thank you for your hospital: a note from Turkey

I've been here about 6 weeks, in the beginning I was in Istanbul and my impression was one of hope, that things actually are getting better. Then I came to Diyarbakir. Every night there are fighter jets taking off. I ask why? Where are they going? People say, "There's an operation going on".

I was here three weeks ago and when I left, from the window of the plane I could see 7 fighter jets lining up on the runway to take off. And when I returned... again, the night sky is full of these machines roaring over the city towards Hakkari or Kandil.... So an "operation" which suggests that there is an event with a begining, middle and end, are endless here. The sound of these jets is really damaging psychologically, especially for anyone who knows what its like to be bombed. You hear these jets screaming and obliterating all conversation and thought, and you think of death. I talked to someone, a man who's father had been killed by the deep state. He'd been living in Switzerland for 25 years but has returned to care for his father's grave. He said "When I go to the west, and people say "The Kurds are free, they have no problems" I have to tell them, we are going to sleep with jets and waking with the helicopters. Have you ever seen a tank? We are living with Jets, helicopters and bombs, thats our life.

Meanwhile, in the municipalities, there were "operations" to seize city workers. One woman described how police came to her door at 4 am, burst in, put a gun to her head, tore her house to pieces, terrorized her elderly parents, and then took her into custody to be interrogated. And what were the questions? "Why are you working so hard? Why do you work 12 hours a day? Why are you so successful at your job? Why do you care so much about the work you are doing? Do you have an ideological sympathy with the PKK?" When I asked this woman why she was held, why the municipalities were targets of "operations" by the governement she said, "It is the Gulen people. They want to stop all our work in the municipality."

This woman was held for 5 days an nights, kept in isolation in a tiny cell, not allowed to speak to anyone except her interrogators. There is no case against her, but her future is uncertain. She has done nothing more than write grants for social programs.

What does this mean actually?

After the elections, AKP lost badly and DTP became very strong in the municipalities. It was then that the "Operations" began and many DTP people were taken into custody. Its nothing new, the government from Ankara has historically tried to destroy the local governments where Kurdish people govern themselves. But to understand the absurdity of the situation you would have to imagine that say-- Obama tapped all the phones and read the email of Bloomberg... that members the New York City council who talk to their constituents in Spanish or Chinese could be arrested for speaking in "unknown languages".

There are so many volatile developments here now that's its difficult to sort out the course things will take: AKP is really sticking it to the military for instance. They have just pushed through a new law that the military can be tried in civilian courts. This is a good thing of course. But sometimes I feel like I'm watching a battle between a tarantula and scorpion.

One funny thing that happened to me which illustrates the mentality of the "occupiers" (ie. the police and military here). I was driving back from Mardin and I was stopped by the police. After being stopped, I explained to the policeman that I spoke just a little Turkish. He asked me to wait and he sent another policeman to talk to me. Someone who supposedly spoke English.
But his English was not good, "Since you are a foreigner, we want to show you our hospital" he said. "What?" I said. "We want to show you our hospital, so we will not give you a traffic fine." "Thank you, I'm very grateful you won't give me a traffic fine, but... I'm sorry, I don't understand. I don't need to go the the hospital."
Then I realized he was trying to say "We want to show you our hospitality." And I became afraid he wouldn't understand anything I was saying, so I began to thank him in Turkish and when he spoke english I stuck to Turkish. He kept saying "You can speak English" (You can't I thought) and I said, "But I want to practice my Turkish." "WHY DO YOU WANT TO LEARN TURKISH" he said suddenly. I was speechless for a minute. I mean, aren't we in Turkey? Then he looked at me and said "Are you OKAY? Do you need HELP?" No I said. But thank you for your hospital. And he let me go.

Bilgin Ayata on the Armenian Genocide, denial, and the genocide of the Dersim Alevi Kurds

Obama Got Played

More on "Whats in a word":

There's a post at Jim Meyers Borderlands about why Obama's speech on April 24 upset the Turkish Government so much, even though Obama didn't use the word "Genocide".

