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DETROIT - (KRT) -
Ibrahim Parlak, a Michigan restaurant owner fighting
deportation and government charges that he is tied
to terrorists, testified Monday that he never fired
a shot during a panicky retreat from a murky 1988
firefight along the Turkish-Syrian border that left
two Turkish soldiers dead.
Parlak told a U.S. Immigration Court that despite
being armed with a rifle, pistol and a grenade, he
didn't participate in the gun battle that is a focal
point of the government's case that he was linked to
the Kurdish militant group known as PKK.
"When we were running in panic I dropped a grenade,
toothpaste, food items," he said.
Parlak, 42, a Turkish-Kurd, successfully crossed the
border on a subsequent trip but was later captured,
and served 17 months of a 4-year, 2-month sentence
meted out by a Turkish court. He arrived in the U.S.
in 1991 and three years later began building a
successful restaurant business, Cafe Gulistan, in
Harbert, Mich., a town near the Lake Michigan shore.
The government arrested Parlak in July on
immigration charges for allegedly providing false
answers on his green card application. The
government said he could also be deported as an
aggravated felon after he was re-sentenced for his
role in the Turkish border incident. Three
additional terrorism-related charges were added in
mid-October. All are administrative charges, not
criminal.
Parlak was surrounded by family and friends in the
packed court, while outside around a dozen
supporters waved banners, some pleading to "Free
Ibrahim." The case has triggered an outpouring of
support for Parlak in Harbert. Among those who
showed up in court were Parlak's tennis partner,
patrons of his restaurant and the real estate agent
who sold him a home.
Flanked by armed guards, Parlak received applause
from supporters when he appeared in a waiting room
outside the court. A slight man with streaks of gray
in his dark hair, Parlak wore a light olive green
suit with a striped shirt and no tie.
"He looked great considering the stress he's under,"
said Michele Gazzolo, the mother of Parlak's
7-year-old American-born daughter.
The government sought to show Parlak deliberately
omitted key information about his past in Turkey on
immigration forms. Parlak's attorneys have said the
government knew his history before letting him into
the United States.
Parlak said Turkish authorities tortured him and his
family was threatened before he provided a
confession for his role in the border incident. He
was unbowed when asked by government attorney Mark
Jebson why he refused to appeal his jail sentence.
"They got what they wanted," Parlak said. "I was not
going to be a fighter. I was going to leave the war
zone."
"You admit you were a fighter?" Jebson said.
"Yes, I never denied it," Parlak said. One of
Parlak's attorneys, John Smietanka, later said his
client was a fighter in the spirit of Martin Luther
King or Nelson Mandela.
Under questioning, Parlak detailed the events that
led to the border firefight. A one-time student
activist who fled Turkey, Parlak said he attended a
PKK training camp in Syria in the late 1980s. The
Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, is a resistance
group opposed to Turkey's treatment of ethnic Kurds.
On two occasions at a house in Damascus, Parlak
said, he met with Abdullah Ocalan, the PKK leader
who was later jailed by Turkey.
On their first trip to Turkey, Parlak and his small
group entered with Syrian guides who were to
negotiate a border wire and mine field and provide
security. He said a firefight erupted behind his
group.
"My thing (was) to avoid that," he said. "I wasn't
going in for a gunfight."
After fleeing, Parlak entered Turkey several weeks
later but was captured at a mountain hideaway. He
said he tried to burn photos and diaries but was
later presented with some of the evidence by Turkish
authorities. After several weeks, he said, he began
cooperating with Turkish authorities and led them to
buried weapons.
"I took responsibility for my own actions, defending
Kurdish rights, standing against Turkish
aggression," he said.
Parlak is expected to resume his testimony Tuesday
with immigration judge Elizabeth Hacker expected to
release an opinion in several weeks.
© 2004, Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com
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