
solidarity with the prisoners and went on hungerstrike for two days as
well.

Ankara:
Mehmet Agar about the hungerstrike in the prisons:
"This is a organized action", Agar told the relatives and according to
him they
should bring their children away from this wrong way.

June 20, 1996
Mehmet Agar about the resistance of the prisoners: the relatives and
the
intellectuals are responsible. Some intellectuals are supporting the
terrorists.
"The intellectuals, who love their own land, let the young ones go into
the
mountains like a machinery of death". "When the organized groups in
prison keep
on their training and when they keep on receiving magazines and books
etc. in
prison, when this is allowed, then there will be no difference anymore
between
inside and outside".

Ankara/Izmir:
The relatives of the prisoners went to the DYP to talk to their
secretary-general, Tansu Ciller. They said they would wait for her
until she
would show up. 19 prisoners, who's health deteriorated, were moved from
Diyarbakir to Gaziantep. A group of 40 people who protested against the
oppression against the prisoners on April 27 and the Isolation Decree
of May 6,
was arrested.

A call from all prisoners:

Their are hungerstrikes going on in 33 prisons, entering the 30th. day
on June
18. We demand: - The closure of the isolation prisons. - Stop the
attacks
against the parents. - Stop preventing medical treatment. All should
know that
the Free Prisoners will react to the threat "Give up, or you will die"
with "We
are prepared to die!" The revolutionary prisoners will not surrender.
We will
demolish the isolation prisons.


Mahmut Isik, member of parliament for the CHP, will put the issue of
the
prisoners on the agenda by asking questions in parliament. Isik is
accusing the
minister of Justice, Mehmet Agar.


June 21, 1996
A reporter from the Kurtulus, Sakine Fidan, was arrested by the police.
Soon
after, also her father, brother and a relative were arrested as well.
Furthermore an action for the disappeared was attacked by the police.
150 people
were arrested. Among them were the lawyers Efkan Bolac, Nese Ozturk,
Mehmet
Kirdok, Fathiye Celik, Muhittin Koyluoglu. Zekiye Kurkcuoglu and Devrim
Kalkan,
the relatives of the prisoners Birsen Gulunay and her child Deniz
Gulunay, the
unionists Adnan Aras from the Health Workers Union (Saglik-Sen), Zeki
Demirkerl,
Hatun Temizalp and the poets Nevzat Celik, Ataol Behramoglu and Sanal
Uurdatcpan.

Urfa:
The prisoners on hungerstrike were beaten, hosed with ice cold water
and beaten
again. The women in Urfa entered their 39th. day of hungerstrike today.
The
support for the prisoners in hungerstrike continues.

Erzurum:
The hungerstrike of 400 prisoners continues. The situation of 30
prisoners is
deteriorating and the prisoners are beaten by the guards.

Amasya:
Fax-action.

Eskisehir:
Protests in the isolation cells, petition campaigns and support for the
prisoners by officers.

France/Strasbourg:
On June 20, 1996, the European Council met in Strasbourg to discuss the
situation in Turkey. On the agenda: the human rights violations and the
situation in the prisons. The solidarity committees on hungerstrike in
Paris
went to Strasbourg to organize an action with leaflets, posters and
banners in
front of the European Council. There were 70 people (the hungestrikers
and their
supporters from Paris and Strasbourg). Four members of the Council came
outside
to express their solidarity with our hungerstrike and they said that
the council
would approve a motion, critical of Turkey. Furthermore they said a
delegation
of the Red Cross would be send to Turkey to examine the situation in
the
prisons.

June 21, 1996
Greece:
On June 19, 1996, we started a unlimited hungerstrike in solidarity
with the
political prisoners on hungerstrike in the Turkish prisons. We want to
inform
the public in Greece about the situation. Before the hungerstrike the
supporters
of the DHKC/DHG, the TKP(ML) and the MLKP put posters in Greek in
different
places in Athens, protesting the actions of the government. They
prepared a
common statement and faxed it to several institutions and the press.
Furthemore,
the supports of the DHKC/DHG, TKP(ML), MLKP and TDKP formed a committee
to
coordinate their actions with regard to the hungerstrike inside the
prisons.
This committee is supported by the MLSPB, RIZGARI and 8 Greek
organizations.

DHKC/Devrimci Halk Gucleri
(Revolutionary People's Liberation Front/Revolutionary People's Forces)

p.s.: 33 people are conducting the solidarity hungerstrike.

Ankara:
The relatives of the prisoners who were arrested during a sit-down
action in
front of the government building in Ankara were released again.

On April 16-17, 1992, the police attacked several houses in Istanbul.
11
fighters of Devrimci Sol were murdered in this operation. The trial
against the
policemen has now been moved to Kayseri.

The mothers will not leave their place.
Because the mothers of the disappeared can no longer continue their
actions in
front of the Galatasaray Gymnasium because of the attacks by the
police, they
now gather in Taki Odasi (Istanbul). They said: "No one will be able to
intimidate us, we will continue our actions until we have found our
children. We
will hold the responsible people accountable. No repression will keep
us from
that, this is our natural human right".