According to Hürriyet, during Barack Obama's visit to Turkey in early April of this year, Obama threatened to make good on his campaign pledge to recognize as a 'genocide' the events of 1915, in which at least several hundred thousand (and possibly more than one million) Ottoman Armenians perished. Every year, the president of the United States makes an address on April 24, the day in which these events are commemorated, and every year there is speculation over whether or not the word 'genocide' will be used in the address. In not using the word 'genocide' in his address, Obama was sharply criticized by Armenian groups and others for having 'turned his back' on the pledge. As a quid pro quo for Obama's using the term, apparently, the Turkish government had agreed to speed up the pace of talks with Armenia—with Turkey offering the initial concession of agreeing (it seemed) to soon open the border with Armenia. As I discussed in an earlier post on this site, Turkey's apparent willingness to open the border with Turkey without first realizing progress on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan infuriated both government and opposition figures in Baku. Following Baku's protests over the perceived direction of the Turkish-Armenian talks, the opening of the Turkish-Armenian border has been delayed.

The prospect of an American role in the talks and a possible agreement between Obama and the Turkish government of the sort described by Hürriyet would also explain the Turkish government's anger over Obama's use of the term "Meds Yeghern" in his April 24 speech, which Ankara described as "unacceptable." "Meds Yeghern" is the term which Armenians themselves use to describe the events of 1915, and at least some voices in Turkey have suggested that this term could perhaps become an acceptable compromise term in place of 'genocide.' Nevertheless, Ankara's strong reaction to Obama's use of this term, which included the Foreign Ministry's demand to see US Ambassador to Turkey James Jeffrey for consulation, perhaps makes a little more sense if seen in the context of a deal in which Ankara thought Obama had agreed to avoid using terminology that would upset the Turkish government.

Actually the most telling sentence in the above post is : Following Baku's protests over the perceived direction of the Turkish-Armenian talks, the opening of the Turkish-Armenian border has been delayed.

Because this is how Turkey treats human rights, language recognition, the "question" (Kurdish, Armenian) issues:



Progress on any issue is promised and then ripped away at the last moment. Just like what Lucy did with that football. If Obama thought something was going to change, if he thought that engaging in absurd linguistic contortions to make Erdogan, Gul, and all the Pasha's happy was going to result in something REAL, like the opening of the border between Turkey and Armenian... he got played.

Writers and Journalists jailed and Tortured: the list goes on

Some Items I've simply copied from INFO-TURK about writers and journalists recently jailed for their work. A couple were in French and I've roughly translated them. THIS IS JUST FOR THE MONTH OF APRIL.

Lawyer of imprisoned reporter Abdurrahman Gök to file complaint for torture and maltreatment

Servet Özen, the lawyer for Dicle News Agency (DIHA) reporter Abdurrahman Gök, says that an objection to his arrest has been rejected. He says that he will file a complaint for torture and maltreatment of his client after seeing the medical file.

Gök was taken into custody while covering the Newroz celebrations in Siirt, southeastern Turkey. On 25 March 2009, he was taken to the Siirt Criminal Court, which ordered his arrest for spreading PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) propaganda. He was later taken to a Siirt prison.

Another reporter from DIHA, Celal Kalpak, who was at the Newroz celebrations in Siirt, told BIANET what he witnessed: "When Gök was taken into custody, we were at the exit of the celebration area. The police harassed him and then took him into custody. When I objected, a police chief said, 'Your friend has thrown stones at the police.' I told him that that was not credible, that Gök was just covering the event as a reporter, and that the detention was arbitrary."

Kalpak said that there were different accusations leveled at Gök all the time. "First they said that he had thrown stones at the police. When that was not credible, they said that he had manipulated the crowd; finally, they said that he was taken into custody for terrorist propaganda because he had copied down the slogans shouted and written on placards and because he had been linked to Roj TV."

Özen has argued that Gök suffered torture and mistreatment when he was taken into custody. His medical report from the Siirt State Hospital is currently with the prosecution. His lawyer has announced that as soon as he is able to examine them, he will file a criminal complaint against those responsible.

DIHA has also called for the release of its reporters Ali Bulus, Mehmet Karaaslan, Faysal Tunç and Behdin Tunç, who are all in prison for alleged connections to the PKK. It is not yet clear whether the arrests were related to their journalistic activities. (BIANET/IFEX, April 14, 2009)


WRITER IRFAN KARACA GETS PRISON SENTANCE

İrfan Karaca the author of the book “Ape Musa’s Little Generals” where he tells the story of children who distribute “Özgür Gündem” newspaper, has been given 1 year and 3 months prison sentence for “making propaganda for a terrorist organisation”.

The book was published by Berçem Publishing House in March last year. Ankara High Criminal Court Num.11 condemned Karaca. İrfan Karaca said they would appeal against it and added “It is completely unjust. The book tells the stories of children who sell Özgür Gündem newspaper in Diyarbakır in 1990s. How could it be propaganda for a terrorist organisation? This judgement proved that freedom of expression is still under threat in Turkey.” (antenna-tr.org, April 27, 2009)


jOURNALIST INDICTED FOR ANTI-MILITARIST ARTICLE

Gaziantep Public Prosecution Office wrote an indictment against Yasin Yetişgen the responsible editor of local “Çoban Ateşi” newspaper over an article “Mum don’t send me to army” written by Berkant Coşkun and published on 8 November 2007. Yetişgen is charged with “alienating the people from military service and insulting the memory of Ataturk”.

Yetişgen is charged over the parts of the article which reads:”If today’s Kurdish movement is called a terrorist movement then Mustafa Kemal’s movement would not be immune from the same definition. The only difference is that Mustafa Kemal was not arrested.”

The court issued on 15 April an arrest order for Yetisgen since he did not turn up for the previous hearings.

The next hearing is on 16 July 2009 at 09:00.
(antenna-tr.org, April 27, 2009)

NOVELIST CHARGED

The Turkish writer Nedim Gürsel will be held on 5 May before an Istanbul court for "denegrating the religious values of the people" in his novel "Daughters of Allah," the author said in an interview Saturday with the AFP.

"You reproach me for having denigrated the religious values of the population, under Article 216 of Turkish Penal Code, this charge is punishable by six months to one year in prison," said Gürsel, present this week - author of "Close Encounters of the book and wine" of Balma, a suburb of Toulouse.

"This is a novel, people tend to forget," said Gürsel, "and what is negative about the prophet is expressed by its enemies."

For the novelist, director of research at CNRS on Turkish literature, "we must have the freedom to take a critical look at religion, and my position is clear: I respect the faith and believers."

"More worrying" according to him, the Directorate of Religious Affairs, an administrative agency under the authority of the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, "has resulted in a report while the court did not ask" .

"The management of religious affairs should not decide on a work of art, is not within its competence," said Mr. Gürsel who divides his time between France and Turkey.

According to the author of "Daughters of Allah", published in March 2008 in Turkey and a French translation released in October at Threshold, "Mr. Erdogan said recently at the delivery of a literary prize that Turkey 's is a country that saw its writers, or the trial removes any credibility to his speech. "

Mr. Gürsel considers that "this case falls very badly because everyone thought that Turkey had made progress on freedom of expression", has also added the author of "Turkey is a new idea in Europe" published this week in France by Editions Empreinte time.

An ardent defender of the entry of Turkey into the European Union, Mr. Gürsel has not said he was "worried" about the outcome of this trial because he has "confidence in the justice of (his) country that is Independent

GUN TV

Prosecution to Gün TV

Ahmet Birsin the general coordinator of a local TV station in Diyarbakır region has been arrested and kept in custody in Diyarbakır Anti-Terror Branch on suspicion of "PKK membership".

It has been reported that Diyarbakır Public Prosecution service has been secretly working to uncover "PKK’s Turkey Coordination team made up of 8 members" for over a year. Prosecution office has been following the bank transactions and communications of the suspects.

51 people brought to Diyarbakır

Police raided and searched Gün TV offices in the early morning hours of 14 April 2009.