Amasya:
The prisoners demand medical treatment for 250 of their friends, but
this was
denied. From these 250 prisoners, 13 are women, kept in isolation.

Several workers have gone on hungerstrike in solidarity with the
political
prisoners in Turkey and Kurdistan. Among the people who are on
solidarity
hungerstrike are blue collar workers, relatives, members from several
political
parties, democratic mass organizations and unions.

Adana:
The KESK branch in Adana went on hungerstrike with approximately 100
people.

Istanbul:
The youth committee in Pendik/Istanbul went on hungerstrike yesterday,
in
solidarity with the prisoners. They wanted to continue their action but
were
prevented by the governing council.


 In support of the resistance by the political prisoners the relatives
of the
 political prisoners blocked a road in Kizilay/Istanbul on June 22.
Five mothers
 chained themselves to the gate of a firm, while 38 relatives blocked
the road
 for 15 minutes. The traffic police tried to intervene by driving into
the
 demonstrators. People who watched the action, supported the
demonstrators by
 applauding them. All the demonstrators and the five mothers who
chained
 themselves were arrested by the police and brought to the police
station.
While the demonstrators were driven away, they repeatedly yelled the
slogan: "We
will not permit the massacres inside the prisons".


Ankara:
While minister of Justice Mehmet Agar stated that his door was always
open, a
delegation of 50 people from the CHP (the Republican People's Party)
was beaten
by the police when they wanted to put black flowers in front of the
department.
The journalists were hindered by the police when they wanted to take
pictures.
The action had been approved by the governor.

Istanbul
Intellectuals: We can not remain silent.

The support for the prisoners is growing among the intellectuals. Some
30
well-known personalities, among them artists, actors and writers
started a
petition campaign: "Stop the repression in the prisons". The Writers
Association, the Union of  Writers in Turkey and the writers
association PEN
called upon the Turkish state to take measures to save the prisoners
who are
close to death. The CGD (Progressive Journalists Association) says in a
statement that the government should respect the right to a dignified
life
before people are dying, not afterwards.

A mobile team of physicians of the union Ozcelik-Is found in a
nation-wide
survey in the steel works that 15.000 out of 55.000 steel workers
suffer form
illnesses caused by their work. The main problems are chronic
bronchitis, lung-,
liver and skin diseases.

June 23, 1996
In the night of June 22, 1996, at 9.30 p.m., the DYP-building in
Istanbul was
attacked by 5 people in support of the resistance of the prisoners. One
guard
was killed and 4 policemen were wounded, one of them died because of
his severe
wounds. Also one fighter was killed.

Istanbul:
The mothers of the disappeared, scientists, lawyers, writers and poets
wanted to
prepare a protest in front of the Galatasaray Gymnasium. After they put
down
flowers in the square, they were attacked by the police and everybody
was
arrested. Some 160 people were involved.

Izmir:
The mothers of the disappeared were attacked by the police on
Konak-square. 100
relatives were arrested.

Istanbul/Sagmalcilar:
The prisoners on hungerstrike were brought to prison hospital under the
pretext
of a medial examination. Before the transport they were beaten by the
soldiers
and the police and thrown into the police cars. During the ride, the
prisoners
were beaten by the security forces as well. When they arrived at the
prison
hospital, the policemen threatened to kill the physicians and said: "We
are
bringing them here now, but no one will be examined!" The prisoners are
in a
serious condition.

Several student groups appeal to the public:
"We as revolutionary, democratic students protest against the
anti-democratic
attacks and the decrees of May 6, 8 and 10 to open the new isolation
prisons,
and we demand that Mehmet Agar steps down." With these demands 25
people from
several student unions and groups went on hungerstrike on June 15,
1996. 4
representatives of the TODEF (Turkish Student Federation) are on a
permanent
hungerstrike. They appeal to all who call themselves "human" to support
these
demands. The participants are: TODEF, Emek Okurlari (readers from
"Emek"),
Yurtsever Genclik, Partizan Genclik, ODP Genclik and a revolutionary
democratic
student group.


Mahir Yesil, a reporter from the Kurtulus was arrested in
Istanbul/Yenibosna
while he was doing his work.

Istanbul/Yenisbosna:
Yesterday some 20 people were protesting in two different places
against the
prison system in Turkey. The blocked the streets for a while. After
this action
some people were arrested: Erol, Bulent and Ercan. Their family names
are
unknown.

Afyon:
Yesterday the pupil Ali Riza Demir was arrested by four policemen. His
friends
are worried and demand his release.

The writer Ahmet Altan: "Did a child of yours ever disappear, Mesut
Yilmaz?"
"Mesut Yilmaz came to power by promising that `the thoughts and ideas
must be
expressed freely'. And now the people who look for a trace of their
disappeared
children, who protest against the policy of disappearances in front of
the
Galatasaray Gymnasium, are pulled away by the policemen of Mesut
Yilmaz. The
families who gather there to find some news about their killed
children, are
kicked, beaten with truncheons, beaten up, insulted..."

the writer Yavuz Gokmen: "One who has never been in prison can not
understand
the prisoners. Do you know what it means to be a prisoner, do you know
what
torture means?"