Simultaneous operations have been run in Diyarbakır, İstanbul, Ankara, Batman, Mardin, Aydın, Adana, Elazığ, Gaziantep, Şırnak and Şanlıurfa. Diyarbakır Governor said that 51 people had been arrested and brought to Diyarbakır.

Bilen: we cannot report any news

TV channel’s news editor Adnan Bilen said that because of the confiscated material they cannot broadcast news. Bilen said that the prosecutor told their lawyer who wanted the material back "So what? You do not broadcast one day ".

Employee arrested in

Günlük newspaper reported that Hüseyin Diken, Democratic Society Party’s Bursa chairman was released but an employee of “Özgür Halk” periodical, Erhan Bayrak was put on remand on the charge of “propaganda for an illegal organisation". (antenna-tr.org, April 15, 2009)

NEWSPAPERS BANNED BY THE GOVERNMENT:

Kurdish newspaper Azadiya Welat has been shut down for a month.
Altilim Newspaper shut down for one month.

AND THREE REPORTERS ON TRIAL:

Democratic Society Party’s Van city chairman Abdurrahman Doğar who was arrested following Newruz celebrations on 22 March 2008 during which two people were killed. Van Public Prosecutor Selçuk Kocaman asked the court to condemn Doğar for “membership PKK/KONGRA-GEL terrorist organisation, inciting crime as part of the activities of a terrorist organisation, resisting public official, damaging property, inciting to injuring people”. Doğar has been asked to be imprisoned for 200 years. The next hearing will be on 22 May 2009 at 09:45 am. The prosecution will present its case.

o Vatan reporter Kemal Göktaş and Milliyet reporter Gükçer Tahincioğlu are charged with “publishing classified information and exposing the judge on duty to terrorist organisations as a target” over publishing a court ruling by Ankara High Criminal Court Num.11 allowing police and intelligence agency MIT to listen and read all phone, Internet and fax communications in Turkey. The two journalists are asked to be imprisoned for between 2 and 6 years. The journalists were acquitted on 31 March 2009.

o Ahmet Karayay made a press statement in Ankara’s Kızılay Street declaring conscientious objection and said '...There is no need for military institutions on earth since there has been no threats from other planets. Therefore what are the soldiers protecting us from...? Turkish Armed Forces has been making use of human resource of Turkish nation since it was established although the country has not been involved in any wars for a long time. .. As long as there are people who want to do military service it should not be imposed on people like me who do not want to do military service...” Karayay was charged with “alienating the people from military service”. Karayay was acquitted on 1 April 2009. (http://www.antenna-tr.org/dunya/first_page_en.asp)

What's in a word?

Human rights lawyer Eren Keskin was aquitted yesterday of "inciting the public to hatred and animosity." when she used the word "Kurdistan" during a panel discussion in 2007. Two years ago, a court in Viranşehir sentenced her to 10 months in prison and a 3,300 Turkish Lira cash fine, but the case is under appeal.

How strong is a country that would send someone to prison for the use of one word? A few days ago, it was Osman Baydemir, being convicted for saying "guerilla" instead of terrorist. The use and control of language is one of the best tools of a totalitarian state because control of language becomes control of thought. This is not a democracy.

Here's a link to the story in Hurriyet:

and here's a link to a documentary about Eren Keskin:





Another news item that is not a surprise is headlined: Thousands of People Wiretapped in the Last Three Years

Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Şahin has stated that in the last three years the phone conversation records of nearly 13,000 people have been disposed of as their content does not constitute a crime, once again placing wiretapping debates in Turkey under the spotlight.

“As far as I know, the number of individuals whose phone conversations are wiretapped is around 70,000. Some are claiming that 70 million Turkish citizens are being wiretapped. Such allegations have nothing to do with reality,” Şahin remarked.

According to the data as to the individuals whose phone conversation records were disposed of in the past three years, İstanbul residents were subjected to wiretaps the most. The phone conversations of 494 people in İstanbul were disposed of in 2006, while this figure climbed to 736 in 2007 and fell to 684 in 2008.