Ankara:
300 followers of the Labor Party (Emek Partisi) were attacked by the
police and
beaten up during a protest action. 160 people got wounded, some of them
seriously. 50 policemen were wounded.

The Youth Branch of the CHP went on hungerstrike with 20 people, in
solidarity
with the prisoners. On their poster they said: "Hand in hand, together
against
fascism". On a press conference they stated: "For us, members of the
CHP, this
is the first step."

Action for Talat Turkoglu from Edirne, who disappeared 84 days ago.
His relatives staged a protest action in Edirne in which 200 people
participated. Their slogan was: "We have given them alive, we want to
see them
back alive."

Kurtulus:
The attacks against the Kurtulus continue. The office in Adana was
attacked by
the police, books and the archive were confiscated.

Manisa:
10 policemen, among them a chief commissioner and a commissioner, are
on trial
in Manisa. They are accused of torturing 16 young people who were
arrested,
accused of being members of the DHKC. The state prosecutor, Omer Faruk
Oral
demanded up to 70 years in jail for all the policemen. Among the
accused
policemen, who still work in the police headquarters of Manisa, are
chief
commissioner Halil Emir and Atilla Girba. Sabri Ergul, member of
parliament for
the CHP from Izmir, who made the torture public, lamented: "The accused
policemen are still walking around in freedom".

June 24, 1996

Canakkale:
The health situation of the prisoners in hungerstrike in several
prisoners is
getting worse by the day. 13 prisoner in Canakkale are in a very
serious
condition.

Bartni/Zonguldak:
3 prisoners are in a very serious condition, as are 3 prisoners in
Sagmalcilar/Istanbul.

Kurtulus:
Irfan Agdas was murdered by the police 7 weeks ago in Ali Beykoy when
he was
selling the Kurtulus. Yesterday, at 9 p.m., his friends protested this
murder in
Alibeykoy/Istanbul, as they do every Monday. Their slogans are "The
revolutionary martyrs will live forever" and "The anger of the mothers
will
strangle the murderers". At the end of the commemoration the people
promised to
come back next Monday, at 8 o'clock.

The arrests and evictions will not silence the Kurtulus!

The torturers who rabidly attack all kinds of people attacked our
reporter Mahir
Yesil and three other persons yesterday. Our reporter: "At 10 o'clock
people
>from the DHKC, MLKP and TKP(ML) prepared a meeting in Yenibosna against
the
system in the Turkish prisons. I went to Yenibosna to witness this
action. I was
attacked by 3 policemen and brought to a police station. After a while
the
DHKC-team from the well known torture center in Vatan Caddesi arrived
and they
threatened me, saying: "Come on, let's talk. We will not be disturbed.
Give us 2
or 3 names, so we don't have to bring you to the station (Vatan
Caddesi)". When
I didn't agree, they brought me to the third floor and they said: "You
know the
people who participated, give us 2 or 3 names". They asked me to
co-operate and
when I refused they took my hand and put it on the table and they hit
it with
their truncheons. When they brought me to a cell, they threatened: "You
will see
at the police station". Then 5 or 6 policemen of this team came to the
cell door
and the continued their insults and threats. The next day they released
us at 5
o'clock. I took my camera, they had removed the film with the pictures
I took. I
went on hungerstrike while I was arrested. I did not give them a
statement."

Kurtulus banned again.
The State Security Court, DGM, who made it a custom to ban our paper,
also
banned edition nr. 50. This has become a custom, they can not let go
anymore,
because we write the truth about their lack of morality and their
injustice.
They constantly attack our paper and our readers.

June 25, 1996
Yildiz Gemicioglu, our representative from the office in Adana, and
Mahir Yesil,
who works at the central office, have been arrested and tortured. That
happened
not even one day ago, and now, at 2.30 p.m., the Anti-Terror Department
attacked
our office in Antep. Our books were confiscated, and the people who
work there
were insulted and threatened. We say once again: Your arrests, your
attacks will
never silence the voice of the people. The dignified voice of the
people can not
be silenced.

Manisa:
10 policemen have been accused of torturing 16 young people. They were
supposed
to get 70 years imprisonment. Today they did not show up in court.
Their reason:
"We are not protected". The trial has been postponed till August 21.

Istanbul/Eyup:
Bomb attack against ISKI (Water and Canal Works in Istanbul) and the
MGV
(National Youth Association) (fundamentalist).

The fundamentalist youth center was attacked yesterday. Nobody was
wounded and
the attackers escaped. The damage was considerable.

Istanbul/ Alibeykoy:
At  9.45 p.m. the ISKI office was bombed by unknown persons. The damage
was
considerable, nobody was wounded. The police is investigating the bomb
attacks
against the ISKI and the MGV.



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