Phone conversations in the southern and southeastern regions are also closely wiretapped, according to the same data. The conversations of 395 people were disposed of in 2008 in Adana, while this figure was 864 in Diyarbakır, 411 in Mersin and 618 in Van.

Control of lanugage, control of thought, ... it makes me laugh to read that these conversations were disposed of because their content did not constitute a crime. So there are criminal letters, there are criminal words, there are criminal conversations that a state must defend itself from. Sometimes it just seems so laughable.

CHILDREN'S DAY IN TURKEY

On April 23rd, Seyfi Turan a 14 year old Kurdish boy was severely beaten by Turkish police in Hakkari on International Children's Day. Seyfi came from a Kurdish family forced by the military to leave their village in 1994. The family received no assistance from the state, and Seyfi's father has been unemployed since.




Here's the story from Hurriyet:

Child beating caught on tape

ANKARA - The Hakkari Governor’s Office and Police Department have launched inquiries into the conduct of a police officer caught on video hitting a 14-year-old boy with the butt of his rifle during a demonstration in the southeastern province Thursday.

The incident involving the minor sparked outrage around the country.

While the police appointed two senior inspectors to the case, the Governor’s Office announced Friday that the police officer was suspended pending an administrative inquiry, reported Anatolia news agency.

The Governor’s Office released a statement that said: "The police intervened in some of the illegal demonstrations and rock throwing in several neighborhoods of Hakkari. During the intervention, the wounding of a citizen as a result of one security official’s impulsive actions was received with distress. The officer in question has been suspended and an inquiry has been launched against those responsible."

Hakkari Governor Muammer Türker told the Anatolia news agency that he was following the medical condition of the boy and those responsible would face administrative and disciplinary measures.

Hit repeatedly
The boy, 14-year-old Seyfi Turan, was seen in the video being repeatedly hit by a police officer with the butt of his rifle. The boy sustained serious injuries and was fist taken to a local hospital and then sent to the Van Yüzüncü Yol University Hospital in the province of Van.

The father of the boy, Mehmet Turan, told the Doğan news agency about his son’s injuries. Speaking in Kurdish because he did not know Turkish, the father said: "They told me the police beat my son. They cracked his head. He was sent to Van from Hakkari. He is fine now but he was beaten badly." Doctors at the hospital said the boy was doing OK but would have to spend another 10 days at hospital. Meanwhile, Van Gendarmerie Commander Lt. Gen. Yurdaer Olcan visited the boy Friday.

There is more commentary by Azadixwaz

BELOW is an excerpt from an article in Zaman about the prosecution of Kurdish children:

Instead of juvenile courts, they are being tried in special authority high penal courts set up after the State Security Courts (DGM) were dissolved and changes in the Law on Terrorism in 2006 made it possible to try minors aged 15-18 in these courts. Recently, two minors were sentenced to 21 years imprisonment in Adana after taking part in pro-Kurdish Nevruz events in Gaziantep on March 21. And on April 22, the Diyarbakır 6th High Penal Court handed down prison terms to six minors, with sentences ranging from six to 11 years.

“I can’t sleep tonight because the court will make a decision on my 15-year-old son. He wanted to be a lawyer, but he won’t be able to. He won’t be able to realize his dreams. He will be a criminal from now on and he will question the punishment given to him as a result of throwing a stone. How is the night going to turn into morning and how is the judge going to decide? Nobody knows the answer except the 6th High Penal Court judge and prosecutor,” said Arif Akkaya, father of H. Akkaya, who is being tried at the Diyarbakır court on charges of terrorism.

The court was supposed to make judgments on six juveniles on April 23, but since this day is a national holiday, the verdict came a day earlier and the minors were given prison sentences of six to 11 years.

There are many juveniles in a similar position in Turkey. According to figures released by Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Şahin, 2,469 cases were opened in 2006-07 in relation to terrorism crimes and 835 minors are being prosecuted.

Sibel Edmonds- Kill the Messenger- Documentary